It’s back to Blighty on the BeastieBlog today! As it turns out, Paddy and Plunkett are still in beautiful Sussex, and they’re finding plenty there to keep them entertained. We’ll join them on the beach in a minute, but first they wanted to share a couple of photos from the village of East Dean, which they passed through on the way… Check out the famous former “resident” of this picturesque cottage!
A little further along the road, the boys came to Birling Gap, where they got their first glimpse of the stunning white cliffs known as the Seven Sisters.
And they really are WHITE! Plunkett was kicking himself for not thinking to pack his sunglasses!
The cliffs maintain their shiny brightness thanks to natural erosion – the soft chalk rock is constantly being nibbled away by the sea, which means that plants and lichens never really get a chance to take over the pristine white surface. Because of this, the Seven Sisters are often used as a stand-in for the more famous White Cliffs of Dover in films and TV… The Dover cliffs are so close to the huge international port that they’re no longer allowed to erode naturally, so they’re a little less white than they used to be!
Let’s follow the boys down onto the beach!
With all those white pebbles lying around, it would be quite easy to lose them down here – they’re surprisingly well camouflaged!
After a few games of hide and seek among the stones, the lads decided to spend the afternoon strolling along the clifftop path which links Birling Gap with Beachy Head. On the way, they passed the wonderfully-named Belle Toute lighthouse… Although it was never considered a particularly good lighthouse (according to Wikipedia, its position on the clifftop meant that sea mists often obscured the light, and those people who most needed to be able to see it – sailors venturing too close to the rocky shore – had their view blocked by the cliffs), it is a well-known local landmark, and it’s even appeared on the silver screen a couple of times! And it’s lucky that it’s so popular – in 1999, the cliffs Belle Toute stands on threatened to crumble away from under it and drop it into the sea, so the whole lighthouse was picked up and moved inland! It’s now enjoying a comfortable retirement as a B&B, safe from the ravages of the tides, and its job has been taken over by a much younger, better positioned lighthouse.
Here it is – Beachy Head Lighthouse, which greeted the boys at the end of their wander!
Where will you be spending this weekend? Be sure to share your adventures with us in the comments!
