Bognor 1

In the margins of the Arun, we stayed in Bognor Regis, a seaside town we have not visited for some years. Stayed in a very satisfactory Best Western, a brand we find reliable, called the Beechcroft (see reference 1). An establishment with a room described as sea view which really did, each morning, offer a view of the sun rising over the eastern sea. Nestling between the Butlins resort and the unexpectedly villagey village of Felpham.

Excellent esplanade and beach apart, the town was interesting for the variety of housing it offered, apart from the regular town housing of the town proper.

You have already had the modernist affair at reference 2, taken as a subject for the new-found toy of telephone zoom. Just beyond, it heading towards Butlins, we had the cluster of mobile homes illustrated above. I did not like to pry, so the snap does not really capture the quaintness of the cluster, a clump of mobile homes which seem to have all agglomerated together to form a continuous whole.

Then we had a house that William Blake (the poet one) stayed in for long enough to have a row in the public house opposite. Featured in a recent edition of the DT.

The ice house which was the only bit of Hotham House that we were able to find, apart from the rather handsome park. Behind the park there were the older Butlins chalets blocks, decent enough but rather reminding one of a prison camp. The place must have been quite something on a Saturday night in its hey-day. The oldest blocks came with a rather scruffy car park, complete with the various lumps of rubbish that accumulate in any operation of this size. We assumed that these blocks, together with their car park were dedicated to the staff. I note in passing that at least some of the eating establishments in and around Bognor had native staff, mostly pleasant young females.

Last but not least there was Middleton, home to the fanciest seaside villas that we had ever seen. Pride of place went to the gated estate of giant thatched cottages, all relatively new and all looking very expensive.

In the margins of the housing, we did also take a walk along the beach, rather splendid with the tide well out, in the bright autumn sun. A few white egrets among the seagulls. Five stone islands - barge loads of granite from Norway - to protect the fancy villas at Middleton. A view of Culver Down behind Selsey Bill, which, in the course of a senior moment during which my geography had gone awol, I had suggested might be Hengistbury Head. Interesting mixture of people, all shapes, sizes and social classes. Quite a lot of gold being worn by both ladies and gents.; fancy for the ladies, chunky for the gents.. Quite a lot of cyclists, despite quite a lot of signs saying that they were forbidden - not that it mattered, as it was a big esplanade, not very busy. Various factories offering lunch to holiday makers, some of them masquerading as public houses. We settled for a smaller place, very busy, called the 'Lobster Pot' where we had quite decent crab sandwiches. Also a cake while we waited, a sort of Bakewell Tart, but without both the pastry case and the sheet of white icing with cherry on top - in fact, rather good. See reference 4.

On the way home we took tea at Denbigh's Winery, where, or once, I felt rather sorry for the proprietors, leaving aside any doubts one might have about the wisdom of trying to grow grapes on the North Downs. Handsome replica of a French wine estate. Lots of vines with lots of ripening, if rather small, black grapes. Lots of wine stuff for wine buffs. But it seemed that it did not really pay and they had had to roof over the courtyard (with glass) and turn it into a café/restaurant for local ladies who lunched. Plus shop, a smaller version of the one offered by the Chessington Garden Centre, plus farm shop, which appeared to be a vanity operation run by some girls from somewhere in North America. These last were very free with the cardboard boxes which we are now using to house all the cooking apples that we are getting from neighbours.

Reference 1: http://www.beachcroft-hotel.co.uk/.

Reference 2: http://www.psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/zooming.html.

Reference 3: http://www.hothampark.co.uk/.

Reference 4: http://lobsterpotfelpham.com/.