Former Combe Haven Viaduct

The old Combe Haven Viaduct stands as a rather magnificent relic of Victorian engineering just outside Bexhill-on-Sea. What you're looking at here is a proper brick and stone structure that once carried the railway across a valley - built when they still made things to last. The viaduct itself no longer carries trains, but it remains a striking viewpoint that gives you real insight into how the Victorians tackled the Sussex landscape.

Walking underneath or around it, you get a sense of the sheer scale of the thing. The arches are substantial, the brickwork honest. History types will appreciate what it represents about 19th-century ambition and engineering, though you won't find interpretive boards or visitor facilities here - this is more about the structure itself than presentation.

The vantage point works well if you're staying at one of the nearby holiday parks - Combe Haven Holiday Park is barely a mile away, making this an easy morning or late-afternoon walk from base. It's not a destination that'll occupy you for hours; fifteen minutes to half an hour is realistic, perhaps longer if you fancy a proper explore of the surrounding area and want to photograph it from different angles.

Go when the light's decent, ideally on a clear day. The viaduct photographs better in late afternoon when the sun picks out the brickwork detail. It's free to visit, accessible on foot from Bexhill, and sits comfortably within a broader walking itinerary around the wider Rother Valley.