09/04/15 - Discovering the Home of Banoffi Pie

Distance - 15 Miles
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

Unless I missed it, there's no grand announcement that you are starting the South Downs Way. Paradise way leads to a turning on the left where you are out in the countryside.  No monument or signage noticed as I make my way steadily uphill on the chalk path, gaining height to get onto the ridge.

First Trig Point - with First Geocache of the Day Close by

As expected, the walking is stunning.  Easy wayfinding on a broad path with views that just seem to get better and better.  And a lot of Geocaches

Early Days on the SDW - Which I appear to have all to myself

First sign of civilisation is Jevington.  Pretty little village that has a pub and a restaurant where they invented Banoffi Pie.  Not being a massive pudding man, I am unsure whether this is a good thing but the things you learn rambling.

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

We holidayed in this area back in 2008 and I remember Alfriston well.  It had several cracking pubs and as I am making good time, I can stop for the first pint on the SDW.  A choice to make, I go for a two pubs for the price of one offer.

The Smugglers Inne and the Market Inn

Harvey's Old Ale becomes Pint Number 1

Refreshed, I head back on the trail.  Always nice to have a steep climb, post pint.

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

From the Radio Mast, I can see Southease Train Station.  A more desolate train station has yet to be encountered.  After 15 miles, 5hrs 15 minutes of walking and 10 minutes for a pint, I am here 20 minutes early for 18:35.

That relieved when the train stops, I wave at the driver

I have booked a B&B in Lewes for the night that has no presence on TripAdvisor.  Sonia has been filling my head with all sorts of horrors about the sorts of people that take in solo ramblers into their home.  Its a 10 minute walk from the Station to Paddock Lane and I knock the door of a suburban home to announce my presence.

Will I survive for Day 2?