I’m away on holiday at the moment, so this week’s posts are about previous un-blogged holidays from 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Yesterday was our 2019 holiday to the Dordogne in France, and today, it’s our 2021 holiday to Kent and East Sussex.
In 2021, with some remaining Covid restrictions making travel a little difficult, we decided to have a domestic holiday and remain in England. We decided to stay on the south coast, at Parkdean’s Camber Sands resort in East Sussex. This wasn’t our first stay at a Parkdean resort – Sci-Fi Weekender is at Parkdean’s Vauxhall Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth – although it was the first time that my parents had stayed at such a place. My parents found it rather different to the Eurocamp sites that they’re used to in France – the static caravans are more tightly packed in and usually don’t have decking outside. But it was fine as a base to explore the area.
Here’s where we visited:
Hever Castle
On the way down, we called in at Hever Castle, which is probably best known as being the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. The castle itself isn’t that big, and we actually didn’t have time to go in to it properly, but there’s plenty to see and do in the grounds. There’s some really nice gardens, and regular jousting events at weekends, which are fun to watch. Our eight-year-old (who was five at the time) particularly liked the water maze, and there are several playgrounds too, so it’s a great place to take kids.
Unlike the other castles mentioned here later, this isn’t run by the National Trust. However, it’s possible to get discounted entry with Tesco Clubcard vouchers, Gardener’s World two-for-one cards, or membership of the RHS or Historic Houses.
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
Along the Kent coast is 13 ½ mile miniature railway – the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. All the locomotives are â…“ of the size of regular mainline trains, and it runs from Hythe in the east to Dungeness in the west. We travelled the whole line. At Dungeness, there’s a small café and a visitor centre, and you should have time for a stroll around the village of Dungeness between trains. It’s quiet scenic apart from the massive nuclear power station.
Howletts Wild Animal Park
We used more of our Tesco Clubcard vouchers at Howletts Wild Animal Park. It’s a zoo, but doesn’t call itself one; the focus is on breeding endangered animals and allowing them large habitats to live in. Consequently it’s quite a large site, with several big cat species, elephants and gorillas. It’s one of two animal sanctuaries in Kent run by the Aspinall Foundation, whose founder, John Aspinall, had some odd ideas about animal husbandry which has seen at least two keepers die over the years. Because the focus is on animal welfare rather than visitor experience, don’t be surprised if not every animal is available to see. We saw just about everything apart from the pallas cats.
Rye
The nearest town to Camber Sands is Rye, which is situated on a natural hill and has a castle at the top. It’s a pretty little town, with narrow cobblestone streets and a harbour. There’s plenty of tourist-orientated shops, and the castle is open as a museum, with good views from the top.
Bodiam Castle
My mum sold this to us as a ‘proper castle’. It has a real moat, and bridge to cross it, to enter the keep. On the inside it’s mostly open to the elements, but when we went there were plenty of activities for kids. This is a National Trust property.
Scotney Castle
We had a two castle day that day, and followed up our visit to Bodiam Castle with a trip to Scotney Castle in the afternoon. You may recognise it as a filming location for the Sandman series that was on Netflix a couple of years ago. It’s also a National Trust property – between our National Trust membership and Tesco Clubcard vouchers, we had a good value holiday.
The old part of the castle is mostly ruins, but there’s also a newer castle which we didn’t go into. There’s also plenty of grounds and a playground for the kids.
Hastings
Our run of nice weather petered out and so we had a wet day in the town of Hastings. Here, we visited the aquarium, the Fishermen’s Museum and the Shipwreck Museum in the Rock-a-Nore, and had a wander around the harbour and lifeboat station.
On the way home
Outside of Kent and East Sussex, we stopped over in Slough and spent an afternoon in Windsor, following by a day at Legoland Windsor, before heading home. Our eight-year-old is desperate for a return visit to Legoland.