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Eastbourne PS (I forgot)

Eastbourne PS (I forgot)

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I forgot about the evening on Day 2 (old age y'know.). smilies

On the evening of our second day we learned that there was a concert at the bandstand in Eastbourne which was going to finish with fireworks. We didn't have tickets and we wouldn't have wanted to go to the concert but if they were finishing with fireworks they can't keep them hidden behind barriers can they? So after dinner we walked along the seafront to the bandstand and waited. This is the seafront lit up and the pier jutting out on the right.

Not long after we had arrived the fireworks started.

We enjoyed it whilst it lasted and then went back to our hotel.smilies

Well that wasn't worth waiting for was it? smilies The photographs were taken on my smartphone.

Cow Gap

Cow Gap

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Day One

The weather forecast for the next 3 days was cloudy but dry. Well, we can handle that so off we went to Eastbourne. Why Eastbourne? We'll get to that later.

We decided to travel by train. We don't have to drive and we don't have to find somewhere to park (the hotel doesn't have its own car park) – can't be bad.

I looked at the train status on my smartphone and saw, with some dismay, that an empty train had derailed earlier and would be causing a delay on our journey. Bummer! smilies The delay was reported to be 20 minutes and we had 45 minutes to walk across to Stratford International Station to make the connection. We were going to Stratford International not because Eastbourne is considered to be exotic but because we can use the high-speed line to get to Ashford and thence a local train to Eastbourne. That delay would still leave us with 25 minutes for the change which should be plenty.

We caught our 'usual' train, which was on time, from our local station and although there was a small delay we arrived only 10 minutes later than planned leaving us oodles of time for the connection. Having alighted at Stratford, in Greater London, we walked across to the International Station with plenty of time to spare. The train arrived on time and 30 minutes later, after an uneventful journey, we arrived at Ashford in Kent.

The Eastbourne train was waiting in the platform and we were soon headed for Eastbourne where we arrived at around 12:40 and after a short walk we were at our hotel at lunchtime.

Driving time would have been about two and a half hours and the train journey, including waiting times, was 3 hours so not really much difference.

Having arrived at lunchtime we had a brilliant idea – we could have lunch and so we did. After lunch we wandered off towards the pier. The last time that we were on Eastbourne Pier the steps up to the Camera Obscura level were closed off and I was hoping we might be able to get up there this time but, no, the steps were closed off. That's two bummers in the same day. smilies

We didn't do a lot today and went back to our hotel to prepare for dinner. Tomorrow is the big day.

Day Two

After breakfast at about 9:30 AM we left the hotel and walked down to the seafront. This view is looking in the direction in which we are headed.

We followed the coast road westward until it reach the grass downland where it bends sharp right. We bent sharp left along a track going towards the cliffs. When we reached to edge of the cliffs we could see back to Eastbourne.

You may just be able to see the end of Eastbourne Pier sticking out beyond the promentary where the beach disappears from sight. The weather is better than forecast this morning but the sun is watery and it's not very clear. There is also a strong wind of about 15 mph gusting to 21 mph which we could do without. Looking in the opposite direction we can see our first target – the shore. Do you think that the sign is trying to tell us something?

You may notice that the shore is covered in rock fragments caused by erosion and we are planning to walk on that. smilies

We still have a way to walk along the top of the cliffs yet. We follow the footpath until we see a path forking off to the left and we follow that fork.

We start heading down. That shore looks nearer but it doesn't look any better. More steps to go down.

Can you read the name on the sign? It says 'Cow Gap'. 'Gap' around here is a point in the cliffs which is low enough for it to be practical to build some steps down to the shore. There aren't many gaps. We have visited the other two and have been waiting for an opportunity to visit this one so we've made it at last.

There is Amanda at the foot of the steps and we are now on the shore. Take a look at the shore because we are proposing to walk over a half mile on that. After a while of scrambling it was nice to reach some solid rock to walk on for a while and just showing at the foot of the cliffs on the horizon is our second target – Beachy Head Lighthouse.

We eventually ran out of solid rock but after yet more scrambling we came across a nice large patch of sand. Woo Hoo! That was a welcome relief.

Unfortunately that nice flat sand didn't last for long and we were back to scrambling once again. We did reach another relatively small area of flat rock but there was more loose rock ahead.

The next picture shows how the shore looked further on. That's not going to be easy to walk on.

That cliff on the right is Beachy Head. We realised at this point that we wouldn't make it to the lighthouse because the tide had now turned and was coming back in so this is as near as we got. smilies This is not a good place to be caught by the tide.

On the way back to Cow Gap we had a good look at the rocks and saw many old fossils. (Waits for obvious comments. smilies )




The pictures above, in order, starting from the top are:

Ammonite shell impression
Turitella type shellfish
Section of a Brain Coral
Section of a sponge

We also came across two plants which are typical of this environment.

Sea Kale which looks rather like cabbage.

 and Rock Samphire which looks like, well, Rock Samphire.

On the way back to Eastbourne I managed to sneak up on this Speckled Wood butterfly.

We went back to our hotel to change and were out again in time for afternoon tea. Yum yum. Tomorrow I'm doing another walk and Amanda is going to a museum.

Day Three

Amanda decided after yesterday's walk that she didn't want to do more walking today so she is going to visit the 'How we lived then' museum, packed with nostalgic items from the past, and I am getting on the bus.

My bus, the number 126, leaves from a stop near the railway station at about 9:45 and I walk up to the stop with time to spare. Whilst I'm waiting a lady asks me if the 126 goes to Alfriston. I explain that I hope it does because that's where I'm planning to go. We share a seat on the bus and chat. It turns out that her name is Nicky (Nicola) and she is on holiday from Switzerland and someone here suggested that she would probably like visiting  Alfriston.

We arrive in Alfriston after about 30 minutes and she decides to join me on a visit to the Clergy House. Amanda and I have stayed in Alfriston before but were unable to visit the Clergy House because it opens only on some days and wasn't open when we were last there.

The Clergy House is a 14th-century Wealden hall-house and is owned by the National Trust. It was their first ever purchase in 1896 and cost the princely sum of £10.00.

This picture shows why it is called a hall-house.

It has a hall-like room which goes right up into the roof. Very impressive but, I would imagine, a devil to heat in the winter.

This shows the kitchen with all mod. cons. Well it does have a sink and water pump.

There were also some nice gardens.

Nicky was apparently going to spend the whole day looking around Alfriston so I said goodbye and made my way to the river.

Not much of a river I grant you; more like a stream at this point. However I plan on following the river down to Exceat where I hope to catch a bus back to Eastbourne so I set off.

I soon came across a group of locals having a meeting and there's one on the extreme right that's right on my path.

We shall see what she will do when I get closer. Well I walked close by her right-hand side and apart from a brief glance at me she got on with her eating. They must be used to seeing people.

I passed the little village of Littlington part of which is shown here. Pity the weather isn't better.

Soon after I passed littlington I had my first glimpse of the white horse, on High and Over, seen across the reeds on the edge of the river to the right.

A little further on and there is a better view of the river with the white horse beyond.

The banks of the river look muddy because the river is tidal at this point and the tide is low so the river level is down. Incidentally High and Over is the name of a hill between Alfriston and Seaford and is the hill directly ahead.

This is about as close as I got to the white horse then following the river takes me further away.


At one point I walked past these Canada Geese who seemed to be honking away most of the time. There were also some other white birds in the distance which I couldn't identify. They all sounded as though they were having a honking good time.

It didn't take much longer to get to the bus stop at Exceat and a little while later along came my bus back to Eastbourne.

After an uneventful ride (front seat, top deck) we reached the top of the hill down to Eastbourne with a good view of the town laid out below. That probably would have looked nice in good weather.

I got off the bus at Eastbourne Station where Amanda was waiting for me with our luggage and we got the train back home. It was a short but enjoyable trip. We will probably be back.

 

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day Two

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day Two

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We got up this morning to find a cloudy sky but it is supposed to get brighter later. After breakfast we paid our bill and booked out but left our luggage until we were ready to leave Brighton later in the day.

We went down the road again to Marine Parade to have another look at the little electric railway. I went onto the platform to take this picture.

In this next picture you may get a better idea of the railway's location. The beach and pier is on the left with the road to the right. The Brighton Wheel is visible above the roof of the train.

Notice the patches of blue sky that have started to appear. Without the sun it was cool enough to give Amanda goose bumps. I didn't feel quite so cold so perhaps I had duck bumps. We walked along Marine Parade away from the pier until we reached the Madeira Lift. Built between 1830 and 1840 the lift was originally hydraulically operated but now uses electricity. It saves a climb between Madeira Drive and Marine Parade and is free so we went for a ride.


Amanda photographed this old Victorian relic at the top of the lift.

We stayed at the upper level and walked back into town to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery which is in the Royal Pavilion grounds.

We were, originally, planning to visit the Booth Museum in Brighton until we discovered that the one day each week that it closes is a Thursday – today. The Brighton Museum building was originally the stables for the Pavillion which is why it is built in the same style.

It has an eclectic collection with numerous exhibits. When we arrived we went straight to the cafe for coffee and this next picture, of one of the galleries, was taken from the table at which we were sitting.

When we had finished our drinks we went back downstairs to start looking around. You may notice that even the archway in this gallery has the 'Eastern' theme and, remember, this was just the stables.

One of the first galleries we visited was dedicated to ceramics.


I noticed the piece in the lower picture particularly because it reminded me of Tipoo's Tiger that we saw in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and on the label its said:

"Commemorating the death of a young Englishman mauled by a tiger in India in 1792. The popular Staffordshire figure group (1810) was probably inspired by a wooden hand-organ, which was carved and painted to look like a tiger attacking an Englishman in uniform. Displayed in London from 1808, the organ was known as "Tipoo's Tiger" and is now on display in the V&A."

They also had an Egyptian Gallery of which these mummies were part.

There was a gallery about the Ice Age.

Numerous other galleries on varied subjects so there is plenty to see.

It was getting near time for us to leave so we walked back to our B&B to collect our luggage and then caught a bus to the station. So what was our final impression of Brighton? It hadn't really changed from our initial impression in that Brighton did look generally shabby and uncared for although that could not be said of the buses. They have an excellent bus service with frequent buses and the buses themselves are modern, bright and smart with electronic displays on board.

Brighton is not one of those places that we would be keen to see again but it probably would make an interesting day trip from London.

When we reached the station we were really pleased to see that our train was eight coaches with very few people on board, so that we had our pick of the seats, and that it was a modern unit with air conditioning. A relief from the journey up.

The journey was about an hour and we arrived back at Farringdon at around 3:30 PM, caught the Undergound to Liverpool Street and decided to have a slight detour. When we went to Spitalfields last we missed a couple of things which we decided to find this time.

We went back to Bishops Square next to Spitalfields Market.

Although this is a modern development it's not all new round here. If you walk to the north end of Bishops Square farthest from Brushfield Street you will see a large stairwell going apparently nowhere.

You may notice that in the farthest right-hand corner in the above picture there is also a small lift for those that cannot easliy manage stairs. So, what does it all mean?

You'll see that in the left-hand wall there is some glass. This is a window to the ruins behind.

You are looking at the remains of a Charnel House, dating from about 1320, which was discovered during excavations in 1999 and it is thought that parts of the masonry may date back to the 12th century. For those not 'in the know' a Charnel House is a store for human bones disturbed during the digging of graves within a cemetery.

Long before the Charnel House was built, the Romans used the area as a burial ground and a Roman lead coffin was found near this site which contained the body of a woman.

It explains onsite:

"The crypt of the chapel of St Mary Magdelene and St Edmund the Bishop built in about 1320 and sited in the cemetery of the priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital. In the chapel above, services were held to dedicate the bones beneath. After St. Mary Spital was closed in 1539, most of the bones were removed, and the crypt became a house until it was demolished in about 1700. The crypt lay forgotten beneath the gardens of terraced houses and then Stewart Street until it was found in archaeological excavations in 1999."

If you now go back to the other end of Bishops Square, across Brushfield Street, along Fort Street into Artillery Lane, turn left go round the first bend, past Gun Street to the second bend and you will see these:

These are Georgian shop fronts surviving from the 1750s.

Now that was a worthwhile diversion but now we go back to Liverpool Street Station and catch a train home.

 

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day One

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day One

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Wednesday was cloudy when we got up but we were planning to go to Brighton for an overnight stay and the weather was supposed to be better down south. I had become quite frustrated the day previously in trying, and failing, to find available accommodation in Brighton. I didn't think that Brighton was so popular that every bed would be taken. When I'd got to the point of giving up I thought to call the Tourist Information Office to see if they could do any better and they were able to offer me a choice of two! They also explained that Brighton University was having graduation days so the place was stuffed with students' relatives. That explained it.

We set off from home on the 5 mile drive to our local railway station confident of getting there in plenty of time to buy tickets before the train came in. We reached the edge of the village, wherin lies the station, and joined a long traffic queue. Bummer!

We occasionally get a traffic queue at this junction which we traverse very quickly but it was never this long. We decide that we aren't going to get to the station in time which means we aren't going to arrive in Brighton until 1 o'clock, an hour later than we expected. Double bummer!

We eventually arrive at our car parking place and start our walk across the fields to the station. We weren't in a hurry because we knew that there was no chance of catching our planned train and we were going to have to wait a half-hour for the next train. As we sauntered towards the station we saw a diesel hauled goods train go through the station towards London.

'Hang on', I said to Amanda, 'our train uses that line so it must be at least a few minutes behind that goods train'. So we increased our speed and got to the ticket office with no train in sight yet. Tickets in hand we went on to the platform to see a train approaching in the distance. It turned out to be yet another goods train. Then an announcement tells us that our train is running 8 minutes late. So that was a bit of luck otherwise we would definitely have missed it. We both breathe a sigh of relief.

On the way to Liverpool Street Station we realise that we are going to have no more than 20 minutes to get from Liverpool Street Station to Farringdon Station, using the Underground, instead of the more comfortable 30 minutes it should have been.

We had to wait only 3 minutes for an Underground train and had only 2 stops before Farringdon so we arrived with plenty of time. As we hadn't been to Farringdon Station before we weren't sure how far we'd have to walk to get from the Underground platforms to the platform for the 'normal' train. It turned out to be about 5 seconds. All we had to do was to walk across the platform to the other side.

However the indicator board tells us that the next train to Brighton is due in now – 15 minutes earlier than we expected. It duly arrives but is only 4 coaches long and consequently sails past us to the far end of the platform. We leg it to the train and do manage to get seats even though it is fairly crowded.

One of the stops in London was Blackfriars where the station is built on a bridge across the Thames so that one gets a good view east along the river when the train is in the platford. We could also see St. Paul's Cathedral off to one side and later we went very close to Southwark Cathedral.

The train turns out to be one of the older type trains which don't have air conditioning but do have windows that have openings at the top. The electric motors and driving gear also make a lot of noise – a sort of combined grinding and whining so we had a hot stuffy noisy jouney for an hour.

We were glad to get out at Brighton and were travelling light, as it was only a one night stay, so we walked to our Bed & Breakfast which took us about twenty minutes. It was hot but at least it was a clear blue sky. On that walk we formed an initial impression of Brighton that it was noisy (lots of traffic), scruffy and uncared for – not a good start. Did we have the same impression when we left? I'll tell you when we leave.

The people who were running the B&B were very pleasant and showed us to our room. It was the last room in the place, on the third floor, and was very small but it also had a small price tag – 67.50 GBP for the night including breakfast. We left our luggage in our room and walked the short distance down the road to Marine Parade on the seafront. This is my very first photograph of the trip showing Madeira Drive down below, Brighton  Pier and the Brighton Wheel.

As we started to walk along towards the pier we saw a train coming along on the Volks Electric Railway which is the oldest electric railway in the world having been operating since 1883.

Going down from the upper level to sea level and walking a little further brought us to the little terminus station on the railway.

Shortly after we arrived at Brighton Pier and headed seaward. After a short while we stopped and looked back towards the shore.

You probably couldn't tell from this distance but the beach is comprised of pebbles – no sand. Doesn't seem to deter people from sitting all over it does it?

We very soon found a stall selling fried rice and noodles and it was lunchtime so we thought we'd sample some fried rice. It incorporated prawns and pieces of chicken in no small number. We found a parked flatbed trolley to sit on and eat our food which turned out to be very tasty and there was plenty of it. Neither of us can remember what the stall was called and I don't remember seeing anything else similar but we can recommend it.

Walking further along the pier it widens considerably.

We could see (and hear) that we were getting near an amusemnt park type area and, in places, it was very noisy with piped music often being excessively loud. Amanda spotted this Galloper (Roundabout) which tend to be favourites of hers.

We were now about as far seaward as it is possible to get so we turned back towards the shore. Looking back we could see some of the 'rides' including the Helter Skelter and the Galloper just to its left. I can also remember walking past a Ghost Train.

We were pleased to see that the deckchairs were free to use and there were plenty of people using them.

We left the pier and headed into the centre of the town where we soon found the Royal Pavillion. Well you couldn't really miss it could you?


How about this forest of spires?

Built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, between 1787 and 1823, it has, as you will probably notice, an exotic oriental appearance.

Entrance to the grounds is free but you have to pay to go inside and let me warn you that photography inside is prohibited. You may have realised by now that that really annoys me and, probably, a lot of other visitors too. I certainly wouldn't pay the entrance fee under those circumstances but we were able to go in because we each had a free three month Art Pass which expires at the end of July.

We entered the grounds through the entrance which is furthest from the main entrance to the house but we left from the other entrance going past the Brighton Visitor Information Centre and across to East Street where we turned right and were then in The Lanes.

The Lanes is a small area in Brighton which is a maze of small streets and alleys with many small shops of all sorts and used to be the fishing town of Brighthelmstone dating from the late 18th century.

It is, in our view, probably the most attractive area of Brighton and certainly didn't look scruffy in the slightest. We saw an amazing variety of shops from expensive jewellers to cake shops.


We were both beginning to tire by this time so decided to call it a day and headed back to our B&B via Steine Gardens and the Victoria Fountain.

More tomorrow.

 

Picture this!

Picture this!

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An American gentleman recently emailed an image of a painting he has of a street scene in Hastings so I rummaged through my photographs of Hastings and came up with a good match. Just thought you'd like to see.

Not all the pictures I take go onto the web site because there would be far too many and this is one that isn't on the web site.

The photograph is taken at a much narrower angle to avoid the parked cars on the other side in a rather narrow street.

I should add that the painting is by William Henry Brooke ARHA (1772-1860) of "Houses in the High Street, Hastings" dated 1842.

Not a lot has changed has it?

Down South – Day 3 – Saturday 26th Sept.

Down South – Day 3 – Saturday 26th Sept.

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We both have aching legs this morning so nothing strenuous today methinks. After breakfast we decided to have a look at the old town area after having passed an interesting half-timbered building on the way back on the bus yesterday so we walked up there.

There is very little left of interest in the old town and I gather the morons that passed for the local council were still demolishing historical buildings in the 1970s. The old church is still there dating from the 12th century, the Lamb Inn (the one we saw from the bus – 1st picture below), another half-timbered house (2nd picture below), the old parsonage  3rd picture below) together with an old barn/coach house and that's it really.

We went back to our hotel for morning coffee and then drove off to Seaford Head where we parked. We had been here before for time enough to take a picture of the well known view of the Seven Sisters with the cottages in the foreground but that was all. We knew that there was a large area designated as a nature reserve which went right up to the cliff edge so we wanted to have a look round.

We turned right off the main track along a footpath which, we could see on the map, went to the cliff edge and soon found ourselves at a place called Hope Gap. This, like Birling Gap, is a point in the cliffs where it's possible to get down to the shore with the aid of a few steps.

We hadn't known about Hope Gap so it was an interesting find. Down the steps we went to potter about on the sea shore. We also discovered that the best possible view of the Seven Sisters, barring using a boat, is from this point; either from the shore or up on the cliffs. In the next picture you can see the Hope Gap steps, the shore (only when the tide is out) and the Seven Sisters.

Where the tide had gone out it had left a wave cut chalk platform with many shallow rock pools. We had a look in a number of pools and saw some shrimps and small fish but nothing else. Someone we spoke to said they'd seen a few crabs but we were hoping to see some sea anemones although we were out of luck.

There were some large blocks of cliff on the shore in places where the cliff had come down but they were much harder than chalk. Probably some sort of Breccia of which there are some in the next picture. The head and shoulders belong to Amanda.

If you count 'The Sisters', not including the extreme right-hand headland which is not part of them, you will probably count only six. That is because, starting from the left, number five is actually two lumps but the first is jutting out and partly obscuring the next so that they appear as one from this viewpoint. The low point between the last 'sister' and the headland on the right-hand end is Birling Gap.

Between Seaford Head, where we are, and the first of the Seven Sisters is Cuckmere Haven Beach which you can see in this picture.

You can see here that parts of the chalk cliffs which form Seaford Head have a significant depth of a brown deposit on top. This is Loess which is a wind-blown sandy deposit which tends to collect in the valleys probably at the time of the last ice age. Water running over these deposits tends to run down and stain the chalk cliffs below.

Having had a good look around we headed back to Eastbourne and having parked our car at the hotel decided a walk along the seafront was in order. We could hear the sound of music in the distance and found that a brass band was playing in the Bandstand on the the promenade so we had to stop and listen for a while. The seagulls obviously don't understand good manners as two of them, at one point, were perched on top of the Bandstand screeching their heads off.

When we had almost reached the pier we saw this very colourful display of flowers.

Going onto the pier we arrived at the Victorian Tea Rooms which I'd mentioned on our first day. We didn't go in, although it looked very nice inside, because it was getting near to dinner time and we didn't want to be tempted by any scrumptious looking cake. Next time perhaps. The dome beyond the tearooms is the Camera Obscura which was closed when we were there so we weren't able to go in.

We spotted this little structure which I assume must be a shelter of some kind. I suppose that if, while walking on the pier, it starts to rain it would offer some temporary respite. We rather liked the view seen through the glass divider.

We walked back to the Wish Tower, near our hotel, so I'll leave you with this last view of the seafront at Eastbourne taken from the hump on which the Wish Tower stands. Amanda has decided that she loves Eastbourne and, I have to admit, there is something about the place. A typical English seaside resort without the usual tastelessness that often goes with it. A rather attractive, grand and genteel town.

Tomorrow we leave for home – but ….

Down South – Day 2 – Friday 25th Sept.

Down South – Day 2 – Friday 25th Sept.

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We woke to another sunny day so the prospects for today's planned walk look good! After breakfast we walked out of our hotel at 9:15 and down to the seafront by the Wish Tower where we turned west. We had about a mile to walk along the seafront before we reached the footpath on the Downs, going past The Grand Hotel on the way and you don't know what grand is until you've seen 'The Grand'. Rooms start at around 190 GBP per night; a little more than we would want to pay. smilies The Grand is the white building and you can see the Downs in the distance where we are headed.

The seafront road climbs quite gently such that it doesn't really notice but after a while when looking back we could see that we'd already gained some height. We soon reached the footpath and started up the Downs towards Beachy Head and now it was noticeably steep. Part the way up I stopped to take a picture of the view which was a good excuse for a brief rest.

Some way further on (and up) we spotted a bench seat so we stopped there for about ten minutes to let a party of noisy school children go past and the noise faded as they disappeared into the distance. We eventually reached the Beachy Head area and had travelled two and a half miles so far. From this point we could see the Belle Tout Lighthouse where we were headed next and from the edge of the cliff the Beachy Head Lighthouse was also visible.

My – tha's a long way down. Walking along the top of the cliffs the views include the sea, the downs and glimpses of the chalk cliffs – absolutely wonderful. The little figure ahead is Amanda and the white headland on the horizon is Seaford Head. Immediately this side of Seaford Head is Cuckmere Haven almost at the end of our walk and in between here and Seaford Head you may just be able to make out the Belle Tout Lighthouse just to the right of Amanda's head.

A little further on and a bit nearer the Beachy Head Lighthouse Amanda photographed me photographing the lighthouse just before I fell over the edge. :shock:

Don't for a minute think that we are walking on level ground. It's all either up or down, some of it quite steep as you should be able to appreciate in this view.

You may notice that the the bottom of the next dip is out of sight down the steep slope but at least the Belle Tout Lighthouse is a bit nearer although there are two of these troughs to negotiate before we reach it. Looking back towards Eastbourne the Beachy Head Lighthouse is still visible and how do you like the look of that last slope we've come down not to mention the one we've just had to climb.

On the way along the cliff tops we saw a number of Clouded Yellow butterflies which was very nice but none of them would stop still long enough for me to take a photograph. We (that's Amanda in front) are about to negotiate the last trough before the Belle Tout Lighthouse.

Hooray! We've finally reached the Belle Tout Lighthouse. Next stop is Birling Gap and that's not very far now.

The lighthouse was moved 56 feet further inland in 1999 to save it from going over the cliffs as erosion progresses and it apparently is now being prepared for opening to the public.

After walking down the slope from the Belle Tout Lighthouse Birling Gap is within sight. Total distance from our hotel to Birling Gap is about five miles.

It is now 12:15 so this is where we break for lunch. After lunch we head up the track visible on the right-hand edge of the picture and on to the Seven Sisters.

It was about this time that I realised that my pedometer was under reading slightly so I'm going to wait until the end of the walk and compare the pedometer reading with the distance I know the walk to be having measured it accurately on an Ordnance Survey map.

After lunch Amanda decided her legs weren't up to going over the Seven Sisters with their many ups and downs, especially with some of them being rather steep, so she caught the bus round to Exceat where we arranged to meet and I set off up the track towards the Seven Sisters at 1:15 PM.

The walk up to the first hump wasn't too bad at all and the view looking back, showing the Belle Tout Lighthouse from this side, wasn't bad either.

The walk over the Seven Sisters was really quite pleasant with some amazing views and I soon found myself on the last but one hump looking at the top of the next, Haven Brow. But oh my goodness – look at the steepness of that final upward slope to the top.

I did make it, however, and here I am on top of Haven Brow, the most westerly of the Seven Sisters, looking down on Cuckmere Haven with Seaford Head beyond and only one and a half miles to the tearooms.  :smile:

I finally arrived at the road in Exceat at 3:15 PM to find Amanda waiting by the gate. That was a total distance of eight and a half miles from our hotel with five hours of actual walking and most of that route is part of the South Downs Way.

We went over to the tearooms for afternoon tea and caught the bus back to Eastbourne. An exceptionally nice day with regard to both the weather and the scenery. I'd love to do it again sometime.

Tomorrow, I think, will be an easy day.