Alfriston to Eastbourne

Today I am starting with a nice view over Littlington with the church of Alfriston in the background :

I said goodbye to Alfriston this morning and to the Old Chapel, it was good to stay there for a while. I have attended both the morning service in St Andrews there as well as the 1 min silence for the Queen. Had dinner in the Smugglers Inn twice, good quality and reasonable prices. I lost my hat and found it again (after a prayer) in the Village Shop!

The journey today was to Litlington and the up on the fields and woods to West Dean. The latter is a beautiful village, almost being transported back in time.

 

 

The Church nearly unchanged too:

 

 

From there up a steep hill again to have a few over Cuckmere Haven:

 

 

It looks really impressive, but you have to know that the meander is really closed of from the River, which runs now in parallel straight to the sea..

From the mouth of the Cuckmere it went East up the Seven Sisters. Especially the first slope was really steep, sometimes going up on all fours! That was a bit scary with a full backpack!.

But the views were gorgeous, the sun came out and the sun cream too!

But I was not alone, lots of foreign students learning English, and other tourists.

 

Not always behaving safely either! But all seem to be finding it easier to go up than I! I bit discouraging to be overtaking by so many fit people. 

I had a nice cheese roll up there which I bought in Alfriston 

After a very long time we got to see Eastbourne and the direction was mainly down again.

 

At the outskirts of Eastbourne there was a promise of a holy well coming up in the lower cliff, but I couldn't find it. 

I then decided to go straight to my Airbnb (my first), on the way helping a few German students to find there way and walking more or less together. I felt I was there Guardian Angel for a while!

The hosts at the Airbnb are very welcome, although I had brought my own dinner (frozen cauliflower biryani, bought in Alfriston), they invited me to join them in eating it. They even have done some washing! 

Ending with the usual stats

Sunday in Alfriston

It has been quite chilly today, fortunately I found this in the pub with my meal...

 

Lewes to Alfriston

As I am writing this, I sit in the Smugglers Inn in Alfriston. I am staying overnight in the Old Chapel Centre, which is used to be a URC and is now a community centre. The twinning society has a do tonight, and they should be finished by 10pm. That means that until that time I have to be in the pub! I just had sausage and mash and will get a dessert later.

But first the walk. It was nice today! Interesting paths and also nice villages to visit. The route went from Lewes up the Downs to another Iron Age fort and high point: The Caburn. 

View over Lewes:

 

On the way up:

The Caburn:

On the way up I was overtaken by presumably a group of Brighton students. So much easier to ascend a hill when you're young and only have light daypacks. They went another way, but I met up with them again on the Caburn. They must have walked along the contours, while I went down & up through a valley. So they caught up with me again! 

 

Here are two pictures of the A26 & A27. Why? I have driven these roads quite frequently when I had to work in Brighton, from Tunbridge Wells. And often in traffic as well. It is good to look at them from above.

 

I never realised that this point was above it... 

From there the route went down to Glynde. This is the difference between the Old Way and the South Downs way. The Old Way links towns villages and churches together. The South Downs way stays on the top of the Downs on doesn't do these detours! 

Glynde is a lovely village, it boasts of course an elaborate church St Mary's. It is almost part of the Glynde Place, 

 

 

The figure above the entrance is a modern depiction of Mary. 

Glynde also has a lovely tea room and garden, nice for a coffee break

 

From Glynde I crossed the river Glynde Reach and railway to go to Firle, walking just north of the Downs 

The approach to the church in Firle is quite special. It sits a bit further out of the village but is connected by a covered footpath

 

And at the end of the footpath is the door of the St Peter's church. The whole church also feels open en welcoming.

 

With little seating area: 

 

 

Used for small groups or for prayer? 

The other novelty is that it not only had a seat on the garden but a table too. Perfect for a lunch stop. 

 

 

After Firle it went up again to Firle Beacon.

 

 

View back over Firle:

 

From there down again to two villages: Alciston and Berwick 

 

 

Both have nice churches, but Alciston is very peaceful and understated

 

 

There is also Pilgrims bell that Pilgrims are allowed to ring

It is newly cast to commemorate the establishment of a pilgrim path that connects all the churches of the benefice together. It rang very nice, with a very long and mellow after tone.

Berwick's church is totally different. It has been completely adapted to show and preserve a decorative scheme of paintings by the Bloomsbury artists Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell was commissioned by Bishop Bell of Chichester in 1941 at the height of World War II. 

It looks very rich, but also, to my taste, over the top. 

From the outside it is a regular church

 

From there it went to Alfriston my end point for today. 

Tomorrow is Sunday so I am not walking and staying two nights in Alfriston. I won't do a blog post but may just post one photo. 

Ending with the regular stats:

 

Pyecombe to Lewes

I noticed that today I have only been in one Church, at the end of the walk in Lewes! The main part of the walk was on the South Downs today and only the end between Offham & Lewes was in 'occupied' territory. 

From Chantry Farm where I stayed I took a different route, direct north and upwards to reach the top of the Downs directly bypassing Pyecombe. 

The only problem was to cross the A273 to go up to the Jack and Jill windmills. Had to walk along for a bit, but most drivers were very considerate. It is on of those places that are more impressive from afar then from nearby. Yesterday I could see the windmills from a long way off, so I was looking forward to see them up close. But when I got there they were surrounded by trees and the only shot worth taking was from the car park.

 

As both Mills were closed I could not get any closer either.

I admire all these people queueing to pay respect to the Queen. I wonder if they have the same feeling: having queued for 12 hours, they have only a few minutes (or less?), to pay their respects, and then it's all over. What would people remember most, the time in the queue with all the others , or the few moments in Westminster Hall?

The same for my journey too. My destination is Canterbury Cathedral. But I probably won't be there a long time. I have seen it before, and probably would like to go home. Why do it then? It's the journey, the walking, meeting different people and the achievement. 

Today was an achievement. Not because of the length or the height, but this one was more one and the same.

From Jack and Jill the next stops is Ditchling point, the highest point on the South Downs. 

And the views are gorgeous, but having to walk for what feels like hours with similar views gets a bit same-y. And and if the path isn't so interesting it gets same-y and therefore tiring. 

The final stop was at the beacon on Mount Harry, where in 1264, the Battle of Lewes was fought.

 

From this it was down to Offham, almost near to sea-level again, nearly 600ft - which me knees are feeling! 

In Offham, the church was closed. The route suggested a detour to visit the church at Hamsey, as it has hardly changed since 12th C when it was built. It even does not have electricity. Unfortunately I couldn't see that either as this church was also closed! It does not help morale if you go somewhere special to find it is not open. 

By this time I was quite tired and walked the final few miles to Lewes. 

Lewes Castle was interesting decorated by an art project. And close to the home of my hosts was St Michael's

The usual stats:

 

 

Steyning to Pyecombe

I'll keep it short today, as I just lost the contents of my blog. I had a great walk today through Bramber, Upper Beeding and alongside the river Adur.

After that it went up the South Downs again, with a highlight the hang gliders at Devil's Dyke

 

Now I am staying in a converted wagon :

 

 

with a lovely view:

 

Just the stats finish with 

 

Hopefully better again tomorrow!