Great Western Coffee Shop

Whoopee, I'm off for a few days to the Sussex coast on Sunday. Now, if I'm good, Boss Lady might be amenable to visit a heritage railway. If that is the case, apart from the obvious candidate of the Romney, Hythe and Dimchurch, can anyone recommend any other railway to visit within a short drive of Winchelsea where we will be based?

Kent & East Sussex Railway is well worth a visit. Tenterden is about a 30 minute drive from Winchelsea. Or start from the other end at Bodium and combine the railway with a visit to Bodium Castle. I can recommend the Castle Inn at Bodium too.

from my visit to the Kent & East Sussex and Bodium two years ago. Cheers!
(https://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt68/bignosemac/IMAG0610_zpsupdtagfj.jpg)

In the Bristol vernacular, cheers me babba, gert ace!

Er, donning my pedant's hat... Bodiam.

I think Bodium is a sort of cafetiere  ;D

Ah yes, Bodum sell coffee makers. I definitely would rather visit a castle than a cafetiere!

If a heritage railway or the RHDRly prove impractical the Marshlink line is a super journey, and the views give a great insight into the Marshes. Winchelsea - Hastings - Ashford and back to Winchelsea  is a great way to spend a couple of hours. OK, it's not steam, but there you go . . .

Stopping off at Rye for lunch and a walk around the harbour, now many miles inland.

There is also a walk along the Rye and Camber tramway to Camber Sands with the 100 bus returning you to Rye station

East Kent at Shepherdswell for something a little different.

Shouldn't that be gert lush, or am I now a generation out?

Both are used, in fact when I first arrived in Bristol in late 1969 it was definitely "ace" I heard more.....like!

Apologies for the smelling pistake. :-[

However, as johnnyw pointed out, the kitchenware company is Bodum, and they make French Presses, not cafetières. :)

Not much parking at Bodiam I seem to recall.  Better to park further up the line and arrive there by train; more interesting as well.

Bodiam castle is straight out of a child's picture book.  4 round towers, one in each corner,proper gatehouse,portcullis (with murder 'oles for boiling oil) curtain wall and a moat. One word of warning...the drawbridges are very narrow , and if it is very windy, you could get an unexpected ducking, especially if the wind is 90 degrees to your direction of travel. Nothing to hold on to if you overbalance ...except your fellow traveller !

Two shots from Bodiam. The castle car park can be seen just behind the loco, 5 mins amble from the station.

(https://i.postimg.cc/131BYGXK/20120918-4078.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

(https://i.postimg.cc/FHbptYJX/20120918-4155.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

Thanks for all the information. Just got back and although the the weather nationwide was not exactly akin to Ibiza in summer, we managed to dodge quite a few bullets as far as the rain was concerned.
Bodiam Castle proved too tempting to miss and didn't disappoint. As mentioned on this thread, parking for Bodiam Station was non existent but we were parked at the Castle and it was a five minute stroll from there. Time constraints meant there was no time to ride on the Kent and East Sussex Railway but we were there in time to see a service arrive and leave.
Compensation came in the form of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway the following day, starting and finishing from the rather surreal landscape that surrounds Dungeness Railway Station.
Came across the grave of Spike Milligan in Winchelsea, quite by accident and found out his famous "I told you I was ill" epitaph is actually written in Irish (something to do with overcoming objections from somebody or other).
Rye is a delight and so we are now watching a DVD of the 1986 Channel 4 adaptation of E F Benson's 'Mapp and Lucia'. "Tilling on Sea" looks the same now is it did then!

There is a stark beauty about the landscape at Dungeness. I love it. Even with the fizzy bang station looming large over the area.

Must go back there again.

Spike Milligan was actually the holder of an Irish passport. Being born in India, he had to obtain British nationality, but refuse to take an oath of allegiance. As his father was Irish, he had no difficulty in obtaining Irish citizenship. The Irish government to this day will grant a passport to anyone who can show that their grandfather was a citizen of the Isaland of Ireland.

It was the Diocese of Chichester that didn't want the famous epitath in its graveyard, wanting to avoid setting a precedent of jokey remarks on gravestones.. Writing it in Irish was a compromise that the diocese was okay with. I'm sure it appears in one of his books, but I'm not certain which. Probably Puckoon.