Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 17 | Eastbourne

Day 17 - Seven Sisters, Sandwiches & Cream Tea

Why do most hikes start with a steep uphill? It’s like a quick attempt to gain some altitude. Most of the time, you do get rewarded with refreshing views as well, so it's worth the effort. Also, sometimes, it doesn’t feel as steep as it looks and sometimes, it is a pretty deceiving sight! Thankfully, in our case, it was the former as we climbed up the steep slope of Beachy Head.

View of the old lighthouse from Belle Tout

Beachy Head is the highest point on the ridge and from here, you can see most of the route ahead with the white cliffs playing peek-a-boo at a few twists and turns of the path. We did the classic Seven Sisters Walk. So basically, we were walking on top of the seven white cliff peaks that we saw earlier when walking from Seaford to Cuckmere Haven. Just that this time, we were approaching Cuckmere Haven from the opposite side of the coast i.e. east. It can also be done in reverse though i.e. from Exceat or Cuckmere Haven towards east up to Eastbourne. But as per my friend, philosopher and guide advice, ours was more strategic!

Blue flowers (name not sure) lining up the coastal ridge

I couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was crisp and sunny and the moment we got to the top of the Downs, it wrapped us up in its cosy green blanket. There was a war memorial at the top of Beachy Head, towards Whitbread Hollow. We took a good look at that and then continued our walk. Some blue flowers on long stalks lined up the coastal edge at this part. Suddenly, we saw a few fighter planes doing drills up in the sky. They were heading west along the coast. We followed their manoeuvre as far as we could and then they vanished from our sight.

Aircraft drill

Always after a steep climb, comes a descent. At this part, it was a gradual descent down to the next sister, Beachy head being the 1st or the 7th however you count it! We then climbed up the next sister which came with Belle tout i.e. the lighthouse. DD decided that this lighthouse looked really ugly from the structural aesthetics point of view. I could almost see his point. But there is the engineering feat to trolley this lighthouse inland whenever the coastal erosion threatens it, which makes it quite marvellous. Although, we engineers are always doubtful about the working mechanics of anything engineered!

Belle tout in the distance - view from Beachy Head

We took a little break and sat down on the grass near a shaded wall of the belle tout tower. We were not really very tired but we wanted to have snickers and wanted to remember it by a memory that said - having snickers by Belle tout. So we did. We then again climbed down and up to the next one which is Birling Gap. This is the only point on the route which has a big car park and toilets and ice cream vans. Needless to say, it was very crowded. I queued for about 10 minutes to go to the toilet and then we hurried over to the next sister again.

Coastal Chalk formation

This entire SDW route over the seven sisters is a series of undulations like a wave or a ripple of green meadow along the coast. You go up and down the entire ridge, some of the undulation being steeper than the other. Going from Beachy Head to Birling Gap, it was more of a gentle slope up and slightly steeper in comparison going down. But the next few undulations required a bit more calf and quad strength, nothing too alarming though unless you are sprinting!

Birling Gap - with the white chalk backdrop

On the second last sister, we had our packed lunch which was a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut butter is anyway yum but I cannot stress enough how delicious food tastes when you are out in the open and have done some adrenaline work. We watched a couple of people running up the slope. The surface is very grassy and soft but It was quite steep for a run. So we wonder how their legs might be feeling the next day!

Can you make out the descent?

Finally, we got to the last sister and down to Cuckmere Haven. We took a path to the right and followed the meandering river valley. There were swans in the river and a few sailors too, all sailing together in harmony! We made our way to the Exceat bus stop and hopped on to a bus that took the scenic route back to Eastbourne.

Cuckmere Haven in view from the last peak

I can’t say we were massively hungry when we got back to Eastbourne and were wandering around in the town. But I did have cream tea on my checklist and my tummy instantly agreed with a rumble! So, we got back to the car and drove off towards Alfriston to a cutesy village called Litlington and walked into a cafe called Litlington cream tea cafe - named with very obvious purpose and precision. I love cream teas! More than the food, it's the ritual of having it that appeals to me a lot. Quite old school. I ordered a Sussex cream tea and a lemon drizzle cake. It was the best! I gave them full marks on their culinary expertise. It is quite funny though after having the cream tea, more hunger kicked in! After we got back home, I made my pretty popular coriander chicken (I am only ever complimented on this dish but I will take that!) and peas rice for dinner.

Sussex Cream Tea and Lemon Drizzle cake

The Eastbourne to Exceat Seven Sisters hike was the longest in this trip so far. It was about 14 hilly miles. But it was definitely one of the best hikes! Even though we spent a long day walking, I felt superb. I am not saying I could go out for a run after that hike but mentally, I was very fresh.

The emotion I reckon with every time on a hike is freedom and what a sweet one this was!