Winchelsea Sands Holiday Park

Once you’ve dusted the sand off your toes and ventured off the beach, make for the seven seas of – sorry – the town of Rye, one of the medieval Cinque Ports and with a long history of smuggling through the centuries. The twelfth century Mermaid Inn was used by the notorious Hawkhurst Gang in the eighteenth century and in the twenty-first has an award-winning restaurant and medieval–style art inside. It was connected by an underground tunnel to the nearby Old Bell Inn – sadly the tunnel is no longer in use, although Famous Five fans in the family (all, we hope) should enjoy the tale anyway, and there’s A Smuggler’s Adventure at St Clements Caves to try too. Also in Rye is the National Trust-managed Lamb House, once home to novelist Henry James and a host of other famous names (not all at the same time); the harbour with fishing fleet (fresh fish is available to buy at the quayside or take your own boat out) and tearooms and restaurants galore. The Rye Heritage Centre is a good intro to the area and has walking tours and ghost walks. You might also see Rye resident Tom Baker in the town to make Dalek noises at – just saying… Just along the coast is Hastings, famous as the site of the Battle of Hastings and now known as part of 1066 Country; the 1066 Battle Abbey and Battlefield, and Hastings Castle and the 1066 Story are here, as well as guided walks and geocaching in the area and Europe’s biggest beachside fishing fleet in the town. The beach at Hastings is a top spot for watersports, or you could head slightly further along the coast to the beaches at Bexhill and Camber Sands. There’s more history at Yesterday’s World in Battle with five floors and 150,000 artefacts from the past century, and a play village too if the kids are revolting; if they need to be mollified further, there are rhinos and safari rides at Port Lympe Wild Animal Safari Park, the Miniature Pony Centre at Dartmoor, dangling about at Go Ape! or going undercover at The Hop Farm to keep them happy. Then you can sneak off to the ten fishing lakes at Battle’s Wylands Angling Centre, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year…