Cherie's Place

Filed under Anecdotes, Arundel & Brighton 2023, Holidays

Arundel & Brighton – Day Four

We enjoyed one last breakfast before checking out of the Norfolk Arms ready to travel to our next destination; Brighton.

I succumbed to the temptation and called in at the Wildlife and Wetlands Centre to purchase a pair of binoculars. I tested them out again eventually settling on a pair that I thought would be best for my needs. I had to wait a short while to purchase them due to a long queue of visitors booking in for a day in the wetlands.

Next, we visited the nearby Bignor Roman Villa; a large Roman courtyard villa discovered by George Tupper when he struck a large stone whilst ploughing his farm in 1811. The villa has some interesting and unique finds.

By now it was time for elevenses so we set off for a nearby village. We never arrived in the village due to being repeatedly drawn back into, what we started to call, the Bury triangle. Instead, we ended up at Petworth just in time for lunch. The eagle eyed will realise that Petworth is in completely the opposite direction to Brighton. The National Trust carpark for Petworth House was full so we left and parked next to the deer park hoping that there would be a lunch opportunity there.

We weren’t disappointed, we found the delightfully named ‘Toast Me Up’ tucked away in one corner of the car park. It was perfect and my toasted sandwich was delicious.

After lunch Mr C headed off towards the coast thinking of a coastal drive towards Brighton. Mr C chose to include Bognor Regis in his itinerary. When we arrived, it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. Next town along the coast Littlehampton where once again we elected not to stop and continued inland straight to Brighton.

We drove straight to our hotel, the Grand, arriving at the drop off point in front of the hotel. We were greeted by 3 suited and bowler-hatted concierges. Mr C was directed to park his car and, before I could get out of the car, the boot was unpacked and they had whisked Mr C away along with our luggage. When he returned to the car, one of the concierges explained how to get to the car park and back to the hotel.

When I eventually got to the room it was WOW! All that I hoped it would be. We left the bags in the walk-in luggage area and went for a stroll around Brighton before returning to freshen up before dining in the French-styled Bistro du Vin. We had intended to dine in the Cyan restaurant at the Grand but we found that it closes early on a Sunday.

We had a brief visit to Weatherspoon’s before taking a leisurely stroll along the seafront back to the hotel for a nightcap in the bar.

Tags: Arundel Wildlife & Wetlands Trust, Bignor Roman Villa, Bistro Du Vin, Brighton, East Sussex, Petworth, Sunset, The Grand Hotel, The Norfolk Arms, Vacation, West Sussex

4 Comments CherryPie on Jun 19th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, Arundel & Brighton 2023, Holidays

Arundel & Brighton – Day Three

Straight after breakfast we walked the short way to Arundel Castle arriving 15 minutes before it opened. We took advantage of a nearby bench to soak up the early morning sunshine whilst we waited.

After purchasing our tickets, we walked around the gardens which included a new water garden that Mr C wasn’t very enamoured with. I thought it was lovely as were the rest of the gardens and features.

We also visited the Fitzalan Chapel which is the chancel of the church of St Nicholas. The chapel which has a peaceful atmosphere is divided from St Nicholas’ knave and transepts and contains tombs of the Howard family.

We completed our tour of the castle gardens just in time for lunch which we enjoyed in a window seat in the castle restaurant.

By the time we had finished lunch, the castle and keep were open. We made our way up the stairs to the rooftop of the keep. The stairways were every bit as narrow as I remembered them. This time I had sensibly used a small rucksack rather than a handbag (which I struggled with last time). I climbed the last few stairs using all four limbs (no hand rail to hold on to). With my rucksack on my back, I had the image of me being a turtle proceeding slowly up those last few steps. The views from the rooftop were well worth my inelegant ascent.

Descending from the keep, our route took us through the castle where both of us had forgotten some of the rooms leading us to enjoy the castle as if we had not visited on a previous occasion. I knew that one of my favourite items from my previous visit was no longer there; a set of gold rosary beads carried by Mary Queen of Scots at her execution. The rosary beads (unique and meaningful in their location) along with other items had been stolen on a targeted hit.

Our tour of the castle and gardens complete, it was time for afternoon refreshments. We found a café with a sunny location overlooking the river Arun where we enjoyed refreshing drinks and shared a piece of lemon cake.

There was just enough time for us to visit Arundel Museum which showcases the town’s local history before we returned to our hotel to chill out.

Once back at the hotel, we found that our hotel room had not been fully serviced for the second day running. The first day our tea and milk supplies had not been replenished. This was easily fixed by a phone call to reception. However, today we arrived back at the room to find that the bed had not been made and the bathroom seemed not to have cleaned and serviced.

We had a glass of bubbly on the hotel terrace before dining at the Swan Hotel which is a Fullers Pub. The food was lovely but Mr C found the atmosphere uncomfortable so after dining we returned to the Red Lion where once again, we were treated to live music but the atmosphere was also somewhat lacking…

We decided to relocate to the hotel bar for a nightcap. I was delivered a short measure of wine which I made sure was rectified. Shortly after this other customers arrived and were told the bar was closing soon but they were welcome to come in for a drink. The bar wasn’t scheduled to close for at least 30 minutes!

The lady serving was giving off big vibes that the customers were an inconvenience to her. Maybe she should remember that if it wasn’t for the customers, she wouldn’t have a job?

Tags: Arundel, Arundel Castle, Arundel Museum, Fitzalan Chapel, Me by another, Norfolk Arms, Portrait, There's Always One, Vacation, West Sussex

8 Comments CherryPie on Jun 18th 2023

Filed under Arundel & Brighton 2023, Holidays

Arundel & Brighton – Day Two

Breakfast was a mixture of buffet style and cooked-to-order with a toast-your-own-toast option. The latter was a little quirky as is often the case. Everything was good quality with the bacon standing out for a special mention; it was perfect in texture and taste.

Fuelled up with breakfast we walked to the nearby Wetlands Centre. It was a delight to hear a cuckoo along the way.

We saw many species of wildfowl and I particularly enjoyed the Dalmatian pelicans, kingfisher and sand martins. We took a trip on an electric boat with a knowledgeable guide who pointed out various wildlife features and creatures along the way as well as imparting lots of interesting information. We walked along the shady board walk and also took advantage of the various hides around the site.

We tried out the various binoculars that were on display before heading off on our return walk to the hotel. I was tempted by a couple of pairs of the binoculars and thought I might go back and purchase a pair.

Back at the hotel we freshened up and had a pre-dinner prosecco in the bar attached to the hotel before dining in the China Place Chinese Restaurant. We opted for one of the set menu meals and were treated with excellent service throughout our meal.

After dining we returned to the Red Lion for a night cap. The live entertainment wasn’t quite so lively as it had been the previous evening.

Tags: Arundel, Arundel Castle, Arundel Wildlife & Wetlands Trust, Vacation, West Sussex, Wildlife and Wetlands Trust, WWT

4 Comments CherryPie on Jun 17th 2023

Filed under Arundel & Brighton 2023, Holidays

Arundel & Brighton – Day One

Before setting off we called in at mum’s to collect our anniversary card. She had been hoping to post it to the hotel until she realised we were stopping in two hotels.

Our journey ran smoothly although there were a few slow areas due to heavy traffic. We had lunch at the Granary Cafe at Watlington which was recommended in my recently purchased ‘Extra Mile’ book. Which lists delicious eateries as alternatives to stopping at motorway service stations. We had to wait a while for the food to arrive (crustless quiche for me) but when it did it was worth the wait. After lunch we enjoyed a quick stroll through the town to see the interesting architecture, including the Town Hall.

On arrival at Arundel, we found the tucked away hotel carpark and checked in to The Norfolk Arms. It was a lovely sunny day so we dropped our bags in our room then enjoyed a glass of wine (beer for Mr C) in the hotel garden area.

Later, our bags unpacked, we enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant. I chose guinea fowl with croquettes flavoured with truffle oil; it was delicious. We shared a desert; apricot and almond fool with amaretti cream. Yum!

We crossed the road to the Red Lion where we found that an open mike evening was taking place. We were treated to some talented singing and good old classic music before it was time to retire for the evening.

Tags: Arundel, The Granary Cafe, The Norfolk Arms, The Red Lion, Vacation, West Sussex, Witlington

6 Comments CherryPie on Jun 16th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, This & That

Race for Reading – Update

I have now completed my pledge to walk 150 miles between the 1st May and 19th June in support of the School Readers Charity. I will be able to add a few more miles to the total milage of all participants before the challenge ends.

I have now had my interview that will hopefully lead to me becoming a School Reader.

Schoolreaders goal is for all children, regardless of background, to leave primary school being able to read well so they can go on to access their secondary education fully and maximise their future life chances.

Established in 2013, Schoolreaders matches volunteers to local primary schools – focusing on schools with the greatest need – where they give one-to-one reading sessions.

Tags: #walk1000miles, #walk1000miles2023, Race for Reading, Race for Reading2023, Schoolreaders

2 Comments CherryPie on Jun 15th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, This & That