Finally left Lewes much later than intended after a long lay in and a couple of false starts!
First we turned the wrong way out from last night’s b&b, and walked for 10 mins in the wrong direction — then, after a walking back past in the right direction, we reached the top of the hill before realising I still had my room key in my pocket!
Had a little mooch around the cobbled streets on my way through. Some lovely old book shops that I could have spent all day exploring, but time was getting on and we still had a good 13 or so miles to walk to our accommodation for the night. A quick water break for Sméagol barely 10 mins in at the ruined site of Lewes Priory.
Stifling heat, walking along the Ouse river vale with no shade and virtually no breeze. All our water had been used up by the time we got to Southease, only about 4.5 miles out from Lewes, where we rejoined the South Downs Way at the point it crosses the river. We took advantage of the YHA cafe here and stopped for a 20 min break, so the dog could catch his breath in the shade and I could refill our water bottles. Also had a pot of Earl Grey and two slices of cake while I consulted the maps 🙂
From here it’s a pretty brutal climb with this weight and in this heat, from Southease up to the top of the escarpment again. So we had to have yet another rest once we’d made the top of the hill. After this though, it was a (fairly) level march across the roof of the Downs, virtually the whole way to where we came down out of the hills again at Alfriston. So we made pretty quick work of the remaining 7 or so miles.
Even so, it was still on the edge of dusk by the time the path changed from rugged chalk and flint, to smooth tarmac beneath our tired feet on the fringes of Alfriston.
The views in the evening sun along this last stretch were magical. My new toy is the panoramic option I’ve only just discovered on my iPhone camera!
Sméagol again making his walk twice as strenuous as it needs to be by choosing to carry the largest stick he can find!
Arrived to be greeted by my elder brother who is camping in the village with my nephew and sister in law. He followed me with the headlamps of his car through the village streets as dark fell. A quick shower and turn-around at my B&B, then back out to meet my family at their campsite, and to be treated to a nice hot dinner of bacon and beans! (Its not often my brother offers to cook for me, so this was a real treat!)
We stayed up chatting beside the dying light of the fire, and watched the clear skies above for shooting stars and satellites, until, finally tired and time for bed, Sméagol and I headed back to our room.
It feels a little like cheating to reach this last night on the SDW and it’s my family who are out camping in the chilly cloudless evening while I’m in a cosy b&b! But this is my last night so I wanted to treat myself!
One more day of waking and this time tomorrow it will all just be a memory.
Some Things Written 