Medina Estuary

Today was the annual sponsored walk for St. Mary's Church, so I thought I'd join in. Some parishioners met up at the Church, and the rest of us met at the start of the Cowes-Newport cycle track on Arctic Road. Once we had all gathered here, (there were 14 of us), we set off for Newport. The weather was pleasant and warm, and we got going at a good pace chattering away and admiring the views of the River Medina, as well as dodging cyclists and runners. A popular path! After about an hour we reached Dodnor picnic area and were met by two chaps who had laid a tablecloth over a picnic table and provided tea, coffee and biscuits for us. Very nice! Once refreshed we headed on to Newport, popped into the Quay Arts Centre to use the facilities and said goodbye to four of the walkers who were now going home.

The rest of us picked up the path on the opposite side of the river and strolled on past the site of the Isle of Wight Festival, and onto a newly refurbished path along the river to Island Harbour. At Island Harbour we used a lock gate to cross over the harbour entrance and onto the next part of the path. Shortly afterwards we saw that the pathway was closed, but thought we'd chance it and carried on anyway, especially after walkers coming in the opposite direction said they had got through. However, we soon discovered that the main route was underwater and wandered up the field edge looking for an alternative. Unfortunately, one of our party slipped over in the mud and hurt his ankle, and the weather turned cold, wet and squally, so we decided to head back to the harbour before there were any more accidents. Luckily there was a café there, The Breeze, so we stopped for a coffee, called the injured chap's wife to collect him and decided what to do next. Half the party decided to head back to town and catch the bus home, and the remaining five of us decided to continue on a slightly alternative route.

We headed up the lane to the main Newport to Ryde road, turned left and picked up the old East Cowes Road, then walked along until we got to Beatrice Avenue. We headed down here towards St Mildred's Church, designed by Prince Albert, and then down through a housing estate and into East Cowes and thence to the chain ferry and home. We managed to run for the chain ferry as we could see it was about to leave and really didn't want to sit around and wait for the next one, and the lovely operators waited for us.

This was a lovely walk with lovely people and I shall try and tag along again next year!

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4289942.html

Distance: 11.7 miles

Sculptures at Seaclose park

PS Ryde Queen at Island Harbour

Bench at Whippingham

St Mildred's Church, Whippingham