Industrial

Jack and Jill Windmills is the popular name for a pair of 19th century windmills on a hill overlooking the village of Clayton, 7 miles north of Brighton. Surprisingly, they are also known as the Clayton Mills, the names ‘Jack and Jill’ being thought to date from day-trippers in the 1920s.  In fact, there are the remains of three mills on the site.

Jill is a restored 19th century corn windmill, the restoration work being mostly undertaken by volunteers in their spare time.  She is open to the public on limited days and run by the Jack and Jill Windmills Society, though owned by Mid Sussex District Council.

In fact, the first mill on the hill (so to speak) was Duncton Mill, constructed in 1765. This was demolished in 1866, with part of it remaining as a store, to be replaced by Jack. Jack is a tower mill, used to grind corn, and worked until the early part of the 20th century. It is now a private residence.  Allegedly, a skeleton, dating from the Anglo-Saxon period, was found on the site in the 1920s, when the ground was being dug for a water tank.

Jill was originally Lashmar's New Mill, built in 1821 on the outskirts of Brighton.  The land being required for development, in 1852 the mill was dismantled, the parts hauled up the hill and rebuilt on the current location.

Whether Jill is open or not, a visit to Jack and Jill Windmills is rewarding for the views over the Downs alone. The mills themselves are very photogenic too.

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway is a heritage railway running steam and diesel locomotives on a former branch line of the Furness Railway. The line is just over 3 miles long, between Lakeside Station at the southern tip of Lake Windermere and Haverthwaite (journey time about 20 minutes). Steamers run to Lakeside from Windermere and Ambleside. At Haverthwaite Station are all things railway, including engine sheds where locos can be inspected. Thomas the Tank Engine has been known to visit sometimes.

The National Coal Mining Museum of England is located at a former colliery, Caphouse, which was in production for more than two hundred years.  There are several galleries that showcase the technology of mining and working underground, illustrate what mining was like in the 19th century and tell the stories of the miners, their families and their communities.  You can see where miners began and ended their working days – at the Pithead Baths.  You can even meet some pit ponies.  The highlight of a visit, however, is a trip underground, 460 feet (140 metres) beneath the surface equipped with your miners’ hat and lamp.  The tours are led by experienced (and often amusing) ex-miners, who tell you to ‘shut tha’ trap’ and explain when you are ‘done and dusted’.  The underground tour really brings home the harsh realities of the dangerous and unpleasant conditions miners worked in, from the times when women and children worked alongside their men, to the 20th century when the pit closed.

The Ouse Valley Viaduct, aka the Balcombe Viaduct, is a photographer's dream. It isn't just its size - just under 1,500 feet long and about 100 high (450 x 29m), or the elegance of 37 brick arches stretching across the Sussex countryside, but the design. The arches are symmetrical and create an artistic tunnel - quite extraordinary. It is built of 11 million bricks, originally from Holland, but has been repaired so often with different bricks that it's now a kind of brick patchwork. Completed in 1842, it is a remarkable Victorian structure and carries more than 100 trains a day between London and Brighton. There's a small lay-by on Borde Hill Lane, between Balcombe and Haywards Heath, large enough for 2 or 3 cars. Take boots if it's wet.

A 15 inch gauge heritage railway, affectionately known as La'al Ratty - 'little railway' in the old Cumbrian dialect. It offers a 7-mile scenic ride between Ravenglass and Boot station.