Beachy Head Walk

We are in Eastbourne for a few days walking, with some doing the 1066 country walk. tomorrow and Saturday. This afternoon we did a walk to Beachy Head and beyond.

This was the invite from Joyce...

"If you would like to walk with us Thursday afternoon then we will meet at the Premier Inn Terminus Road, Eastbourne BN21 3DF at 1.30pm. It is a 10 minute walk from the train station. 

We will walk to Beachy Head using the King Charles III coastal path and the South Downs Path. It is a 7.5 mile circular route with elevation gain of 841 feet. I am not planning a coffee stop at the top as on the way down, we pass a lovely pub called The Pilot Inn. I plan to book a table here from 5.30pm (as we pass) for an early evening meal so that we can get an early night for the next day. Please let me know if you would prefer to make to make your own arrangements for your evening meal. "

This was our route.

Here are a few of my photos.

We met up outside the Premier Inn where several of us are staying.

We set off along the sea front. Here is the view back towards the pier.

At the foot of the climb. We were following the South Downs Way here.

Erica and Dawn on the climb.

Looking back down at Eastbourne.

Up ahead we could see a coach-load of youngsters. We would catch them up later.

The gorse is in flower. We could smell the coconut-like scent of the flowers in the sun.

A group photo close to the top.

The path continues towards Brighton, passing Belle Tout lighthouse. We weren't going that far, but did continue along the coast path for a while.

The cliffs are quite spectacular.

The path undulates as it follows the seven sisters.

Looking back we got a good view of Beachy Head lighthouse.

Erica and Dawn decided to miss this next up from shooters bottom and started to climb back up.

Here they are waiting for us.

The view along the path to the west.

We stopped at the Beachy Head pub for refreshments.

I liked the poem on the blackboard.

But just drink and no bacon sandwiches for us as we were going to the Pilot Inn for an early evening meal on the way back.

Going back down.

The Pilot Inn.

The y had a good selection of beers...

...and the food was excellent. I enjoyed my hake.

Afterwards, we still had a bit further to go to get back to the Premier Inn.

The pier in the glow of the setting sun.

Thank-you Joyce for organising and to everyone else for the additional company. You can find more details of our 7 mile walk here on MapMyWalk (or download a GPX file here) and see more of my photos here on Flickr.