Sunshine on the HORIZON

While making plans and looking ahead to 2026, Victor Charles recalls a long spring weekend in sunny Eastbourne

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Now we're in the midst of autumn, with winter a whisker away, it's good to make plans and look forward to the return of sunny days in spring. We're big fans of Eastbourne on the south coast, which is one of our favourite places for a weekend break and is said to have more hours of sunshine than almost all the rest of the UK. It has a 3.3-mile promenade that takes in views of Sovereign Harbour at one end and dramatic cliffs at the other.

There's a lively programme of entertainment on the bandstand, live music on the pier, theatres, art galleries, thriving shopping centres, and miles of glorious beaches. With history, heritage, and buckets of culture, you'll find the south coast around Eastbourne delivers in spades (pun intended!).

We stayed at Fairfields Farm Caravan and Camping Park, Pevensey, not far from Pevensey Castle, a Norman fortress owned by English Heritage. We arrived at the campsite in time for lunch, set up, had a quick bite to eat and then visited the castle, which is surrounded by a moat and beautifully kept lawns.

Norman conquerors

The Norman Castle was built on the site of an earlier Roman fortress dating to 290 AD.

The Norman invasion of England started at Pevensey, when William the Conqueror's troops landed at Pevensey Bay on 28 September 1066. His army constructed temporary defences at Pevensey, probably within the Roman fort, where they sheltered for the night, before continuing their journey to Hastings the following day.