The beach fishing fleet at Hastings

We were supposed to be going with our friends Al and Liz to the Cambridgshire race meeting today but we didn't know how things would be with Doreen so we had to cancel the trip. In the event she is still with us so it was probably the right thing to do.

However, as it was a lovely day we decided to take a trip to Hastings Country Park and walk the coastal path from Firehills (near Fairlight) to Hastings and back, stopping at the Mermaid fish and chip shop for lunch and finishing off with a large (in my case) ice cream before the walk back to Firehills.

It was a good day, getting out was a real tonic; just what the doctor ordered. The fish and chips were up to their usual standard and very welcome after the rollercoaster walk up and down three steepsided valleys between Firehills and Hastings.

Excellent fish, as expected, but the chips, oh! the chips proper chip shop chips, hot, crunchy and fluffy. Like I remember them and like they should be.

The walk back is much easier once you've climbed the 100 odd steps to the Country Park. The path follows the heads of those sneekily steep valleys, gradually climbing to the finish.

The working beach at Hastings is a gift to photographer, particularly in the warm light of a September afternoon. The Hastings fleet is the largest beach launched fleet in the country with the boats surrounded by a sea of fishing detritus of great variety.

All in all, a day of re -creation in its original meaning.