Was in the neighbourhood and visited Herstmonceux Castle and the Observatory Science Centre (the site of the former Royal Observatory at Herstmonceux).

Built originally as a country home in the 15th century, the moated red-brick Castle is most impressive. As is the avenue of sweet chestnut trees that date from the 1700′s, the walls of the Elizabethan walled garden, and a number of sundials in the formal gardens.

In 1946 the Admiralty bought the estate for the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and it became an important scientific institution for the next 40 years (until 1993 when it was acquired by Queen’s University of Canada, and is now an International Study Centre attracting students from around the world).

The Observatory Science Centre occupies the buildings that were the site of The Royal Observatory. The tour of some of the domes and telescopes highlighted how it was a world leading astronomical site for many years, though nowadays it is at the forefront of making science accessible with an excellent range of hands-on exhibits, activities and science shows. While children need to be accompanied by adults, thankfully as an adult I was able to play with the exhibits quite happily unaccompanied (it looked like all adults, parents and grandparents were having a great time too).

Big Pit is a real coal mine, and above ground felt strangely eerie – like an enormous ghost of the industrial age was still present from a time when the site was in full production.

It has stopped producing coal and now allows visitors to be guided around some of the underground tunnels. All of the guides are miners who have at least 5 years experience of working underground, their enthusiasm and passion for mining was almost overwhelming while being most engaging.

You need to be at least 1 metre tall to be able to go on the underground tour, for those above 1.5 metres tall you will be stooping and bumping your head at regular intervals!

The mine almost seemed magical – when we entered it was raining, cold, and low cloud hung over the valley. When we made it out the sun was shining and it was a very pleasant autumn day.