And Now For Something Completely Different... A Seaside Amble!

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Hey... and thank you so much to all my lovely friends who supported me through the past couple of weeks with their special words and their recent welcomes back! Already, some of you are nagging me for a walk, so I've decided to take you all down to the coast, this time. A very soothing place to be, with the lapping of the waves around the rocks and pebbles, the cry of the seagulls and a beautiful Sunset in the West. We'll go now to Rottingdean, which is a quaint, historic village on the coast, between Brighton to the East and Saltdean to the West. It's a busy little village, both day and night and most of the buildings are built with flint stone and really olde worlde. Entering the southernmost part of the village, there is a big pub to your right and a Thai Restaurant, Fish and Chip Take Away/Restaurant and a smaller, somewhat cottage-style pub opposite. It's almost seven on an early Autumn evening, and the Sun is sinking in the West, silhouetting the Marina buildings against a huge, deep orange orb with rays of orange, red and yellow reaching across the blue sky... a magnificent sight indeed. The Undercliff walk has been restored in the past ten years, and runs from Brighton Marina to Saltdean, via Black Rock and Rottingdean, but this evening, we join it halfway, and with the setting Sun behind us, walk in an easterly direction along this wide walkway, with towering chalk cliffs rising on one side and the English Channel on the other. Water breakers have been built up here from massive rocks, from all different areas it would seem... some reddish in colour, and probably from the West Country areas and others grey and blue in colour, which denote possibly Welsh origin. Enormous rocks, piled upon one another and tapering into the water, to break the high tides, these are a very prominent part of the scene. The tide is receding and seagulls circling above the cliffs, some pecking about on the shingle... a group of them settling on a little flat island as it emerges a little way from the edge of the receding tide. The sea is calm, with hardly any movement, and a trail of six boats are gliding across the waves on the horizon, leaving Shoreham Harbour, their lights forming an arc as they sail with their cargo to lands afar. There is a spattering of human life on the path, some just taking an evening stroll, some walking their dogs, cyclists taking the sea air whilst enjoying their evening exercise, and others going down onto the beach to explore the remnants of the recent high tide... one even combing an area of beach with a metal detector. Despite all this, it's quiet, apart from the occasional laughter, the words "good evening", and the cry of the gulls. Dusk is falling in the East, and lights begin to shine through the darkness which is enveloping the villages on the clifftops and the Marina. We'll stop awhile, and take in this wonderful scenery, breathe deep the sea air and enjoy the peace and serenity of this place. If you turn around, full circle, in an anti clockwise direction, or widdershins as I call it, In the East, the Seven Sisters Cliffs stand out white, in the dusky light, followed by Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs villages, where the lights are beginning to illuminate the sky and the street lights show the road undulating across the clifftops. Then, the high, chalk cliffs, riddled with sea birds' nesting holes and seagulls circling above and dressed with the occasional green dot of vegetation. Next, the awesome part; a tinted, darkening sky in the West, fronted by a silhouette of Brighton Marina and buildings on the coast road, boats coming out of Shoreham Harbour and a vast area of water, rocks, breakers and pebbles, even sea cabbages growing in places on the beach... awesome! It's getting quite dark now, as it's approaching half past eight, so we'd best head back as there is an absence of lighting here, but even in this time, we will have found complete calm and serenity, one tiny being amidst a vast expanse of natural beauty, where I know at least one of my friends would love to be... often. I couldn't help but think back to the times when smugglers frequented these parts and wonder how Rottingdean looked in those times. The year of 1066 when just along the coast, to the East, the Battle of Hastings would have roared, and the clash of swords, swish of arrows leaving longbows and cries of Norman and Saxon warriors be heard amidst the draw of the tide on the shingle. Wow... imagination and history are something to be conjured with, aren't they? I hope you enjoyed this walk, albeit a change from our rambles in the countryside. I found it quite exhilarating, yet peaceful and oh, so awesome! I hope you enjoyed it too... I am open to questions!:)