King Charles III has officially opened England’s newest nature reserve at the iconic Seven Sisters cliff landscape, simultaneously launching a significant section of the King Charles III England Coast Path.
The monarch, dressed in a lounge suit and brown brogues, and carrying a walking staff, trekked two kilometres along the newly inaugurated coastal route.
The Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve marks the 13th addition to the King’s ambitious initiative to create or expand 25 national nature reserves by 2028, reaching the halfway point of this environmental goal.
These 13 protected areas, including the rich chalklands of Seven Sisters in East Sussex, now span an impressive 65 square miles – an area twice the size of Brighton.
During his visit on Thursday, Charles also unveiled the King Charles III England Coast Path, now the world’s longest managed coastal walking route.
His walk along the path surprised passers-by, including 76-year-old rambler Sharon Willmore, who expressed her astonishment at seeing the King.
She said: “Not what we were expecting at all, just out for a nice walk and someone said the King was along there.”
As Charles approached the white cliffs landmark, he said they were the ones “I avoided hitting when I was in the Royal Navy”.
The King also spoke to a group of cyclists who said they were riding e-bikes, to which he joked: “Cheaters.”
Natural England is officially launching the path, which passes through the Seven Sisters nature reserve, as the 2,700-mile route nears completion.
Officials behind the scheme estimate the coast path, which has been nearly two decades in the making, would take a year to walk – with weekends off.
Polly Martin, of National Trails UK, who met the King on Thursday, said she is hoping the launch will raise awareness that the work that trails officers do in “good weather, bad weather, is incredible”.
She said she sees “today as a celebration” of all the work that has been done to make the path open and useable.
Ms Martin added: (We’re) hoping the coast path named after the King will make people more aware of the importance of national trails.”
On the Sussex coast, the path passes over the Seven Sisters cliffs, which have been inspiration for the poet Rudyard Kipling, a backdrop to films including Atonement, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire and Wicked, and are the site of the new 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) national nature reserve.
The reserve, stretching across the cliffs and the Cuckmere River which cuts through them, sits within the South Downs National Park and is home to globally rare habitats, including chalk grasslands, heath and floodplain meadows.
Natural England has also been working on the development of what is now known as the King Charles III England Coast Path, since plans for a national coastal route around the whole of England were first legislated for in 2009.
The route, which was renamed to mark the King’s coronation and his championing of the natural world, incorporates and has improved parts of existing national trails such as the South West and Norfolk coast paths.
The Seven Sisters part of the route stretches from Eastbourne to Littlehampton.
Speaking to reporters, Natural England chairman Tony Juniper, who was out walking with Charles, said the King has been an “inspirational leader” for so many people and many years on the big questions such as the relationship with the natural world and needing to do more to look after nature.
“For him this is his lifelong passion,” he said.
“And so today, for him, I think he’s seeing those pieces come together.”
