The Long Man of Wilmington and the South Downs

A hike through the hills of East Sussex to Eastbourne

When I moved to London five years ago, I was surprised to find out how lonely you can feel in such a big city. I had never moved to a different country as a working professional, and it turned out to be a very different experience from going abroad as a student or working holiday maker. Whilst during studying and travelling, you’re usually surrounded by people in the same situation, looking for others to hang out with, meeting people can be a bit more of a challenge when moving later in life. Everyone usually already has their own social circles but fortunately, there are other ways to meet like-minded people, one of them being Meetup.

Meetup is a social network where people can create interest groups and activities which others can join to pursue common interests and meet people at the same time. A couple of years after moving to London, I discovered this platform and I signed up to a few hiking and photography meetups initially. They’re always a good day out and I met some of my best friends in London through this network.

With summer just about to start, and with my demanding job at an ad agency in London leaving me with little energy to do things after work, I have decided it’s time to get back onto Meetup and I signed up for a 22-km hike with the group Outdoorholics. They’re one of the biggest and most popular hiking groups in London and their events are frequent. These hikes usually have a capacity of between thirty and forty people and because of the group’s popularity, it is advisable to book a couple of weeks in advance.

Our day out starts bright and early at Victoria train station. The usually bustling station is still quiet at 8:30 am on a Saturday as our group of about thirty eager hikers comes together. The cost for the hike (28 GBP; 33 EUR) includes the return train journey to Berwick, where our hike begins. After more than an hour on the train, I feel really sleepy again which might also be due to a few too many after-work drinks at the pub located right next to our agency. But the fresh air in the little country town of Berwick is waking me up again in no time. We turn right after the station, cross the street and walk down a path on the right-hand side of the service station – which is marked by a little sign but otherwise looks like it’s just a space between two houses – before we’re entering the lush farmland of East Sussex.

Two furry Shetland Ponies come trotting towards us curiously, looking for some cuddles and nibbles and impatiently snapping at our hiking trousers. Just a little further, and we’re arriving at the Arlington Reservoir, a 99.4 hectar Site of Specific scientific Interest and a local nature reserve, as our fantastic hiking leader Carina informs us. It’s particularly important for birdlife, black swans and lots of other species can be seen in this area. It’s also a popular spot for trout fishing.

After the reservoir, our hike takes us back into farmland, and another 1.5 hours later, we spot for the first time the Long Man of Wilmington, formerly often known as the “Wilmington Giant” or locally as the “Green Man”. The Long Man is a hill figure on the slopes of the Windover Hill near Wilmington measuring 235 feet (72 m) in length. Whilst the figure was formerly thought to date back to the Iron Age or earlier, 2003 archaeological findings have shown that the figure may have been cut in the Early Modern era around the 16^th or 17^th century AD.

Our next stop is Parish church of St. Mary & Peter in Wilmington (Wilmington meaning: cloudy fortified village on the hill). The parish is one of the largest in the country and also houses, in its graveyard, the oldest yew tree in Sussex at 1600 years old and 7 metres high. It’s considered a holy tree and in the meantime, it has to be supported by stakes and a huge metal chain to keep its thick trunks from breaking off. We wander around the church dating back to the 12^th century not for too long because we’re eagerly anticipating our lunch break.

Another half an hour later, we arrive at our scenic lunch spot, on Windover Hill at the Long Man’s feet, overlooking the flat land stretching out into the distance. It’s been a cloudy day so far but the cloud starts breaking up and allows the sun to glimpse through the cover as we head eastbound and further up the South Downs. The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that run for about 260 square miles (670 km2) along the south-eastern coast of England, from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne. The South Downs Way, which we find ourselves on today, is one of fifteen national trails in England and Wales.

We move from the wide-open farmland to small pathways in lush forests with ivory-enlaced tree trunks and the ground covered with wild flowers and inhabited areas with a few houses dotted into meadows ridden with daisies and buttercups. Green hedges border the footpath and the scent of the spring flowers is in the air. Then we’re on top of the windy South Downs, the view only obscured by the odd hedge here and there and the ground covered with grass and bluebells, overlooking Polegate as well as Eastbourne in the far distance. We’re almost at the end of our hike now as we follow the slopes of the South Downs way down to Eastbourne, heading to the beach.

The sun is now well out in England’s sunniest coastal town. We sit at the pebbled beach and enjoy the fresh breeze coming from the sea. The group has now split in two as some people headed to the beach and others to the pub. I want to see both so I join the others at the pub for a quick pint of Camden Hells before I sink exhaustedly into a seat on the train back to Victoria and watch the countryside of East Sussex roll by.