On our return to England we were determined to use our time more wisely to see more of this lovely country. We had long heard from the colleagues we work with that the nearby Seven Sisters would be worth a visit. So we packed up a picnic lunch and headed on down to Seaford in East Sussex to have a look.

As with most nature walks in this country, there was plenty of parking available nearby and clearly marked signs down to the waterfront. It was a longish walk across a pleasant pasture down to the sea, but the day was sunny and bright and the views on the way did not disappoint.

The cliffs run for nearly nine miles along the Sussex coast, from Seaford all the way to Eastbourne. Like the more famous cliffs at Dover, the Seven Sisters are also chalk, the sedimentary remains of sea creatures of an ancient seabed lifted by tectonic activity. They are often used as a stand-ins for the cliffs at Dover, featured in films like Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

We walked a mile or so down the pebble beach in the gusty wind to where we could find a sheltered nook in the cliff wall and had a coffee and a light picnic lunch while we watched the tide roll in and the terns and seagulls riding the wind above the waves. It reminded us a little of a day at the Bay of Fundy on a trip to Canada’s east coast. Though the tides were not nearly as pronounced here, the cliffs themselves we stunning.

Rather than walk the length of the cliffs, we opted to drive into Eastbourne to see the farthest end of the Seven Sisters. As with most English seaside towns, there was the obligatory pier with its cheesy entertainment, and a scattering of brave souls on the pebbled beach huddled in blankets. But the cliffs were just as dramatic and certainly well worth the visit.

Aug 2023