3 men on a walk 2015: Jevington

Jevington; through Friston Forest and up onto the Seven Sisters

We pinched this walk from our friends at the Fancy Free Walks site and it was an excellent choice. The day was bright but showers were forecast from 2-00pm and would you believe it, at exactly 2-00pm rain drops started falling on our head! Still it was such a light shower and it passed so quickly that we hardly noticed.

We know this area well but its such an amazing section of the South Downs that no matter how many times you walk the area the beauty still hits home. This walk had us parking up at the very pretty village of Jevington nestled in a steep valley. All the houses like many villages in this area are all built from Flint Stones. We had a steep pull up the hill out of the village and at the top we entered Friston Forest and the path wound slowly down hill and into the very attractive hamlet of West Dean. From here it was up and over another hill to reach Exceat and the path along the River Cuckmere towards its mouth at Cuckmere Haven.

We have walked this section many times as it leads up to the Seven Sisters cliff tops and on a bright day like today you could almost (legs permitting) keep walk it back and forth the views are so breathtaking. The trail took us across the Seven Sisters and almost to Birling Gap (we resisted the urge to grab a bacon sandwich at the cafe there) before turning north up West Hill and then down into East Dean where our lunch stop was at "The Tiger Inn". This is an exceptionally pretty village and the pub and houses border the village green. The only drawback that on a beautiful day like today we were not the only people wishing to take refreshment and whilst we stopped for a pint (it would be rude not to after all) the food order waiting time was beyond 30 mins, so we nipped across the green to a local cafe for food.

More hills after lunch as we had the long pull back up to Friston Forest and then down into Jevington and the car.