Monday, 1 September 2014

A walk on Beachy Head

Last Friday we went to visit Beachy Head - not sure why it took us so long, we've lived down here for some years now! We drove to the visitor centre and pub (which does a nice lunch) at the top, and walked over to the cliff:

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They're not joking about the cliff edge...

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Being 500ft above the sea, whilst also being almost at the edge of it, makes for some great views, to Eastbourne and beyond to the east:

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To the south, some weird ocean currents (see the diagonal line in the water, from bottom left to centre) and nice shadows of clouds on the sea:
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And the well-known lighthouse to the west:
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It's a stunning place to visit, shame it has a darker side as a suicide spot. But at least the Chaplaincy Team there is doing a good job.
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Going west along the coast from Beachy Head you come to Seven Sisters country park, which is also worth a visit - we walked along the west side of the Cuckmere river:
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Before long, the river reaches the sea...
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And you're rewarded with a nice shingle beach with a few houses perched on cliff tops:
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On the walk between the main road and the sea, we saw more Herons in half an hour than we ever have in one place before!
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There was also the bizarre sight of a Heron and several Little Egrets perched in trees, preening themselves! It's strange to see a bird usually found wading in water up a tree...
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We walked back along the other side of the trees, and I was able to get a closer shot of one of the Little Egrets:
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There were also lots of other birds, including dozens of Swallows - I was pleased to get a photo of one of them, though it took about 20 shots to get this one mediocre picture!
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If you've not been, the area is well worth a visit - there's more info here.

Mike

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