Tourist Leisure Attraction: Eastbourne Birdman

Just prior to the start of the Eastbourne Birdman event in Sussex we took a stroll along Eastbourne pier where they'd built this large stage for the competitors to jump from.  Strangely, the pier website still had details of the previous year's event!  So we...

...hit the pebbles on Eastbourne beach to wait for the start.  We'd been to see the Birdman five years previously; then we found it difficult to find a parking place for our bums, this time there was plenty of room - maybe no one knew about the Birdman event?

Well, the start time for Eastbourne Birdman came and went and no announcement.  Had we got the right day/time?  Then, a quick announcement that the first birdman was gearing up to jump - then nothing again!  Then he jumped, taking the PA by surprise.

There was a long gap between jumpees, sometimes 15 minutes.  Belinda found a way to amuse herself by lining up pebbles along Mike's leg.  We also took the camcorder, see the video page for some clips (not of Mike's legs, of the birdmen jumping!).

Here's a shot of all the boats that appeared just off this Sussex beach, presumably from Eastbourne Marina just along the coast.  The announcements continued sporadically, but oh dear - rather droll and without much zest.  Then at last...

...another Birdman jumper (arrowed)!  This one had wings, although it didn't help.  Annoyingly a woman in front almost blocked the view, she just wouldn't keep still!  There were many people on the pier watching the Birdman event, but few on the beach.

Most of the Birdman jumpers plunged straight down, just like this one!  In about 1½ hours there were only about ten birdman in a very poor show compared with 1997 when we last saw it at Eastbourne, and with a much more dynamic commentary then too.

SEAFORD WALK...
Belinda's up the hill in the distance, walking through the field of barley on our sunny walk to Seaford.  We lost the spare camera battery in this field, amazingly we found it on the return leg many hours later!

The walk to Seaford went through fields and tracks and was about five miles over a bit of a (puff!) gentle hill.  We took plenty of cold water with us for a hot day, and Mike tested out his master plan (successfully) of freezing it beforehand to keep it cold for longer.

We stopped for a breather on top of the hill overlooking Newhaven and checked we were on the right track on the map.  The sea was within sight!  If our backpacks look rather full, they were; they contained our yummy picnic lunch!

Down there, coming in to Newhaven harbour is the cross-channel ferry from Dieppe.  We watched as the ship did a 180º manoeuvre and backed-up into the harbour.  By now we were well over half way and looking forward to our picnic.  So on arrival...

...at Seaford beach we consumed our picnic lunch on one of the numerous benches along the front.  The pebbled beach was pretty quiet for a hot August day, mainly older people were about reflecting Seaford's status as a popular retirement town for the elderly.

After lunch we walked a mile up Seaford beach front and found this pub to quench our thirst.  In the background out at sea is the Newhaven ferry on its way back to Dieppe (arrowed).  This picture was taken into the sun, so it looks misty (it wasn't really).

No visit to the beach is complete without an ice cream, so here's Mike making his usual mess of eating it!  In the background is Seaford Head and the start of the Seven Sisters cliffs, a 15 mile strenuous walk to Eastbourne we've done in the past.

No visit to the beach is complete without a paddle in the sea.  Here's Belinda threatening to drop Mike's trainers into the salty water, something she's done in the past with his deck shoes after getting them all sandy after burying them!

No visit to the beach is complete without almost getting swamped by a wave.  It was good to cool our hot feet, ready for the long trek back on the hottest day for a walk in 2002, what a contrast to walks we did in the Lake District earlier in the summer.