Hastings, Battle of Day 2

In the rain we took a 15-minute train to the town of Battle, yes, where the Battle of Hastings took place. This part of the country calls itself 1066 country because obviously this is where William the Conqueror tooled around during his invasion during the above year. There is a lovely walking trail that will take a person all over the area and stops by all the important 1066 locations. I think it may be a 2-3 days walk. The battlefield is inside Battle Abbey and since it was pouring half of the footpath around the field was closed. It turned out that was a good thing since my jacket became saturated halfway through. The battle itself is quite interesting, which William assaulting an exhausted but advantageously positioned Anglo-Saxon army. In short, if it wasn’t for the tricking of the Anglo-Saxon army it may have been a different story. I say that knowing it sometimes doesn’t take much to drastically turn a battle but history at this site makes it feel like it was a very precarious victory. As recompense for the battle William was instructed by the Pope to build an Abbey on the site. Yet, like most abbeys this was dissolved as well. Inside the church borders was a marker for the spot where King Harold was felled on the field. According to records the only way he was identified by his wife was by a tattoo he had, since his body was so severely attacked. The town of Battle built up around the Abbey as it was built and flourished. There was a very rustic and very old inn (The Pilgrim’s Rest) right outside the walls of the abbey where we took a rest and had some OK French onion soup. Before that though we went and grabbed cache #100 in a field outside the battlegrounds. My boot was almost sucked off by the thick mud, could’ve been interesting. We took a moment to check out the small town but there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the rain, plus we were soaked and little chilly so we made our way back to train. Nap time at hotel…then a quick rush up to the eastern hill above Old Hastings for a sunset shot. The park above Old Hastings felt a lot like like the Dover Cliffs park. It looked a few miles long and could easily take a day of exploring to cover. So much to do. We headed back down to Old Hastings center where the party was in full swing. Which mostly meant college kids drinking heavily and hanging outside of the pubs. Not really feeling it we decided to drop some coins at the arcade halls on the boardwalk. The rigged games are great but I almost won a bathrobe wearing meerkat stuffed animal. Tomorrow is the big day. The parade and brutal dismemberment of leaves pinned to a frame. Pictures.