MONDAY: Where to Next?

By LFTO Features Team

Features

22 June 2008 19:54

It might be Monday, but we're dreaming of the next trip...

#6: The South Downs

109 miles of rolling chalk escarpments and some of the prettiest villages in Europe. A dance of green and white hills stretching as far as the eye can see. Some of the easiest and friendliest walking in Britain. Oh, and London-by-Sea sitting proudly at the heart of it all.

Yup, there are many ways to describe the South Downs, and LFTO offers no apologies for proclaiming its love for them.

That they're not yet a National Park is probably something of a scandal, but take yourself away from the politics and the legal wrangles and the land disputes, and see the South Downs for what they are: cream teas and warm beer; one of the most achievable long-distance paths the country has to offer; December frosts gently lighting up the lanes and hillsides above Alfriston. Bliss, basically.

Let's focus on a particular stretch we love very much though; the very earliest stages. Here are some unique landscapes: the sheer, chalky arches of the Seven Sisters; the noble prow of Seaford Head and its neighbours, the cliffs of Newhaven; the fiercely passionate town of Lewes; and possibly the best hour's linear walk in Britain.



From Eastbourne to the Devil's Dyke, the Downs are unremittingly gorgeous. This stretch connects two of England's best-known seaside resorts, Eastbourne and Brighton: one placid, sedate and civilised, the other achingly hip, ceaselessly chic and constantly surprising.

Both bases can be accessed easily from London or almost anywhere else in the South East, and are terrific starting points for an exploration of the Downs. The Pennine Way starts with three of the bleakest, most depressing landscapes in Britain: Kinder Scout, Bleaklow and Black Hill, as if it's trying to put off the lily-livered from the outset.

Not the Downs. They say, 'come one, come all: you can do this, and it's gonna be fun'. The South Downs Way starts with the climb out of Eastbourne to the stunning peak-and-trough rambles of the Seven Sisters and Seaford Head, crossing the idyllic estuaries of the Ouse and the Cuckmere as it goes.



It doesn't pause for breath; it barrels its merry way along past vineyards and nature reserves, crossing the town of Lewes and flitting over Ditchling Beacon, doffing its hat to the iconic windmills of Clayton, then skirting Brighton to climb the Devil's Dyke, a vast green heap offering awesome views out to sea and inland as far as The Big Smoke.

Country Walking's Nick Hallissey adores the Lake District; he's seen sunset over the Sahara and the Grand Canyon; he's scrambled in Scotland's Assynt in October mist, but he'd still claim that the hour's stroll from the summit of Ditchling Beacon to the Jack and Jill windmills at Clayton is his favourite walk in the world. Okay, so it's shameless nostalgia - he grew up there - but he still reckons that someone who's never even heard of the South Downs would be hard-pressed to dislike it.   

Why? Well, it's high-level all the way (or as close to high level as the Downs get), so the views are fabulous, with a glittering Channel to the left being kissed-quick by the swinging shores of Brighton, tiny villages lurking on the right as though hiding from the big city, and ahead on the horizon, the dome of Devil's Dyke rising like destiny. Oh yes, this is a special place.



The South Downs: we can't call it wilderness; we can't pretend it's not popular to the point of overuse; we can't suggest it's a hidden gem that can be your little secret for ever more. But sometimes you have to stand on a hillside and think, 'people aren't stoopid; there's always a reason why a popular place is popular. It's abso-flippin-lutely gorgeous.' Have fun.