The Seven Sisters

It's a tongue-twister: The Seven Sisters, Sussex by the Sea.

It's also a gem of an oil painting that Mom brought back from her trip to Britain with Dad in the spring of 1975. Her note on the back reads, "June 1975 - Purchased in antique shop - Lynton, Devon (soiled and in need of new frame). The locale is said to be Birling Gap, cliffs called 'The Seven Sisters' -- East Sussex, South Coast of England."

Mom's travel diary records the find. It was a dollar well spent.

"Bought a soiled old oil painting for $1
-have great hopes it will clean up and look super in new frame."

"Across the Bay" by W.N. Pellett

In 2012 Myrna and I took the painting to Loch Gallery to have it professionally cleaned and reframed before hanging it above Dad's kitchen table at Sturgeon Creek II. The gallery staff member who examined it was rather dismissive, and said it was not worth anything. She was not familiar with the artist, but said she could tell it wasn't valuable because the brush strokes were too fine; a proper artist would use a thicker application.

Well, we were there to have it cleaned and reframed, not to appraise it, but I still beg to differ - it is valuable to us as a family keepsake that Mom loved.

The Seven Sisters are often mistakenly identified as the White Cliffs of Dover, but they are actually about 70 miles southwest of Dover. According to Wikipedia:

The Seven Sisters are a series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel. They form part of the South Downs in East Sussex, between the towns of Seaford and Eastbourne in southern England. They are within the Seven Sisters Country Park. They are remnants of dry valleys in the chalk South Downs, which are gradually being eroded by the sea. The Seven Sisters cliffs are occasionally used in filmmaking and television production as a stand-in for the more famous White Cliffs of Dover, since they are relatively free of modern development and are also allowed to erode naturally. As a result, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head remain a bright white colour, whereas the White Cliffs of Dover are protected due to the important port and are therefore increasingly covered in vegetation and are greening as a result.

(A) marks The Seven Sisters, 70 miles southwest of (B) The White Cliffs of Dover

As we know, Dad made friends while serving overseas in 1945. He stayed in touch with Molly Neil, and they exchanged landscape calendars every Christmas for several years.

An historian, Molly was an excellent tour guide for Mom and Dad in 1975. But she was rather lost in London when she went to meet Dad near the Underground station. She noticed a kind-looking gent and went to him to ask for directions. Wouldn't you know it, that kind man was Dad!

Molly Neil, 1959

Molly sent a postcard later in 1975, with the note, "Thought the last picture would be of special interest to you. Beachy Head is round the right hand corner."

Postcard from Molly, 7/8/75

Today, the cliffs are an obvious vantage point for airshows. On this day, Remembrance Day 2013, consider what a welcome sight England's white cliffs were for those Bomber Command airmen returning from their raids. 

Of course, Vera Lynn said it best: