Geocaches - 12
Day 1 of the South Downs Way (Other SDW Blogs - Day 2, Day 3)
Start - Eastbourne Station
Finish - Southease Station
Highlights - Windover Hill, Alfriston, Firle Beacon
The Context
It's been a while since I have had a really big adventure. I have been lovingly caressing a book called "The Inn Way". Not only is it a 6 day walk in the God's Country of Yorkshire, it's also involves popping into 26 pubs. It's as if one day, God woke up and tasked someone with writing the perfect Mappiman book. I tentatively broach the subject with Sonia, who asks whether it could be broken into two long weekends. Unfortunately, public transport does not appear to have made it to Reeth, so I find an alternative that can.
The South Downs Way. This is around 100 miles, starting at Eastbourne and ending in Winchester. There is a train station exactly half way through at Amberley. It's perfect. I book the first half for April 2015.
Two days later, as my tea is being lovingly served, Sonia hits me with the news that she's off to Portugal with the girls for 4 nights.
The Walk
Cheap booked rail tickets mean that I do not make it to Eastbourne until 12:45. This is half an hour earlier than expected, thanks to getting across London on the underground quicker than the booking computer reckoned was possible. Great news - time is tight to make the Lewes train from Southease and this leaves a real possibility of a stop in Alfriston. If you had ever been there, you would not want to just walk on through it.
Glorious weather all the way down but these are the days of the record smog levels in the South of England. There is a picture in Saturday's paper that shows the Shard in London completely disappearing. So although, I have a day where no jacket is required, the views are not quite as they should be.
Alight at Eastbourne in a sea fog and head through the town to the Start of the South Downs Way.
It's that good, Paradise Drive takes you there |
First Trig Point - with First Geocache of the Day Close by |
Early Days on the SDW - Which I appear to have all to myself |
Jevington Church |
A haven for pudding fans |
Leaving Jevington, I play leap frog with two ramblers who I assume are father and son. They walk for much further than their jeans would suggest but get in the way of my caching. Eventually, I stop worrying about it and rather brazenly attack the caches. I'm not the only one - as I meet a family of cachers who have sent the eldest son into the prickly bushes to make a retrieve.
The first real highlight of the SDW is Windover Hill, where the landscape forms a natural bowl below the path.
Windover Hill |
Meandering around the Natural Bowl |
The Smugglers Inne and the Market Inn |
Harvey's Old Ale becomes Pint Number 1 |
Caches, views and damn fine walking are on offer as I make my way to Firle Beacon. Sheep and the occasional mountain biker are all I have for company.
Mountain Bikers go too fast for a photo of their luxurious hipster beards. |
Firle Beacon - Contains a Geocache - if you know where to look |
The Radio Mast is near the end of today's walking |
Last Trig of the Day - Red Lion Pond. Alas, no pub. Just sheep |
That relieved when the train stops, I wave at the driver |
Will I survive for Day 2?
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