Glynde to Seaford Walk

Everyone's favourite walk in TO Book 1. It starts with a South Downs Ridge walk. Lunch is in the picturesque village of Alfriston. After lunch there is Cuckmere Haven (a pretty river valley), and a coastal cliff walk into Seaford. You can swim at Cuckmere Haven or Seaford.

Near the start, the route goes through Firle Park and then follows the South Downs Way for much of the day, with not as much climbing as Walk 25's arduous route into Hastings, and with marvellous views across the lush valleys to the north and down to the sea. There are three lovely villages to enjoy during the course of the day, all with open churches: West Firle, West Dean, and (the suggested lunchstop) the old smuggling village of Alfriston, which likes to call its church a cathedral.

There is slightly further to walk after lunch than before it. From Alfriston the route follows the riverbank through the Cuckmere Valley and through Friston Forest down to Exceat (pronounced Ex-Seat), an extinct village on the edge of the Seven Sisters Country Park, where there is a Visitors’ Centre. The Vanguard Way then leads through the Seaford Head Nature Reserve – hoopoe, bluethroat and wryneck have been seen here – to the beach at Cuckmere Haven. This is in season a good enough place to take a dip or just to enjoy a front-stalls view of the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters.

Finally there is a walk along the coastal path and down into Seaford, a seaside town with a long esplanade and reconstructed shingle beach.

There are occasional buses linking Alfriston with Lewes, Glynde, Firle and Seaford. However, the best option is the frequent bus service from outside the suggested early tea place in Exceat to either Eastbourne or Seaford.

After lunch in Alfriston and your walk beside the River Cuckmere to Litlington, instead of heading up to Friston Forest, you can climb up and over "High & Over Hill" (on SWC 90) with its magnificent views, before dropping down to Exceat to rejoin the main Book 1 walk directions.

For the best of South Downs long walks, try adding the opening leg of Book 2, Walk 25 - Lewes via West Firle Circular. Starting in Lewes, you climb Mount Caburn and descend to Glynde. This opening leg with lovely views takes exactly one hour and adds 3.1 miles to your main walk, which now becomes 17.4 miles. Recommended for those who like to go long.

Firle Place (tel 01273 858567) was the seat of Sir John Gage, who helped Henry VIII with the dissolution of the monasteries, despite retaining the old religion himself. During the walk you get a good view of Firle Tower, a watchkeeper's residence. The House is open to visitors (2020) from 07 June to 27 September from Sundays to Thursdays from 2pm to 4.30pm. Its licensed tea room (no charge for entry) is open on House opening days from 12 noon to 5pm, serving light lunches, cakes and teas. Admission to the House (2020) is £9.50.

The Church of St Peter, Firle, contains an alabaster effigy of Sir John Gage wearing his Order of the Garter and lying beside his wife Philippa. It also has a John Piper stained-glass window in warm colours, depicting Blake's Tree of Life.

Alfriston was once a Saxon settlement. In 1405, Henry IV granted the town the right to a market, hence the old market square cross (though now without its crosspiece) which was supposed to help ensure honest and fair trading. The narrow streets are lined with fourteenth and fifteenth-century houses. In the early 1800s smugglers would run contraband via Alfriston and Cuckmere Haven, with farmers driving their sheep to help cover the smugglers' tracks.

The Parish Church of St Andrew, Alfriston – known as the 'Cathedral of the South Downs' – was built about 1360, all at one time and with no later additions. But because there were no local squires and manors the church is rather bare inside, with few memorials. It has a basin and ewer on the Sepulchre at the north side of the chancel that came from the Holy Land.

The Alfriston Clergy House (tel 01323 870 001) was the first building to be acquired by the National Trust, in 1896, for £10 (which makes the £6.00 entrance fee - 2021 - seem rather steep). A Wealden hall house with thatched roof, it contains a medieval hall and has a cottage garden with some rare specimens. Post Covid lockdown 2021, it is open from 21 May on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 11 August additionally on Wednesdays and Thursdays, between 11 am and last visits 3 pm. Pre-booking required until all Covid restrictions are relaxed.

West Dean Church has probable Saxon elements, and next door to it is a medieval parsonage with a colourful garden. The parish priest from 1891 was the Revd George Lawrance, who believed in captive audiences – it is said that he used to lock the church door before delivering his sermons.

The chalky cliffs of the Seven Sisters developed under the sea, 70 to 100 million years ago – the chalk is mainly made up of microscopic fossils. Later the chalk cliffs dipped beneath the sea again and came up covered in silt and sand, still visible as the top layer. There are also layers of flint – the supercooled liquid leached out of chalk to form globules. The Exceat Visitors’ Centre has an exhibition on the development of the cliffs and river.

Seaford Museum in Martello Tower No 74 , on the front at Seaford, is the most westerly of a chain of 103 similar fortifications running from Aldeburgh on the east coast. It was built in 1806 against a threatened Napoleonic invasion and houses the Seaford Museum of Local History. The Museum is usually open on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from 11am to 4pm and in summer also on Wednesdays from 2pm until 4pm. The Museum closed in October 2017 for refurbishment and reopened in October 2018. From the Museum's website it appears that entrance is free for individuals, with a charge (2021) of £ 2.50 a head for groups.

There are four pubs in Alfriston which can serve as a lunch stop, some 11.4 km into the walk. The first you come to, and the suggested lunch place, is the George Inn (tel 01323 870 319), built about 1397, with a treacherously low-beamed ceiling. It serves lunch midday to 2.30pm daily. The food is good although some dishes are expensive. Groups of six or more should phone ahead. The pub has a pleasant back garden for outside dining in summer.

The other pubs are the Star Inn (tel 01323 870 495) on the High Street, directly opposite the George - purchased in 2019 by the grandaughter of the late Lord Charles Forte - and reopened in October 2020 after extensive refurbishment: down the road you come to Ye Olde Smugglers Inn (tel 01323 870 241) on Waterloo Square (popular with real ale drinkers), and at the far southern end of the High Street, the Wingrove Inn (tel 01323 870 276)

There is a great village shop, if you fancy a picnic by the large church, with lovely views over the valley.

Other alternatives for lunch in Alfriston, Chestnuts Tea Room (tel 01323 870 298) open to 5pm during the summer, 5.30pm at weekends (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) and The Singing Kettle (tel 01323 870 723) open daily until 5pm.

Newly opened and next door to the Star Inn is Poco Restaurant & Wine Bar (tel 07300 885 460), open for lunch - summer hours - Friday & Saturday, 12 noon to 3pm, Sunday brunch 12 noon to 4pm, serving authentic Italian dishes - worth a try.

If you can hold off hunger pangs for a further 35 mins until you reach the village of Litlington, your reward will be lunch at the excellent - and popular - Plough and Harrow pub (tel 01323 870632). This 17th century country pub serves lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday from 12 noon until 9pm, and on Sundays from 12 noon until 7pm. Booking ahead on weekdays is advisable, and is essential at weekends. Nearby in Littlington is the Littlington Tea Gardens (tel 01323 870222) for a late lunch, brunch or early tea.

In Exceat, the early tea stop on this walk is the Saltmarsh Farmhouse - formerly the Exceat Farmhouse - (tel 01323 870 218) set well back from the A259 at Exceat. It offers cream teas and other food and drink until 5pm (but times are changeable in winter – please check). Opposite this cafe in one of the car parks is usually parked an ice cream van.

Also in Exceat, by the bridge, is the Cuckmere Inn - formerly the Golden Galleon - a popular pub with nice views from its terrace.

In Seaford, for those in need of sustenance, and near the railway station, you have an excellent chippie, Trawlers Fish and Chip Restaurant (tel 01323 892 520) open until 9pm Tuesday to Saturday (Monday 8.45). Closed Sundays. Open most Bank Holiday Mondays.

Tea and coffee can be obtained in various pubs including the Wellington (tel 01323 890 032) and the Plough Inn (tel 01323 872 921). There are also some cafe-bars in the town.

Within Seaford railway station you have Steamworks mini-pub and bar, serving an excellent range of draught beers, spirits and soft drinks. It makes for a comfortable stop to while away time if you have a wait for your train home.

For Elevenses , if you have a twenty minute connection at Lewes station, try the Runaway Cafe between platforms 2 and 3. It has an excellent selection of cakes, teas and sandwiches.

Minor updates June 2017, although you should not get lost using the 2010 edition of the TO Book. Lunch and tea stop options updated August 2024. Last full Book check and walk update July 2021.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Aug-24 Marcus