View of the lake at Ashbourne House

I have just spent the most delightful day at a spectacular private 85 acre estate in East Sussex. Situated near Battle and set amidst rolling hills the Ashbourne Estate really did take my breath away and is one of those ‘best kept secrets’ that I am simply dying to tell you all about!

This venue provides exclusive corporate and private hospitality and allows you to both experience and enjoy the popular sports of clay pigeon shooting and flyfishing for trout.  If I’m honest I have to say I was a tad sceptical, I mean it was pouring with rain for starters so all in all not the prefect day to do any site visit outdoors, let alone one in the deepest depths of the English Countryside. Surprisingly though from the second I arrived I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Ashbourne is an oasis and can accommodate everything you need! So my mobile phone was out of range (not such a bad thing to happen from time to time!) but if you did need to make contact with the outside world fear not there is a landline in the log cabin. The charming Dougie Chalmers greets all guests near the shooting lodge, then once briefed it’s time to test your skill, put the theory into practise and challenge your opponents. Lunch is simply divine, a beautiful marquee, a steady flow of fine wines and bubbly, delicious cuisine and good company all compliment the scenery perfectly.
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Daddy long legs train

Those crazy victorians! Brighton has always enjoyed an eccentric reputation, a real holiday atmosphere. This railway by Magnus Volk is just one very good example! You can still see the remenants of concrete footings if you walk out along black rock beach at low tide. This marvelously mad peice of engineering ran on electricity, provided by a telegraph pole that was erected to run alongside the lank railway carriage. Read more about the problems encountered and the eventual downfall here.

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