Car-free day out: the Sussex Art Shuttle to Charleston

By Paul Bromley 

It was something I’ve been meaning to do for a while – and a Friday at the start of a Bank Holiday weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity. 

I visited Charleston house and gardens at Firle near Lewes from Eastbourne using the Sussex Art Shuttle minibus. 

I’m not necessarily a fan of the Bloomsbury Group or fascinated by the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant but it’s somewhere on my list of places to see. 

The minibuses are operated by Cuckmere Buses and link Towner in Eastbourne with Charleston in Firle and the Charleston gallery in Lewes via East Dean, Seven Sisters, Litlington and Alfriston. It’s the perfect way to get between them without a car and beyond existing public transport links. 

The heavily-subsidised service started as a trial in 2023 and has continued. It runs on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from April to October. 

There are four services a day – operating about every two hours – and I opted for the first trip leaving from Towner at 1000. 

The bus is a 16-seater with branded livery. Single tickets cost £3 and an all-day (hop on, hop off) ticket is £5. Prices are correct on the Cuckmere Buses website but show last year’s prices on the Charleston website. 

I bought the all-day ticket, which also comes with a Green Traveller Discount, meaning 15% off entry to the house and exhibitions at Charleston. 

The journey there

As I boarded, the driver – they’re all trained volunteers by the way – asked me if I had booked for Charleston: I hadn’t. I asked if it was necessary and he told me many people book online in advance. 

It was an impromptu trip so I hadn’t planned in detail. Charleston’s website lets you book timed tickets for a 30-minute slot for the house and apply the Green Traveller Discount when you book. 

The driver said Fridays were the least busy and the service was often busier from Lewes to Charleston and Alfriston than it from Eastbourne. In total, four of us boarded at Towner. 

The bus goes along the A259 coast road through East Dean to the Seven Sisters Country Park.   

The ride is comfortable on main roads but less so on the narrow, winding Litlington Road. We had to slow or stop several times because oncoming traffic included wide cars, vans and a tractor. 

The route gives you lovely views of Cuckmere Haven, without the distraction of driving, and of the Litlington White Horse towards High and Over so the pauses can work in your favour. 

There’s a useful stop for walkers and hikers outside the Plough & Harrow pub at Litlington. Then it’s on to Alfriston before returning to the A27 for the short ride to Charleston’s long drive. You may recall the stories back in 2021 of public money being used to repair potholes on this stretch of track to the farmhouse: it’s very smooth! 

On arrival

We were due to arrive at 1039 and were only two minutes late which was more than reasonable given the slow progress through Litlington.  

The Charleston volunteer who had travelled on the bus with us from East Dean warned us that later pick-ups were often behind because of delays as the day wore on. I was aiming for the 1315 bus back, giving me 2.5 hours to see Charleston.

I had coffee in the café, in a lovely outbuilding with two outdoor seating areas. 

I then went to the house at about 1100 but it was full: the next available slot was 1200. 

Had I known this, I would have gone straight to the house. I was also worried that a slot at 1200 may not give me enough time to fully explore it and grab lunch before the 1315 bus back.

The art exhibition 

Since I had plenty of time before my slot, I paid for a combined ticket for the house and exhibitions at the gallery. This cost £28.50 (£20.50 for the house instead of the full price of £26.50 and £8 for the galleries instead of the normal £11). The Green Traveller Discount saved me £9.

The two gallery exhibitions are ‘Inventing Post-Impressionism: works from The Barber Institute of Fine Arts’ and ‘Izumi Kato’. 

I had more interest in the post-Impressionist paintings than the vividly coloured painted creatures of Izumi Kato. I guess I’m more Pissarro than Kato, but each to their own. 

The gallery tours took about 30 minutes which left me time to visit the pond and walled garden.

The gardens

Sculptures around the wooded area add to the artistic aesthetics and the beautiful gardens looked magnificent in the late August sunshine.

The decorated tiles of the pond were in keeping with the overall atmosphere. Even the raggedy, overflowing compost heap looked like it was part of the Charleston experience.

The Charleston house tour

Then I began a tour of the house. The first room is the kitchen: here the tone for the whole Bloomsbury group/artistic set is vividly displayed. The ceramics round the sink and the light fitting tell the story of an artistic couple who couldn’t see a surface without painting or decorating it. 

It’s the same throughout – every headboard, bath panel, fireplace, radiator, door, wall and recess was given a modernist makeover. One room guide gleefully told me the colour of the paint in the bathroom was Farrow & Ball Arsenic.

What’s noticeable are the large windows and extensive light in the rooms. This isn’t a stuffy National Trust property with heavy curtains and protective covers to preserve works. Instead, the house still lives with worn rugs and discarded personal items on show. 

My favourites were the Garden Room (one of the few rooms that was always used for that purpose as many of the others changed over time) and the studio.

The studio is a time capsule: there are discarded cigarette butts in the ash pan, squeezed tubes of paint laid out on yellowing newspaper, glasses cases on a side table and peeking out on the mantelpiece an invitation to the Midsummer Banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor of London. 

It’s not hard to imagine the artists hard at work in this area. And the north-facing window provides the perfect light for painters. 

The house tour took about 40 minutes which left me about half-an-hour before the bus was due. I skipped back through the gardens to the café for lunch outside. 

The journey back

Back at the pick-up point 1315 (the time the bus was due) came and went. I looked longingly at the end of the track, willing the minibus to appear. Fortunately, there was some shade on a hot day. 

The words of the Charleston volunteer that later buses were often delayed played in my head … until the brightly coloured minibus arrived at 1335. 

About eight people got off and five of us got on. The driver – the same one from earlier – apologised for the lateness and explained roadworks in Lewes as well as the start of the Bank Holiday had caused the delays. 

He explained there would be a change of driver so we took a slight detour to the car park at Berwick railway station where the drivers swapped.

Our new driver took us back to Eastbourne and joked as we went back down Litlington Road: “I may have to ask you to breathe in if we meet oncoming traffic!” 

He also explained that, although not advertised on the timetable, they do put on an extra run if there are more than 16 people wanting to catch the last bus from Charleston so no-one is stranded. It was something which had occurred to me. 

Several people got out in Alfriston so there were only three of us left to arrive at Towner at 1417, nearly half an hour after the scheduled arrival of 1351. 

Two women were waiting to board and the driver again apologised for the delay (the bus should have left Towner at 1400). 

So what have I learned?

• Plan your visit if you can – book timed slots for Charleston house and take advantage of the Green Traveller Discount 
• Sit on the left-hand side of the minibus on the route from Eastbourne to Lewes and on the right-hand side travelling from Lewes to Eastbourne for the best views 
• Be prepared for delays and don’t panic if your bus isn’t on time 
• Sussex Arts Shuttle timetables are on prominent display at the house entrance and at the desk in the gallery so you can check bus times 
• East Sussex multi-operator Day Rider tickets allow you to combine the arts shuttle with other regular bus services 
• The Cuckmere Community Bus company drivers are friendly and engaging – they’re knowledgeable tour guides and excellent ambassadors for Sussex as well as brilliant at negotiating narrow lanes

Would I do it again? 

Charleston house – probably not, unless I friends or visiting art lovers really wanted to go. I’m glad I’ve been, but don’t feel the need to revisit any time soon. 

Sussex Arts Shuttle – absolutely. It works and allows enough time to get between places and enjoy locations. If the funding can be found, it would be great to have hourly services rather than two-hourly.

Total return travel time (door to door): 

By bus: One hour 55 minutes

By car (AA route planner): 50 minutes

Comparitive costs: 

By bus for two people: £10

Admission for two to house & gallery (with Green Traveller discount): £57

TOTAL: £67

By car (22-mile round trip): £9.90* 

Admission for two house & gallery: £75

TOTAL: £84.90

*based on HMRC rate of 45p per mile allowance, which includes all running costs

:: Paul Bromley, a journalist and broadcaster, is a volunteer writer for Eastbourne Reporter. This is not PR content: the writer paid all costs