Thursday 26 March 2009

Smuggling, a Cathedral, Robin Hood and Harry Potter - what's the link?


Dear Mr Postman .. today's positive letter looks so interesting and what on earth does link smuggling, a medieval Church, a thief and a magician to this county of ours: Sussex in the south of England? We will enjoy these tales ....

The Cathedral of the South Downs, as it has come to be called, is the parish church, built in 1360, in the village of Alfriston. The Church sits on a small, flint-walled mound in the middle of "the Tye" (the village green!) overlooking the River Cuckmere - and was unusually built in the shape of a cross.

The Cuckmere River was navigable inland for about 4 miles and the Steamer Trading cookshop in Alfriston reminds us of that trading history in the 1500s through its name, .. so goods could be brought up away from the coast, initially sailed up before the invention of the steam engine. The Smugglers Inn a few doors away from Steamer Trading had at one time 21 rooms, 6 staircases, and 48 doors .. making it ideal for the purposes of the smuggling gangs. To my surprise tea seems to have been one of the first major contrabands, as well as the expected brandy and gin ..

If you would like to see an idyllic English view from the Downs above Alfriston .. where my brother lives & is their view, when they walk to the top - straight from their house! - this site is advertising the 100 mile walk from my town of Eastbourne(above) to Winchester along the South Downs (in stages, I hasten to add, an essential element is the dropping down to the pubs at night .. Alfriston being the first or last stop!!).

As you can see the area has a magnificient backdrop .. and yesterday's post shows the picture of the coastguard cottages used as the postcard in the film "Atonement", while the beach was used for Kevin Costner's Robin Hood film, and in the Harry Potter "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" movie.

Well Mr Postman I must say you do keep us informed and I can see a few more interesting positive letters and articles flowing from these stories .. what will you bring tomorrow, I wonder .. thank you for visiting us again .. it's always so lovely to see you with one of your positive letters ....

8 comments:

Believe Achieve - Hugo and Roxanne said...

Hi Hilary!

Aha! I loved the title of this post! It made me curious and I surely wanted to know how they all linked with one another.

Great post! And your the pictures are most beautiful, too! :-)

Many Blessings....
Roxanne ~ Believe Achieve

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Thanks Roxanne .. just glad you wanted to look further and what linked them!

Glad you liked the pictures too ..

Thanks - Hilary: Positive Letters

Peter Baca said...

Hilary,

The scenery in English is so gorgeous! No wonder they do a number of films there!

The pictures were beautiful!

Regards

Pete Baca
The Car Entusiast Online

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Pete .. just so pleased you liked the pictures and the scenery. It's good to be able to look at another part of the world that someone else knows .. and perhaps relate to it a little .. I hope so!!

All the best - Hilary: Positive Letters

Unknown said...

Hilary, Good post. Good interesting title. This is what I believe that some times in the history political criminals for one regime became hero in new regime. Thank you for your article. Please continue to post about England history.

Shaw Funami
Fill the Missing Link

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Shaw .. thanks for commenting - the English history and how it set trends for our present day life is so interesting .. the cart always seems to come before the horse .. the smugglers before law and order!

Thanks for taking an interest with such a good note on historical criminals.

Good to see you - Hilary: Positive Letters

Giovanna Garcia said...

Hi Hilary
Great title, I love the photos on this post. And the information is very interesting as always.
Thank you for sharing,
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Gio
Thanks for visiting & enjoying the title, also it's easier to get a feel of the place if you can see photos of the area. I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the information.

Thank you for visiting
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters