Empty mind / Open spaces

PMO EXPLORERS 003 : Seven Sisters Cliffs

For our third instalment of PMO Explorers, we ventured to Eastbourne, meeting up with good friends and long time stockists Urban Industry.

A pattern seems to be occurring for our hikes; we’re yet to get a day of bad weather. It seems like no matter what is forecasted, the clouds clear and the sun shines on us.

Starting off at the national trust carpark, we headed along the iconic Seven Sisters cliffs with breathtaking views from the get go. It’s rare of us Londoners to get time to see the sea so it was nice to relax and take it in, at a distance from the cliff edge for sure. The rolling hills were a nice change, a slow slog going upwards and a temptation to roll down them on the other side.

The trail itself is about 12km, but it was broken up by a variety of sea views, sheep dotted fields, and the woodland paths of Friston Forest. So yeah, we got to see it all. As we got closer to Cuckmere Haven, we were greeted by a bunch of ponies grazing right by the trail. Of course, we had to stop and say hi. Some of us (me) wanted to stay longer, but we had to keep moving. Dan from Urban pointed out some cottages in the distance that were featured in the BBC drama ‘Luther’, which we all found pretty cool.

Leaving the ponies behind, we headed into the forest for the final stretch. The shade was a welcome break from the sun — my neck was definitely grateful. The expansive beech woodland is actually pretty new, planted in the 30s and 40s.

Heading back down through the final field, we got to see a murmuration of Starlings, it was an almost hypnotic experience. My guess is that this was a performance for safety, to prevent predators from pinpointing a singular bird, or simply to feed. July is a bit early/late for them to be migrating, usually you’ll see mass murmurations towards Autumn time, heading into Winter.