The Sea and its Friends

The Seven Sisters are among England’s best-known coastal landscapes. The seven gently rolling hills give way to gleaming white chalk cliffs, up to 160 metres high, which stretch for several kilometres along the English Channel. They were formed around 70 million years ago from the calcareous shells of tiny marine organisms, which were deposited on the bed of a shallow primeval sea and solidified over millions of years into thick layers of chalk. Wind, rain and the tides shaped these into the striking cliffs and valleys, which continue to erode slowly to this day.

On a stormy day in May, the coast takes on an extraordinary atmosphere. Thick fog envelops the white chalk cliffs, whilst strong gusts drive the rain horizontally across the vast pebble beach exposed by the ebb tide. The dark, damp seabed stretches far out, whilst the water vanishes into the distance beneath a leaden-grey sky. There are hardly any people to be seen. It is precisely in this rugged, tranquil atmosphere that the Seven Sisters reveal their special allure – a landscape that impresses less with spectacular waves than with wind, mist and the vast expanse of the coast. | England