New topographics

The parked car would appear to be a recent model VW Beetle, although 2020s cars have many similar styles.

The cargo ship loading scrap metal is the German-owned, Cyprus-registered Allerdiep.

For those who don't know the area - that's our local refuse incinerator. The Dieppe ferry is just visible at the far end of the harbour and there is a dredger about to leave its moorings to the ferry's left. The Sussex Ouse, on the left, is within a couple of feet of the top of the river bank and the land to the right is a couple of yards lower. How soon were those ice caps melting?

Looking at this shot I am amazed how little depth of riverbank there is left when the tide is in and the river is full of water off the South Downs. Surely a storm surge in at the high tide could over-top these banks. Further upstream, just beyond the incinerator the banks are a couple of metres above the surrounding fields.

Yes, I did get caught out in the open, but it didn't last long.

The human intervention, in the form of breakwaters, to protect the the shoreline from erosion, seems to have largely been left to return to nature.

These former coastguard cottages draw photographers from all around the world. OK it's not just the cottages, but they are a key component in the Cuckmere scene. There are few if any rivers along the Sussex coast that meet the sea with such limited development around the estuary. We are lucky to have such an beautiful location so close to home. The hill behind becomes Seaford Head over the horizon and the other side of the headland is Seaford.

'new' is a relative term. The cut, that's the channel on the right, was made in 1847!

Pruning the branches on the railway side, to reduce leaf fall onto the rails, has produced this nice view. To someone who lives on the coast and sees trees bent over by winds from the sea, these look strange as they are distorted in both directions.

The bridge is listed and quite elegant, but its protective woodwork rather spoils the effect. It hasn't been opened for many years. Boats going up the river towards Lewes are small leisure craft, that can pass under with ease at most levels of tide, I would guess.

This stretch of the South Downs National Park lies to the south-east of Lewes.

This is probably the widest point of the valley of the Sussex Ouse, certainly in the part south of Lewes.

Taken with the panorama setting on my Panasonic Lumix TZ70 compact.