Arriving at the Tower
Friday 14th August 2020
Picked up a Zipcar in the afternoon and drove it down to Sussex. Stopped off at Middle Farm, which was quite close to the tower, to stock up on provisions and cider - probably the biggest selection of cider and perry of any shop in the country. Then spent the remainder of the day exploring in and around the tower.
Sussex August 2020
John's Pictures

15:10:29
The drive down wasn't much fun, and took longer than predicted - Google Maps said just over 2 hours, but it was over 3 in the end. Anyway, I was happy to arrive here at Middle Farm, a place I'd wanted to go for some time, as in addition to a farm shop it has probably the biggest collection of cider and perry in the country.

15:13:26
The incredible cider shop at Middle Farm.

15:17:21
Delighted to see Hecks Perry, an old favourite - in fact they had *several* varieties of Hecks Perry.

15:17:24

15:18:06
Also amazed to find Reddaway's here - the tiny little farmhouse producer I had visited with Dad once down in Devon.

15:22:35
My two purchases outside the cider shop.

15:22:39

15:25:28
Also went into the farm shop and was very pleased to see my favourite tomato producer (Nutbourne) well represented here.

16:02:11
On arrival at Laughton Place - really perfect timing in the end, check-in was supposed to be no earlier than 4pm. I arrived pretty much on the dot.

16:33:00
The lounge, this was on the first floor, a sort of mezzanine.

16:33:11

16:33:35
The kitchen, which occupied most of the ground floor, as seen from the steps leading up to the lounge.

16:33:57
The tower had some nice windows.

16:35:34
The master bedroom on the second floor.

16:35:44
The view from the master bedroom.

16:36:16
The second bedroom, on the third floor.

16:36:30
Nice window in this room.

16:36:37

16:40:57
The door to the roof, which I wasn't able to open to begin with, and had to go all the way back down the steps to the ground floor to look at the information booklet to figure it out.

16:41:02
Lots of steps!

16:44:11
Finally managed to get out onto the roof. I think this was probably my favourite bit of the tower, although the weather was unrelentingly glum throughout my stay, so the views were never as nice as they could have been.

16:44:51
The door which leads out onto the roof.

16:44:55

16:45:01
You can see the South Downs from here.

16:45:11

16:45:31
Looking back down to my car.

16:47:04

16:51:24

16:51:42

16:53:03
Thunderstorms were forecast (although never materialised), so it was reassuring to see these lightning conductors.

16:54:20
More windows.

16:56:37
I went for a quick stroll around the grounds to get some shots of the tower from various angles.

16:57:07

16:57:44
I particularly liked the shaped of it from the back.

16:58:24

16:59:18

17:01:30
Me in front of the kitchen window.

17:01:47

20:00:58
Later on, after dinner I suppose (?) I went up and stood on the roof again for a bit. Still the views were rather subdued.

20:01:05

20:03:16
Some cider (or possibly perry).

20:12:09
I did eventually take off my tweed cap, which had been hiding my terrible DIY haircut, given that there was nobody else around.

20:49:57
Night table lamp in the lounge.

21:33:25
Windows at night time.

21:34:27
Attempt to take a night time shot of the turret. Can't really see anything.

21:35:12
Somebody was firing flares in the distance.

21:35:18
Made for an interesting effect.

21:37:45
Me up on the roof of the tower at night.

21:42:19
Accidental shot of some brickwork.

21:47:25
Tried to use Night Sight on my camera to get a long exposure shot of the turret. I suppose you can at least see the silhouette of it here.

21:50:48
More not very successful attempts at night photography.

21:56:08