A South Downs Way Story
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© 2004 by
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Ellen and I got up reasonably early and saw that the day was lightly overcast and very windy, blowing from west to east. We decided to walk with the wind at our backs instead of slavishly following the trail guide that goes from east to west. We took the special Sunday bus from Brighton to Exceat where the Seven Sisters Country Park begins. We hopped off and made our way along the contours above the winding and very beautiful Cuckmere River down toward the sea. We were treated to the spectacle of modern sheep-herding, involving two dogs and a Land Rover. There was a steep climb up to the first of the Seven Sisters, beautiful chalk downs that fall dramatically into the sea. The wind was so strong that we were literally blown down the far side of each Sister and up the near side of the next—it was hard to stand upright in this gale—so we made record time to Birling Gap. Along the way, we encountered scores of marathoners running the opposite direction, directly into the wind. Poor sods, it had to have been the slowest marathon on record! From Birling Gap, which had minimal facilities, we made the long, slow ascent to Beachy Head, where we stopped at the tourist pub for lunch. Mediocre food, prepackaged atmosphere, but at least we were out of the wind. We noticed that the Coast Guards had set up a pulley-and-hoist system over the cliff’s edge, when asked they said that some poor woman had purposely driven over the edge and they were retrieving her body and her car. But I have to say that I actually like the fact that there are no guard rails along the cliff’s edge—it assumes that people are responsible for themselves. U.S. park planners are so scared of lawsuits that they close off all of the interesting places. Anyway, we slowly descended to Eastbourne, first tripping down a steep set of switchbacks and then enjoying a leisurely walk through level meadows. There was a good mile or more of walking on the streets of Eastbourne to get to the bus station for the sleepy trip back to Brighton. The next day we read in the newspaper that the day’s weather had been disastrous for Sussex, knocking down trees and power lines, and that our “windy day” had officially been a Force 10 gale.
Eastbourne-Exceat
7.5 miles
27 October 2002
Walked in reverse from Exceat to Eastbourne