This is probably a long shot, but I thought I’d put it out there anyway.
First of all, who is ‘Mad Jack’?
Jack Fuller was a village squire during the Georgian era, and a builder of
follies; his handiwork is still scattered around the rolling terrain in my patch of East Sussex.
He was a staunch Conservative (not much change in the political landscape), elected to parliament thrice, and in addition to the less-than-honorific now welded to his name was known as 'Hippopotamus' due to his almost 22 stone. Underneath his bust in the church is the inscription: "Nothing is of use which is not honest.”
He ended his political career in a torrent of wild commotion during a parliamentary debate of a disastrous military campaign in which he more or less lost his wits and had to be taken into custody by the Sergeant at Arms. Somewhat calmed afterwards, he turned a new leaf and devoted the rest of his life to cultural pursuits, including the patronage of acquaintance J.M.W. Turner.
He’s buried here:
Yes, that’s a pyramid, a mini-me to its Egyptian big brothers.
Now that you know a bit about Jack, on to the tour. What I’m offering is this. If you like cycling, you’re welcome to turn up at Etchingham station (75 minutes down the line from London) some fine day at our mutual convenience for a guided tour of the area.
You’ll need your own bike. This isn’t a sporty ride (ie, there’s no rush), which is why I didn’t post in the sports section, though you’d need to be reasonably fit to go up the hills which make it so pretty. {There's no shame in walking your bike up the steep bits.}
This would be tailored to the rider(s), anywhere between 15 to 30 miles, through some
very fine countryside indeed. The literal high points would be Jack’s aforementioned follies, though granted the only one we'd get a really close look at is the pyramid, sitting atop a honking big hill.
We’d swing by Bateman’s, which
Rudyard Kipling called home for many years,
and could ride out to the lovely and very castle-y Bodiam Castle (go ahead and google it, you’ll see what I mean).
Roger Daltrey also lives hereabouts, and although we’re not exactly mates, I could show you
his country pile, as well as the mansion which used to be jointly owned by
Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. For Anthony Burgess fans, there's
the house where ‘A Clockwork Orange’ was written.
Note that I’m not a professional tour guide! I’m just a guy who likes riding bikes and who has picked up some local knowledge after living here for a while.
