Battle Proms at Hatfield House

Every year there are a series of outdoor picnic music events around the country known as Battle Proms.   The events are an opportunity for people to get out and enjoy the summer weather, good company, great music and beautiful fireworks and other displays.

As the name suggests it has a military feel with air displays, cavalry shows and patriotic music. This year was a celebration of 200 years since Napoleon retreated from Russia in 1812, so Tchaikovsky's famous 1812 Overture was featured proudly.

Our friends Amy and Elliott discovered the event taking place at nearby Hatfield House where they were married and invited us to come along.  Hatfield House is a beautiful historic estate, known best as the location where Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1588.

Last night heralded the first of true summer weather, so it was a perfect evening spent with good friends.

Here are a few photos and videos of the event.  Conrad in particular may enjoy the videos of the Blades Aerobatic Display Team and Spitfire flyover.

Thanks again Amy and Elliott for a great evening together!

A Winter Escape to the Beach :: Camber Sands

Seeking a last minute escape and a way of using some free train tickets, we sought out a beach escape on the South Coast. We had no real idea of where we wanted to go, simply that it should be walking distance to the beach and accept a dog - obviously!

As of Boxing Day we had not found anything, but at about 6pm we found 'The Warrens' - a lovely little beach themed house in the village of Camber, near Rye. We phoned the owners, who were thoroughly enjoying their Boxing Day meal - and explained we were looking for a last minute getaway. They were happy to let us have the whole four bedroom house for a very good deal starting the next morning. As you can see - it was a lovely little hideaway.

Camber Sands is a 2.5 mile long and half a mile wide (at low tide) sandy beach with a long stretch of dunes as well. It is quite a busy place in the summer, but the last week of December is pretty empty - mostly populated by just dog walkers and windsurfers.

The solitude was exactly what we wanted in order to have some good quality beach time with Guinness. Besides the extreme wind, which caused some serious ear flapping, he was extremely excited to run, swim and chase his toys on the beach.

He particularly enjoyed playing in the dunes - see video at the end of this post for some live action!

Even though we were only down in Camber for two days it was very peaceful and a lovely way to get away from it all.

Here are a few videos of our excursions on the beach and in the dunes, enjoy!

For more videos of Guinness check out our shared folder on dropbox - drop us an email if you didn't get the link