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| Near Cuckmere Haven |
He said:
The weather was kind to us on this last day of walking the South Downs Way (Yay!). Yes, we were lucky today because the weather was clear and breezy again, whereas, the following 4 days were forecast to be gray, wet, and cold. This last section of the walk showed a dramatic change in scenery from the previous 90 miles; no more exposed, windy ridges. Instead, we would enjoy a cliff walk above the sea.
From our B&B, we started the day's walk by heading back into Alfriston to have a look at the church of St Andrews and the clergy house, but the clergy house was closed. In general, we are interested in the churches because for centuries, they have been the center of interest of the people in the area.
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| St Andrews, Alfriston |
From the church, we took the path and crossed the Cuckmere over a small footbridge.
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| The Cuckmere at Alfriston |
As we followed the Cuckmere valley down to the sea, we were both glad to be following a river valley instead of a high exposed ridge. The Cuckmere is a very small river compared to others we had crossed, this was more of a peaceful stream. Surrounded by grassy fields and marshes on both sides, the Cuckmere winds its way slowly down towards the sea.
After a mile, our path veered away from the river and headed through small hamlets, like Litlington, and up and down a few hills, mostly in the woods. We did pop out of the trees on one or two farm fields, and saw the Litlington Horse across the valley. The Litlington White Horse was cut into the downs in the 19th century.
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| Litlington White Horse |
Once we reached the sea at Cuckmere Haven after a few miles, we then followed a series of undulating chalk ridges along the cliff edge above the sea in a region called the Seven Sisters. The chalk ridges, on which the downs are built, end at the sea as shear cliffs, reminding me a bit of how glaciers terminate at the sea. Over time, these chalk ridges erode away from the sea, but the faces remain vertical.
The remaining path to Eastbourne had spectacular views in all directions, and being a bank holiday Saturday, was also crowded with day trippers, families, and people from many countries. Everyone was enjoying the day. We crossed the ups and downs of the Seven Sisters, the walked past the Birling Gap, then climbed Beachy Head, and finally descended into Eastbourne.
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| The Seven Sisters |
The photo below is a look at all of the seven sisters going back more 3 miles.
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| Crowds at Birling Gap, looking back at the Seven Sisters |
The path climbed up to the top of Beachy Head, the lower part shown here along with the Beachy Head Lighthouse.
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| the climb to Beachy Head |
From Beachy Head, we descended and were able to see the coastal city of Eastbourne, our final destination of the walk.
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| Looking Down on Eastbourne and the end of the SDW |
All in all, it has been an enjoyable walk, we saw many interesting sights and learned a lot about the long history of the area. Our feet are sore, but that is expected on such a long day of walking and exploring the many sights. We will always remember our trip as a wonderful chance to see a different environment from our own at home; a world in the present, but with a lot of reminders of its past.
She said:
Alfriston (Riverdale House) to Eastbourne (Ocklynge Manor)
The end of the South Downs Way
11 miles
Though we are absolutely enamored of the foxes that we see in the gardens, most owners do have bad fox stories to tell. At Riverdale House, a small pack (?) of foxes bullied one of their cats, but the single one that we've seen there seemed happy to keep to herself and hunt (Rabbits? There certainly were plenty of them in the fields and gardens every morning and evening.). Our RH hostess, Judy, said that she had one fox that used to follow her from spot to spot as she did her gardening - always settling down about 6-8 feet away from her but liking her company.
Judy is also a long distance walker and plans to complete the Offa's Dyke Walk in a few weeks with her girls. They did one half last year.
We started out today on what could only be called a day that walkers everywhere dream of - perfect temps, blue sky with puffy white clouds, a slight breeze.
The promise of a varied landscape (welcomed after our high Downs walking, day after day.)
We stopped first in Alfriston at the Church of St. Andrew - 1360.
The church stands on a "tye" or mound on the edge of the village. There is a painting of a Consecration Cross faintly visible on one wall, which is amazing considering that the paint is almost 700 years old. From 1725, there remains on another wall the Royal Arms of King George I. Bell ringing for St. Andrew's is done from the floor of the Chancel, the point where the cross intersects in the architecture (that is, the nave and the transept.)
(Look at me with the medieval church architecture language!)
The church was still dressed up from a wedding yesterday - flowers galore and looking lovely. When we walked back to our B+B yesterday from the bus stop, there were balloons and ribbons all along the High Street, guiding the wedding guests to the church and reception hotel - very festive and sweet.
At one point of the walk we saw, in the distance, a giant horse carved into the chalk on the side of a hill. We had seen many of these chalk horses on the Wessex Ridgeway walk that we did a few years ago. They range in age from contemporary to Roman occupation age.
Our first uphill today was through a field of buttercups.
A bunch of adolescent cows were alternately curious and skittish (we have experienced adolescent cows many times on our walks and this is definitely their MO -they come close, then run away if we take a step nearer to them.)
But, like adolescents everywhere, in all species, they are drawn by food - I grabbed a few bunches of grass and soon had them, literally, eating out of my hand.
Last evening in Alfriston, we passed a group of about 10 teenaged boys who were backpacking into a campsite on the edge of the village. Carrying everything on their backs.
Today, we saw them again. I took their picture and had a little chat. They are from the same class at their school and are spending the Bank Holiday walking the South Downs Way. We saw them again, here and there, on our walk throughout today.
Our walk today began through a level valley and only had a few steep climbs. Soon we arrived at the Cuckmere Meanders, the flat lowlands where the rivers and streams of the Cuckmere Valley meet the sea. All kinds of people out enjoying good weather on this weekend.
We began our ascent to The Seven Sisters, the seven chalk cliffs that run from the Cuckmere Meanders to Beachy Head. This is, without a doubt, the big payoff for walking the South Downs Way. Picture the white cliffs of Dover, times seven.
Of course, this meant seven downs and seven ups.
Every other day on the South Downs Way, we would encounter maybe 10-20 people, max on our 10 mile trek. Today, Bank Holiday Sunday, we saw hundreds, maybe even thousands. A bit disconcerting for us.
Still, the views were jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
After the Seven Sisters, next up was Beachy Head - a prominent and high point that was used for signaling and lookouts during WWII. Again, we forget that Britain was in the thick of it and was attacked on most fronts. And, as always, memorials to those who served, suffered and died during that horrible war.
Down to the seafront of Eastbourne and the official end of the South Downs Way.
Eastbourne looks a bit like Santa Monica.
The obligatory pictures at the sign. A bit anticlimactic, after the drama of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head.
Called the recommended taxi and was assured that they would be there in 5-10 minutes.
We have come to realize that "taxi time" is a little different from real time.
After a second call, our excellent Albanian taxi driver showed up, cheerful and accommodating. He stopped by Tesco so I could buy wine and salads and chatted amiably with R about driving in different countries (his favorite was, of course, Germany - but he only drove 90 on the autobahn as he did have his young son with him.)
Our hostess at Ocklynge Manor, Wendy, greeted us with a tour of her spectacular garden (it was featured last year on The Chelsea Flower Show show on TV!) and...cake.
Perfect. R and I ate supper in an alcove upstairs overlooking the garden.
A fox trotted around the far end and disappeared.
Still blue sky and birdsong.
Thankful to my body for walking a hundred miles.
So lucky.
We made it.
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| The end of the walk in Eastbourne |
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