Sunday saw the Summer’s final fling of glorious sunshine, which surely signals a change in the weather and the start of the move towards Autumn. And how better to spend it than out in the fresh air. I bade farewell to London with all its activities (Paralympics closing ceremony and The Thames Festival) hopped on a train and chugged my way down to the south coast. Slathering on the sun cream and looking the part of the ultimate walking geek, I headed to the beach at Seaford and hooked a left, heading east along the coast. This little walk was by no means a breeze. 21km of pure unadulterated hill and no joke, various parts of my body are still stiff rendering it tricky to do even the most basic of daily movements. However, the views were such that I would do it again in a blink of an eye. We are rapidly losing our south coast due to the aggressive erosion of the sea, which has been documented in the dramatic photographs on display at Birling Gap, charting the demise of Birling Gap in particular. On the day went, and slowly climbed all seven of the sisters and made it to the top of Beachy Head. The weather momentarily turned for the worse and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the clouds blow on in, we were spared and remained safe on top the cliffs, despite moments of uncertainty. With my end goal of Eastbourne now in sight, I ignored my throbbing feet and onwards was spurred. I skipped through Eastbourne (not literally) without stopping even for chips and settled smugly onto the train, an hour earlier than the book predicted. Go me. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. No walking book required as you just follow the coast!
