Understandably there haven’t been many housesits kicking around lately. Due to the current circumstances, people are naturally reluctant to go away. Furthermore, the rules and regulations regarding quarantine are changing all the time. In fact, there are still many countries that you still can’t travel to from the UK and the list seems to be shrinking instead of expanding! Consequently, housesitting has been hit hard. We have, however, been lucky enough to have had a flurry of housesits over the last few weeks. Additionally, although we can’t travel, we are remaining positive about the future and still dreaming of and planning for future adventures.
Last week we were housesitting in the village of Patcham, on the outskirts of Brighton. Initially, we were supposed to be caring for two dogs, but their owners changed their plans and the dogs joined them on their trip. Consequently, we were in the unusual position of doing a housesit without any pets. We made use of the time to do lots of writing and also watched the French Open Tennis. Indeed, the tournament should have been played back in May, but was sabotaged by COVID-19. This week, however, we are back to cat-sitting and are once again surrounded by furry friends.
A Double Whammy of Cat-Sitting
Actually, we are having to split housesitting duties. Not wanting to take any chances, we had double-booked, thinking that there might be a cancellation due to the unpredictability of the current situation. As it happened, neither of them were cancelled. Housesits can be like buses – you wait for ages and then two or three come along at once! Consequently, T has headed back to the Patcham area and is cat-sitting for Albert (also known as Little Al) for a few nights, while Ku is in Brighton cat-sitting for Pauli and Sweetie.
Introducing Patcham
Anyway, back to Patcham. The village is situated at the foot of the South Downs National Park. Rural Patcham was, in fact, originally separated from Brighton by three miles of fields and was a small country parish. Over the years the city sprawl extended. Finally, Patcham officially became part of Greater Brighton in 1928.
Patcham’s historical core, the main thoroughfare being Old London Road, remains intact. There are lots of cottages, one of them dating back to the 15th century. Additionally, many of the buildings that line the road are listed. The Elizabethan Cottage Tandoori is housed in one of the historical buildings and also a restaurant which serves Bangladeshi and Indian dishes.
The village is also home to a traditional bakery known for its ‘Patcham Pasties’. As a matter of fact, Ku made the mistake of asking for a Cornish pasty the first time she went in and was sternly reprimanded! For overseas readers who may not be familiar with Cornish pasties, they are a pastry filled with seasoned meat, vegetables and potato. Although a speciality of the county of Cornwall, they are a popular snack throughout the UK.
The Art-Deco clock tower, situated on the green, was built in the 1930’s to advertise the development of the Ladies Miles Housing Estate. With a clock on each of its four sides, it’s a prominent landmark in the vicinity.
A Hike on the South Downs
Being situated close to the South Downs, there are several walks to do in the vicinity including Devil’s Dyke and Ditchling Beacon. The hike that we did took us through Coney Woods, situated on a steep hillside, overlooking Patcham.
We discovered a couple of shelters made from the branches of trees – potentially useful for when we don’t have a housesit! As we walked, dappled sunlight shone through the trees and orange autumnal leaves covered the trail.
Eventually, we emerged on the grassy open space of Green Ridge which is overlooked by Patcham Windmill. It was an enjoyable walk on a beautiful September day and we hadn’t even realised that the trail existed before we set off.
A Night in a Downtown Hotel
After our stay in Patcham, we had a gap in housesits, and so we spent a night at the Ibis Hotel in Brighton. In fact, we used some of our Agoda points that we had gathered in Mexico and Colombia and managed to get a pretty good deal. Despite the present 10.00 pm pub curfew, together with bouts of heavy rain, it sounded as if there were a lot of revellers on the city streets. Indeed, it wasn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep! We arrived bleary-eyed ready to start cat-sitting duties next morning.
The Story of Pauli
We have been cat-sitting regularly for Sweetie and Pauli for many years. Originally, Sweetie, a dark-haired Persian, was the only cat in the household. Pauli was a cheeky street cat who used to sit in the garden and look longingly in through the kitchen window. Sweetie’s owner, Adele, used to put a bowl of food outside for him. Pauli persevered, waiting patiently, occasionally being allowed in if it was raining. Finally, the inevitable happened – Adele gave in and consequently Pauli has officially joined the household!
Our First Post-Lockdown Pub Lunch
We managed to get together with our friends, Grant and Kevin, for a meet-up at the newly-refurbished Lewes Road Inn. Previously, it was a dive, but these days it looks good inside and out and we enjoyed out first post-lockdown pub lunch. The speciality is pizza and it was pretty good too!
North Laine Street Art
The house is only a short walk away from the North Laine, Brighton’s most colourful neighbourhood. As a matter of fact, being in the area has been a great opportunity to check out some of the new street art on the scene. Indeed, there is an intensity of art in the area, especially around Bond Street Laine and Trafalgar Lane. However, if you look hard enough, it can also be found in many of the nooks and crannies throughout the North Laine. As a result, it’s a great part of the city to explore for anyone who loves street art. Here are a few new creations that we have discovered since we were last here:
Housesitting
We have been housesitting for a long time now and it’s been a great way to see the world and meet an array of wonderful cats and dogs. We are registered with TrustedHousesitters, one of the largest housesitting websites in the world.
(Affiliate Disclosure: We are affiliated with TrustedHousesitters. This means that if you were to click on the above link and take out membership, we would receive a small commission. We only affiliate with companies who we have used ourselves).
It looks like a nice little corner of England. I like the windmill. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading the blog – glad you like the windmill – it’s a nice spot.
Love that street art and Paulie is a cutie. Forgive my ignorance but what are Patcham pasties? I’m familiar with Cornish pasties, they are well know in South Australia because of a lot of Cornish family history here (including some of my ancestors 😊)
Thanks for your comments. Patcham pasties are essentially no different to Cornish pasties. They have just decided to claim the name Patcham pasties because they are baked in Patcham rather than Cornwall!
Oh I get it! Kind of like in South Australia we have a pie floater, a meat pie in a bowl of green peas then with vinegar and tomato sauce on top 😋 and god forbid any other state claiming to do it better. 😂
Exactly!!
I always said cats are good for your health and wellbeing! Animals are a true tonic, so I’m glad you’ve been sharing your world with such gorgeous furry friends. And Patcham looks a great place too.
Thanks for your comments. I agree – being around animals is really beneficial to wellbeing! We are lucky to housesit for some lovely cats and are certainly getting our cat-fix at the moment!
The title of your post is purrrfect 🙂 The street art is amazing, I love aimlessly wandering through towns/neighborhoods that showcase artwork! Such talented people out there. Also those little cottages are so quaint and charming I love the aesthetics! xo
Ha Ha! Thank you! We love street art too and always seek it out wherever we happen to be. Brighton’s street art scene has grown considerably over the last few years.
We were due to do a housesitting, in Hove, just as lockdown began. We’d already met the guys and their dog, visited their house and been for a Devil’s Dyke walk. We were disappointed that we were unable to do the sit. They actually contacted us recently but things have changed as we now have our own dog. I guess we might be looking for Trusted Housitters in the future! Love the cat photos and the artwork.
We had the same thing. We had several housesits lined up when we came back from Colombia, but of course they were all cancelled. It was really disappointing. You could always contact us if you need a housesitter – just in case we happened to be available! Zeph is beautiful!
cat sitting must be a perfect job:)
Yes – we love our cats! 😺
I really admire you two for getting out there and having the time of your lives. I do some pet sitting in my own city, while others go away – but no one is going anywhere yet around here. I’ve kept my own home base so I have a place to stay. Winters are a bit too cold here in Winnipeg to sleep outside.
Hi! Thank you for your kind words. We won’t be going anywhere for a while as England is under lockdown again for a month starting tomorrow! You have been very sensible in keeping your own home! Let’s hope the housesitting scene returns to normal sooner rather than later! 😊
Those little faces 😊😊 i love cats, sounds like a fantastic way to travel.
They are so cute, aren’t they? We are in lockdown without cats at the moment, but all being well we will be returning to Pauli and Sweetie in December. We get cat withdrawal symptoms when we aren’t housesitting!