With the weather forecast better on the coast than further inland, Tim, Ruth and Keshni came down for an afternoon walk along the Sussex coast. It worked out nicely, with glorious views of the Downs and sea, bathed in warm sunshine and a gently cooling sea breeze.
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Parking at Exceat Bridge car park we headed south along the river to Cuckmere Haven, where the tide was just out far enough to allow some good views along the coast. The walk up the first of the Seven Sisters kept us honest by stretching out our calf muscles for the first time on this walk. The view back along the beach was worth it though, and the views to the east were most enticing.
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There are several landmarks along the way, including a few memorials, and as long as you count the number of ups and downs you can work out exactly where you are along the coast. Some of the downland is grazed by sheep, leaving a wonderful sward of fine turf and downland flowers, which looked glorious in the sunshine.
Thankfully I am not scared of heights*, and was able to get some great pictures of the cliffs, both towards Cuckmere Haven and the Beachy Head lighthouse.
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*it is the fall and the sudden stop at the end that I am terrified of…
Ruth and I had lunch on the beach at Birling Gap, while a number of surfers and the odd occasional swimmer took to the water. Baywatch it was not.
After lunch we rejoined Tim and Keshni (who had found sustenance in the pub) and headed up the long drag towards the Belle Tout lighthouse (which is currently for sale for £850,000 GBP – unfortunately we had used up all our loose change for the car park so and headed on towards Beachy Head). One of the strangest sights of the day was someone filming what we presumed was her music video – though who she was no one could guess, and it seemed rude to ask.
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Having made it to Beachy Head and gazed down at the lighthouse before heading down the hill towards Eastbourne to find a cup of tea and an ice cream. Checking the bus times we then decided to head to the pier at Eastbourne to catch the bus back to the car park, and to take the scenic route bus which would take us back along the coastal road.
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It was a superb walk along the cliff tops for around 9 miles from Exceat Bridge to Eastbourne pier, with some great company.
View the map in Google Maps, or here is the Google Earth KML file.
Great photos; I love the first of the 7 sisters and the one of Eastbourne pier with the impressive sky.
Christopher,
Surely it’s only the stop at the bottom, the fall itself could be quite relaxing…
Tim
Beautiful pics buddy and nicely captured in words.
How long did it take for this walk!?
@sasdaman
It is just a day walk – 4 or 5 hours if catching the bus back, though can be made a full day of walking if you walk the loop back.
Enjoy the walk.