Monday, June 04, 2007
18th May: Part 1: Brighton to Rottingdean Undercliff Walk
The Undercliff walk was not constructed as a leisure facility. It is a sea defence, intending to hold back the coastal erosion which has caused problems along the south coast.
The walk is 4.5 Kms long from The Marina at Brighton to Saltdean. The Marina had not been built when the undercliff walk was constructed in 1935, but Volk's railway had been a feature.
The first plans for this railway were to have a carriage supported on stilts over the track close to the water. It was to run from Palace Pier Brighton to Rottingdean. A pier was built at Rottingdean for the railway. The railway carriage was christened the Daddy Long Legs.
Unfortunately there was fierce storm and within a week the railway was a disaster.
We will look at Rottingdean later on.
The railway survived in modified form and last summer Bill and I enjoyed a ride. It no longer goes as far as Rottingdean.
We were in Brighton on a dull and windy day. We walked from the Marina eastwards with the wind blowing into our backs.
The walk is 4.5 Kms long from The Marina at Brighton to Saltdean. The Marina had not been built when the undercliff walk was constructed in 1935, but Volk's railway had been a feature.
The first plans for this railway were to have a carriage supported on stilts over the track close to the water. It was to run from Palace Pier Brighton to Rottingdean. A pier was built at Rottingdean for the railway. The railway carriage was christened the Daddy Long Legs.
Unfortunately there was fierce storm and within a week the railway was a disaster.
We will look at Rottingdean later on.
The railway survived in modified form and last summer Bill and I enjoyed a ride. It no longer goes as far as Rottingdean.
We were in Brighton on a dull and windy day. We walked from the Marina eastwards with the wind blowing into our backs.
The sea was quite rough at high tide - but not quite as rough as shown in the web site picture below.
The view of the water is ever changing, though we did chuckle at the lack of variety on this walk. White chalk cliffs to the left of us and the sea to the right of us.
There were some pretty little plants to break up the even whiteness of the chalk. There were also defences in the cliff to catch falling rocks.
I was glad that Ashley had a raincoat as well as a fleece - he offered me the rain coat because I was cold.
This is the view looking back towards The Marina, which I shall illustrate on the blog on another occasion.
