A thoroughly enjoyable first day was over and following a sound-sleep it was back to the carpark to check-in and wait for the shiny Worthing Coach. We recognised the crowd now, Eastbourne man, sisters with large dog, fast couple that appeared to sprint when the coach arrived at our start, young slim-girl who would be joined by her boyfriend from Scotland, later in the week, lady that lived in a house boat.........and so it goes on! I wonder what we were called 'static dwellers' or maybe something worse. It's a shorter journey this time to Alfriston and as it was a Saturday, not much traffic. The coach park in Alfriston was already full with our expectant walkers and also a welcoming committee for the lunchtime stop of the annual Macmillan charity Marathon Walk that we had learned was taking place today.....Brighton to Eastbourne via the Southdowns Way, 1800+ walkers expected! It was never going to be a lonely journey with a snaking trail of green tee-shirted walkers we passed by from before Firle Beacon all the way to Southease station. A good cause and a generally pleasant group, sometimes taking up the whole of the path, some with loud music to pass the time of day and even an accompanying bagpipe player! Of course there was to be some inappropriate shoes (flip-flops) and several dawdlers or late-starters that stood little chance of making Eastbourne before nightfall! After all, It is 26 miles which is a good distance by anyones standards and not to be underestimated especially with the uneven ground, frequent hill sections and the added drain of strong sunshine that was to accompanied us all now for the rest of the day.
We left Alfriston, passing the Smugglers Inn and up out of the village where the track was way-marked by a sign showing we still had plenty of miles to Winchester. 
Substantial houses gave way to a steady climb onto the downs with far reaching views across the Weald and over to the sea, which was just a few miles away. It was some 3 miles along the top before we saw the first of the Macmillan
walkers coming towards us, those that must have left by 7am! A car park on Bostal Hill was a check-point and a drinks station, at least, for them. The wind had abated from yesterday but was still gusting in the pleasant sunshine keeping the body temperature in check from what was at times, a quite long and was turning out to be, a strenuous 14 miles. We took a break in a series of barrows that made an excellent seat as a group of DoE children also decided to pause, all sitting in an adjacent barrow. Within a few seconds one lad exclaimed "I have a signal" which we assumed was for his mobile and obviously he hadn't spotted the huge mast just beyond Thirle Beacon and a mile up the trail! 
Just as an aside, why are DoE backpacks nearly the size of the lads and girls carrying them, is it really just a small tent, food and a change of clothes?
We rested and watched the green shirted charity walkers for a few minutes more, now coming past in waves, before setting out again for the beacon and beyond to Itford Farm YHA where we will be stopping for lunch at their really nice cafe......with nice loos, but before that was a long loop section, overlooking the Ouse valley. 
I am sure many are tempted to take a shortcut path down (or up) at this stage but looking at the closeness of the grid lines on our map it wouldn't be very wise move.....and it's obviously cheating! Itford farm is very pleasant indeed with tables and umbrellas outside to shield from the sun. Its frequented today with many of our walkers and it seems popular with the biking fraternity that use the Southdowns Way and all the other hundreds of miles of ways that criss-cross the hills. 
The stop is almost half-way and we depart after purchasing our tea, (and food smuggled from our rucksack)
Crossing the railway line at Southease station followed by the bridge over the Ouse and into the pretty village of Southease. Many had adopted the village green as their lunch stop, missing, we felt, the treat of a fresh cup of tea and wee, seeking out the limited shade. The unusually round steepled church was walled and many had rested beneath it, filling drinks dispensers, using the one of several water taps en-route, located just outside the lytch-gate. Out of the village and following a farm track up the valley towards the strangely named, Cricketing Bottom with its arty spider-seats that you really must try-out, before turning upwards through munching cattle and back onto the downs. 
Lewes and the village of Kingston-near-Lewes lay to our right and steeply below. The miles of today were beginning to tell as yet another loop, along Jugg's Road track, seemed to take us in the wrong direction, away from our destination. Going down was hard on the knees and our poles came into their own before going off-piste for the last few hundred yards, under the railway line and into the welcoming site of the red-shirted marshals and their umbrella set up in the beer garden of the Newmarket Inn.
A coach was about to depart but we chose the next one as a beer was definitely required after a long, tiring but wonderfully eventful day. So tickets in hand we supped and waited to be 'called' to board our coach back to the carpark and our short drive home to our 'static' for diner, a look at the fine weather predicted on BBC app and of course, another sound sleep.