Sweeping Ox-Bow Lakes of the Cuckmere River looking south to the Coastguard Cottages at Cuckmere Haven from the South Downs above Exceat and Friston Forest.
Commentary.
Since the 1950’s I wonder how many Geography students,
like myself in the 1970’s, visited this river or studied it in “O” AND “A” Level text books.
It was such a classic example of fluvial erosion and deposition.
I say “was” because a straighter, more navigable river has been channelled making the former meanders, lakes for kayakers!
Wide, sweeping meanders and “U”-shaped ox-bow lakes
were the star attractions. The river’s course and its levees
migrated laterally and longitudinally along the flood plain
between steeper river terraces on the periphery.
“Enough,” I hear you cry!!!
And, yes, I too, would much rather consider the aesthetic qualities of this place than the geomorphological minutiae that demanded my attention for over nine years.
Poem.
Endless swarms of day-trippers, tourists, students,
geographers, photographers and many others,
ply the several paths from Exceat to the river mouth at Cuckmere Haven.
Blue arcs of “switch-back” meanders.
Chalk hills of the South Downs are crowned by a beige and brown fringe of leafless deciduous trees, part of Friston Forest.
Vehicles, bumper to bumper, cautiously negotiate
the twists, turns and inclines of the busy A.259 linking Newhaven, Seaford and Eastbourne.
And then the bottle-neck of a single-track bridge crossing the river!
The striking azure curves contrast photogenically
with the bright orange-tiled roofs of the barns,
museum, café and dwellings at Exceat and Westdean.
A sublime stretch of coastline for cliffs, beaches, valleys, rivers
and a rural hinterland of arable and grazing fields.
Such is the Cuckmere Valley and the “Seven Sisters” of East Sussex.
Sweeping Ox-Bow Lakes of the Cuckmere River looking south to the Coastguard Cottages at Cuckmere Haven from the South Downs above Exceat and Friston Forest.
Commentary.
Since the 1950’s I wonder how many Geography students,
like myself in the 1970’s, visited this river or studied it in “O” AND “A” Level text books.
It was such a classic example of fluvial erosion and deposition.
I say “was” because a straighter, more navigable river has been channelled making the former meanders, lakes for kayakers!
Wide, sweeping meanders and “U”-shaped ox-bow lakes
were the star attractions. The river’s course and its levees
migrated laterally and longitudinally along the flood plain
between steeper river terraces on the periphery.
“Enough,” I hear you cry!!!
And, yes, I too, would much rather consider the aesthetic qualities of this place than the geomorphological minutiae that demanded my attention for over nine years.
Poem.
Endless swarms of day-trippers, tourists, students,
geographers, photographers and many others,
ply the several paths from Exceat to the river mouth at Cuckmere Haven.
Blue arcs of “switch-back” meanders.
Chalk hills of the South Downs are crowned by a beige and brown fringe of leafless deciduous trees, part of Friston Forest.
Vehicles, bumper to bumper, cautiously negotiate
the twists, turns and inclines of the busy A.259 linking Newhaven, Seaford and Eastbourne.
And then the bottle-neck of a single-track bridge crossing the river!
The striking azure curves contrast photogenically
with the bright orange-tiled roofs of the barns,
museum, café and dwellings at Exceat and Westdean.
A sublime stretch of coastline for cliffs, beaches, valleys, rivers
and a rural hinterland of arable and grazing fields.
Such is the Cuckmere Valley and the “Seven Sisters” of East Sussex.