Worthing & Stonehenge UK by Kev and Mel

Hi everyone,
We are in Worthing, in the very south of the UK.
We drove back from Birmingham, drop the car at Gatwick airport and Kev’s uncle, Don, came to pick us up.
Worthing is where some of Kev’s family lives, so we are going to spend a few days with them.
Our first evening was spent catching up with everyone over a few glasses of wine (and a few whisky), probably a few too many according to the headache and stomach-ache I had the following day.
Andrew and Emma meet their second cousin, Olivia (daughter of Brad who is Kev’s cousin). She is almost 3 and a firecracker. The kids were a bit shy at first but quickly got over it and played well together.
The next day was an easy one as I really didn’t feel like doing anything. We rested in the morning. Toward lunch, we drop Kev and Andrew at the cricket where Kev’s cousins, Glenn and Brad, spend most of their Saturdays, playing cricket. Emma and I, went with Mandy (Kev’s aunt) to see and ride her horse, Millie. Emma is very interested in horses at the moment, so she was delighted to be able to ride one! And she did great. She was a bit anxious at first, but got comfortable pretty fast.
We caught back up with the boys at the cricket and watch with them. The kids and Kev did a bit of cricket on the side and I think they had fun. I was still not feeling the greatest, so I was happy sitting and doing nothing!!! Then the rain came in and the game was cancelled, so we head back home for a relaxing evening.
On Sunday the 31st, Andrew went with Mandy to do some bellringing. Mandy is part of a group who ring the bell of a church and Andrew wanted to have a look, so he went and had the chance of having a go at it! If you want more information, go read his blog as I think he will give details about it. Mandy said that he was a proper gentleman and was very polite and interested and asked questions. That doesn’t surprise me! Andrew love hand on learning.
After that both Andrew and Emma went for a horse ride. Andrew was less comfortable there. He likes animal but not too close! Emma loved it!
In the afternoon, we went on the sea front in Worthing with Mandy, walked around the pier, had a few ice-creams, the kids and Kev did the Ferris wheel. This one was way to open for me to get in it! I don’t like height, especially when I can feel wind on me! The kids got new clothes from Mandy and Don and Hilda (Mandy’s mum). Those kids are spoilt everywhere we go where family is! After that the kids played on the beach, throwing rocks in the water, finding shark eggs (empty ones) and just having fun. They could have stayed there forever I think!
Monday, we went to visit Stonehenge. Kev visited it years ago with his sister Bec and had great memories of it, so he wanted to go back there. Apparently, it changed quite a bit: now there is a big visitor centre, with a souvenir shop, a restaurant, a museum (not massive but still). They have reconstruction of what they think the houses looked like back then.
Stonehenge is one of the most famous English monuments. Its construction started around 3100BC, and over the next few millennia. Proof of prior construction/use of the area, dated from 8000BC. It seems this area was used for funeral purpose. Nobody can know for sure why this area and exactly what it was used for, and the mystery add to the attraction of this place.
Some of the stones of Stonehenge are 4 meters high. They have some idea on how they move such huge pieces, and all of them require ingenuity and a massive human power.
The place is now full of tourists, but as you can not go too close to the rocks, you have a lovely view of the whole monument. I am glad we went there. Originally it was not on my to do list (not sure why), but it was incredible to see and imagine how people with limited tools manage to create such an imposing monument.
As Stonehenge is close to Salisbury, we went to visit the cathedral there as well. This cathedral has the tallest spire in the UK, 123 meter tall, and has been built in the 13t century. The kids got a map with things they had to find, which is fun as we learnt fun and interesting facts. For example, this cathedral used to have a toe of a saint that people use to pray to. They also have a custom: when a new boy joins the choir, his head is being lightly bump several time on a stone of the church, but I wonder how lightly they do it, as there is a proper dent on the rock!!!
If you are in the area, this is worth a visit.
We finished the day with a big get together at the pub. There was 12 of us and we had a great time.
The next day, we visited the Arundel castle and its garden. It was raining a bit, but a bit of water won’t stop us! The gardens were beautiful! Truly beautiful; the creativity of the gardener of this castle is amazing. If you go there and you only have time to see one thing, do the gardens!
The castle is still partly lived in, inhabited by the 17th Duke of Norfolk and his family (in between other accommodation I guess!). It is possible to visit the part of the castle, which are incredibly well preserved and decorated. The library has 10 000 books in and there are 10 000 more in the personal library! Can I just live there for a few months please!!! I loved the place. This was a great visit.
In the afternoon, Emma did her last ride on Millie. She tried trotting, but it was a bit hard!
We had our last dinner with the English family and promised to try to see each other soon!
On the 3rd of September, Don drove us to Brighton, and we took a Brighton to London train.
At King cross we went to see the platform 9 and ¾ and had look at the Harry Potter shop, without buying anything. The kids were amazing as they understand why we don’t buy things there, but I know part of them wanted to, but they didn’t ask anything and just enjoyed visiting the shop. They are so wonderful.
We hopped on the Eurostar and were on our way to our last stop in our European tour: back to Paris!
See you there!!!
Mel

29.8.2025. We got up and drove to Gatwick airport to drop off the car. Good old uncle Don picked us up, and we headed to his place in Worthing. As soon as we walked in it was cuddles all round. From my aunty Mandy and her mum Hilda, and the dogs. We caught up over some drinks. Later in the evening my cousins Brad and Glenn came round, and we met Brad's wife and daughter, and Glenn's partner. A big BBQ was had, too many drinks were had, but it was really good to see everyone again, and meet new people.
30.8.2025. Woke up a bit shit and knackered this morning. Too much whiskey last night, and beer. Luckily I didn't have any wine. We slobbed around all morning and had breakfast closer to lunch. After that, Mandy dropped Andrew and I at the Findon cricket club. We turned up just as Bradley got out and was walking back to the clubhouse. I found Don, who was scoring the match, then Andrew and I found a chair outside and watched. Glen was still in, and doing ok. When they stopped for drinks, we went over and had a chat with Brad. Met a couple of his friends and gave Glen some encouragement. Meanwhile, Emma and Mel had gone with Mandy. To do what? Well to ride Mandy's horse of course. Apparently Emma loved it, and wants a horse more than ever now. Mel and the rest of them turned up. Brad gave us a bat and a few balls, and we had a muck around in the nets. The first innings finished while we were having a crack, apparently Glen had done well and finished not out for 41. They had posted a lowly 127, but some were confident they could defend it. There was some rain around and Brad told me that's what he was hoping for. During the break, the rain was on and off. It cleared a bit, the covers came off and the teams went out for the second innings. Only for it to start raining again. Eventually they called the game off, so we sat in the clubhouse and chatted. Later, back at Don and Mandy's dinner was had, then bed.
31.8.2025. I woke up feeling much better this morning. After breakfast, Mandy took Andrew “bell ringing” at the local church. Andrew was really into it, rang some bells and had a look at them right up the top of the church. He spoke with all the other bell ringers and asked them questions. When he finds something he's into, he really listens and hangs off every word. They came back, and now it was Emma's turn. Where do you think Mandy took her? That's right, horse riding. Andrew went this time too. We found out after that, it's not really his thing. He likes horses, just not riding them. Emma on the other hand, just cemented her love of horses. We talked some more, had dinner and made our plans for the next couple days.
1.9.2025. This morning we're up early and off to pick up a hire car. We're heading to Stonehenge today, a place I visited back in 2001, when I first came to England. It has changed a lot. Not the rocks, they're still the same. The rest of the place has changed. I remember turning off the road and driving up to Stonehenge with my sister. We parked close, and had a short walk over to it. Today however, as soon as you turn off, you go into a big parking lot. We found a spot and walked in. We got our tickets, thankfully half off because of the Scottish membership thing we bought. There's buildings here now. A museum, toilets, shops, a cafe and a little recreated village. Nothing like how I remember, like everything else where you can make money off tourists, they jumped at it. The museum was small, but interesting. We got some info before seeing the real deal. Outside there is a shuttle bus to take you the 2klm to the site. We decided to walk. Along the road first, then you can walk through some fields. I remember the first time I saw Stonehenge, I felt a weird sensation I couldn't explain, something mysterious. This time however, that same feeling was not there. I was still very happy to look upon these stones again, and to marvel at people's ingenuity from thousands of years before. The people who have studied Stonehenge believe that it was arranged to line up with the sun and to show the middle of winter. There's evidence of feasts nearby, and they believe people would gather at midwinter to celebrate the ending of winter. It was not the end, but it was the time when the days would start to grow longer and some warmth would begin to return. There are other sites all around the place, mounds full of cremated remains. Other sites have been found with animal bones and what they believe are “garbage” pits that would have been used for celebrating and feasting. Stonehenge has been dated to 2500bc (4500 years old). On our way out we stopped and read some of the info boards around the place. I can't remember all that we read, and I didn't take a photo of the info, though I wish I had now. I read there was a spot near here, where they had found the remnants of wooden posts in the ground. These were dated at 8000bc (10000 years old), showing that the area had been used as a site of ritual for much longer than previously thought. Little information is known of this, and I look forward to learning more as it comes to light. On our way out, we stopped at the shop, as you do. Another magnet was purchased and we tried some mead. Neither of us had had mead before, and they had three to test so we did. The original was nice, there was a chilli one which was even better and a blackberry one as well. All good, highly recommend having a crack at mead if you get the chance. I will definitely have a go at brewing it when home. After Stonehenge, we drove to Salisbury to visit the cathedral there. It is not the biggest cathedral, internally in the world, that's Saint Peter's in the Vatican. But it is pretty bloody big. It also has a huge spire(Britain's tallest), standing at 123m. The kids did an activity inside, which highlighted the fact that, because of the immense weight of the spire, the columns inside the cathedral had twisted under the weight. When you looked up while standing beside the columns you could really see it! Was kinda unnerving, and made me wanna get outta there. Realising that the tower has been standing for hundreds of years and that it was very unlikely to fall on me did little to help. Inside we saw the world's oldest working clock and the best-preserved of the four surviving original Magna Carta copies. A document that was created in 1215, stating that nobody was above the law, not even the king. Brought about by a bunch of barons who were not happy with the very unpopular at the time, King John of England. By now it was getting late, and we had a dinner at the pub to get to. We hightailed it back to Worthing, quick change of clothes and then followed Don to the pub. A couple of Guinness and a meal, only a couple as I drove. All the family were there and it was good to see all of them again. The kids are great, and play with their not quite three year old, second cousin once or twice removed or however that works, I don't know. The kids took Olivia out into the playground with no worries, and played games at the tables. It was a nice evening, and a nice chat, though with a long table you don't get to talk with everyone as much. We said goodbye and drove back. Had a couple of whiskeys when we got back and went to bed.
2.9.2025. We're headed for Arundel Castle today. A castle that is both open to visit(for a price) and still occupied by the 17th Duke of Norfolk. It was a bit rainy but that didn't stop us. We walked around the gardens, the castle wasn't open yet. We saw swans in the pond and other birds. We saw so many different types of plants and flowers, my favourite were the heliotropes. A beautiful small blue flower that to me, smelled like sweet vanilla. I was tempted to grab an apple or pear from the orchard, but I resisted. There were fountains and pools with fish. A fountain with a crown floating on top of it. Kids loved that one. Then we went into the castle. We did the keep first, where the kids got to do some dress up and fight each other with wooden swords and shields. I was waiting for that to go badly, but it didn't. After the keep, the castle was open and we went in there. Lots of the usual stuff, weapons and armour decorating the place. We saw the room that was redecorated for the Queen's visit in 1846, the 13th Duke internally remodelled the whole castle. This was for a 3 day visit! Lucky she didn't stay for a week, the whole town would have had a makeover. On the way out there was a shop and a cafe, no surprise there. We grabbed some lunch, reasonably priced sandwiches, and headed back to the car. We dropped the hire car back and walked to Don and Mandy's. When we got back, Emma and Mandy went, wait for it, riding Millie the horse again! More chatting and a nice last dinner together, before bed.
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