For one, getting up as the sun is not fully over the changing horizon with a forecast that didn't look very favourable, was a good start. There was a drizzle of rain in the air as we met up in the car park with the long man looking down on us. Secondly, by setting off at such an early hour, there was hardly nobody else to see, so the sounds were completely different. (I'll come back to sounds later).
We set off at 6.40am... yes am.
2 miles into the walk and we reached the centre of Alfriston. The wet fields had already exposed the vulnerability of our boots which were moistening our socks. All three of us were not expecting to have to walk with wet feet for the remainder of the journey. But there was little option.
Almost 3 miles and we ascended to the top of the chalk track. Looking back towards Wilmington, there was a hint of sun. The clouds thinning and the sheep came towards us, thinking we had breakfast for them.
There was one small lamb on the wrong side of the boundary fence which we made attempts to guide back through a gap under the fence. The lamb bleeted as we tried to attract its attention to the gap. No such luck. Little 'lamb chop' was not going to fall for our helpful attempts. I think our days as shepherds are numbered.
5 miles and we passed the concrete Firle Trig point in good stride. Looking down across both sides, the mist faded from time to time. There was hardly any breeze to get the clouds moving. The radio masts were looking a long way off as we walked down the next slope.
We reached the 6.2 mile marker, Firle Beacon Car Park. There was a new, well constructed bench waiting for us. Not even commemorated to anyone... perhaps we should put a claim in. It was 9am and felt like a late breakfast time with flasks and sandwiches unpacked from our backpacks.
Still little sign of sun breaking out, the livestock across the fields were munching on their breakfast as much as we were. We were rested and re-fueled so we headed onwards towards the radio masts, which had become much larger, perhaps because they were closer.
We encountered a couple laden with large rucksacks confirming our thoughts that they were on the final stage of the South Downs Way. We spoke a little later with another young chap who had stayed in a B&B last night, even though he also had his tent on his back. Ninja Turtles had nothing on these hikers.
He had walked from Winchester to here in 6 days! that put us in our place as far as challenges were concerned.
We reached the brink of the descent into Southease. This would test our legs out as new muscles were put into play. The official footpath took us slowly down the hill, even though there had been temptations within the ranks to go directly down. What rebels we could of been.
We surveyed the options from the vantage point to either walk into Lewes along the river or go through Southease and Rodmell. Doubt had been put into our head because of the recent rainfall which, we thought, may cause the riverside path to become impassable or at worst very wet.
9 miles and we reached the footbridge over the A26 (Lewes to Newhaven) road, then headed towards the railway station. There was a strange overturned grain hopper looking like a space shuttle that had crashed landed.
We had seen numerous trains going back and forth as we came down the hill and admired the frequency of service provided to the residents of Newhaven and Seaford. The trains didn't appear, however, to be stopping that frequently at Southease.
We got across the Railway line without incident, despite the many CCTV cameras dotted around both platforms.
We took stock of the footpath along the river from the bridge and decided to complete the walk alongside the river.
10 miles and we were into a good stride with only the motivation of knowing that there were no more hills on this route. I mentioned the sounds earlier, but nothing could have prepared us for the unique and privileged experience of listening to several toads communicating with each other. We were no experts on what species, even though a passing dog walker who said he'd never heard the sounds before thought it was probably natterjack toads... whether that was the case, I'm now not so convinced. But to stand and listen to the toad conversation was a highlight of the entire walk, and something to entice us back to record the sound for some official identification.
The tidal river was fast flowing out and reaching its lowest point as we reached the 12 mile point and seeing the Lewes By-Pass (A27) growing closer, even though for a while Lewes was obscured from sight.
The final mile and we were reporting different foot and muscular pain. If we stopped, we might never start our engines again. The Downs behind us were shrouded in mist and there was a threat of rain in the air. Many swans nesting across fields to our left as well as cattle who were making a muddy mess in their field, but thankfully our path remained relatively dry.
Lewes - over 13 miles now as we passed by the Football ground. The railway station was just around the corner. It was midday, but the walk to the nearest pub was a step too far. The train timetable distracted us to find the next train back into Polegate was at 12.09. Tickets were purchased and we surprisingly found seats on the train.
A quick drive back to the car park to pick up our cars, then a welcomed pint of Harveys was consumed at the Giants Rest. A different, testing, challenging walk... another challenge next May 1st!
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