And finally. . . links and other information

Now it's your turn . . .

For more information on the South Downs Way and the UK's other long distance paths, http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk

We found the Ordnance Survey's 'get a map' service very useful for planning individual sections. A year's subscription costs just under £20 and allows you to print at home as many maps as you like. You can plot routes and the software measures the distance, draws an elevation plot, and even produces GPS coordinates if you want them.

We used the Trailblazer guide book, bought from Amazon at a substantial discount. Packed with useful information, whether you do it as day walks as we did, or if you need accommodation in route.

We absolutely loved the Mirabelle restaurant at the Grand Hotel Eastbourne - perfect for the celebratory meal afterwards, though not in your walking gear!  Suit or tie required for men.  Pricey but fab-u-lous.

Day 11 - Celebration Day!

We decided that we would celebrate the end of our walk with lunch at the Mirabelle restaurant at the Grand Hotel Eastbourne.  So we got all dressed up and went back down to Eastbourne by train.  Thanks to Glynis' colleagues at East Sussex for the Grand Hotel voucher in her leaving card.






The surroundings, food and service were all absolutely superb.

It was so good that we have decided any future long distance walks should be celebrated in a similar way!

Day 10 - Exceat to Eastbourne, 7.5m, 4h

 We chose the coastal route over the inland route which meant that this leg was always going to be the biggest challenge because Glynis does not like heights and can find cliff paths difficult.  Most people we had spoken to said it would be OK and one couple described the path over the Seven Sisters as a 'motorway'.  We wanted a fine day with very light winds for this leg and having waited over a week, 3 came along at once in the weekend forecast. We decided to go for the final leg on the first of these Saturday 5th October.

Once again there is an easy way along the Cuckmere, but the South Downs Way goes over a ridge to arrive in the same place!

 

 

 





 But there is compensation for the climb, this superb view over Cuckmere Haven to Seaford Head.

 

 

 

And then we turned the corner along what the guidebook describes as the rollercoaster of the Seven Sisters.  Fortunately the promised walkers motorway is there and there is no need to go anywhere near the cliff edge.  The views are along the coast are still stunning.

  

 

 

 

 When you get to Sister number 5 there is a monument to the man who gave the Crowlink estate to the Sevens Sisters Country Park. One of a number of memorials along the way. 

 

 

 

 One interesting fact about the Seven Sisters is that whoever named them can't count because there are actually 8.  Sister 6 got missed out. So having climbed over all 8 we made our way down to Birling Gap, famed for getting steadily smaller as parts of it fall into the sea.

 

 

 

 

SIGN OF THE DAY - What could possibly go wrong . . . ?

 

 

 We treated ourselves to the bacon special at the National Trust Tea Room at Birling Gap (bacon roll and a cup of tea - they even managed fruit tea for Glynis) and then set off up the hill towards Belle Tout lighthouse. The view below looks back to Birling Gap.

 

 

 

 Belle Tout Lighthouse was also in danger of falling into the sea so some years ago it was moved back 55 feet from the cliff.  It is beginning to look as if they might need to repeat the operation in the not too far distant future as the cliffs continue to erode.

 

 

 

 

 After Belle Tout, the path goes down to Shooters Bottom where the cliff edge is getting  close to the road as well!  From just below Belle Tout we could see the classic view of the Beachy Head lighthouse at the bottom of the cliff.  Like Belle Tout, it is no longer an operational light but it does have it's very own preservation society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The climb up to Beachy Head is not very steep but it is quite long.  Here is the view from the top.

 

Quite unexpectedly at the view point Pete found a new Bomber Command Memorial.  Glynis viewed it from a distance having decided not to go right to the edge.

From the view point the South Downs Way narrows to a single file path and goes along a very steep slope.  Glynis didn't enjoy the decent to Eastbourne until we re joined a much wider path part way down.
 

 

 

 And finally here we are at the signpost at the end (not quite on our last legs at the end of the last leg!)  Before setting off home we had a celebratory drink at the café you can see in the photo (non alcoholic of course, we were both driving).

 



Day 9 - Southease to Exceat, 10.8m 4.75h

With the promise of a small chance of a very little light rain, we set off on the penultimate leg of our South Downs adventure.  Uniquely among the downland communities the SD Way passes through, Southease makes no provision for walkers; indeed they clearly don't want us there at all.  I loved this sign, which clearly doesn't apply to the locals when it suits them . . .

 



 

 

Once across the river (Ouse) and up Beddingham Hill, there are some fine views of Newhaven.  Smack in the middle of the photo you can just make out Newhaven's fairly recent incinerator, which looks uncannily like an enormous nuclear submarine has run aground in the town. Wow, is it ugly!

 

 

But then Beddingham Hill also has the mandatory communications masts - I've lost count of how many of the South Downs peaks are enhanced (?) by the presence of masts like these.  Still, it gives you something to aim for . . . 



 

 

From Firle Beacon, there's a good view of Firle Tower, which I thought might be a folly.  A web search reveals that : "Dated 1819. Built by the third Viscount Gage as a game-keepers cottage and
placed at the top of a small hill so that the game-keeper could signal to the
keeper of Plashet deer-park at Ringmer, which also belonged to Lord Gage.
Circular tower of 3 storeys. Faced with flints. Castellated parapet. Sash
windows with glazing bars intact."  As I thought - a folly.


Sadly, from the Trig point atop Firle Beacon, you can still see Newhaven.

 



But then we descended into the picturesque village of Alfriston where we had a lovely lunch and a very welcome sit down in Badger's Tea Rooms.

Leaving Alfriston, we wandered along the banks of the Cuckmere until we reached Litlington, where the official path climbs over three steep ridges to reach a point you could also reach by continuing along the river bank.  But we're doing the official SD Way!  From Litlington Hill, there's a good view of the Litlington White Horse, cut out of the chalk in 1924.

Up some horrible steps

. . . and down the other side to a spectacular view of Cuckmere Haven and its textbook meanders.



Day 8 - Ditchling Beacon to Southease

Today we had the luxury of starting 'on the top'.  And I can honestly say it makes a huge difference not to have to spend the first hour flogging up the next hill.

We're now going east of home, which comes as a bit of a surprise after 7 days of generally getting nearer to home.

The first 'sight' today was Plumpton Agricultural college (below) which has grown steadily over the years - perhaps I should have said organically! - and is now a very large and impressive set of buildings.

 

 

One of the most noticeable things about the South Downs Way is the constantly changing surroundings.  Not the views - that's obvious - but the fact that you can be walking across open downland one minute and along a woodland path the next. 

 

Then there are the unexpected excitements like a path diversion for an archeological dig!

Another bit of lovely woodland with dappled sunlight . . .

 

 

The A27 . . .

 



 

Well, that's quite enough of that.  Back to the lovely views, this time of Kingston near Lewes in the foreground, with Lewes behind.  Fortunately, you can't really make out the appalling '60s concrete tower block that is County Hall and where Glynis recently retired from.  She did give her former colleagues a wave from the top of the next hill.

 

 

A little further on, we came across a gaggle (flock?, murder?, parliament? - what IS the collective noun?) of hang-gliders.  There were two in the air, making the most of the north easterly breeze rushing up the hillside and they were able to stay in much the same place for ages, just circling round and round.  There were quite a few others setting up in amongst vehicles labelled 'general builder' and 'landscape gardener'.  Obviously when times are hard you just have to fly over it all . . .

 

 

At long last, I managed to find some poppies at the edge of a field.  This is such a typical Downs plant and I thought we were too late in the year for them, but I was wrong.

 

SIGN OF THE DAY (need I say more?)



 

And finally, here's the view just before we started to drop down off the ridge to Southease.  The lump on the horizon towards the left hand side is Firle Beacon, the highlight of the next section.  At the right-hand edge of the horizon is Seaford Head, the first of the chalk cliffs that in due course become the Seven Sisters (final day!).  And now for a soak in the bath . . .



A couple of amusing posters

Along the way, we've seen quite a few amusing notices, either because of dreadful English or simply their utter pointlessness.  I was particularly taken by these two. I hope you enjoy them too.

Anyone know what a 'canine first aid certificate' is?

Day 7 - Botolphs to Ditchling Beacon, 10.2m, 5h

Yes, yes, I know we seem to be getting slower - I'm going to plead that it's that we stopped for longer to enjoy the views . . . but as you'll see if you read on, that's not the whole story!

Driven by a reasonably suitable weather forecast, we were out there again today, doing the next leg, from Botolphs to Ditchling Beacon.  This will mean that by the end of today, we'll have walked right across West Sussex from the Hampshire border to the one with East Sussex.

It was pretty murky when we set off, so the view of Upper Beeding wasn't very special:

The first two miles just seems to go up and up as you climb up onto Truleigh Hill.  There are quite a few 'interesting' things on the top of Truleigh Hill, for example:

 

 

. . . It's one small hill for Glynis, one giant hill for telecoms masts (there are 4, all spectacularly ugly!)



 

 

. . . and the boat isn't your usual hill-top find, either!  There were three hulls and a mould up there.

 

But the inhabitants were nice and friendly - we came across a herd of very friendly young cows as we neared Devil's Dyke.  Even though they were sitting right on the path, they didn't move as we got nearer and didn't even mind being photographed.

 

 

Devil's Dyke itself is this spectacular valley:

At Saddlescombe, we were seduced by the Hikers' Rest (below), which despite its unpretentious premises right on the path offered herbal teas (not available in Dorset!) and a huge selection of very yummy cakes (I had rhubarb and ginger cake) including a dairy-free option for Glynis.  What more could you ask for?

From the stretch between Pyecombe and Ditchling Beacon, there were fabulous views out to sea across Moulsecoomb, with the sunlight sparkling on the water.  Magical!

Finally, we arrived at Ditchling Beacon, with wonderful views north over Ditchling and beyond.  It never ceases to amaze me how much of the over-populated and built-up south-east is covered with trees.



Day 6 - Amberley to Botolphs (Steyning), 13m, 5.5h

After a brief interlude 'castle-ing' in West Wales, we're back on the path again.  We were going to walk on Monday as the weather forecast looked better, but then this morning the idea of going walking seemed more attractive than tidying up after ten days away so off we went . . .

The climb up out of Amberley seemed tougher than it should have been, but the view back over Amberley and its castle was stunning.

 

 

The views on this section are absolutely amazing - and well beyond the abilities of my phone to capture.  There are limitless 180 degree vistas to take in on both sides of the ridge.  We could even still see the ghastly white 'thing' that is Butlins at Bognor Regis and Shoreham power station in the other direction - neither the most photogenic of subjects!  Having crossed the A24 without breaking stride (wow!), we soon found ourselves looking at Chanctonbury Ring.  This is somewhere else we've never been despite living nearby for the last 35 years!

 

 

In due course, we came to Steyning Bowl, an impressive natural amphitheatre overlooking Steyning.  The path runs right round the rim of the Bowl, so you get to admire Steyning from pretty much every angle!

 

 

The descent towards Botolphs and the bridge over the Adur (not photographed as it's modern and uninteresting!) passes through a most unexpected pig farm.  A novelty for about 30 seconds, we soon tired of the smell and couldn't wait to get past it!

 

 

 

Shortly afterwards, we arrived at a finger post that confirmed that we've now covered 60 miles and have just (!) 40 miles to go - or 46 if we do the coastal last leg as opposed to the shorter inland leg.

 

 

 

All we need now is another suitable day which doesn't clash with other commitments for the next leg, which will be Botolphs to Ditchling Beacon.  Check back by the end of the week to see if we found one!