On The Beach

ROUTE 1066 – Day 1: Monday 2 November 2026 – PEVENSEY BAY to CROWHURST (13 + 2 miles) *

At last: on the shingle at Pevensey Bay in East Sussex, where William made landfall 960 years ago!

And so, after all the preparations, I am at last on the trail: a 7.00 am alarm, a quick spot of breakfast before packing my backpack, and then Rachel and I said our goodbyes as I headed for the station. A huge round of thanks, both to Rachel and to whoever booked the sunshine and the autumn colours this morning – what a fine way to commence my ROUTE 1066 adventure! And I have had so many messages of support, that my phone has hardly stopped beeping today – thank you everybody!

Sunny side up: joining the commuters on the platform at Berkhamsted early this morning

I will post each day the OS extracts of my ROUTE 1066 path – shown in dark blue on the maps below:

From Pevensey & Westham station I took a walk around Pevensey Castle, before heading for the coast and Pevensey Bay – I then followed the King Charles III England Coast Path for several miles eastward, until it joined the promenade at Bexhill . . .

. . . before turning inland, through the town, to join the 1066 Country Walk footpaths and on to the village of Crowhurst

I was certainly blessed for most of today with more sunny intervals than cloud, and great visibility beneath the cloud-base: I did have two short showers and a heavy downpour to finish – plus a strong north-easterly headwind for much of the day: add in a couple of rainbows and there was certainly an abundance of meteorological theatre to the day. Here’s how I got on:

Leaving London on the train from Victoria . . .

. . . before arriving at my starting point – and could Westham be a positive omen for me over the weeks ahead?

The church of St Mary the Virgin, welcomed me to Pevensey village . . .

. . . and then to the gateway of Pevensey Castle

The castle stands on the site of a Roman fort from the 3rd Century – to which William’s forces added a smaller fortress immediately upon their arrival in late September 1066: the stonework is the result of medieval additions from the late 1200s onwards

A glimpse through the railings to the inner keep (this part is closed now by English Heritage for the winter, although I doubt that this inconvenience would have stopped William)!

. . . and then back at the castle walls, where the stonework is still ongoing

Time now to cross the levels towards the coast . . .

. . . and here I met, and walked with for a mile or two, sisters Lene and Ingrid – both fearless members of the Pevensey Plungers sea swimming club: other local participants rejoice apparently in the names of the Bexhill Mermaids and the Hastings Bluetits!

And now for something completely different – a brief historical interlude:

It is likely that William had some hundreds, rather than mere dozens, of boats: most sources concur that he set sail with his fleet from St Valéry on the French coast on the evening of 27 September 1066, arriving off the English coast at Pevensey Bay around 12 hours later, just before dawn the following morning – this particular beach was chosen due to its wide expanse, and also to the fact that the small seaside village, though relatively prosperous, had a small populace that was easily overwhelmed (notwithstanding the remnants of the aforementioned Roman fort)

As he was disembarking amidst the surf on Pevensey Bay’s beach, William is said to have stumbled. Realising that his inadvertent trip may be interpreted by his forces as an ominous omen, the quick thinking Prince grasped two handfuls of English sand and proclaimed ‘by the splendour of God I have taken hold of my kingdom’ – hence turning the moment around as a sign of divine right and possession rather than of impending failure. (One interesting point here is that William knew before leaving France that Harold Godwinson and his army had marched northward in the previous weeks to face the Viking invaders on the east coast of Yorkshire. What William could not have known however, at the time of his landing in Pevensey Bay, is that Harold had defeated the Viking army of his namesake Harold Hadrada in the battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September: hence it is most likely that, as William waded through the surf, he did not know which of the two Harolds he would soon be fighting in his quest to claim the crown of England). Anyway, I digress – so back to my walk:

It was hard-going for the first few miles along the shingle of Pevensey Bay . . .

. . . necessitating a pleasant lunch stop, looking back to the west

A rainbow heralded my approach to the Martello Tower (more of which later) at Normans Bay . . .

. . . then continuing on the England Coast Path . . .

. . . and along the promenade into Bexhill, by the De La Warrior Pavilion . . .

The moorish Marina Arcade in Bexhill dates from early Edwardian times

. . . before a complete change of mood, as I cut inland along the 1066 Country Walk path

. . . before dusk fell on my approach to Crowhurst village

The rain arrived with the fading light, so pictures of Crowhurst need to await the resumption of my journey tomorrow morning as I continue along the 1066 Country Walk to Battle. Needless to say, I am resting up tonight, showered, fed and watered, after the most wonderful day of walking. Tomorrow, I resume my ROUTE 1066 path, bound for Battle!

My path for the first week or so of my walk

And, amongst all this history and exertion I should not overlook the reason for my trek:

Thank you for following my ROUTE 1066 journey – re-tracing the steps of William the Conqueror in 1066 on his 360-mile campaign trail from Pevensey Bay, via Berkhamsted, and on to Westminster Abbey. If you are following my Blog, enjoying the ramble, and would like to help us to SAVE CASTLE FIELDS for future generations by pledging £39 to sponsor a 3×3-metre square of the land, then please click on this link:

‘Sponsor A Square’ on the SAVE CASTLE FIELDS Website

THANK YOU ALL FOR SUPPORTING MY ROUTE 1066 WALK, AND FOR HELPING TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF CASTLE FIELDS

I hope that I am right in saying that I have never duplicated a Blog heading before – after all there are quite a few song titles out there to choose from! But I have previously used ‘On The Beach’ as a leader – somewhat over five years ago, whilst on the Cornish coast just after the start of my LETJOG 2021 trek: I can still recall the afternoon lull in the rain during a stormy day around Newquay. On that occasion I referred to the Neil Young song of that name, but today I am including on my ROUTE 1066 playlist a different song of the same title, this one by rock and blues singer-songwriter Chris Rea from his 1986 album ‘New Light Through Old Windows’. This was the eighth of 25 albums by this prolific and talented Middlesbrough-born artist and, as I leave my home comforts to set out on this adventure I can relate to some of the lyrics (that also seem quite appropriate to William’s 1066 story).

Between the eyes of love I call your name
Behind those guarded walls I used to go
Upon a summer wind there’s a certain melody
Takes me back to the place that I know

On the beach, yeah yeah
Down on the beach, yeah yeah

The secrets of the summer I will keep
The sands of time will blow a mystery
No-one but you and I
Underneath that moonlit sky

Take me back to the place that I know
On the beach, yeah yeah
Down on the beach, yeah down on the beach
On the beach, yeah yeah
On the beach

Forever in my dreams my heart will be
Hanging on to this sweet memory
A day of strange desire
And a night that burned like fire

Take me back to the place that I know
On the beach, yeah yeah
Down on the beach, yeah down on the beach
On the beach, yeah yeah
On the beach

* The main distance stated beneath my daily title heading is the number of miles covered along my ROUTE 1066 path itself. The ‘plus’ figure is the additional distance walked off the way (eg for diversions en route, or in reaching my overnight accommodation, and for my ‘evening stroll’ in search of dinner)!