Hastings Forgotten Coast ?

This 4-mile stretch of coast is never going to produce an epic paddle or get listed in -"The Top 100 Paddles"- but it can give an enjoyable and scenic paddle and often gets forgotten about.

Very last minute preparations on Easter Monday and 3 of us met in Pett village for an afternoon on the water. Pett sits at the eastern end of the cliffs and is my favoured start point. It has easy access but, more importantly, means you miss the hustle and bustle of the Hastings tourists!

The cliffs start immediately and although not very high they are interesting in texture and colours. Ironstone seams colour the face with a golden hue that almost glows when (?) the sun shines on it.

A couple of small waterfalls tumble off the edge of the country park that sits on the cliff edge. An abundance of gorse shows off on the green backdrop of the park.

The stiff north/north-easterly breeze pushed us easily towards Hastings .A slight following sea but nothing that really was noticed by any of us. Not wanting to greet the tourist trappings of Hastings, we beached at the end of the sea defences and settled down out of the wind. Lunch was taken whilst swapping stories and trips (especially Paul with his recent trip to New Zealand -see article).

The tide turned and we were ready to head back. There are no overfalls or races on this stretch but the sea can be choppy over some of the shallow ledges and around the rocky outcrops. The slight breeze (as forecast) was noticeably stronger now and really blew in our faces some of the way back. The surf built slightly as we approached Pett but again, nothing to worry about. In fact it gave Paul a chance to demonstrate "how to handle sideways surf" from an article he had just been telling us about.

A very enjoyable afternoons paddle, an 8 mile round trip on a spot of coast so often missed but if you are down this way with an afternoon to spare - try it, you may be surprised.

We will do this again but next time start or finish in the ancient Cinque port of Rye - taking in a bit of history and culture as well!

Easter Monday 16/4/01 Nigel Williams, Paul Frost and Terry Hutchins