The Devil's Dyke in the South Downs National Park in southern England.
Devil's Dyke in the South Downs National Park near the coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The Devil's Dyke is the huge deep chalk ditch / dry valley which had been formed in the last ice age. The dyke and the surrounding countryside is very popular with tourists and visitors locally. Situated in the South Downs National Park in Sussex it attract walkers and ramblers from far and near. The dyke was a favorite place to go for people in the Victorian era. Near the turn into the twentieth century 30,000 visitors were recorded on one bank holiday with over a 1,000,000 visitors counted for the year. It was so popular that a railway line was constructed to bring people up from the coastal town (now a city) of Brighton. An aerial cable car was also built to give rides across the dyke being 300 feet above ground. The railway line has long gone but a concrete platform and a few steel girders survive from the cable car construction and these are still visible today. The Devil's Dyke is so called as legend states that the Devil dug the ditch with a view to reaching the coast which would let the sea flood the Sussex Weald and thus drown all the parishioners. The story goes that a woman appeared with a lit candle and the Devil mistook the light for the dawn of a new day and fled.
Size: 2613px × 3898px
Location: Devil's Devils Dyke South Downs National Park West Sussex England UK United Kingdom GB Great Britain
Photo credit: © Malcolm McHugh / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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