Ascent/Descent:
negligible
Net
Walking Time: ca. 5 hours
Toughness: 3 out of 10 (if we hit the shingle stretch at low tide, which we should)
Take
the 10.17 Eastbourne train from Victoria (10.23 CJ, 10.33 EC), arriving Eastbourne at 11.46.
Return
trains:
17.00 (Victoria), 17.22 (Charing
Cross), 17.53 (Charing Cross), 17.58
(Victoria) etc. There are also services to Ashford, connecting to High
Speed trains to St. Pancras.
Buy a St. Leonards
Warrior Square return.
This
gentle walk follows the 24 km of flat coastline between Eastbourne and
Hastings. It is in 3 parts - 2 seafront promenades with a quiet shingle beach
in between which is nice to walk on only at low tide when the flat sandy part
of the beach is uncovered. Although the entire walk is quite long, there are shorter options, as there is a railway
line following the coast, with several stations en-route (see route map for
details).
Tea: Loads of options
along the route, incl. a wine bar right by Warrior Square station. T=swc.66
13 comments:
The first part of this walk, eastwards along the prom from Eastbourne is great. You then wend your way through the modern development of Sovereign Harbour and after that you are on the shingle beach: this is fairly hard going and the only alternative is a suburban road inland (I have done this often, walking to Norman's Bay for a swim....It is not that bad, just a bit unromantic for a mile or two). At VERY low tide, when the tide gets below the shingle bar, the beach is an alternative, but you are talking about the bottom hour or two of the tide here. Even then there is some gloopy mud. Today high tide is at 9.42 and low tide at 16.24.
Once you get to Norman's Bay there are roads behind the beach so it is easier to walk along the coast after that. Then you get to Cooden Beach, which is the start of Bexhill and its promenades.
Having said all the above, this is an interesting bit of coast. I pay it an annual visit for sea swimming each year and always enjoy its remoteness.
Yes an intriguing walk. It looks it could be bracing with the wind coming from the east bringing lower temperatures.
Will anyone still do this walk if it's snowy? Thanks
Why not? What's wrong with snow? I've been waiting for years for a snowy walk.
was thinking more along the lines of London Snow Transport Upthespout..
If the snow forecast is right you would be extremely foolish to attempt this journey. The points will be frozen and we have the wrong kind of snow remember. Even the tube lines are already problematic due to the freezing weather and its only Monday with just a few snow flurries. A London suburbs walk would be a much more sensible post for Wednesday.
feel free to post a second walk
I was intending to do a Thames Path walk alone today, to stretch my legs, but mid-week walkers less than keen on travelling to Eastbourne are welcome to join me. So I have posted a make-shift second Wednesday walk for thee and me.
As Walker says in his comment: an interesting bit of the coast. Grand houses in Eastbourne, Bexhill-on-Sea and St Leonards, pretty beach side cottages and beach huts in the smaller places, a wide sandy beach, proper cliffs, an undercliff path and long stretches of remote and quiet pebble beach.
The 10.17 was delayed and was then taken out of service at Croydon for an unexplained technical fault, so we were effectively on the (also delayed) 10.47, eventually starting the walk 45 minutes behind schedule. The going was good, despite the fierce wind from the front and we reached Pevensey Bay just after 2 and found The Castle Inn a very welcoming place with 2 fireplaces and decent food. In light of the train delay and the remaining daylight, we took the bus to Collington and picked up the walk again there, conveniently cutting out most of the shingle.
A train to Cooden Beach would have been another option but we had just missed it. There then came the pretty stretch past Bexhill, the cliffs and along the wide beach (it was low tide) and finally St Leonards. After a brief stop at The Wine Shed for a drink and a bite the 18.58 train. Should be posted more often. N=2 w=sunny-cold-with-a-fierce-easterly
Oh, the snow... Just flecks of it, none in the wind exposed places.
This sounds like a good walk for a warm summer forecast maybe with some swimming opportunities?
Indeed, like every other walk I know this would be a good walk in summer, as much as it is a good walk in winter (as most coastal walks are). As for the swimming, I suggest you lobby those walk posters known to cater for that particular minority interest.
Well done for doing the walk in tough conditions. Enjoy the energy-sapping naysayers.
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