Totland Beach

Totland is fast becoming one of my favourite Island beaches. It is mostly shingly, with parts that are predominantly made up of rounded flint. There is a seawall, and an old lifeboat station, both slowly becoming dilapidated, wooden groynes holding the beach in place, and the shattered remains of a Victorian pier. By the road entrance is a toilet block, two blocks of flats that have seen better days but are being renovated, and slightly further on is a restaurant. At the start of the pier is a recently built wooden building, presumably to be a cafe but it looks unoccupied. Beyond this, the seawall continues towards Colwell Bay but comes to a sudden stop where a recent landslip rendered it unsafe. 

Every time I have been here there have been few people around, and those that were there were either locals or more plucky tourists. The atmosphere is relaxed. On our visit yesterday we discovered a large barrel jellyfish in the surf, which was gradually washed up onto the shore. It was beautiful, with a blue dome with violet edging, and violet tentacles. We got utterly over-excited about it as we'd never seen a jellyfish like it.

Barton Manor Gardens

Barton Manor Gardens were open today in aid of Age UK IOW and Challenge & Adventure. Three of us went. We took a picnic and sat on the grass near the lake, having walked down a slightly overgrown pathway near the converted stables. The weather was perfect; hot June sunshine with blue skies and hints of wispy clouds overhead. After lunch we fed the carp in the pond with some pellets we had been sold by a confident young lady from the Challenge and Adventure team, then winded our way around the edge of the lake in search of the Japanese Garden. We didn't find it. However, we walked through some lovely woodland, loosely managed, with the occasional Rhododendron in full bloom and surrounded by the smell of wild garlic.

 

When we got back to where we started we headed up a gravel path, with some lovely stone steps, to the formal garden by the manor house. We weren't allowed in there, but could see it well enough from a nearby path. There was a long border full of lavender-blue Nepeta. Below it, by a public path, was a long herbaceous border full of Alchemilla mollis, ornamental grasses, ornamental thistles, foxgloves and other lovely plants. We carried on past the manor garden, past a neglected pond and statue, and emerged near a meadow of wildflowers and grasses. We saw a buzzard circling overhead, then continued our walk back towards the lake and found the Japanese garden.

 

The Japanese garden was somewhat disappointing; a small stream ran through it, bordered by a lot of weeds and the occasional Primula. There was a nice wooden walkway, a wooden deck by a pond full of water lilies and a boggy area full of Arum lilies. The walkway ended by a gravelled area next to a shallow pond choked with algae and a dilapidated summer house that was in desperate need of replacing.

 

We made our way back to the courtyard where there were a variety of stalls, and purchased a burger for my child and tea for the adults, followed by ice cream from the omnipresent Plaza Ices van. There were more stalls in the converted barn so we had a look around there before leaving.

 

I would like to go back there, but left feeling in desperate need to take the garden in hand. It has much potential and a beautiful boathouse!

Boat House interior



Tree trunks by the lake

Barton Manor

Nepeta border