Deepest darkest Sussex

I took today off of work and we 4 adults went on a little roadtrip through deepest darkest Sussex. It was a beautiful day and we headed west.

Here is the route we took, first stop at Bramber Castle

 We had a little guidebook with us "Slow Sussex", and it mentioned this ancient castle from 1073 so we stopped by.

Aerial photo of it, with the church in the lower part (still functioning) and the motte-and-bailey castle at the top.

 We were the only ones here and just ambled around looking for a tortoise that was signposted as lost in the area. After awhile, Margit and I tried to not be looking so hard for this tortoise because it is really addictive and distracting to be scouring the vegetation for signs of tortoise movement.

Ambling around the Bailey part of the castle (Motte is the mound in the middle)

Then we got back in the car and headed to Arundel. We knew that the fabulous castle which dominates over the city would be closed (because it was Monday), but we had a poke around town anyway. We literally just walked around the streets and went into the Cathedral , then made our way past the castle to an Italian restaurant for a spot of lunch.

Arundel Castle

It was actually quite a cold and windy day by this time, and we walked out toward the river flats to get a better view of the castle before getting back into the car to start our return journey home.

Self take from the river flats

We had a nice drive back along the south coast and stopped at The Half Moon for a swift beverage refreshment (some nice ciders and ales). I thought we also stopped at Trading Boundaries, but actually I think we did this yesterday after the Bluebell Railway. Anyway, it was a really great day and so special to be able to spend quality time with our good friends.