Headlines
A Short Cut -- and it Works !
An Unexpected White Horse
Lots of ups and Downs
We See the Sea -- and Keep on Walking
Eastbourne! The Pier! The End! (of the walk!)
====
Stream of Consciousness
A Short Cut -- and it Works !
Remember yesterday, when we met a couple with a pram and children, battling nettles? (Did I even mention it?) Anyway, they are at breakfast. Makes me think that noisy children make for good memories but may be hard work at the time! Deb is able to watch another family with a baby. She enjoys that :-)
Deb and I both have waffles and bacon and maple syrup for breakfast. I add scrambled eggs. Delicious! Plus the usual cereal and fruit and yoghurt and toast and marmalade...
Our b&b is a large house... mansion... sitting at the top of a curving drive. It was built in the 1890s and has been rental accommodation for 30 or 40 years. An impressive building surrounded by a huge area of garden and grounds. Our room has an almost private area out the back, to sit and watch the sun set. (We hung some clothes out to air...) From the breakfast room we see a little bird and a grey squirrel. All very nice.
We set out by walking away from Alfriston. Where we left the Way was in Alfriston. Not to worry: we are following a short cut. I had noticed that one of the recommended pubs was the other side of the Way. So we go towards that pub to start our walk. And cut off a kilometre of so of the Way.
Along White Road, turn left at a bridleway. Through the river flood plains, across the river. Left then right -- and there is a marker for the South Downs Way. It's a stone marker, the first I've seen.
An Unexpected White Horse
From finding the Way near the river... we climb up a short but steep hill. Through fields and past cottages. Into a more open -- larger -- field. The track is almost level. We look over a hedge and see... a chalk horse!
On the hillside across a valley -- a white horse. Well drawn, too. Trotting across the slope. It may be quite new. It is not mentioned in the guide book. The best sort of chalk figure -- the unexpected one! And we have plenty of time to admire it, as we walk a few hundred metres beside that hedge.
Bang! Sounds like a shot! But it is a gas-powered bird scarer. It must include a motion detector: it seems to only fire when birds land. We see crows fly away in fright.
Lots of ups and Downs
Down into a valley. Up the other side, with steps. Through a forest, very nice. Down past farms and cottages. Up a lot of very steep stairs, still through forest. A named forest, I just can't remember the name.
Over a stone wall... Instead of a stile or a gate, the wall gets lower, low enough to step over. We're in a steep -- downhill -- open paddock. With a view of the Cuckmere Meander...
It's the last length of a river (the Cuckmere!) before it reaches the sea. Over thousands of years it's worn a very wide valley. Then taken to wriggling from side to side -- meandering -- across that valley. Of course someone dug a straight trench to stop the meander from being a swamp... There are moves to try and remove the straight trench. I read all about it... then we go down the hill.
At the bottom of the hill is a busy road. With buses to and from Eastbourne and Brighton, bringing people to the Cuckmere Meander. There's a large carpark with lots of parked cars. There's a farm / information centre / accommodation... and teahouse. We stop for coffee and flapjack. (Here, it's a sort of Anzac. A slab of oats plus butter plus syrup. Cooked.)
I like the hand printed note on a jar at the counter: People hate change, leave yours here and we'll take care of it. I still don't tip. It's just not right to tip... I say.
We See the Sea -- and Keep on Walking
At the end of the Meander is the sea. There are tracks leading towards the sea and over the hills. There are hundreds of people walking along the tracks!
This is obviously a good spot for casual hikers!
We follow hundreds of people. Some peel off towards the sea -- and a pebble beach at the mouth of the river. We follow the Way up the hill. Still with crowds of people.
I take a photo for a group of young Chinese(?) tourists. It looks as though a busload arrived this morning. There are lots of foreign speakers walking by. Plenty of English, too. Plenty of people!
We're now walking along the Seven Sisters. Which is a series of long hills, running across our path. So we follow the coastline -- at the top of the chalk cliffs, the sea edge of the Downs -- going up and down seven short, sharp hills. Tiring!
The temperature is also a bit lower than yesterday. The sun is shining but there is always a bit of a cold wind. Or, as Deb says, a bitterly cold wind.
There's a cafe -- but so many cars and people that we just walk on... after buying an icecream from a van. Lunch is muesli bars and such that we have accumulated in my backpack. Then more hours of walking along the edge of the Downs. With views inland and out to sea. With a very sudden drop between us and the sea!
Not that steep drops make me nervous... Hah! There's one spot where there are perhaps eight small crosses at the edge of the cliff. Hmmm. We keep clear of the edges.
Today is completely different to every other day of our walk. It's along a broad grassy area rather than tracks. There is the sea. And there are hundreds of other people.
Eastbourne! The Pier! The End! (of the walk!)
And now -- suddenly -- we see Eastbourne! It's still four kilometres away. We can see lots of buildings, one ugly tower block -- and the Eastbourne Pier.
There's still more than an hour of walking. Quite a lot of it along a track, halfway down the hill, away from most other people. Until... finally... we go down a final hill -- and have reached Eastbourne :-)
This is the official end of the Way ! Though our itinerary points us to the pier as the end... Doesn't matter, we want to go to the pier. Well, I want to, Deb is willing but also wants to sit down!
First, we find our b&b. Lighten our load. Walk the final walk... and reach the pier!
We have finished the South Downs Walk! One hundred miles, 160km, on foot. Seven days walking. Woohoo !!
We celebrate with a "Sussex tea" at the Victoria Cafe on the pier. It's a pretty poor tea, really. Well, the tea is good but the scone is average and the jam is bad. But the cafe is comfortably warm -- must be the first warm cafe that we've found in England! Poor food but a very satisfying celebration :-)
The pier is now owned by a sheikh. A "fake sheikh", according to the b&b owners. Whatever that means! He's not all bad though. He's called the pier... wait for it... Sheikh's Pier... rofl
We walk back a slightly different way, wondering where we stayed when we were last in Eastbourne. You'd think we'd remember, it was only forty years ago. (Back at the b&b I check google maps. And think I can identify where we stayed, within 50m or so. Deb agrees with me. So there!)
We also check out a place for dinner. The b&b gave us a "passport" with discounts at various places. And, presumably, kickbacks for the b&b. I said, On the walk I decided that I really want fish and chips! So they pointed us to a non-discout f&c shop. We go in, smell the deep frying fat and say, Table for two at seven o'clock please.
Back home. Shower and change. My hiking shirt may be binned rather than washed. It has a large tear across the back. Where the backpack rubs, where the tear is hidden by the backpack.
Deb showers first. Then I start. Deb has to come in, to explain the taps... There are instructions on the wall, which I can't read without my reading glasses. Even with my glasses -- the instructions make no sense. They seem to refer to a different tap system.
In the shower there are two containers of -- possibly -- shower gel. I can't read the labels. I use one which does create soapy foam. Does everyone else wear their reading glasses into the shower?! There will definitely be a rude post to the my3Rs blog...
Later, at the Holiday Inn Fish & Chip Shop...
Two cod (battered, deep fried) and chips. Excellently cooked ! With garden salad for Deb and mushy peas for me. More locally ethnic food :-) Banana split, shared, for dessert. Excellent, though could have done with more chocolate syrup.
We walk home. Feeling full, possibly from the fat overload. And well fed. A good meal -- nothing fancy, nothing Master Chef -- just a good meal, well cooked. And half the price of most of our holiday meals.
Sure, I couldn't stand fish & chips every night. But I've also grown sick and tired of good "fancy" food! I was really longing for something simple. Mmmmm... fish and chips :-)
Back home for coffee. With a bit of chocolate which the b&b has left -- with a feedback form :-)
Ahhhhh... relaxing.
With a train trip tomorrow, back to our rental car in Winchester. I know the time of our preferred train. Just need to get there on time to find where and how to buy tickets...
But that's for tomorrow.
====
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
====
"I feel that my enemy is anyone who would, given the power to do so, restrict individual liberty." … Chuck Pratt, 1965
No comments:
Post a Comment