Length: 21.9 km (13.6 miles). Toughness: 9/10
Shortcut option - finish at Birling Gap: 12.7km (7.9 miles)
Catch the 9:54 from London Bridge arrives Seaford 11:22 (change at Lewes arr. 10:58, dep. 11:02). Buy a day return to Eastbourne. Lunch at the The Cuckmere (alternatively there is a café nearby at the visitors centre).
Due to the time of year, it will not be possible to complete the walk in daylight. (Sunset 16:12, civil twilight 16:50.) That said the route is straightforward and manageable. However if you are in any doubt then you should take the coastal bus from Birling Gap to Eastbourne. T=2.28
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According to the Brighton & Hove Buses website, there is no 13X service on Saturdays - only Sundays and public holidays. However, it's only a further 1.4 miles from Birling Gap inland to East Dean, with buses every 10-20 minutes to either Seaford or Eastbourne.
...it's only a further 1.4 miles from Birling Gap inland to East Dean, with buses every 10-20 minutes to either Seaford or Eastbourne.
Thanks for the update.
Intend going.
Well, that makes two of us.
So, just n=2 of us it was. We walked out of Seaford in wet-wild-and-windy weather which, if anything, got worse before it got better. Ascending Seaford Head we came across the first of many very muddy, slippery stretches. One of us coped with these conditions with the aid of a trekking pole to keep upright, the other preferred to rely on the time-honoured method of falling on his arse, rising gracefully, wiping the excess mud off and carrying on, repeating the manoeuver at irregular intervals. On reaching Cuckmere Haven one of us chose to lunch at the Cuckmere Inn (vegetable lasagna and a pint of Harvey's, both pronounced satisfactory) while the other walked on a few hundred yards to a bus shelter, close to which was a (National Trust?) warm, dry and extremely clean toilet with soap, paper towels and hot water.
We climbed up and down the Seven Sisters, the weather becoming wetter, with occasional refreshing bursts of sleet, and the wind stronger, a very strong south-south-westerly wind occasionally threatening to blow us off our feet, but with magnificent views of the angry sea and views back to the Coastguard cottages just visible through the mist. We met very few other walkers. Approaching Birling Gap a coastguard helicopter roared past, just out to sea, but below clifftop level, heading towards Seaford. We learned later that three people had been cut off by the incoming tide between Seaford and Birling Gap and were rescued by helicopter.
At Birling Gap the National Trust tea room was open which allowed us to rest and dry off a little before we went our separate ways. One opted to plough on towards Eastbourne, the other took the bridleway up across the hill and down towards East Dean, arriving in owl light. There was just time for a quick look round St Simon's and St Jude's beautiful flint church before catching the bus back to Seaford.
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