Every two years I walk the best walk in southeast England, which is over the Seven Sisters and across the top of Beachy Head. I did it again yesterday.
This is the tenth time I've done the walk, so exhilarating do I find it. If you've never been, there are several moments where the landscape opens up and you think "seriously? wow!" before striding on across the chalky switchback. If you've never been I also haven't been doing my job properly, because if you're physically able you really should have walked it by now. Look how amazing it is. [14 photos]
This time I walked west to east, starting by the River Cuckmere in Exceat and finishing at Eastbourne Pier. This involves catching the ever-so frequent Coaster bus out and then walking ten miles back. It also means I kept up my record of never walking the same stretch in the same direction as I did last time.
One day I'll start at Seaford again and walk the full six hours, but Seaford actually works better as the end of the extended walk because if you're knackered you can always bail at Exceat and catch the bus.
There's no point describing the walk again, not on my tenth pass, but here are some things that were different this time.
Cuckmere
• At my favourite meander, a professional team had turned up to do a photoshoot involving a huge white flapping bedsheet.
• In the field above my favourite meander, a sign on the gate said "BEEF BULL IN FIELD for natural fertilisation of cows". I braved ahead, and thankfully the field was full of sheep instead.
• I was intending to count how many people were going the other way, but the South Coast Ultra Challenge was in full effect and its 2000 competitors would have skewed the statistics somewhat.
• These athletes were sleek breathing machines with sturdy calves, many with walking poles. I was well impressed even before I discovered they were walking/jogging from Eastbourne to Arundel over the course of the weekend, perhaps all 100km in 24 hours.
Seven Sisters(n.b. there are of course eight)
• This section is seriously undulating, thus the most challenging section of the entire walk. Heading west to east the worst climbs are definitely number three and number seven.
• Some favourite sights: a biplane, the shadows of a flock of seagulls skimming across the grassland, the dazzlingwhiteness of exposed chalk, the foundations of a long-vanished hut, hot twins, rabbitholes, milky waves far below.
• The Ultra Challenge crew were keeping well away from the edge, leaving the grassier strip closer to the sheer drop for those of us who didn't want to plough the muscle motorway.
• Underneath hump seven is a very obvious cave, not that I've ever walked along the pebbly beach to see it.
• What I did count this time was how long it took to walk between each of the eight peaks. It always amazes me that it only takes an hour:
Haven Brow (→8min→) Short Brow (→10min→) Rough Brow (→5min→) Brass Point (→10min→) Flagstaff Point (→4min→) Flat Hill (→7min→) Baily's Hill (→8min→) Went Hill Brow
Birling Gap/Belle Tout
• If you arrive just after high tide the beach is a) small b) mostly empty
• A heck of a lot of people merely drive to the car park, walk a fraction of the way up to the lighthouse and then take lots of group selfies with the Seven Sisters behind them.
• Standing here you would definitely count seven humps, not eight, because two of the distant ones fold into one another at this distance.
• Inflation check: Since 2023 the price of a 99 at the Birling Gap ice cream van has increased from £3 to £4, while the price of a Magnum at the Belle Tout kiosk has only risen from £2.60 to £3.
• From here on it's got a lot more safety-conscious since my last visit. The cliff edge is now almost entirely roped off all the way from Birling Gap to Beachy Head.
Beachy Head
• Mass trespass across the rope occurs at certain key points, especially those with a perfect view of the stripy lighthouse. A small chalk platform where I've stood for a great shot on nine previous occasions is now mostly out of bounds.
• The stupidest leg-danglers were the couple sitting on the edge with their dog wandering about on a long lead. "Tugged over the edge by a falling sausage dog" would be a particularly daft way to die.
• I spotted a BT inspection cover and a padlocked access hatch in the grass approximately above where I believe the offshore lighthouse to be.
• One of the kitesurfers by the triangulation point had his left leg in a serious metal brace, which didn't exactly inspire confidence.
Eastbourne
• One joy of walking west to east is that the last hour from Beachy Head to Eastbourne pier is all downhill then all flat.
• It's Steampunk weekend in Eastbourne which meant a lot of feathered goggled folk on the Wishtower Slopes quaffing beer, listening to guitar music and being served tea and biscuits by a lady with a castle on her head.
• The nudist beach by the bandstand ("no clothes or cameras") was vaguely delimited but seemingly empty.
• The chip shop at the start of the pier has closed, ditto The Grill opposite.
• I was back at the station five hours after I arrived... and will be back again in 2027.
