Last month, Karyo’s mum, Anastasia, arrived from her home in Greece for her annual visit. On this visit, we had arranged two house sits for her to share with us.
During May she already joined us in Manchester on house sit number one. This month we all headed to East Wittering for house sit number two.
We’re always telling Anastasia how much we love how the size, style, and location of our house sits are never two the same. To prove our point, we purposely chose two very different house-sitting experiences for her to share with us during this visit.
Lesley, the owner of a beautiful house in the West Sussex coastal village, of East Wittering had invited us to care for her home and two dogs for a couple of weeks whilst she went on holiday.
After leaving Manchester, getting to East Wittering was a gruelling five-hour train journey. Longer than it had taken Karyo’s mum to get from Thessaloniki to Manchester!
However, on arrival, we all agreed that the long journey had been well worth it. It was instantly obvious that this was going to be a great stay.
The Host
When we applied for this house sit, we explained to Lesley we were looking for a house sit where Anastasia could join us.
She said she had no problem with the three of us staying and could not have been more welcoming.
On our arrival, she kindly picked us up at the train station and gave us a tour of the local area on the way back to her home.
As Lesley was not due to leave for her holiday until the following morning she had prepared an evening meal for us all.
Finally, as the icing on the cake, she gave us the keys to her car to use whilst she was away. This rarely happens in the UK!
When we did house sits in Australia and New Zealand last year, it was common for the home hosts to offer us the use of their car during our stay but this was the first time it had happened to us in over 50 sits we have done in the UK.
The car proved to be a real bonus and made it far easier for us to discover more of the area.
The Home
This stay in East Wittering was our 63rd house sit.
We have stayed in many homes of all shapes, and sizes, in a wide variety of locations. This one was special, and instantly up there with the best!
On the ground floor, was a bathroom and three large bedrooms, each with sliding doors that opened to give an amazing sea view.
Upstairs was one huge room. One side of the room was an open-plan kitchen and dining area, the other side was the living area.
From the living area, floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors opened onto a large balcony that looked into the garden.
As we were on the top floor, the sea view from here was even better than we had from the bedrooms!
The end of the garden was literally touching the beach!
Also In the garden, was a separate, self-contained one-bed studio guest apartment.
An amazing house in an amazing location!
The Pets
We had two dogs in our care for this house sit.
Bailey, a six-year-old cockapoo and Poppet, a five-year-old mix-up that Lesley had rescued from the streets of Portugal.
The dogs got on well with each other and had a dog flap so they could let themselves in and out of the garden whenever they wanted.
With the beach on the doorstep, and because both dogs were great off-leash, our daily, early morning beach walks were a delight.
The Area
East Wittering
The village of East Wittering had a relaxed, seaside vibe with a good selection of shops, restaurants, and cafes catering for locals and tourists alike.
The beaches are pebbly here so not great for lying on, however, it is a good place for swimming as there are no strong currents.
Karyo braved a dip during our stay but I chickened out as the water was still a tad too chilly for me!
The Bracklesham Bay Tea Room is a few minutes’ drive from our house sit.
This is a really lovely place to go either for an afternoon coffee/tea and slice of cake or to treat yourself to a posh full afternoon tea.
There wasn’t a crust to be seen on the sarnies at this place!
The tea rooms are set in a beautiful thatched cottage surrounded by a picturesque country garden that was in full June bloom whilst we were there.
Karyo’s mum is a keen gardener herself and loves all things floral so this was a favourite place of hers to visit.
Out and About
As the house we were staying in was so lovely and in such an amazing location it was difficult to tear ourselves away.
However, as we had the car at our disposal, getting out and about was very easy and with many places to visit within an easy half-hour drive from our house sit, we were never stuck for a choice of somewhere new to go!
West Wittering
With a quick drive or a decent walk, we could follow the coast from East Wittering to its neighbouring West Wittering.
Once there, a beach bar and cafe made a great pit stop before heading back home again.
Despite being a relatively small village, West Wittering is a very popular holiday destination.
The main reason for this is that the village boasts one of the most beautiful beaches in England. The soft sandy beach here stretches as far as the eye can see.
The water at West Wittering Beach is shallow, making it perfect for families. It is also very popular with surfers, paddleboarders and kayakers.
With many famous stars, including actress, Kate Winslet, Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, singer, Michael Ball and Actor, Nicholas Lyndhurst all calling West Wittering home, don’t be surprised if you happen to bump into an A-lister as you stroll along the sandy beach!
Selsey
A twenty-minute drive from East Wittering took us to Selsey, a seaside town at the southern tip of West Sussex.
Selsey is situated eight miles out into the Solent. Its claim to fame is that it has more sunlight hours than anywhere else in the UK. For this reason, it is often referred to as the sunshine capital of the UK.
The town has a proud fishing heritage. The crab caught here is world-famous and is said to be amongst the best in the world.
As well as the beach, there is also a pretty high street, lined with pubs, cafes, and quaint independent shops to tempt you into an afternoon of retail therapy.
The skies of Selsey were made famous thanks to Sir Patrick Moore.
Before he died in 2012, he had been a resident here and presented the popular ‘The Sky at Night’ BBC television programme from his own home.
Thanks to Sir Patrick, Sky watching is still very popular here.
From May to November, the Milky Way can be viewed in Selsey with the naked eye.
Bognor Regis
Less than a half-hour drive east from East Wittering is the seaside resort of Bognor Regis.
Before this visit the only thing I knew about Bognor Regis was that there was once a Butlins holiday resort there – to my surprise, there still is!
It has been there since 1960 and is one of only three still doing business under the ‘Butlins’ banner.
You would think the town would be thriving with such a huge holiday resort here. Sadly this does not seem to be the case.
As a town, it seemed to have the same problem that many popular foreign holiday destinations have when cursed by too many all-inclusive hotels in their resort.
Thousands of tourists flock to the holiday destinations but then choose to spend all their time, and more importantly, all their money within the hotel complex.
Surrounding, local businesses do not benefit at all.
This phenomenon can be seen when walking the streets of Bognor Regis. Annually, Butlins welcomes around 400,000 holidaymakers through its shiny gates, but many never venture beyond the resort gates.
To be fair, it is not the worst seaside town centre we have ever visited, but truthfully, with a few too many closed units and a few too many charity shops, it was starting to look like a town struggling to survive.
The good news is that Bognor Regis continues to be a popular tourist destination.
With its sandy beaches, long promenade, pier, amusement parks, and typical UK seaside resort atmosphere, hopefully, it will still be welcoming sun and fun-seeking holidaymakers for many years to come.
Bosham
A half-hour drive north from East Wittering is the very pretty little village of Bosham, known as one of the most photogenic locations on the South Coast.
It is only a small village but had more than enough charm, history and photo opportunities to keep us happy for a few hours.
The church here, ‘The Holy Trinity’, is one of the earliest churches in Sussex. There was a small Christian community in Bosham as far back as the 7th century, making it the oldest site of Christianity in Sussex.
In the small high street is a pub called the Anchor Bleu, built in 1741. This an ideal location to have a beer and watch, what locals refer to as ‘The Bosham sea car wash’
Twice a day sea water covers the roads around the shore in Bosham and those who don’t notice, or choose to ignore the ‘NO PARKING’ warning signs and leave their cars parked in this area often get caught out.
Only to return to find their car submerged in salty sea water!
Chichester
A half hour drive north east of East Wittering, in the heart of West Sussex is the historic city of Chichester.
As this was the nearest main town to where we were staying, we visited a few times during our stay,
Chichester is a historic city. Dominating the skyline here for almost a thousand years is the magnificent Chichester Cathedral.
The city centre here is thriving. No matter what day we visited, the streets were always busy with shoppers.
The Georgian streets are lined with an eclectic mix of independent shops intertwined with all the famous high-street names
There are four main streets. North Street, East Street, South Street, and West Street. All four streets meet at the Market Cross.
The Market Cross was built by Bishop Edward Story in 1501 to provide a covered market place for poor peasant traders.
All monies the traders earned from goods sold beneath the cross were theirs to keep in full, with no tolls payable to the city.
East Street is pedestrianised and filled with outdoor cafes and restaurants, perfect for taking a well-earned rest at the end of a busy Chichester shopping day!
A Sad Farewell
We loved our stay in East Wittering, feel very lucky to have been invited into such a unique property, and have our fingers crossed we might get invited back next year.
For now though, it was time for us to say goodbye.
Goodbye to East Wittering 😞, and also goodbye to Anastasia! 😔
Her 2024 UK visit had come to an end and it was now time for us to take her to Gatwick airport to catch her flight back to Greece.
As always, we loved having her with us and hope she will be taking home with her many good memories of her 2024 house and pet-sitting adventures with us in Manchester and East Wittering.
We are already mulling over where to take her when she joins us in 2025!
June House Sit Number Two
After waving goodbye to Anastasia, we continued north, back to London, for our second house sit in June.
Brockley
For our final (or so we thought) sit in June, we headed to Brockley, a large residential area of South London in the Borough of Lewisham, five miles south-east of Charing Cross.
We liked Brockley. With plenty of green space and its cool vibe, it felt like it would be a good place to live.
The main Brockley Road was filled with hipster coffee shops, multi-national cafes and restaurants, and a decent selection of independent shops.
The Pets
In our care in Brockley were two cats, Mabel and Stanley and two dogs, Coco and Noddy.
This was a short, one-week sit. Mabel and Stanley were indoor/outdoor low-maintenance cats so very easy to look after.
Coco and Noddy were best friends which made our lives very easy. They spent all their time either in the garden playing with each other or in the house asleep together.
Both dogs loved to chase a ball. There was a small park a short walk from the house which was handy to take them for daily ball throwing, and ball fetching exercise.
Brockley Food Market
We were told that every Saturday, in the Lewisham College Carpark, The famous Brockley Food Market takes place so we went along to take a look.
Going by the number of locals in attendance, if you live in Brockley, this is the Saturday place to be!
Stalls at the market piled high with all things edible and the best coffee in town, ran around the edge of the car park, and tables and seating were set up in the centre meaning anything bought could be taken away, or enjoyed on site.
We loved the community spirit on show here. Everyone seemed to know each other and were enjoying this popular weekly event. We would recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the area on a Saturday.
Hilly Fields Park & Midsummer Fayre
As well as the small park near our house sit, there also was a much larger park for us to take Noddy and Coco for their walks. This park was called Hilly Fields, and from our house sit, it was a twenty-minute walk to get there.
Hilly Fields is a huge park, as you might guess by its name, it is located on a hill.
The summit of Hilly Fields stands 175 feet above sea level and has amazing views over Lewisham and the City of London.
There are plenty of events in the park during the year. One of these events is the annual midsummer fayre.
Luckily for us, the date of the 2024 midsummer fayre coincided with the week we were there.
It was a sunny Saturday so we went along to check it out.
I have to say, it was the best community-led park event we have ever been to!
There were must have been more than a hundred stalls selling everything under the sun.
Bric-a-brac, antiques, old stuff, new stuff, food, drink, singing, dancing, competitions, a birds-of-prey display, a dog show and a fun fair.
This was the 64th anniversary of the Brockley midsummer fayre and undoubtedly was a really well community-organised something-for-everyone day out.
The weather is always a deal-breaker for these outdoor events so the organisers must have been delighted to open their curtains that morning to see the sun had come out, and it stayed out for the whole day.
The roads surrounding the area were jam-packed with cars as thousands of people flocked to enjoy the event. I am sure it was a great success and a lot of money was raised for various charities.
An unexpected third sit!
We only had two sits booked during June which filled the whole month, however during our stay in Brockley we were contacted by Warren.
Warren is another experienced sitter, he sits alone and was on a house sit in Hampton Court, not too far from where we were.
Father’s day fell in June, and he had been surprised by his daughter with tickets to see a show. As he was committed to a house sit with a dog he asked if we could help him out by taking over for a night.
To help him out, for one night only, Karyo stayed in Brockley and I went to Hampton Court.
The house was amazing. It was a huge seven-bedroom Victorian detached just a few minutes walk to the River Thames and a stone’s throw from Hampton Court Palace – very swish!!
The pet I was looking after was a Sprocker Spaniel named Louis.
He was a lovely dog, very well behaved and very lucky too!
He had a huge garden to play in and with the Thames walkways and Hampton Court Park on his doorstep, there was never a shortage of great walking destinations.
I was only with him for 24 hours but loved his company and was happy to have been able to help out another sitter in their hour of need.
Not all heroes wear capes!!
Although I went to Hampton Court purely as a favour for a fellow sitter, we did benefit by being introduced to a great potential house sit for the future.
I have left our number with the home hosts. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to return for a longer stay another time.
Where Next?
As always, the time whizzed by and June was almost gone.
I finished my one-night stay with Louis, then went to join Karyo in Brockley for the final day of that house sit before packing again in preparation for our upcoming two house sits booked in July – Brighton and Horsham.
More on that next time.
Until then, as always, thanks for taking the time to catch up with our whereabouts.
Hugs, Colin & Karyo x
