Outdoor swims: Cuckmere Meanders

The Cuckmere River winds it way through East Sussex down to the Channel where it joins the sea by the 'Seven Sisters' white cliffs. In its later stages the river has cut a pattern of Meanders, although the main body of the river now flows through an adjacent straight cut put in the river in the mid-19th century.

The Cuckmere Meanders are good for swimming, readily accessible via low banks from the adjoining grassland. We walked along the river for a bit from near to the Cuckmere Valley Canoe Club (right next to one of the car parks for the Seven Sisters Country Park - postcode BN25 4AD), but where we actually entered the water was close to where the South Downs Way footpath passes it - the bend furthest to the right in the picture above. 

The entry was shallow, with the river become swimmable nearer the middle.  I think a 5 feet ten adult would be able to touch the (muddy) bottom in many places, but I wouldn't rely on it. In some sections there is a lot of weed action but we had a decent length swim in lovely countryside with just skylarks and an egret for company. 

Underwater footprints (Egret?)

The current landscape in the Cuckmere Valley has been maintained through human intervention and will shift as a result of a decision to no longer maintain sea defences. This will eventually return the area to a tidal floodplain and create a  salt marsh nature reserve, so if you want to swim there in its current incarnation now might be a good time.