On Tuesday, my partner and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! To mark the occasion, we decided to have afternoon tea at the Orangery in Ashburnham Place, Battle. I went there last year with my family for Father's Day, and it was so lovely I just had to go back. Ashburnham Place is situated down in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and a huge lake. The actual tearoom is inside a Victorian conservatory, with large floor to ceiling windows, and many varieties of indoor plants.
I loved this Swiss Cheese plant (Monstera Deliciosa) which was growing up the wall- it must have been at least 10 foot heigh! This plant is really popular in tropical themed prints at the moment.
The afternoon tea itself was delicious. The scones were roughly the same size as a saucer (huge!) and you also had a selection of sandwiches and crisps, as well as your choice of tea or coffee of course. The real icing on the cake (excuse the pun) was that you also got to choose a slice of homemade cake which is also included in the price to either have there, or you can take it away with you. We chose a slice of victoria sponge and also carrot and orange cake which was delicious!
The price for all of this was just £10.75- an absolute bargain! If you are interested in checking it out, visit http://www.ashburnham.org.uk/orangery-tea-room believe me, you won't be disappointed!
After our tea, we headed over to Hastings, which was only about 25 minutes drive away. Unfortunately a lot of the shops and attractions were closed, as it wasn't during the holidays and on a mid-week day in March! We went for a wander through the old town which only took about half an hour as I forgot how small it was. There were a few unusual shops along that stretch though. We went inside one shop which I remember really liking from my last visit to Hastings a few years ago. It has a rustic feel inside, and it just full of "bric a brac", such as cuttings of fabric, soaps, candles and various pieces of shabby furniture. There is a wall full of old wooden drawers as you first walk in, and it reminds me of an old pharmacy or apothecary. Sadly I couldn't take a photo as the shop was really quiet and the shop owner would have seen! I did manage to get a few shots elsewhere in the shop though.
There was also a tiny shop which had some really creepy but fascinating antiques in, including an animatronic full size clown and to our disgust a mummified cat!
The old town is definitely the nicer part of Hastings. If you are selective, there are some genuinely interesting individual shops which are worth a peek inside.
Back to reality though, this is a seaside town which really has seen better days. The seafront is lined with amusement arcades which look like they date back to the late 70s/early 80s. This arcade in particular has been built underneath a building with lovely architecture, and as we walked past, we realised that they were apartments! What a shame to live above such an eyesore.
As there really wasn't much open, we decided to embrace the cheesiness and head into the arcades- it had to be done! Luck was on my partner's side, who won a load of prize tickets and the grand total of £13.00 on a fruit machine!
Hastings really did have a more depressing feel being out-of-season. Even the pier with the rides was gated up and closed!
We also walked down to where the fisherman's huts are, which did make Hastings feel more like an actual seaside town. There is also the opportunity to buy fresh seafood such as crab, mussels and cockles. This part of town is a lot less commercialised, and you can take a quiet stroll across the pebbled beach, and past all the fishing boats.
Finally, I did spot some architecture which I absolutely loved. This little fish and chip shop was so quirky- it made a change from the usual look of fish and chip shops. I also really like the building next to it too. The cladding and wrought iron railings are beautiful- sad that they were in such a run down part of the town.
Expect another blog post in the next few days as I'm heading to the magical place that is IKEA at the weekend to pick up some bits!
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