Dorothy on the Fortress of the Black Swans walk

White Cliffs, May 21st

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Category New Routes, R & D, Reports, The White Cliffs of the Seven Sisters, Walks   
Date 26 May 2007    

WALK REPORT Here are a few photos from the walk I did last Monday near the Seven Sisters – a line of white chalk cliffs on the south coast of England, where the hills of the South Downs meet the English Channel. It was a dreary day, not a great one for photography – hope to have some better shots next time around!

Route: Exceat – Westdean – Friston Forest – East Dean (Tiger Inn) – Crowlink – Seven Sisters – Cuckmere Haven – Exceat [walk profile]

Cottage, garden, flowers, lush, flint stone, flintstone, village, West Dean, Westdean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

The flintstone facing on this cottage in Westdean village is characteristic of this region of Southeast England.

All Saints chapel, exterior, church, village, stone, West Dean, Westdean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

All Saints chapel in Westdean, completely deserted on a wet Monday afternoon.

All Saints chapel, interior, church, dark, subdued, blue, stained glass, candlesticks, candles, cross, altar, lectern, eagle, West Dean, Westdean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

Inside All Saints chapel. What is the proper name of the cloth hanging behind the carved wooden eagle lectern?


Field of buttercups, hillside, hill, path, footpath, yellow, green, East Dean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

A field of buttercups on the path down into the village of East Dean. The Tiger Inn is just ahead behind the trees in the distance.

Mushroom soup, bowl, hunk of bread, roll, lunch, map, table, interior, Tiger Inn, pub, village, East Dean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

Lunch – mushroom soup at the Tiger Inn in East Dean village.

Sheep, resting, lying down, horns, horned, meadow, pasture, nettles, stone wall, green, lush, grass, East Dean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

Please help me identify this breed of sheep. Its horns were quite spectacular.

Black slug, Arion ater, optical, sensory, tentacles, pneumostome, foot fringe, close-up, closeup, magnified, slimy, step, concrete, East Dean, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

A slug on a step in the path, in East Dean village. There are many varieties in England, but I think this one is a black slug, Arion ater. Quick lesson in slug anatomy: the two pronounced eye-stalks on the right are known as optical tentacles and the two smaller ones below this are its sensory tentacles. The reddish bit around the base of the slug is the foot fringe, and the hole just behind its head is called a pneumostome, which is used for respiration.

White cliffs, Seven Sisters, coast path, chalk, green, grass, lush, sea, fishing boat, Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex, England, Britain, UK, May 2007

The Seven Sisters cliffs. Photo taken a short distance to the east along the coast from the estuary at Cuckmere Haven.

This walk is much more photogenic than these few photos suggest. I am looking forward to going back on a slightly brighter day.

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mooneye said in 5-29-2007 @ 15:27:13    

Eeew! I once stepped barefoot on a similar slug – though it was years ago, I remember it like it is still all over my foot. Yick. Lovely shots, I must say!
—sueh

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Jennifer Cross said in 9-6-2007 @ 12:30:48    

A group of us from NADFAS (National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts) are recording All Saints Church at West Dean.
In the Record, the cloth hanging on the Pulpit stand is called a ‘Pulpit Fall’.
The Pulpit Fall is changed at the same time as the Altar Frontal at different times of the year.

The eagle lectern in the front was made by a parishioner, copying a very old one.