Fairlight, Hastings Country Park and Ecclesbourne Reservoir

It is in the small stretch of high ground of Fairlight, that the sandstone of the Weald reaches the sea in a brief range of red-brown cliffs reminiscent of Devon. It is a coastline which provides spectacular and, at times, strenuous walking.

From the country park visitor centre south of Fairlight, a road leads to a coastguard station with wide views of Rye Bay and Winchelsea Beach. A path then runs downwards from the lookout tower towards the cliff edge, where gulls wheel and the occasional shag or cormorant hurries by. The valley into which the path descends is the first of three lovely glens made by small streams in the soft sandstone. Bracken clothes the slopes and small oaks, willows and wildflowers provide shade along the water's edge.

A seat, one of many on this walk, provides a respite and offers a view over Covehurst Bay below. At low tide, a sandy beach is exposed and this, and its many rock pools, can be reached later in the walk. After crossing the stream, a steep path reaches a wood. A flight of wooden steps climbs through the wood to a level expanse of grassland on the crest; the site of Lover's Seat.

Lover's Seat was once a large sandstone outcrop on the cliff edge, which long ago fell into the sea. Legend has it that it was on this rock that two lovers met, and when one departed by boat from the cove below, the rough seas swept away the boat and its occupant. At this, the remaining lover jumped into the water below the rock. The legend contains an element of truth and concerns the romance of Elizabeth Boyes, the daughter of the Sheriff of Kent and Charles Lamb, a revenue officer. Elizabeth, whose home was at Hawkhurst, was sent away by her parents, who were opposed to the match, to a cottage at Fairlight. However, Elizabeth was able to signal with a handkerchief from the Seat rock to Lamb, sailing below in the new revenue cutter, 'The Stag', and they would contrive to meet at church on Sundays. Finally, the couple eloped and married at St Clement Danes, London in 1786.

As Fairlight Glen is reached, the roar of the surf is a reminder that the Cove is only a short distance away. The secluded cove is sandy at low tide and is a splendid picnic spot and a good place for a swim.

After a steep ascent, descent and further ascent through trees, there is an open aspect with long views out to sea, even to the coast of France on a clear day and to the head of the wooded valley of Ecclesbourne Glen. In the distance is a glimpse of Hastings. A path heads to a track through Ecclesbourne Glen, where the stream has been dammed to create a reservoir, now host to water lily pads. This is another place to stop and enjoy the views.

The passage through the glen is shady and runs gently uphill to Barley Lane, leading to Fairlight Place. A path cuts across the head of Warren Glen, which runs down to the sea in a wide valley.

During the walk, you have walked along part of two of Sussex's most popular long distance paths, the Saxon Shore Way and the 1066 Country Walk.