Wednesday, 7 September 2022 (Group: Bromley)
Start time 10:00
Moderate
12 miles / 19.3 km
(Estimated finish time: 16:30)
We start the Walk at Barcombe Mills at Pikes Bridge by walking over the old toll bridge then follow The Sussex Ouse Valley Way to Lewes via Barcombe and Hamsey Place Church which is on an Island making our way to Lewes Castle and then to the notorous Snowdrop Inn at Cliffe on the edge of the river for lunch stop.
The deadliest avalanche in British history took place, not in the mountains of Scotland or Wales as you may expect, but in 1836 in the town of Lewes, Sussex, just a few miles from the south coast of England.
During the winter of 1836/7 Britain suffered some of its worst weather ever recorded, with freezing temperatures, heavy snow and gale force winds.
On Christmas Eve 1836 a huge storm blew up over southern England. Heavy snowfall and gale force winds combined to produce blizzards and massive snow drifts.
It soon became obvious to passers-by that the cottages were in danger from this huge overhang of snow. They alerted the residents and advised them to move out until the snow had melted. The residents refused, even when on 26th December, a large fall of snow from the clifftop fell onto a nearby timber yard, destroying it and sweeping it into the River Ouse.
The following day at 10.15am the inevitable happened; the huge weight of snow fell, swamping the cottages of Boulder Row below.
How many people were in the cottages at the time is unknown, but contemporary reports indicate that fifteen people were inside when the avalanche struck.
Today a pub called the Snowdrop Inn stands on the site of Boulder Row. The inn was built in 1840 and named in commemoration of the disaster.
Cut and paste the following link and you will see the history of the avalanche and the pub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXT-qfRD484
Also to be found on the hill above Snowdrop Inn is an obelisk known as Martyrs' Memorial commemorating the destruction of Lewes' monastery by Henry VIII and the burning of the 17 Protestant martyrs known as the Sussex Martyrs in 1555–1557.
After lunch we make our way up the hill to visit the Obelisk to commerate protestant martys then make our way via Lewes Golf Course, Glyndebourne and Ringmer to where we started the walk.
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