Why walk in reverse? To beat Generation Selfie, who usually disembark in their hundreds at Seaford in the morning to 'do the 7 Sisters' and spoil it for everyone else. Presumably in the afternoon they're all gone.
“This classic cliff-top walk – one of the finest coastal walks in England – affords stunning (and very famous) views of the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters, and the renowned Beachy Head, before ending in the elegant seafront town of Eastbourne. There is quite a lot of climbing and descending on the walk – indeed, apart from the section around Cuckmere Haven and the finish along the Eastbourne seafront, almost none of the route is flat – but somehow in the grandeur of the scenery the effort is not noticed.”
#2026-08-09T09:46 t=2.28
1 comment:
N=5 walkers on a w=sunny-and-warm-day-with-a-breeze
Eastbourne was busy, with a market set up in the pedestriaised street to the Sea and of course along the beach as well. We lost the masses on the ascent to the Downs and then got two slightly surreal experiences in a short window: a Penny Farthing Time Trial from the Beachy Head car park, as part of some World Championship, and a massive yellow cloud drifting seemingly towards us across the sea. A dust storm, some poisonous gas attack? We settled on light refraction from the band of cloud above (it did move with the clouds).
There were many groups of tourists of course on the stretch from Beachy Head to Birling Gap die to the road being close, of the step-over-the-rope-to-the-edge-and-take-a-photo variety, but very few walkers going east to west yet.
Belle Tout lighthouse now has a walk-through coffee kiosk in the area closest to the drop and Birling Gap is still like Durdle Door, ie masses of people and queues for everything.
After that, more and more walkers came the other way, often groups with sound bars hanging off a backpack, playing plinky-plonky AI pop slop, and of course some e bikers, blindly unaware or uncaring of the fact the coast path here is a public footpath. Some claimed their cycle hire guy had told them it was ok to cycle the cliffs....
The picnickers stayed behind on one of the 7 Sisters while the luncher walked on to The Cuckmere Inn.
I got there for 14 35, after most lunchers had left and tables were available, and learned that the picnickers had crossed the Cuckmere at the mouth, ie deployed (Warning: the S-word is coming up) a shortcut!
I then heard and saw an ambulance travelling down the easterly track towards the Cuckmere Mouth and then, after 31 years of walking in the UK, finally saw an adder, as it was crossing the path right in front of me. Exciting.
In Seaford with enough time to rebalance liquid and calories levels with a pint of ESB before the 16.59 train.
All in, east to west works best.
Post a Comment