The next stage of our walk starts in Portslade / Shoreham Harbour..  We drive along the road between the harbour and the sea which is fairly industrial and surprisingly find a little car park where people are parked to go on the beach and there’s wcs and a little cafe!! We walk down towards the harbour entrance and along the harbour wall – the view looking back towards Brighton is incredible. The i360 is open at last and going up and down in the bright sunshine!

We then drive a really long way right round the harbour which extends in both directions, finally arriving at Shoreham Fort. The Fort looks very unimpressive from the car park but oh my it’s an amazing site. Firstly we admire the cafe – a tiny shed with the fabulously invented name of Food for Fort.

The fort was built in 1857 into a mound as a disguise – it’s a fabulous brick structure with housings for six cannons and a lower wall with slits for archers. Sadly the back part of the building is long gone which would have housed the volunteers.

We then start our walk along the coast, firstly on pebbles and soon on a welcome boardwalk – the plastic is not aesthetically pleasing but oh so much easier underfoot than pebbles. The beach is in fact a nature reserve – there is a wonderful array of wildflowers and cabbage like plants – even a wild rose with some stunning red rose hips.

We admire the beachfront houses which have largely been renovated and look extremely desirable residences this time of year. One house has a bath on the upper floor where you would be able to soak and enjoy the incredible view of the English Channel!

The boardwalk sadly ended and we continued on pebbles and soon a concrete path between colourful beach huts and the massive lagoon. As the tide went out we walked onto the sand below the groynes until Shoreham gave way to its neighbouring Lancing on Sea.

We had checked Trip Advisor and were looking out for the modern building which is the home of The Perch Cafe. Trip had rave reviews and we were certainly not disappointed. Inside was a welcome, cool and airy with a sit down restaurant, bar seating area and two bars – one for coffee and one for food and drinks. The menu to eat outside was limited but exactly what we were looking for. Having ordered chips topped with steak strips and blue cheese and chips with fish strips we grabbed our cold Sol topped with lime and headed outside.

The square bench seats were perfect to enjoy the sea view in the sunshine while we eagerly anticipated our food. The grub soon arrived and I am delighted to report these were the best chips I have EVER tasted – skin on / cut not too thick / cooked to perfection – crispy on the outside and soft centre!!! The fish strips and steak and cheese topping were “melt in the mouth” – we will definitely be back here! I can imagine a perfect retreat in the colder months after a brisk seafront stroll.

We were sad to leave The Perch but carried on, rounding the bend to see Worthing Pier ahead. Having lived in Sussex all my life it seems quite surprising that I have never visited Worthing (or Shoreham or Lancing come to think of it). They are all lovely bustling seaside resorts – from the seafront side anyway as we didn’t see much of the town centres.

Worthing Pier gradually came closer and closer and we wandered along the sand.. An amazing modern building on the seafront turned out to be the new leisure centre – wow!

We struggled to find the entrance to the pier which turned out to be around the side of the domed theatre building. Oh what a lovely pier – we wandered down the west side admiring the art and reading the interpretation on the glass wind shelter. There were deckchairs out, amusements and an inviting looking cafe at the end serving their own beer.We enjoyed the simple pleasure of slotting two pennies into the machines and watching our coins slowly diminish until we sadly had just an empty plastic pot..

Having walked this far and the sun still shining we decided to walk just a little further before catching the Coastrider bus back to Shoreham and re-tracing out steps along the boardwalk to the fort and our car.