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"Travel Guides for people whose heart is in the country"

ISBN: 9781904434818

Fourth Edition

432 pages in full colour

Published: 2009

Author: Peter Long

The Country Living Guide to Rural England - The South East

Covers Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey

 UK £10.99

Enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon trying out one of the many walks recommended in the guide. For example, If you fancy a walk with spectacular countryside views, try walk number 3; South Foreland.  A moderate circular walk from St Margaret’s Bay, taking in the fantastic views of the English Channel along the cliff tops and on past the South Foreland Lighthouse and up to the viewpoint at Fox Hill Down. If you’re interested in natural history and wildlife, then walk number 4; Battle to Bexhill is for you.  The walk takes you out through rolling hills, passes through a woodland nature reserve and the sleepy village of Crowhurst with its ancient church and centuries old yew tree.

In the book, you will also find….

IGHTHAM

4 ½ miles E of Sevenoaks on the A227

This delightful village is a charming place of half-timbered and crooked lanes. Inside Ightham Church is a mural dedicated to Dame Dorothy Selby, who, according to legend, was instrumental in uncovering the Gunpowder Plot. The story goes that James I showed Dame Dorothy an anonymous letter he had received that hinted at ‘a terrible blow’ that would soon befall Parliament and, while the king dismissed the letter as the work of a crank, Dame Dorothy, reading between the lines, urged him to take the warning with the utmost seriousness.

EAST DEAN

3 miles W of Eastbourne off the A259

This charming village at the foot of the South Downs is one of the county’s most picturesque, with its village green surrounded by flint cottages, a pub and an ancient church. During the 18^th century, the local parson, Jonathan Darby, is said to have made a cave in the nearby cliffs from which he could display a huge lantern on stormy nights to warn sailors of the hidden rocks. However, some say that the reason for his retreat to the caves was actually to get away from
Mrs Darby!

SOMPTING

2 miles E of Worthing off the A27

This village, the name of which means marshy ground, has, as its pride and joy, a church that is unique in Britain. Built on foundations, which can be traced back to AD 960, the Church of St Mary has a distinctive spire that consists of four diamond-shaped faces which taper to a point. Known as a Rhenish helm, the design was popular in German Rhineland but is not found elsewhere in this country.