A solo squelch today, as the teenager was at the pictures. I parked at Carisbrooke Castle, and headed off down the lane at the corner of the car park. This headed steeply downhill until it met Miller's Lane and Clatterford Shute. Here I turned left and followed the road round, through a ford (pedestrian walkway provided) and up to the junction with Frogland's Farm.
The footpath began here and led past the farm, before quickly turning between hedges. At this point I met a couple of horses and their riders coming the other way; the horses were covered in mud up to their bellies, and I should have taken heed. Ah well. The path was extremely wet and muddy, and after a while became impassable as it was flooded from sheer bank to sheer bank. Luckily, I could scramble up the bank to the field above and found a slightly less squelch route along, dropping back to the official footpath at the earliest opportunity. After a while the path turned sharply right and began to descend. The mud decreased for a little while, and bedrock was seen.
This footpath met with another which followed the route of Lukely Brook. I had the choice of continuing on to the main road, or following the brook. I chose the latter. Obviously. Because walking next to a brook when the higher ground is sodden seemed like the wise and sensible thing to do. Well, I continued, hopping from tufts of sedge to slightly more solid ground where possible, and sinking to over my ankles in mud where it wasn't. There was the occasional piece of pallet to provide a solid path, but on the whole it was squelch and be damned. However, the brook was pretty in the February sunshine, making pleasing noises, and the green growth of approaching spring was becoming apparent. I saw a buzzard circling above, and a rabbit running for cover!
The path led onwards to Clatterford Shute, where I hopped onto solid ground and was able to rinse some of the mud off in another ford. I turned right and headed back to the path that led back to the Castle, then went for a slither around the moat, churned to mud by countless dog walkers. This was a lovely walk, and one that I will repeat, but probably not until high summer after a long drought.
Distance: 2.6 miles
Footpaths: N88, N101, N104
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| Ford number 1 |
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| Muddy footpath |
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| Boots before rinsing |
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| Lukely Brook |
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| Entrance to Carisbrooke Castle |
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