Quarr Abbey to Cowes

Another stretch of the coastal path today, starting with delicious tea and cake at Quarr Abbey Tearooms. My friend and I had been given a lift to the Abbey by my Mother, who also had tea and cake, so that we could walk back to Cowes.

Once the cake was eaten, and the piglets had been admired (obligatory), we set off along the path. This was lovely, and led eventually to Fishbourne Lane, coming out just by the pub beyond the ferry terminal, and then following the road to the next footpath on the right. This led into the village of Wootton Bridge, past a house being built near the pub which had lovely sculptures and shells set into the walls, rambled among the housing estate (where we took a minor detour due to an ambiguous signpost), and then onto the long and winding Brocks Copse Road. I had never been down this road, and we discovered some lovely Victorian lodges, a small road bridge over a sluggish stream, and a cherry tree bearing almost ripe fruit. We foraged briefly! We were also accosted several times by a lady whose sat nav was sending her everywhere except Osborne House; she was working here for Cowes Week, had to pick somebody up, and was getting very confused. We sent her in the right direction several times and guessed that she got there eventually when she failed to show up again.

Brocks Copse Road became Alverstone Road, and emerged on the main East Cowes road by The Forge at Whippingham. The coastal path led along the main road from here, so we continued along, stopping for a cup of tea at Osborne House, home of Queen Victoria, and then continued down into East Cowes, poked around the charity shops and caught the new floating bridge to Cowes. Another lovely, rather breezy and occasionally wet, walk completed.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4588940.html

           https://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/dbimgs/6.Ryde-Cowes.pdf

Distance: 6.9 miles

Cat detail on house, Wootton Bridge

Lodge gate

Cowes Hammerhead Crane

Floating Bridge

Wild Nights out.....July

North House, Cowes
Popped in to meet a friend whose husband was playing in a jazz trio. Pleasant evening on the terrace listening to lovely music. Lovely hotel too - worth a visit if you can.

Cowes Sailability Club
I attended a reception at Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club for this charity. Interesting, with nice canapes!

Cowes Carnival
Had to watch this annual event. Quite jolly with marching bands and a bagpipe - drum duo, and all the carnival queens (wish they would smile!) and locals who had dressed up. Short but sweet.

Blackgang to Whale Chine

Quick walk today as the weather was looking dodgy. We parked at Blackgang Chine viewpoint car park (further up the hill from the theme park, and free), and followed the coastal path onwards Chale.  The path appeared fairly well used, but had nettles growing abundantly alongside it, so longer trousers than mine are to be recommended! And boots rather than hiking sandals. However, not too many stings and they wore off quickly. The path opened onto a field, the overflow car park for Blackgang Chine, led across it and back to the road. We followed the road downhill, over the traffic island, and rejoined the footpath on the left that led to the village. The footpath followed the road again, past the ancient St Andrew's church at Chale, and then turned left at the showground and headed towards the cliffs.

We continued along the cliff edge, admiring the dramatic scenery while also wondering whether we would inadvertently end up on the beach in a cliff fall as there appeared to be rather a lot of large cracks in the ground! The path ended abruptly at a large mound and turned inland over a make shift bridge, then back along the coast past a building that might have been a gun emplacement at one time. Hard to tell! The weather was in turns very blustery and then dead calm, which was odd as there weren't major changes in the landscape or the wind. It felt as though we would take off occasionally, and we laid flat on the ground to have a good look at a small chine (we saw two, Ladder Chine and Walpen Chine), without being blown over the edge! Once we reached, and had a good look at, Whale Chine, we turned back and followed the road until we got back to Chale. This was fairly uneventful, and we saw three beautiful alpacas along the way near the small, thatched Walpen Manor house.

Once we reached the car, the weather changed to wet and windy, so we decided a cup of tea was in order and headed to Isle of Wight Pearl, had a look at the jewellery, and had a cuppa and a bowl of homemade tomato soup to warm our cockles! Lush!

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4585224.html
Distance: 4.3 miles

Ladder Chine or Walpen Chine

Landslip with scout signs

Alpacas near Chale

St Andrew's Church, Chale

Chilton Chine to Whale Chine

Parked at Chilton Chine, walked past Isle of Wight Pearl and headed towards Grange Chine via Brighstone Holiday Centre. On the outskirts were derelict chalets, brightly painted, very close to the cliff edge and clearly not safe to use, but round the corner was the holiday centre proper, with chalets, tents and caravans and lots of families clearly enjoying themselves. The footpath led down into Grange Chine, over a bridge and up steps to the cliff top above. I paused for a few minutes to enjoy the view here - lovely.

I strolled along the cliff edge through wildflower meadows, past herds of Guernsey cattle, watching beetles, ladybirds, buzzards, bumblebees, and flies, and listening to crickets in the grass. The path rose steeply as it approached Barnes High, and I found a welcome bench at the top where I stopped to catch my breath and admire the view along the coast to Tennyson Down, and inland to the downs around Brighstone and Shorwell.

The path continued onwards along the crumbling clifftop - much evidence of recent cliff falls -  to Atherfield Bay Holiday Camp at Shepherd's Chine. The path led inland through the campsite here, around the chine, and crossed over above a pond which fed the stream further down the chine. Before I found the path leading around the chine, I blindly followed a path and steps down to the beach; I had misread a sign at the top of the steps saying there was no access to the cliff top from here, and on the face of it this appeared to be true. However, this merely meant that if you walked along the beach towards Blackgang Chine, there was no way of getting back up. I sat on the beach for a bit before figuring out my mistake, and carried on. Beyond the chine, the path continued to Atherfield Point, where there was a unusual homemade memorial to  the shipwreck of the Sirenia on Atherfield Ledge. I was going to stop here and go back, but I thought I might as well continue to Whale Chine, so I did.

I had never been to Whale Chine, and the path down it is closed, and has been for ten years, due to coastal erosion. The chine was by far the most magnificent that I had seen today, with high cliffs sculpted by wind and studded with the burrows of nesting birds. I turned inland here, thinking I would walk back along the Military Road, but on realising that the verges were narrow and sloping, and the traffic was fast, decided to go back the way I had come. This was a delightful walk, with wonderful wildlife and scenery. Gorgeous.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4582754.html
Distance: 10.5 miles



Derelict chalets



Grange Chine



Grange Chine to Tennyson Down



View to Barnes High



Bridge near Grange Chine



Shepherd's Chine



Sirenia information



Whale Chine entrance

Seaclose to Medham

Day three of Travels with Teenagers, so we took pity on them and had a virtually flats walk today. We started at Medina College and walked through the arboretum and across Seaclose Park and down to the Quay Arts Centre in Newport. We followed the road round past the Bergman's Rest pub, along the industrial estate and joined up with the Cowes to Newport cycle track, which we ambled along until we got to a disused and crumbling quayside near the turning to Medham Lane. We stopped here and had an early lunch in the sunshine, then pottered back the way we had come.

This seemed like a short walk, but was actually the longest we had done all week. Hills make a massive difference!

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579877.html
Distance: 8.3 miles

Ventnor to Shanklin

Day 2 of Rambles with Teenagers. There were only nine students today. We were dropped off at Ventnor Botanic Gardens, where teenage wails of "There's no signal" were accompanied by staff guffaws of "Mwahahaha!". However, the portable music speaker was working so we set off accompanied by a better selection of tunes than yesterday. In fact, on the bus Queen was played, and many voices joined in to Bohemian Rhapsody. Jolly.

We left the carpark and right, heading along the main road past the cricket pitch, and down Love Lane. At the bottom we picked up the footpath and headed steeply downhill to Steephill Cove, a lovely little beach full of cafes and tiny shingle and lobster pots. The path led out steeply at the end, and we continued towards Ventnor proper, heading along the cliff to Flowers Brook, up more steps, and then descended to Ventnor esplanade. We pottered along here, walked past the fishery, stopped at the loo, then continued along the revetment to Bonchurch. Interesting fact from the language teacher with me  - 'revetment' in this case doesn't refer to the coastal defences but rather to the Victorian practice of changing for bathing (from the French). I never knew that!

We stopped near the pottery on the seafront for a breather, then set off up some steps into The Landslip. This is a wild woodland area and really rather delightful. It is full of pathways and steps, as well as many trees, ferns, brambles and other wild plants. I had the feeling it hadn't changed much for a hundred years or so. We bypassed the 'Devil's Chimney', and continued through the woods towards Luccombe. There was a thunderstorm last night, so it was very humid in the woods, and we were delighted to plunge out into open air for a while by Luccombe Chine, before heading into more on the final stretch to Shanklin.

The footpath met Luccombe Road so we followed it down to Rhylstone Gardens (another toilet break), and then down steep steps to Shanklin beach, near the chine and the Fisherman's Cottage pub. We continued for a little while longer, and stopped at the Lazy Wave café for lunch. Most of us picnicked, but some bought chips and the staff bought much needed tea and coffee! The last leg of the journey took us along Shanklin Esplanade and Hope Beach, and then up the final steep path to the clifftop and the car park by Winchester House YMCA where we waited for the bus back to school. Another lovely, if rather damp and drizzly, walk.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579407.html
Distance: 6 miles (with lots of steep bits!)

The Landslip

Cliffs near Shanklin Chine

Culver Down from Shanklin Chine

Beach Huts

Nettlestone to Yaverland

Today I helped take twelve teenagers on a stroll across the east of the Island. We got a coach to Nettlestone and walked towards the Priory Hotel, then followed the footpath round and ended up at The Duver, St Helen's. This is a lovely patch of National Trust land, sprinkled with wildflowers among the short turf. After a quick rest break we headed across the causeway and into the outskirts of Bembridge. The road led along another causeway, past the yacht club and numerous houseboats, and to the Tollgate café opposite the Pilot Boat Inn. We stopped at the café for lunch (some picnicked, and some bought food), then carried on.

This was the point where my dodgy map reading skills came into play, and we pootled up a lane going in the wrong direction. Oops. I soon realised my mistake however, and we turned round and joined up with the path we were meant to be on. We followed the High Street  to Bembridge Windmill and then followed the lane into the woods, across a road, past a holiday camp and onto the cliff path to Culver Down. Some of the kids groaned when they realised we had to climb the down, but they all managed it faster than I did! We stopped at the Yarborough Monument at the top and admired the view, and I admired the wild flowers, had a drink and a snack (I got an ice cream) before walking down the other side of Culver Down to Dinosaur Isle where we met the coach again.

This was a boiling hot day, with teenagers who were generally not used to walking so far, and it went really well. Another route tomorrow.

route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579015.html

Distance: 7.3 miles

View from Yarborough Monument