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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday, 8 August 2026

Saturday Walk - Berwick to Eastbourne (longer or shorter options)

Length: 21.5 km (13.3 mi) 
Ascent/Descent: 327/344m 
Net Walking Time: 5 hours 
Toughness: 5 out of 10
 
Take the 08.54 Ore train from Victoria (09.01 CJ, 09.10 EC), change at Lewes onto the Eastbourne stopping service (09.56/10.14), arrives Berwick at 10.25. 
Return trains: xx.05 and xx.33. Buy an Eastbourne Return.
 
“This South Downs walk heads from inland Sussex to the coast, taking in a variety of scenery along the way. From Berwick the walk cuts across to the peaceful birdwatchers’ paradise of Arlington Reservoir before crossing farmland towards Wilmington, then ascends to the huge chalk figure of the Long Man. From here the route continues to the historic smuggling village of Jevington, then ascends the South Downs to follow ridges of chalk grassland with views in all directions, before descending to the seaside resort of Eastbourne and the possibility of extending the walk to the dramatic heights of Beachy Head.”
 
Walk Options:
Long Walk via Beachy Head (24.6km/15.3 mi) or Short Walk to Polegate (see the webpage).

Lunch: The Long Man Inn in Wilmington (4.9 km), The Eight Bells or the Jevington Tea Garden, both in Jevington (10.8-11.0 km) and The Beachy Head pub on the longer walk. 
Tea: plenty of options; check the pdf for details.
 
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.

#2026-08-08T08:54 t=2.27

2 comments:

JohnL said...

Only #N=2 people one on scheduled train and one by car #W=hot_and_sunny, Eight Bells in Jevington has gone up market with reserved tables and separate place for ordering food. No sandwiches on Saturdays, but there is an outdoor with unreserved seats and expensive bar snacks. £6 for a large sausage roll. One walker with packed lunch going on to Eastbourne the other opting for the shorter option to Polegate.


SaraiU3A said...

A couple of things to add: the relatively early start meant that we arrived at the Giant's Rest pub well before opening time - no good for a refreshment stop, never mind and early lunch. After St Peter's Church, Folkington, paragraph in Walk Directions starting "(!) After 700 metres...", the narrow path on the left-hand side indicated by a Wealden Walks sign is virtually impassable (we literally had to crawl under tree branches). Oh, and there was a lovely breeze on the South Downs Way, heading towards Eastbourne!