In the summer of 2021, in the wreckage of more postponed festivals, a friend and I decided to have an adventure to echo the insanity of the festival life. So, we went to Eastbourne. It’s famous for its old people, making up nearly a quarter of the population and it’s also really close to the Seven Sisters Country Park. I had wanted to visit the park for many years and so, I did. It was such a good walk from Eatsbourne to East Dean that I did it again in 2022.

Not long after the record breaking heatwave, where I spent a few days hiding from the heat, we headed off to the coast. The weather was incredible; a mix of fast rolling fog of the sort that seems to cancel out your ability to hear anything but the occasional squeal of a bird. It was even stranger that the day in London was all blue skies, yet we could only see tens of metres in front of us.

We started the walk in the centre of Eastbourne, which is a fairly standard south coast town with some great architecture and plenty of buildings that could do with a lick of paint. Along the front are lots of hotels that think they’re a bit grander than they are. The View hotel, has great views if you’re inside it. From the outside it’s a bleak blot on the landscape.

If you’re more interested in the walk, heading down the seafront towards Beachy Head gives you some excellent views of the hills you’ll soon start to climb. It’s a relatively gentle ascent to begin with but look behind you, as within minutes you will start to see panoramic views of Eastbourne, or as I think the tourist board should call it, EazyB. Beachy Head, famed mostly for being a suicide hotspot, offers gorgeous views and stands 162 metres above sea level. Nearby is The Beachy Head pub, which has views of the surrounding fields and on the foggy day this summer, you could watch the fog swiftly moving over the landscape. Just outside the pub is an RAF Bomber Command memorial. Beachy Head was the last patch of England the pilots would see before they headed over the channel.

Keep walking and Beachy Head lighthouse will come into view. I hold the lighthouse responsible for making me want to become a lighthouse keeper. As a structure, it adds so much to the views and the cheery white and red colours really make it stand out beautifully among the blue-green of the sea and the sparkling white of the cliffs. The company that owns the lighthouse, Trinity House, recently said they wouldn’t repaint it, leading to a crowdfunding campaign that raised the quite remarkable £27,000 needed to complete the task. Who knew that a few tins of Dulux could cost so much?

There’s another lighthouse a little further on that precariously stands on the edge of the cliffs. Belle Tout lighthouse was erected in 1832 and decommissioned in 1902 to make way for the Beachy Head lighthouse. It is now a BnB with some of the best views going. Being close to the cliffs, it had to be moved 17 metres inland in 1999 to stop it tumbling into the sea, but if I were advertising it as somewhere to stay, I’d capitalise on the fear factor that any night you stay there could be your last. A recent cliff fall in 2021 cut off part of the footpath very close to the lighthouse.

After all the lighthouse love, the walks continue and after a quick 15 minute walk, you’ll arrive at Birling gap. There’s a national trust café here as well as a staircase down to the beach. It’s at Birling gap where you make a turning to get to East Dean. Leaving the National Trust café, you’ll have three roads to follow, and taking the path to the left you will walk down a path lined with houses and at the end of the path, you take a right into farmland. Here you will most likely find yourself alone apart from plenty of sheep. Heading straight on, you will see a red shed to your right. Google Maps will suggest the way to East Dean is to veer left, but if you keep walking straight ahead, you will get there much quicker. There’s a break in the trees on your right, with a path that leads down towards the village, coming out onto Went Way.

Here’s my favourite bit of the walk. You will soon find yourself heading into the village and at the back of the village green. Laid out in front of you is The Tiger Inn, which is to my mind just a perfectly positioned pub. It’s a fairly low white building with a red roof which has a great outdoor section and is homely on the inside. Here you can treat yourself to a drink and some food after what is ultimately not a taxing walk but one full of glorious views. I can’t think of a much better way to spend the day.

After the beauty of the cliffs, lighthouse and the village green, there’s a bus just a few minutes outside the pub that will take you back into Eastbourne. Even the bus route has great views over the town.