Downsman’s ramblings

  As a Yorkshireman who’s worked his way south over the years I find myself now as at home on the South Downs as I still am in the Yorkshire Dales. Before lockdown on 16 March I took this picture on Seven Sisters during a 4 hour walk along - up and down! - the cliffs from Seaford to Eastbourne where I feel the chalk is brighter than the cliffs of Dover. Working occasionally in Brighton, or visiting family there, I take a stroll on the Under Cliff walk where some days the power of the ocean is so manifest you get a sense of what makes cliffs! What a privilege it is to live in Sussex! Behind these cows you see the descent to Brighton from the Downs with the A27 speeding up on the right to Worthing. Once there were more cows and sheep than people in this part of the world but not anymore, even if Brighton & Hove’s expanding population is limited both by the South Downs and the sea. This picture was taken descending the Sussex Border Path as it ‘kisses’ Brighton above Patcham at the en