Woke up
in Brighton to grey, cloudy skies that were threatening to rain. We had a
quick cuppa tea and some bikkies at the Hotel, then walked up the street to the
Alamo Car Rental as we wanted the car to drive to Beachy Head Park. Our
car is a very sporty Volvo - a peppy little car that we have nicknamed our
"Lingonberry".
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| Room in Brighton |
With
Chelsea at the wheel (I'm too chicken to drive) we were off heading eastward
towards Eastborne. Beachy Head is a National Trust park that is dedicated
to preserving the chalk cliffs on the coast. Created by marine animals
remains being deposited for millions of years, the cliffs were created when
tectonic plates were lifted from the sea floor exposing the chalk. The
English channel came about as the second ice age melted and the valley between
England and France was flooded.
After
about half an hour drive (Chelsea is amazing!) we came to Beachy Head Visitor
Centre and Pub. By now the rain was coming down in a steady mist, so we
decided to head in for some breakfast//lunch. We were fortunate to grab a
table by the window so we had a great view of the Belle Tout Lighthouse on the
cliff below us with the chalk cliffs in the background. Our lunch
consisted of two gigantic pies - mine was Beef and Merlot, while Chelsea had Chicken
and Leek all covered in golden puff pastry. After two delicious cups of
coffee (it's not the Urban Bean, but this place was fairly decent for a
filtered white coffee) we went back to the Visitor Centre to see where we could
walk or drive to see the cliffs. Note from Chelsea: My Mum's a wuss and can't seem to do without her fancy flavoured coffee haha.
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| Hmm delicious pie |
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| Beachy Head Pub |
We were told to drive down the lane a
bit till we came to the parking lot where we could park for a small fee and
then walk to either the Light House, or along the cliffs to view the Beachy
Head Lighthouse right in the English Channel. After seeing this view on
my screen saver for almost eight months, this was the spot that I wanted to
head to.
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| Beachy Head Lighthouse |
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| Beachy Head Lighthouse |
We drove
up and got out and started walking along the cliffs. There's no railing
or safeguards to keep you away so you could literally walk right up to the
edge. At over 750 meters high, the view was spectacular! The rain
stopped - thank goodness or it would have been fairly slippery- and with the
sun shining on the chalk cliffs I was a very happy woman! I told Chelsea
that for me this was my favourite moment so far, and the cliffs are so unique
and wonderful to view.
We walked
up a steep cliff to view the sea below and heard it crashing onto the stone
beach. It literally boomed as the waves crashed and the air was tangy
with the sea salt. We viewed Beachy Head Light House below and marvelled
at how it was built right in the English Channel. It seemed that the Belle Tour
Light House didn't fill the needs of the seafaring community as it wasn't always visible in the fog and mist, so a light house had to be constructed
lower down. As a result, steel pilings were driven into the Channel floor
and supplies to build the lighthouse had to be lowered using steel cables.
What an amazing feat of engineering!
We got
back into the Lingon berry and proceeded down the bend to Burling Gap where we
were now able to walk down to the rocky beach and the actual English Channel.
What a rush to see the waves crashing in and hearing it being sucked back
out by the tide. The water is quite milky here as it picks up the chalk
from the cliffs. The beach consists of tons of rocks -
conglomerate, flint, and limestone. You could see the Seven Sisters
cliffs in the distance and the sun came out to shine. Fantastic day - big
thanks for my wonderful daughter for making this dream a reality for me.
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| Chelsea and the Lingonberry |
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