Beachy Head & The South Downs

[maidstone weather]

Hi all,

I decided to head to the Sussex coast on Bank Holiday Monday. Weather was rather disappointing admittedly, with a bitterly cold and strong wind. It was quite misty, murky and began to rain quite heavily as i left around mid-afternoon. Anyway, the three main places i visited were Beachy Head, Cuckmere Haven (drove past in car) and the Long Man of Wilmington.

Here's the general view looking to the west along the coastline of Beachy Head.

Hmm now the interesting bit - the sudden steep drop to the icy cold sea water, with nothing there to prevent the inevitable :o ... But don't worry, they've put a sign there to inform you in case you fall off

The view of Eastbourne from the top of Beachy Head (looking east):

The Visitor Centre...

...where i found this exhibit which is apparently a wasp's nest found in the attic of a nearby house!! :o :o (about the size of 2 footballs!)

Some more scenery, including the only narrow windy road that connects Beachy Head to the main A259 road:

And a photo of the Beachy Head light house, next to a fantastic sheet of chalk - but just look at that drop! Nothing to stop you stumbling there! :o :o

I then decided to drive along the coastline to the Estuary of the River Cuckmere (Cuckmere Haven) which is home to the Seven Sisters Country Park. I met a massive traffic queue on top of a hill overlooking the estuary, and managed to take this shot of the winding meanders of the Cuckmere through a wire fence:

Edit: just spotted Coast has posted a closer picture of Cuckmere Haven here

I believe there are plans to flood this area and make it a permanent reservoir? :lol:

Final stop on the way home was The Long Man of Wilmington, painted on the north side of the South Downs (inland side) overlooking the small village of Wilmington. Apparently, the 'man' will appear in correct proportion to the human body if viewed from the village, but if viewing the 'man' from above he will appear very long in length, hence it's name:

Thanks for reading

Edited May 7, 2009 by maidstone weather

[Sloopy]

Sussex is a place I feel really at home in - what a great set of photos.

[Coast]

Ahhh home!

Thanks for sharing MW!

[Koppite]

Great pics MW, you can't beat the UK coastline for natural beauty, thanks for sharing.

[maidstone weather]

Thanks for the comments

There is some really nice scenery in Sussex

[Evening thunder]

Very nice pics and great scenery there. that straight drop next to the light house is quite stunning!

[stormchaser1]

Nice set of pictures you have there maidstone Weather,

I particularly like the lighthouse and the white cliff shot Excellent,

thanks for sharing

nigel