There couldn't have been a better day to have taken to the Downs and put the group through an endurance hike. On a crisp, frozen, sunny, blue sky morning, the 6 strong troupe assembled at 9.30am and took to striding through the groups of mainly dogwalkers and off road cyclist towards Beachy Head from Butts Brow. The sun was in our eyes and the terrain was hardened by the sub zero temperature. We were soon generating heat from our swinging limbs and with dogs accompanying us today, they were soon making light of the occasion by going in different directions.
We soon gathered them and indicated our direction and were able to maintain interest and as much pace as we were for the first mile. We reached the first dew pond which was frozen however not strong enough to take our weight. Not even the dogs were interested in the idea of a skating lesson.
The golf course soon after, was sparsely occupied as we dodged aside to allow more cyclist go through in the opposite direction. We reached the junction of footpaths that left us pondering whether we could manage a little further distance or head down through our more relied route through more of the golf course.
We decided on continuing towards Beachy Head a little further and then cut across another footpath to drop down into East Dean.
We crossed the main coastal road between Eastbourne and Seaford and reached the second Dew Pond which again was half covered in thick sheets of ice. The dogs were again intrigued to find ice and whilst one was more attracted to the idea of bathing, the other looked on with no interest to wallow.
We continued and crossed the road leading out of Old Town area of Eastbourne. The sun continued to shine bright and low in the sky and the ground showed little evidence of it ever thawing today.
The small camp site on our right had a few festive camper vans pitched in for the duration and would likely be seeing the new year in tomorrow evening from their vantage point which gave views across the bay toward Hastings.
We needed to walk briefly alongside the road before heading back across the Downs onto a Bridlepath known as 'Long Down'. We walked passed fields of sheep. In fact we disturbed a Ram that was resting next to the flint wall after perhaps some early morning 'tupping'. The flock had appeared to have devoured a field of Brussels sprouts... unless the farmer had removed the Brussels and left the stalks for them to finish off before cutting them down. Our journey toward Belle Tout lighthouse was straight and after walking passed a herd of cattle feeding hay from galvanized hoppers we spotted a rather large bloated brown cow laying on its side showing no signs of life, even after one of the dogs went to investigate. It was evident that the farmer hadn't stock checked for a few days and had left the cattle to fend for themselves. The mood quietened for a short while as it was clearly a distressing scene to observe to an otherwise healthy looking herd.
A steady walk down into East Dean, however one of our fold was starting to suffer with an ongoing complaint of plantar fasciitis, which meant that the final few miles would be impossible for him to complete. He'd phoned to request his wife meet him opposite the Tiger Inn whilst we took a break and refueled with flasks and mince pies! at the 6 mile point.
We were now 1 man down and ready to do justice to the final stretch uphill toward the junction that would eventually lead us to the Old Willingdon Road. A route which was a regular return to Butts Brow, but one which always had to be negotiated with more cyclists and walkers out for their post Christmas exercise.
As we looked behind, the sun was beaming down pools of light onto the sea and the fields of winter greens were abundant with growth for the livestock that were likely to need sustenance over the coming months.
Our walk was completed as we walked down toward the car park and the time was 1.30pm. The dogs had to be rounded up whilst we had little hesitation in unlacing our boots and collapsing into the cars after completing 9.5 miles
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