Christmas Cantata Choir Concert

How's that for an alliterative title? Another soggy and windy afternoon an the Isle of Wight, and my Mum happened to be in the Cantata Choir Christmas concert at Medina Theatre to which I had agreed to attend. Stupidly I hadn't bought a ticket, but they hadn't sold out. While waiting in the box office queue, a chap came in and asked if anyone was buying a single ticket as he had a spare. I said yes, but sadly had no cash on me so couldn't help. No body else was interested so he turned round, said 'Happy Christmas' and gave me the ticket! What a lovely man. I have no idea who he was.

The concert itself was reasonably well attended. The choir performed the following songs:

• Gaudete (Anon. 16th century)
• Shepherd's Cradle Song ( K. Leuner)
• A Winter's Night (C. McDowell)
• Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day (J. Gardner)
• The Little Road to Bethlehem (M. Head)
• The Colours of Christmas (J. Rutter)
• Jingle Bells (J. Pierpont)

I particularly enjoyed the first two and A Winter's Night, although all were lovely.  The choir were sometimes accompanied by a brass and percussion ensemble (two trumpets, a trombone, a French Horn and a Tuba), and/ or a piano. The ensemble also performed twice with a variety of Christmas arrangements.

The audience, as is traditional at this biannual concert, were expected to join in with some of the more well known carols such as Once in Royal David's City, and Good King Wenceslas. We were also encouraged to join in the descant parts if we knew them. So I did. My apologies to those around me as I am getting warbley in my middle age. Lovely way to spend a wet December afternoon.

Christmas Dinner

Well the weather really isn't right for rambling so I shall continue to waffle on about food. I attended my work's Christmas Dinner at The Bargeman's Rest, Newport on Friday last and had a jolly time. Pleasant company was accompanied by good food in sizeable portions.

 

I began with a Spinach and Ricotta  parcel and salad. I had expected the parcel to be of delicate pastry, and was surprised when it turned out to be rather chunky and pie-like. However, it tasted very nice, as did the salad. For my main course I was given a huge portion of stuffed, slow roasted pork loin with an arch of very crackly crackling, and roast potatoes. Vegetables provided separately were cauliflower cheese, carrots, sprouts, and boiled potatoes, and there was also cranberry sauce and gravy. Absolutely delicious all round, and the pork was cooked to perfection. Pudding had been pre-ordered, and was a gluten free chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce and squirty cream. This wasn't such an impressive course; the brownie was rather thin and large, rather than small, chunky and oozing chocolatey gooeyness, the sauce wasn't necessary (or at least so much of it), and the cream should have come in a jug. By that stage I was so stuffed from the first two courses that pudding didn't really matter!

 

The service was excellent all round, from bar staff to waiting staff and I would definitely eat there again.

Symphony Orchestra

Today has been very wet and windy, so not really hiking weather for lightweights like me. My Mum had a spare ticket to the first concert of the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra's new season, so I joined her. It was the first of their concerts that I had attended, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The orchestra has a sizeable string section, a reasonably sized brass section and enough woodwind and percussion to make a difference. There were three compositions on the programme tonight:

• Overture: Portsmouth Point (Walton)
• Violin Concerto No. 1 (Bruch)
• Symphony No.1 (Mahler)

The overture was jolly, with a nice introduction by the conductor, Jonathan Butcher, who explained the difference between rhythm and metre to the audience. The orchestra then demonstrated exceedingly clearly during the performance. A good start!

The violin concerto was magnificent; the soloist was Alexander Sitkovetsky, who came in all in black, shirt untucked, with wild hair, and gave a spellbinding performance ably accompanied by the orchestra. My occasional feeble scratchings on my fiddle were put very much to shame. Superb.

After the interval (Minghella ice cream was consumed, of course), we were treated to the Mahler symphony. This had four movements, all of which were well performed. I was entranced by the oboists, who kept pointing their oboes up in the air during the more exciting parts.

All in all, a lovely way to spend a miserable November evening, and I shall certainly go to more of their concerts in future.

Roman Lunch

We had a trip on the North Island again today, and stopped off for lunch at Fishbourne Roman Palace. We didn't view the remains of the palace as we'd been before - worth a visit if you haven't been though. I had the Roman Platter which consisted of two large slices of olive bread, a good dollop of hummous, plenty of black olives, lots of feta cheese and some salad. Delicious, and washed down with cups of tea from the generous 'pot of tea for one'. The teenager had a cheese and tomato panini which I was assured was also delicious.

 

The view from the café was pleasant, looking onto a turfed area, with a couple of hillocks, several oak trees, and a small pavilion. It looked as though some archaeology was happening on one of the hillocks. There was a horse in the distance and lots of trees just changing into their autumn colours. I think that we'll stop off there regularly!

Nammet

We've been eating out a bit recently. Earlier this week I took my Mum to Bluebell's Café at Briddlesford Lodge Farm for birthday lunch. This is usually very good, and today was no exception. I had a chicken and bacon club sandwich with salad, and Mum had a toasted gammon and cheese sandwich with salad. Both were made from 'doorstop' slices of granary bread and were scrumptious. The teenager had sausage and mash with gravy, which was also delicious, but such a large portion that even she was outfaced! After lunch we waddled across the farmyard to the farm shop and had a look round. Lots of delicious goodies for sale which were most tempting.

 

This evening I went to Ryde with a chum and we ended up eating at 'Ada Mediterranean Kitchen' in Union Street. Delicious! We had a selection of mezze, including pastry wrapped feta cheese, deep fried haloumi, falafel, lamb kofta, stuffed vine leaves, aubergine and other vegetables, and a sausage and tomato dish. We finished with coffee. Overall we were very satisfied, and the meal was good value for money, with excellent service. I shall go there again!

 

 

*nammet is an Isle of Wight word. I use it to mean any meal, but that may be a bit broad.

Concerts

I have been to a couple of concerts recently. The first was at Quarr Abbey, near Binstead, for a performance of Faure's Requiem and French Motets by Les Fauristes Chamber Choir, from London. The concert was to raise funds for the restoration of the Abbey organ, and was free with a collection at the end.

 

I have to say I wasn't overwhelmed. The soloist, Judith Charron, was jolly good, but the choir sounded out of tune in places which rather marred their performance. The organist, Hamish Dustagheer, was, however, excellent. The Abbey itself is austere but rather lovely and worth a visit if you are in the area.  

 

The second concert was by the Isle of Wight Cantata Choir, performing John Rutter's Magnificat and a selection of opera choruses. The venue was 'Aspire', Ryde, which is a former church now used as a community centre. It is in dire need of a lick of paint inside, but is a lovely venue none the less. I thoroughly enjoyed the Magnificat and thought the choir sang beautifully. In the second half they sang opera choruses by Bizet, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini, with solos by the talented Tressa Lambert. Tressa also performed a selection of solos by Flanders and Swan, and Gershwin among others. Finally, she performed the 'Flower Duet' with Rachel Tweddle, the choirs' conductor. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

 

Altar detail, Aspire.

Roof detail, Aspire.

 

Bouldner and Thorley

Nice walk today, with no planning. We parked at Bouldner carpark again (I love a free car park), followed the promenade to Yarmouth, walked through the town and then headed across the green to find the footpath by the River Yar. We followed the path along the side of the river for a while, past the Mill House and the turning to the End of the Line Café, then went through a gate to follow a path towards Mill Copse. We paused and picked blackberries.

Neither of us had been to Mill Copse before; it was a small woodland planted with a variety of trees including Californian Redwoods, and was very peaceful. We found wayfaring marks on the ground, presumably left by Scouts, and followed them through a gate, across a field and eventually to a road.

After a while we found a footpath on the right leading to the ruins of a small church and graveyard next to Thorley Manor. Lovely and unexpected. We turned back as it was a dead end, retraced our steps along the road, found the next footpath and followed it until we got to the Thorley Road. We followed that back to the main road to Yarmouth and found the car.

We foraged along the way and returned home with a full tub of blackberries and pockets full of conkers! A lovely autumnal walk.

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4178961.html

Distance: 4.4 miles

Footpaths: Y11a, Y16, Y1, Y4, Y5, Y6

Remains of St Swithun's Church

Brecon Beacons 2015

This year we tried a holiday on our own, just the two of us, Mother and teenager. About time too! Having seen a BBC documentary about Wales, we decided to try the Brecon Beacons as the countryside looked awesome. I found what appeared to be an idyllic campsite, and booked a spot. Good choice!

 

I heartily recommend 'Camping at Ynysfaen' near Trecastle, in Powys. it is, officially, pretty much the middle of nowhere, with no mobile reception or WiFi, but with a huge green campsite. Cars are not allowed on the camping area, but wheelbarrows are provided for carting things about. A small river flows nearby, and at night all you can hear are sheep and the occasional hoot of an owl. Heaven. Jane and Nigel, who run it, are lovely too. Oh, there are fabulous showers, a covered washing up area, and a communal fridge, so that you don't have to rough it too much! Go there.

 

We arrived on Sunday afternoon, post festival, tired but glad to have made it. The weather was still dry, so we chose a pitch and erected the tent and settled in. We woke on Monday to a beautiful, sunny day and decided to go walking while the weather was nice, and headed south for the famous waterfall walks. Good choice. We parked in the forest car park, then walked downhill through the forest for about half an hour until we came to the first waterfall. We paused to admire it and chat to other walkers, then carried on, following the red route. This encompassed all the waterfalls, all magnificent, and a lot of walking. The waterfalls were all down side paths, which led steeply downhill and then, of course, back up hill. At the end of six miles we were very tired and had extremely achey legs! Absolutely worth it though.  Back to the camp, and tea cooked on a trangea.

On the Tuesday we had a lazy morning, playing Frisbee and catch in the campsite before lunch. After lunch we set off to find the Red Kite Feeding Centre. And got lost, or had a grand tour of the countryside if you prefer. We drove up the lane to Trecastle and turned left, ending up in Llandovery. I asked for directions and found that if we had turned right instead, the journey would have taken 10 minutes! Ah well. We attempted to follow the directions across the hills, and got lost a few times before finding the feeding centre with ten minutes to spare.

The feeding centre was simple, consisting of a bird hide with an honesty box, facing onto a small paddock. At 3pm the farmer drove up, said a few words and then scattered chicken joints around the paddock. After about 15 minutes, kites began to turn up, flying around but not swooping down for some time. When they did swoop, they were magnificent! We saw 11 birds in total. Definitely worth a visit.

On Wednesday the weather changed and the rain poured down. I attempted to cook breakfast, under an umbrella, but it didn't really work. We headed off to The National Show Caves Centre, and spent the day exploring Dan-yr-Ogof, Cathedral Cave, and Bone Cave, then admiring the dinosaur trail. We went to the café for lunch and had a nice hot meal! Delicious. Afterwards, we toured the small farm which had alpacas, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats and pigs. There was also  Shire Horse Centre so we admired the horses. Once we'd left I headed down the road to find my old caving haunts, which was interesting to me, although not necessarily to the teenager. We went home via Brecon and got a Chinese takeaway. Yum!

On Thursday it continued to rain. We headed for the Brecon Mountain Railway and had a picnic in the waiting room, and a chat with a volunteer who was fixing an enormous piston. After that we got on the steam train and headed up the mountain admiring the view. On the way back there was a brief stop off to see the steam museum and café.  Once back at the campsite we packed up as much as we could as there was a lull in the weather, had tea and prepared for our final night camping.

On the Friday morning, we packed up the tent, paid our dues and headed home via the Chilterns and lunch in Gloucester. We got back to the ferry rather early but weren't allowed on so we lurked in Mayflower Park for a bit.

Random standing stone on a mountain.

Waterfall you could walk behind.

Dinosaur at Show Caves Centre

 

Crab Cottage

In a change of theme, we accompanied my Mum and her friend to view the garden of Crab Cottage in Shalfleet. This was open under the National Garden Scheme, and for a mere £3.50 (children free) each, we got in, having parked in the free car park on the way up the lane by the New Inn.

To our right was a perfect croquet lawn, with metal hoops, and a collection of wooden mallets and balls leaning against a low wall. Beyond the croquet lawn was a path leading through a wildflower meadow, full of flowers and grasses. Very pretty and something I aspire to having one day. At the end of the meadow was a row of sweet peas held up by twigs, and then the path led to a pond.

We then followed a path back through tree and hedges, dodged under a shrub propped up with an old wooden rake, passed the croquet lawn, and paused on the gravel driveway to peruse the bookstall and natter with some acquaintances we bumped into, looked at the plant stall and then headed round the side of the house. As we passed the front door, clearly rarely used, we admired dark leaved dahlias,  towering hollyhocks and a wisteria which was trained across the house wall. On through an archway and onto a less formal lawn in a walled garden, bordered with flowered, with many varieties of dahlia among other things. Here we stopped for a cup of tea and a slice of cake which was of high standard! Very nice.

After tea we pottered through another arch and into a sunken garden with many interesting plants, and a raised area at the far end with a summerhouse and formal pond; the latter had no plants in it, but had beautiful reflections of the potted lilies grown next to it.

 

This was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon; I do enjoy nosing round other peoples gardens, and of there is good planting, tea and cake, all the better! Crab Cottage is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance.

 

Plants bought: Sedum spectabile

 

http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=13779

View to cottage from croquet lawn

 

Afternoon Amble

We tried the Dark Lane walk again, with friends. Another beautiful sunny afternoon on the Island, so the cool dappled shade of Dark Lane was deeply welcome! I insisted that the teenager navigate this time so that we didn't get lost, and she did a jolly good job. When we got to the sweetcorn field we went down the correct side of the hedge, down a dusty, root-strewn path past a paddock of over-excited, barking foxhounds, and came out on Snowdrop Lane.

 

From here we turned right and followed the lane uphill. Snowdrop Lane is deeply sunken between steep banks topped with trees and was lovely. When we reached the top, at Garstons, we turned right along a footpath and eventually joined back up with Dark Lane and went back to the car. A very pleasant afternoon. 

 

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4143541.html

Distance: 3.4 miles

Footpaths: G6, G7a

 

 

Bembridge Fort Walk

This was a walk we had long planned to do, but kept missing the date. The walk takes place every year at extreme low tide, from both St Helen's beach, and Bembridge Point. Now, I thought there was a causeway from both sides, so dressed in jeans and hiking sandals and was prepared to paddle. Unfortunately the causeway only goes from St Helen's, so we ended up wading almost waist deep through the sea for a while! However, the water wasn't cold and everybody was in a good mood. After a while we joined up with the causeway and strolled along to St Helen's Fort in the Silent, took photos and strolled then waded back to Bembridge. The tide was a bit lower on the way back.

 

I would say that at least a couple of thousand people took part, and it was a very sociable and enjoyable experience. Must do it again next year.

To supplement my terrible photos, here is a link to an aerial video made by someone else.... http://www.yoppul.co.uk/yoppulv1/2015/08/watch-this-amazing-aerial-footage-of-the-bembridge-fort-walk/
 

 

 

Dark Lane .... Again!

We love Dark Lane near Carisbrooke Castle so decided to head that way today, planning to follow the Shepherd's Trail to Gatcombe and then back toward the castle. This sounded lovely, not too difficult as we were out of practice, and incorporated a picnic. Perfect, yes?

 

Well, no as it happened. My dodgy navigational skills came to the fore. We left the car park opposite Carisbrooke Priory and proceeded along the road for a couple of minutes before turning onto the Shepherd's Trail. We headed up the path and soon entered Dark Lane, a sunken lane between high chalk banks covered in ferns, ivy,  and herb Robert, and topped with oak, elder and hazel. Lovely and cool and quiet on a summer's day. The path had been scoured by a recent rain storm and glowed white in the shade. The lane came out next to a wheat field, glowing in the sunshine and rattling in the breeze. So far, so good.

 

The path continued clearly for a while longer, before coming to a crossroads. Now. I thought the path continued straight on to the right of the hedge, while teenager thought it went to the left. I assumed I was correct, of course, and we carried on downhill, through a field of sweetcorn as there seemed to be a path through it rather than round the edge. The sweetcorn petered out and we came to a meadow, waist high in flowering grasses, wildflowers and thistles. We carried straight on and realised there was no escape at the bottom of the field. OK, thought I, we'll follow the edge of the field until we get out. We waded through the grass, disturbing hundreds of grasshoppers, and avoiding nettles and thistles, but could find no escape. We continued, and ended up back at the sweetcorn plantation, so found a pathway between towering plants, so we could avoid the pickles, and eventually came to a lane and escaped. Phew! We looked at the map, carefully, turned right and continued until we found another lane. We turned up there, and followed it until it joined up with the Shepherd's Trail again, and were soon plunging down Dark Lane again.

 

Back at the car we noticed a sign for a tea garden at Carisbrooke Priory opposite, so decided that a brew was needed and headed across. The Priory is a former Benedictine Convent that is now looked after by a trust (I think). I got a pot of tea for one for a quid, and got two nice cups of tea out of it, and teenager had a pleasant lemonade. We then had a quick stroll around the walled garden, admired the dovecot, had a peek at the book and produce stalls then went home.

 

We'll try that walk another day.....

 

Route (don't follow!): http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4136489.html

 

View towards Carisbrooke Castle

Wheat Field

Carisbrooke Priory

Nyman's Gardens

Mother and I ventured to the north island in June, and headed to West Sussex and a visit to Nyman's. We stopped off at Amberly and had lunch in a pleasant pub by the river. Enormous portions and we didn't need to eat for the remainder of the day!

 

Nyman's was everything I hoped for. From the moment we got into the car park, there were magnificent trees, most notably a type of weeping conifer. I didn't recognise it, and failed to find out its name unfortunately. Once through reception we entered the gardens proper, and discovered a truly well planned garden, planted with foresight and flair. Everywhere we looked were magnificent specimens of trees, many flowering, and those that weren't had interesting foliage and bark. We were still in time to see Rhododendrons and Azaleas flowering, though most were just starting to go over.

 

The path wound around, and we came to an enclosed rose garden, planted with many old fashioned varieties. I wandered round inhaling the scent deeply in the drizzle. Lovely. Next was a wooden pathway through a bamboo plantation, with many of the plants dating from the beginning of the gardens. There was quite a variety of bamboo to see.

 

Along one side of the gardens was a 'Lime Walk', an avenue planted with lime trees. This overlooked  a vista of pasture and woodland, rather swathed in drizzle and low cloud on this occasion. Still lovely. The path brought us to the ruins of Nyman's House, which suffered a great fire in the mid twentieth century. Most of it is now uninhabitable, but it is still glorious to observe. In front of the remaining living quarters was a pleasant courtyard garden, enclosed on three sides by garden walls and by the house on the other. The planting was just my style; lots of deep purples and reds from the many herbaceous plants in the borders and roses on the walls.

 

Finally we went to the wild garden; this was across the main road from the back entrance to the garden, and led steeply down the valley so we didn't go far as Mum was tired. Many more interesting trees and shrubs, with long grass and wildflowers. Very peaceful.

 

Nyman's is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area, plant lover or not.

 

Rosa mundi

Courtyard garden

Styrax obassia

Gunners manicata

 

Headon Warren

Quick walk today as I needed a blast of fresh air. I parked at The Needles Park (I got a free parking pass this year), headed through the park and back to the road, where I picked up the coastal path after a couple of minutes. Turning left off the main road I followed a lane towards the pitch and putt course, with woodland on my left and a field of cattle on my right. One rather frisky cow, quite young, with horns, decided to follow me and made a couple of mock charges before running up the hill. Good job there was a hedge in the way!

 

Just before the pitch and putt course, the path turned to the right through a wooden fence, and headed uphill. The path was stony to begin with and later turned sandy in places. It followed the boundary of the field and was bordered with brambles, gorse bushes and stinging nettles. Stout trousers required! After a little while the path turned sharply right; however, straight ahead was a clear space so I investigated as there wasn't a no entry sign. The space was a large turfed area, sprinkled with yellow trefoil flowers, with the grass kept short by rabbits. At the far side was the remains of a battery installation. I climbed the concrete steps to the top, sat by the remains of a gun emplacement, and admired the view across Alum Bay to the Needles. The sea sparkled in the late afternoon sunshine. Glorious view.

 

I made my way back to the coastal path and continued steeply uphill to the top of Headon Warren, past flowering yellow gorse, purple heather and wild honeysuckle. The wildflowers were abundant and the view from the top magnificent. The Needles were dead head, Tennyson Down to my left, and Hurst Castle to my right. Gulls and buzzards were swooping through the sky and there was barely a human being to be seen. I followed the path round until it began to descend towards Totland, and followed a track back round the other side of the Warren, coming to a Barrow after a few minutes. This was about 3500 years old and a site of national importance apparently. I made my way back to the coastal path and headed downhill. When I was back in the lane, I took the footpath to Alum Bay Chine which went through pretty woodland, then walked up the wooden steps to the Needles Park and went home. A lovely walk for lifting the spirits.

 

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4105762.html

Distance: 2.2 miles

Footpaths: coastal path, T17, T22, T23

The Needles from Headon Warren

Alum Bay Chine

 

Ventnor to Orchard Bay

Gorgeous day so a walk was called for. I drove to Ventnor and parked in town, then made my way down the main street towards the beach, passing the Winter Gardens on my left and walking down the slope past some formal gardens. The view across Ventnor Bay was stunning in the June afternoon sunlight; the sea was a glorious shade of blue, contrasting nicely with the golden brown shingle of the beach. The coastal path took me along the esplanade, past cafes and beach huts, and then up past the Spyglass Inn. I continued on up hill to the La Falais car park. The path carried on across turf, and I detoured uphill as I saw a sign for the 'La Falais Outdoor Theatre'; this was a raised patch of turf with a lovely view of the English Channel.

The path continued on, up and down hill, then down a set of wooden steps leading to Flower's Brook. This was a large lawned area, with a small pond and two brooks and lots of flowers. It used to be overlooked by the Victorian Steephill Castle, but this was demolished in the 1960s and all that remains is a wall and parapet around a housing estate.  From here, the path led on Castle Cove, with excellent sea defences but not much beach, and then to the lovely Steephill Cove. This is a beach owned and run by the residents, and is one of the Island's nicest beaches. Not easy to get to so rarely overcrowded. There are several cottages near the beach, all of different styles, one thatched, and all seemingly plonked down at random. Gorgeous!

The path led sharply to the right and uphill at the final ice cream shop, then took a sharp left, then right up a set of concrete steps. Turning left at the top of the steps, the path continued with Ventnor Cricket club behind hedges on the right, and shortly after past Ventnor Botanic Garden, also on the right behind a paling fence. The path at this point was under trees so was nice and shaded from the heat of the sun, which was a bit of a relief. The cliff edge was not far from the path, but was hidden by undergrowth, although there was the occasional gap that gave a vertiginous view to the rocks below! 

I continued along the path as far as Orchard Bay; the path to the bay was temporarily closed, presumably due to landslip, but the view down from the cliff was lovely, and also gave a great view of Orchard Bay House, which was mostly hidden from the main path. There is a house I could live in! I turned back at this point as there wasn't an awful lot of time left on my parking ticket, but instead of going back the way I came I cut across a field, on a footpath, and eventually came out on a farm track which led to the main road, past another thatched cottage and farmhouse. The track came out at the entrance to the village of St Lawrence, so I turned right and headed back to Ventnor. When I came to a turning down footpath V91, I headed down it and came out at Flower's Brook, so followed the coastal path back to Ventnor, stopping for a delicious ice cream on the way. Lovely walk!

Ventnor Bay

Orchard Bay

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4101227.html  

Distance: 3.6 miles
Footpaths: Coastal Path, V91, V84

Garlic and Shakespeare

No hiking involved today, but as we had such a lovely day I thought I'd blog about it. I asked my Mum out for lunch with me and the teenager, and we headed for the Garlic Farm near Newchurch. This, as the name implies, is a farm that grows garlic! On site is a lovely restaurant, and a shop selling all things garlicky. Lunch was impressive; teenager had a hotdog with fried potatoes and salad, Mum had a beef bourguignon pie with new potatoes and carrots, and I had a huge burger with mozzarella, fries and salad, and garlic mayo to dip the fries into. Lush. We were all stuffed by the end of the meal, and could barely waddle out. However, we managed, and pottered round the shop, then over to the neighbouring field where there was a chance to take a ferret for a walk or hold a bird of prey, for a cost. We declined to pay, but admired the animals. Then we wandered over to the designated walk round the farm, looked at some garlic trial beds, admired the Highland cattle, then decided to go home as we were too full of food to walk round the farm. Another time.

 

In the evening, teenager and I headed for Trinity Theatre in Cowes and watched the Isle of Wight Shakespeare Company's production of Henry IV. This was an abridged version of parts 1and 2, but was jolly good. There was fighting with swords, pikes, maces, and other mediaeval weaponry, and the acting was good quality. Well worth watching this company. Henry V will be on in the summer I believe. 

Hulverstone and Brook

We decided on a short walk today as it was hot, and the boys needed to use up some energy, but without getting to the whinging stage. To that end we picked the ‘Brook, Hulverstone’ walk from the IOW Ramblers book as it was only three miles long. We couldn’t find the suggested start point, so parked next to The Sun Inn at Hulverstone, and picked up the first footpath shortly afterwards (BS46). This led alongside a wheat field then led into a sheep paddock, and past a small copse, before the path led out onto a lane leading to Brook village and the sea.

We followed the lane to Badgers Lane (BS107) and turned up here, following uphill towards Brook Down. I had forgotten that there would be uphill parts (on the Isle of Wight there are ALWAYS uphill parts!) and my legs complained after yesterday’s walk.  Anyway, the path led on, bordered by fields and verged with wildflowers, past an unusual bench and up to Brook Down via BS49. When we got to the top of the path (nowhere near the top of the down) we stopped for a breather and admired the view to the west of Tennyson Down and the English Channel. Glorious. The downs were full of wildflowers, and on the crest we could see three prehistoric barrows against the skyline. The children were not interested. Ah well.

The path turned to the right (BS89)and we followed it past a herd of Galloway cattle, employed to keep the turf short; being the wimps that we are, we tiptoed past them until we realised that they couldn’t get down to our path without leaping and breaking their legs! To the right of the path was a paddock which we assumed was used for horse jumping as it had a number of small obstacles and fences, including a tiny house which we found amusing. The path ended at a road, so we turned right and followed it until we came to the entrance of Brook Hill House (S39).

The path led up a fine driveway among well cared for landscaped grounds. There was no sign of the house from this vantage point, but it could be seen clearly against the hill at the start of our walk. After a while, the drive turned to the right and the footpath to the left, leading through some woodland. When we came to another gate, there was a path leading straight on to National Trust land and the Long Stone, and one plunging downhill to the right through the woods. We took the latter path; the woods were well managed, with several stacks of logs, plenty of bluebells and many trees. Very peaceful and lovely. The path emerged into a meadow full of clover and wild grasses, then led through another meadow before we hopped over a stile, followed a narrow path and emerged back on the main road and found the car.  A lovely short walk, with just the right amount of hills and beautiful scenery.

Distance: 3 miles

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4093743.html

Footpaths: BS46, BS107, BS49, BS89, S39, BS45.

View to Tennyson Down

Galloway cow

Godshill, Gat Cliff and Appuldurcombe

Teenager and I decided to revisit a walk from three years ago today. We parked in The Old Smithy car park at Godshill (free), then crossed the main road and followed the footpath to the right of The Griffin pub and through a meadow. This was full of red Campion, buttercups, blooming May trees, unfurling ferns, cow parsley and the songs of many birds. I even spotted what I think was a coal tit. At the top of the meadow we passed through a kissing gate and into a woodland full of bluebell and beech trees. The path split after a while so we took the right fork and scrambled over some muddy areas coming out eventually on a path with a coniferous hedge on the right and deer fencing on the left. At the end, by a farmhouse, we took a sharp left turn and followed the deer fencing up hill passing fields of woolly sheep, then into an empty field leading to more woods. The view from the field was spectacular; clear view of the Needles headland to the west, Whitecliff Bay to the east, and the undulating download in between. Glorious!

We followed the path through the woods before coming to a crossroads where the path split in   three directions. We initially took the wrong path GL49, then doubled back to GL48 and climbed up Gate Cliff. Fools! The path was steep, with rustic steps cut into the soil, some faced with wood, some not, the majority at a dodgy angle and the handrail generally not to be trusted. You wouldn't want it to be wet underfoot. On the plus side, extremely good for your thigh muscles.... After 139 steps we reached the top to be rewarded with even more spectacular views of the Island. We had planned to walk up to the Worsley Memorial for lunch, but the farmer had replaced the fencing and we had to walk round. Via more steps uphill. Ouch. The footpath skirted hills that had clear ridges and furrows on them. Not sure when they date from but interesting. When we found the connecting footpath, it went through a field of skittery bullocks so we decided to give the memorial a miss and kept going, sitting on the verge and eating our picnic a bit later on.

Once past the radio masts, there was a signpost to the right to GL50 to Stenbury Manor; we ignored that and took the footpath opposite, indicated by a yellow arrow, and headed downhill through a field, through another gate and along another path until we came out on a steep roadway and followed it downhill to the lane. Followed the lane for 100 yards or so, then picked up the footpath at a gravelly track by a pretty lodge, past a cowshed and into another meadow. The path led on to Appuldurcombe House; we had never been inside as there had always been a charge, but today entry was free so we went into the grounds, mooched round the ruined grandeur, sticking our heads up ancient chimneys, then bought an ice cream and carried on.

The next path took us through the Fremantle gate, past some woodland and old horse chestnut trees, then past a farm with Shetland ponies, ginger pigs, flocks of geese and alpacas. And more sheep with little tiny baa lambs. Cute. We continued on this path until we got to the main Godshill road, turned left and followed the road back to the car park. We drove home the long way, due to a diversion at Arreton, and ended up at the Garlic Farm, where we had a jolly nice cup of tea and some garlic bread.

Distance: 5 miles.
Route:  http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4093052.html
Footpaths: GL58, GL 51, GL47, GL44, GL48



Red campion



Woodland wildflowers



Hawthorn blossom



Gat Cliff steps

Appuldurcombe House

Freemantle Gate

Shorwell

Another glorious spring day on the Isle of Wight, so me and the teenager jumped in the car and drove to Shorwell, parking in the lane next to the village hall. We proceeded along Russell Road and at the end turned into a field and walked gently uphill towards Wolverton Manor, passing a paddock of brown and white sheep with horns. When we reached the road, we turned into the driveway of the manor and walked down it, through a gate at the end, across a bridge over a stream and into a small, damp copse. This was full of emerging irises, and celandines in full bloom. We walked along a dilapidated wooden walkway until we emerged in another field and followed the pathway across two fields (quite soggy) and over a couple of dilapidated stiles until we got to the main road near West Court. 

Crossing over, we walked along until we found the bridleway leading up on to Limerstone Down. At the top were glorious views along the west coast as far as Blackgang, and also views across the downland to left and right.  The path continued on through woodland bursting with wild garlic and came out on a lane bordering Northcourt, a manor house in Shorwell. Just before the end of the lane the path turned left and led steeply uphill past a wooden footbridge crossing Shorwell Shute; we had to pause and walk over the bridge and back as I had driven under it many times, but never walked on it! Back on the footpath we walked through more garlic laden woodland, bordering an old quarry named The Dell, which was a dappled haven of wildflowers. The path led on uphill, emerging onto a farm track next to the main Newport road; here we found a decomposing badger, and crossed the road onto a bridleway leading along the edge of a field and wood before coming to a gate. This led into a field of shorn sheep and gamboling lambs, then into another field and eventually coming back to Shorwell village. We stopped briefly on a bench next to a white flowered cherry tree in full bloom, bought a drink and an ice  cream each from the post office (cheaper in total than one ice cream from St Helens yesterday!), and made our way back to the car. Lovely walk!

Instead of going straight home we drove through the back lanes towards Yafford, which were one car wide so it was lucky nothing came the other way, before meeting the military road at Atherfield and driving to Freshwater and Yarmouth. The gorse bushes on the downs above Compton Bay were in full golden bloom and gorgeous to look at. We stopped off at Shalfleet, parking in the car park up the lane behind the pub, and walked up to the old quay and back, before finally heading home.

Wolverton Manor

Wolverton Sheep

Wildflowers

Distance: 3.5 miles

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4058603.html

Footpaths: SW4, SW5, SW3, SW6, SW7, SW49, S12

St Helen's, Nettlestone and Bembridge Harbour

Beautiful day today so we headed off to St Helen's, parked near The Green (free, avoided car park!) then headed west to go down Field Lane heading across fields to get to Attrill's Lane. More fields followed, before heading through a farmyard and heading right just before a bridge. Another couple of fields followed.

After a while we arrived at the back entrance of the Priory Bay Hotel, misread the instructions and wandered into the grounds where we found an interesting clock tower. We headed back, found the footpath (which brought us out at the other end of the Hotel golf course), passing a cunningly disguised mobile phone mast, walked across a field and came out on the road leading to the Duver beach, where we paused to photograph the ruined church tower and buy an ice cream at the cafe. Finally we walked along a footpath that led across a heath to the old mill pond by Bembridge Harbour, The path led along the old mill dam wall and then back up the hill to St Helen's. 

This was a lovely walk on a gloriously sunny spring day; not too taxing for out of practice walkers.  A much better description of the route can be found in "Twelve Favourite Walks on the Isle of Wight" published by the Isle of Wight Area of the Ramblers' Association.

Clock Tower

Phone Mast

Duver Church Tower

Distance: Approx: 4.5 - 5 miles

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4057886.html

Footpaths: Coastal path, R77, B12, R62, R71,