Going for a countryside walk on weekend is a great way to spend time. This Saturday I went for another group hike, this time from Berwick to Eastbourne, with the highlight of visiting The Long Man of Wilmington a human figure carved on the slopes of Windover Hill near Wilmington, East Sussex, England.
It’s only my second hike with Outdooraholics group, but I’m really enjoying them. This weekend we went by train from London Victoria to a Berwick where we started our walk through small villages of East Sussex county.
East Sussex county countryside
After leaving the train station we briefly followed the side of Arlington Reservoir and then turned towards Arlington village. The weather was fantastic: sunny, but not too warm, with a little bit of chilly wind.
The tour led us via public footpaths, through beautiful countryside land crossing multiple gates and fences.
We crossed some lush, green fields with growing crops.
Wilmington village
Around noon we’ve reached the village of Wilmington and followed a short walk through main road admiring its picturesque houses.
Stopping for a brief rest at St Mary and St Peter’s Church we’ve admired the tranquillity of the old place.
The churchyard is dominated by the stunning Yew tree that is 1600 years old!
Due to its age, the tree was supported by multiple wooden pillars and had some chains pulling in together old, heavy branches.
The Long Man of Wilmington
Refreshed by the the shade of great yew tree, we continued the walk just for couple minutes to be surprised by the stunning views of the highlight of this walk - the Long Man of Wilmington also known as Wilmington Giant. It’s a 70m tall figure of a man carved on the side of the hill.
We walked the gentle, curved path leading us towards the hill and after a while we stopped in front of the “giant” for a short lunch break. It was also a great opportunity to admire stunning panoramic view of the village and its surroundings.
Rested, our group embark for the next part of the hike, first around Wilmington hill and then following South Downs Way in the direction of Eastbourne.
Walking towards Eastbourne
Its really great when the 2nd part of hike offer some interesting sights as it gives a bit of extra motivation to move the legs when they not as fresh as they were in the morning. That was also true in this case!
There isn’t much to say about that, but rather just soak your eyes in the beauty of the environment, landscape and nature of the areas we walked through.
We some country roads.
We walked through some thickets and woods.
We walked through beautiful, mysterious “green tunnels” as I call them.
We walked along some fields and farmland.
We walked by some farm animals.
Eastbourne
Finally, we began approaching Eastbourne, admiring the buildings at the town outskirts.
We were rushed a little by a bit stronger wind and some haziness visible at the shore. But the rain didn’t come and we descended towards the seaside for some refuelling meal and the train back to London.
Extras
- For more details, walking map and some highlights check the Komoot tour embedded below:
