Chale Green and the Hoy Monument

Proper walking today, on an overcast afternoon. I joined my friend and her two sons for a circular walk from Chale Green, following a route in one of Isle of Wight Rambler's Association's books. We parked in a layby on the main road, crossed over the road onto a patch of grass then over a footbridge and up a muddy track. The mud came and went, but the hill continued, rising almost 400ft in the first mile. We passed through a lovely little wood full of hazel bushes and carpeted with bluebell foliage where the boys had fun looking for sticks. We found a couple of concrete seats modelled on ripe fungus which we all tried out, and found to be surprisingly comfortable!

The track continued steeply up, coming out into fields before plunging back into woodland again. We came to a junction and followed the left hand path up an extremely muddy path which led to the crest of St Catherine's Down and the Hoy Monument. The monument was huge, which was to be expected as it could be seen for miles around. It was erected by a merchant to commemorate a visit to the UK by Tsar Alexander, and later had a tablet added commemorating soldiers who died at the Battle of Sevastapol. More information can be found on the National Trust page.

After we had had a brief rest and refreshments we continued, heading back to the main path and taking the other fork. This was also muddy, and led through fields and woodland bordering the down, bringing us eventually to the road. We crossed over and followed a footpath through a field, along a ditch boundary with a stream, before coming to a small sheep farm. As we approached, the farmer came out with a big smile, and asked the children if they would like to see some new born lambs. They did, as did both adults, so we followed her to the barn and were introduced to a ewe and two 12-hour old lambs. We then got to cuddle a baby baa lamb! Eldest boy declined, and youngest boy was a bit small, but both adults were straight in there after assuring the farmer that neither of us were pregnant! What fun!

The walk continued; after we left the farm driveway, the path turned steeply right and then even more steeply uphill, coming out on a broad green pathway high above the surrounding farmland. We found an unusual memorial that looked rather like a prone barrel, and which was covered in inscriptions of dates and names. Curious. Once home I did a little searching and am reasonably sure it was a commemoration of shipwrecks off the west coast of the Island. The path soon descended again, and led across the lawn of Pyle Manor then into Windmill Copse, another pleasant patch of woodland. This led past a deer park, where we watched a herd of deer watching us. They were well camouflaged against the hill.

Further on, the path led through a swampy section of woodland, with a rickety boardwalk to walk on. This was fine until the very end where the boardwalk suddenly ran out, so we hopped across the last few feet on semi-sunken branches and logs.  The path led back uphill (not steep) and across a few fields until we returned to Chale Green, muddy, tired and happy.

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4284746.html
Distance: 4.5 miles
Footpaths: C1, C37, GL60, C3, C5, C4, C21, C22, C23, C33

Mushroom Chairs

Hoy Monument

View to the West Coast

Baa Lamb

Shipwreck Memorial

Primroses

Swamp path