Compared to the last two days of walking, today's route is a mere hop, skip and a jump down the coast through Normans' and Pevensey Bays and into the seaside town of Eastbourne. Walking mainly on the coast, with a diversion just after Pevensey to go round the harbour at the entrance to Eastbourne it should be a short and pleasant day.
Continuing along the beach we passed below the Pevensey Level Nature Reserve, managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. Much of this area still lay under the sea only a few thousand years ago and the influence of that can be seen on the landscape at the back of this reserve where there are the remains of a number of saltworks. While much of the land has been drained and is now used for agricultural purposes, water levels are managed at Pevensey Marshes reserve to create and maintain a wide range of habitats. A number of birds can be seen here at different times of the year including some of the shyer and rarer ones such water rail, kingfisher and cuckoo. Other insects and vertebrates colonise the water habitats with a range of dragon and damselflies settling on the pools. Walking here we were on what appeared to a plate of volcanic rock, witth thousands of little pipeholes where, I presume, either the molten rock has bubbled or tiny craturs have burrowed.
At the earliest opportunity we cut down a side road to walk along the top part of the harbour, subsequently following the road down on to the promenade at the front of Eastbourne. Following our exertion on the previous two days, we were tired and ready to stop, despite the relatively short mileage of the day. I regret that this impacted on our interest in the seafront of Eastbourne where there are, I know, many fine buildings and items of interest but which we walked blithely by. We progressed along the seafront in a wee bit of a daze as far the pier which is where we decided to call it a day and made our way to the accommodation for the night. Set back from the town and up a steep brae or two, we were grateful to our hosts for the warm welcome and the comfort of our accommodation. After settling in and showering, we ventured out to a local restuarant where we dined before returning and enjoying a restfull night.