Blackboys Inn

During the week we had a look through our Pub book and decided to drive south to Sussex. We'll cover the entire country and put on many pounds at this rate!

We chose the 'Blackboys Inn' in the village of Blackboys, near Uckfield. This charming old pub is a Grade 2 listed building built in 1389 with walls and beams inside over 600 years old. It's set back from the road and has a duck pond out front. James was enthralled with the ducks' house in the pond, complete with wooden ramp for lazy ducks with tummies full of bread. Inside, the dark beams were decorated with dried hops, and an eclectic assortment of antique prints, copper pots and all sorts of other old things covered the walls. I liked the chandelier hanging over the till! I have a particular interest in this area of Sussex as my ancestors resided in nearby Heathfield before emigrating to Melbourne. Armed with details from Uncle Peter (thank you!) I had six generations of family tree available to me!

We were early enough to get two round copper tables together in a nook next to a front window. As the boys explored outside in the sunshine I waited at the table and overheard a group of four ask the waitress for their reserved table. Their surname was Barrow. It was a good thing I was sitting down, as this is the surname of my ancestors and partially the reason we had decided to come down. I asked the gentleman about his name and apparently his Barrows come from north Kent. There may be a link there but it's probably a long shot. You have to laugh when strange coincidences like that happen!

So James had his usual Sunday lunch, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. He was a happy boy. I had a Stilton ploughman's and Martin had duck (probably the fattest one from the pond that couldn't get up the ramp!) Outside the day was warming up so after lunch out into the sunshine we went. My great-great Grandmother, Sarah Barrow, was born in the nearby town of Heathfield in 1858. She and the family emigrated to Melbourne in 1870. There are few old buildings left in Heathfield that date from this time and despite our best efforts and GPS we couldn't locate the church where Benjamin Barrow (Sarah's brother or father) was noted for his service as bell-ringer. I was just happy to see where they lived and wondered why they (or anybody) would leave this beautiful part of England to start a new life on the other side of the world.

Heading west homeward-bound, James asleep in the back, Martin plugged in the Ouse Valley Aqueduct. We parked on the side of the road, roused James and crossed a stile into a cow field to stand underneath this gorgeous old railway bridge. Built in 1841 as part of the London to Brighton line, and having 37 towering arches, it took our breath away. Such a marvellous engineering feat. It is still used for trains and we got excited every time one rumbled overhead!

As usual the sun set at 4.30 and it was dark by the time we got home.

Photos are here.