Mosaics, boat houses and Piers (Shoreham by Sea ~ England)

 Second week in August

Our next destination in the UK with Doris was Shoreham by sea but before this was a Beagles family get together. Unfortunately a few people were missing but still quite a crowd.

Must admit we didn't know a huge amount about the Shoreham  area and our choice on the coast was mainly driven by what accommodation was available. 

A bit of googling once we were there revealed the presence of the remains of a Roman Villa at Bignor, a short distance from Shoreham, that has been open to tourists since the early 1800's when the mosaics were first found (they know this as they still have a visitor's book from back then). 

Have to say that the mosaics are quite stunning and something I, Richard, would like to try my hand at one day (when I retire - not long now).

Shoreham by-sea is bound by the sea to the south and the Shoream river to the west, and along the banks of the river is a nice long walkway. It was in one of our morning perambulations along this path when we spotted a very odd collection of modified boats. The walking path runs along side them and then all have connections to power, water and sewage and have postal addresses. 

What is odd is that they are all extremely high and dry and they might get a bit of water under the an extreme king tide. From what I can gather about 30 to 40 years ago a local eccentric found himself homeless and decided to live on a modified boat in Shoreham (as being a modified boat it wasn't constrained by the usual building rules and regulations). There's even a facebook page for the group. Plus a handful of them are available to book via AirBnB.

This was a very recent addition and was once a minesweeper. What I want to know is who advertises a minesweeper for sale.

Being on the coast a visit to a local Pier was of course mandatory, and the nearest one was a short drive away at Worthing. Very typical pier of the UK with lots of shops selling rock candy, a small fair and if course an amusement arcade. In the distance is the remains of the old Pier at Brighton that burnt down a couple of decades ago.

Tucked out of the way in Worthing is a small memorial garden dedicated to all the carrier pigeons that died in the service of UK in WW I - v odd.

Whilst down that way we checked out the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. This place was built as the retreat for the then Prince Regent (future King George IV) and was decorated with a mixture of Indian and Chinese motifs - again quite odd.

Banisters made of wood and carved the painted to look like bamboo.

From here it's back to Warminster for a few days and then off to Penzanace (where every days is "Talk Like A Pirate Day") to catch up with Liz and Bill - old friends who have retired there.