There'd been a lull in post Christmas walks although a few of us did get out last week and make an impressive walk along Eastbourne Prom from Holywell to the Water Treatment plant and return, which amounted to a 7 mile round walk.
This week however caused us to turn our attention to getting back to stomping on the turf of the Downs. A depleted walk-force (by 2) saw us congregate in the a National Trust car park at Crowlink, with our sights set on walking westward along the remaining four Sisters of the iconic south coast feature.
The forecast was for a bright sunny yet windy north easterly wind whipping the temperature to almost sub zero conditions.
We headed down through the small hamlet of Crowlink and stopped to observe the house and gallery belonging to Grayson Perry.
The ground was hard and holding the frost from previous nights of cold temperatures, however for a few early patches there were signs of some small muddy areas.
We entered a field in which there were 2 determined cows who were making an impression on the neighbouring hedge, looking for some sustenance during the cold morning sun. We gave them a wide birth, not wishing to disturb their concentration on attempts to strip any greenery from the bush.
We were soon heading diagonally upwards to ascend the summit of the fourth Sister. The sea came into view and we looked back towards Bell Tout lighthouse and admired the view as the sun glistened on the choppy waters below.
We found our way carefully down the hill on the coastal path section of the South Downs Way. No sooner were we at the bottom, we were striding upwards again and conquered the next sister only to once again choose our best chalky track downwards again. Our confidence in staying upright was being tested, but we eventually arrived at the signpost which overlooked the Exceat where the meandering River Cuckmere flowed into the English Channel.
The sun behind us, we soaked up the amazing vista and all agreed it was one of the best views in the South East. The view from the opposite side is a much sought after view by Japaneses tourists who it appears are familiar with the view as one of the most used wallpaper views on computers.
We made our way down the side of the hill towards the track which would eventually led us to the road. The grass track down the hill did take a couple of us by surprise as the hard slippery surface coupled with the camber of the hillside had caused bodies to tumble to the ground.
We'd soon got back into our stride though as we were back on the solid concrete track to the Visitors Centre which was closed, although the convenience was opened for our convenience.
The steep hill awaited us, but at least the reward of a couple wooden benches awaited us and allowed us to take 10 minute to have a small snack and pour a hot beverage from our flasks.
A young man with a large rucksack approached us to ask us which way to go to see the cliffs... He appeared to be a disorientated person from the orient.
A steep descent down a series of poorly spaced steps awaitd us on the other side of the hill upon which we'd just sat and admired more incredible views.
We were now entering Friston Forest and followed the straight track between the crowdd network of tall timber spires commonly referred to as tress in this area. We reached a junction of tracks and footpaths and decided to walk back up the steep track, which at a higher level, had been designed for mountain bikes... Earth had been turned into jumps and banked corners between gaps in the trees. The canopy of semi fallen pine trees creaked as we swiftly walked beneath them. Eventually we were on the top track that ran near to the main road where we could occasionally catch glimpses of cars passing along it.
After another 15 minutes we'd arrived at the road junction and crossed over the road to head back to the car park.
The walk had taken just under 3 hours and we'd completed just over 6 miles.
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