It’s not the first time I’ve had one of those days. One of those days when the countryside is not enough .I needed to hear and see waves crashing onto a shingle beach .One of the best places to go for this is the Seven sisters coastline. As seen above .In the right hand corner you can see the steps down to the beach.

The starting place for this experience is the National trusts Birling Gap. The site has a cafe which also teams up with a small museum to create a warm welcoming place to start a walk up to Belle tout lighthouse. The steps up to the Downs are quite steep but its well worth the effort as a climb.

Above is a simple map to follow ,with warnings about the dangers of coastal erosion all the way up.

The views once you are on top of the Downs are spectacular. Once you climb the steps the walk flattens out and becomes a little easier.

The pictures above show the climb up to Belle tout lighthouse and on one of the pictures you can see East Dean a beautiful village which is worth a visit .If you dare get close to the edge of the cliffs and look down you can see flocks of seabirds resting while the tide is out. I managed to to see buzzards ,stonechats, jackdaws and gulls.

The walk down from Belle tout lighthouse is as spectacular where you can get a full view of the Seven sisters ahead .You can also see the visitor centre and a row of occupied houses waiting to tip into the sea. A year ago I spoke to the owner of the end house who was quite accepting of the fact that her home would be claimed the forces of nature.

The seven sisters views can be seen from both sides of the Birling gap as you can see below at a place called South Hill barn. This walk leads you down to the beach and Cuckmere Haven.

I will write about my visit ASAP.