Enjoy a walk with your four-legged friend that includes stunning vistas and beachside fun
This walk combines cliff tops, a country park, a ride on the funicular, walks through parts of a town oozing with history and interest, the beach, pier, seafront and three cracking pubs along the way. Hastings has a unique atmosphere and the parts we go through have seen considerable change – for the better – in recent years. There’s so much of interest that all we can do is mention a few dog-friendly highlights.
The Walk
1. From the car park, walk back down the road for a few metres to the bottom of the East Cliff Lift. Take in the atmosphere of the fishing area known as the Stade, still home to the largest beach launched fishing fleet in Europe. Unique to Hastings and built to the same design since the 1830s, the black painted three-storey-high net shops were used to stow nets and canvass sails. Dogs are welcome in both the Shipwreck Museum and the Fishermen’s Museum. Almost opposite and set against the base of the cliff is the East Hill Lift, the country’s steepest funicular railway which dates from 1902. The cars are original but have been converted from water balance propulsion to electricity.
At the top of the lift, turn immediately right up a short set of steps into the country park. Follow the right-hand field boundary. Don’t let your dog through the bushes as they mark the cliff edge. Continue ahead and eventually you will start to drop down towards the next valley, Ecclesbourne Glen. Do not keep descending but bear immediately left and sharp left again with a short, sharp climb returning to the open fields that you’ve been walking around.
Now continue with the boundary again on your right-hand side. When you pass an entrance to the park, keep ahead. At the next gap in the hedge line, take the footpath that drops steeply down the side of the hill with a fence on the right-hand side. Keep following the path downhill. Then next to the large tile hung house, turn right. A few metres later, this will become a road called High Wickham.
2. Where the road bends right, take the steps dropping down on the left. A few metres further on, turn left, and drop down the steps. Carry on down the path to the end and when you get to the road bear left round all Saints Crescent. Drop down the steps and turn left at the end. After you’ve passed the church on the left-hand side, keep ahead down All Saints Street. Keep on the higher level walkway on the left-hand side which makes for an ideal traffic-free and dog-friendly route.
Here you can stop and take in the eclectic variety of ancient houses and cottages, some of which date from the 1450s. This part of the old town has formed the backdrop for numerous films and TV programmes and was the setting for TV’s Foyles War.
Drop down Bourne Passage on the opposite side of the road, cross the main road, go down Roebuck Street and at the end turn right along the old High Street. Continuing the walk, carry on to the far end of All Saints Street, cross the road and walk ahead to the promenade.
3. When you get to the other side, turn right along the seafront with the beach on your left and the amusement parks, boating lake and miniature railway on your right. No dogs are allowed on the beach between this spot and the pier between May and September.
It’s a great walk along the seafront down to the Victorian pier where dogs are welcome provided they are on a short lead.
4. Once you have been down the pier, retrace your steps back to point 3 but carry on past the end of All Saints Street. The Mermaid on the quieter section of Rock-a-Nore Road allows dogs at its outside tables with a water bowl on hand, just a few metres away from the car park where you started.
Compass Points
Start & Finish: Public pay and display Rock-a-Nore Car Park Rock-a-Nore Road.
Sat Nav: TN34 3DW.
Distance: 3.5m (5.6km)
OS Map: Explorer 124, Hastings & Bexhill.
Grid ref: TQ 827095.
Terrain: Paths and grassy walks in the country park with a fairly steep descent back into the town, pavements and beach. If the East Hill Lift isn’t working, it’s a stiff climb up steps to the country park. Check the link via visit1066country.com/things-to-do/cliff-railway.
BOOK CREDIT: Edited extract taken from East Sussex Dog-Friendly Pub Walks by David and Hilary Staines Weller (Countryside Books, £8.99).
