Chilton Chine to Brook Chine

Today was an absolutely glorious winter day with clear blue skies, low temperatures and a slight breeze. Gorgeous! We were going to go on a hilly walk but the teenager wasn't feeling overly energetic so we headed to Chilton Chine and one of my favourite beaches on the Island. The tide was starting to come in but we had four hours or so until high tide, so we started down the steps to the beach (not for the faint hearted at the bottom) and strode off towards Brook.

There was lots to see; this part of the Island has amazing geology with crumbling cliff faces, and random boulders on the shore. We think we saw a cast of a dinosaur footprint but neither of us really know what we're looking for! The boulders are wonderful, eroded by the sea into weird and wonderful shapes, somewhat like the teeth of giants in places. I love the red reef here, punctuated by rock pools and stretching out to sea. The surf starts some distance out, and is good for proper surfing further up the coast. At one point we noticed somebody had been doing some extreme recycling; there was a rope ladder dangling down the cliff face with some plastic crates piled above in a crevice with ropes dangling towards them. Odd!

The coastal views are glorious, stretching to Freshwater Bay and Tennyson Down in the north and down to Blackgang Chine in the south. The crumbling clay cliffs are replaced by soaring chalk downs at Freshwater, making a stark yet beautiful contrast. 

Once we got to Brook Chine we paused briefly then headed briskly back, not wanting to be caught by the high tide. I think we had plenty of time, but it isn't a good coast to be caught out on. Definitely a walk worth doing regularly!

Distance: 3.8 miles
Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4691335.html 

Dinosaur foot cast?

Extreme recycling

Brook Chine

View to Tennyson Down

Chilton Chine

Cowes Cycle Track

We went for a brisk Sunday morning walk in the drizzle along the cycle track towards Newport today. This is a popular route with walkers, runners, dogs and, of course, cyclists. I do wish that the latter group would all get bells and use them as you can't always hear them coming up behind you. Mind you, when one did employ his bell I nearly jumped out of my skin and into the river! Didn't get run over though...

There were early signs of the approaching spring around, with many trees laden with catkins and birds tweeting furiously and swooping through the air between bushes. There were lots of swans and cygnets on the river and inlets too, with the occasional mallard or coot to be seen.

As we approached our furthest point, between Vestas and the big metal bridge over Dodnor Creek, we found that someone had made a discovery among the undergrowth and what had been scrub land was now an archaeological dig. This was the site of 'Mummies Caves', a local cement works from the last 200 years. Plenty of infrastructure is still standing and was fascinating to look at through the fence. We paused again halfway along the bridge then turned round and made our way back to Cowes and lunch.

Distance: approx. 5 miles

View towards Whippingham



Mummies Caves, Dodnor



Dodnor Creek



Disused boatbuilding dock



Dilapidated workshop, Arctic Road

Winchester

Today I accompanied my Mum to Winchester for the first of her expeditions for her new hobby. She has decided to visit all the English cathedrals (C of E predominantly). The day was gorgeous - beautiful winter sunshine - and we had a lovely train journey there. We meandered into the city centre and poked around a few shops and the concourse near the Great Hall before heading to the cathedral refectory for lunch. Oh my! I had slow cooked belly pork on mashed potato with cabbage and wholegrain mustard gravy and every single morsel was scrumptious. Mum had chicken pie, mashed potato and vegetables which was also scrumptious.

We then headed into the cathedral and were greeted by a friendly volunteer who let us know that there would be a guided tour shortly, so we hung around until it started. The guide showed us round and gave us the architectural history of the building - most of what we see is not the original Norman building, but the 14th century redesign. At the East end of the building is a portion that is in the original state, rather solid and with rounded arches piled on top of each other rather than tall pointed arches. He pointed out the font, made of a relatively soft black limestone with fascinating scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas. Some of them were a bit gruesome but still interesting. We saw Jane Austin's tombstone (of course) which doesn't mention her writing, and then onto the 'Holey Hole' where medieval pilgrims crawled to get close to the relics of Saint Swithun. There was lots of medieval tiling on the floor here as well as some more modern replicas. We also saw a chapel that had pre-reformation paintings on the walls that had been plastered over before the reign of Henry VIII. Rather lovely. Lastly we went to the flooded crypt and admired the Anthony Gormley statue that is down there,. The tour ended there, as part of the cathedral was closed for cleaning. Afterwards we popped into a small exhibition showing the Winchester Bible - a handwritten, illuminated edition in four volumes which was absolutely beautiful.

The interior of the cathedral is lovely, with elaborate chantries for long dead bishops, a magnificent stone altar screen, intricately carved woodwork, swooping arches and vaulted ceilings, decorative floor tiles in the older part, a wide variety of memorial plaques to local notables, gentry and military figures, and lovely side chapels some with stunning stained glass windows. The huge window at the west end of the cathedral is worth a look; it is a patchwork of stained glass. This is because Winchester was pro-royalist in the civil war and the rest of the county wasn't, so the original window got smashed to bits. Once Charles II was on the throne as many bits of stained glass as could be found were collected up and put back into the window any old how with clear glass to fill the gaps. Really rather a good effect!

We left late afternoon and visited the gift shop and then had tea and cake in the refectory, explored the outside of the cathedral and found a second hand bookshop that raises money for the choristers, then headed back inside for choral evensong. This was very calm and lovely, with a visiting choir, the Cheriton Singers. Talented bunch. We then headed back to the railway station and home. Pleasant day.



Statue in crypt



detail of carving




Cathedral entrance

Cathedral from the Close

 

Firestone Copse, Quarr and Newnham Farm

Week two of the teenager's D of E challenge, so she decided a four and a half mile walk was in order. We headed for Firestone Copse near Wootton Bridge, and then stomped off along a main path before heading up a steep, muddy path on our right. This came out on another main path so we turned left and followed for a while before picking up a path on our right which led through the trees to the road. From here we walked back towards Wootton and came out on the main road to Ryde, which we crossed further up and picked up the bridleway that led eventually to Fishbourne Lane. Further along the lane, opposite the Fishbourne Inn, was another bridleway that led to Quarr Abbey. We paused here to admire the pigs (of course) and use the facilities, then walked through the woods to the main path to Ryde, followed this briefly, then turned right and followed the lane to the main Ryde road. We took our lives in our hands here - busy road - and dashed across when there was a gap, only to find an extremely muddy gateway to cross!

We navigated the mud, crossed the field, paddled through another gateway and entered woodland where we slithered up the muddy path. This led past a very large pond which was beautiful in the winter sunshine. There were a few ducks, coots, moorhens and cormorants on the pond. The path continued to be very muddy and ended in a gateway that was essentially in a pond. I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to try and get across with dryish feet by climbing round the fences that surrounded the gate. My first move was to stand on the lower rung of the gate itself, and this turned out to be somewhat unwise as I nearly fell off and into the water. The teenager found this hilarious... Anyway, I changed my mind and climbed through the barbed wire fence next to the gate, where the ground was drier, and got caught up in the process. The teenager took pity on me and freed my clothing and I climbed through, followed by her. 

The path led uphill past several majestic oak trees, and then onto a lane. We turned right here and followed the lane to Newnham Farm, through the back of the farmyard and a couple of fields, then squelched up a hill to the war memorial chapel at the top. The views here were magnificent and we could see as far as Portsmouth. The path led back downhill to the road, and we stopped at the Wight Milk shack to buy a pint of milk and some eggs, then followed Firestone Copse Road back to the copse, and followed some more muddy paths to the car park. Here things got civilised and I was able to buy a delicious coffee from 'Drew's Brews' coffee cart. Yum!

The weather was absolutely perfect today, and we both really enjoyed the walk. I was glad that I had put on my boots as the route was extremely wet and muddy for the most part.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4502120.html
Distance: 4.5 miles

Firestone Copse

Pond

Oak Tree

Memorial Chapel 

Quarr to Ryde

A quick walk on a bright but chilly February afternoon to get back in gear for walking. The teenager has signed up for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and has chosen walking for her activity. As we have been spectacularly inactive lately we decided to start with something simple and headed for Quarr Abbey after stopping for lunch at Bluebell's Cafe (always delicious!).

We began the walk by stopping to admire the pigs, as is traditional, then strolled through the woods to the ruins of the medieval abbey and on to the main path towards Ryde. This took us to Binstead Church, and then the path cut through the golf course and up to the main road. We turned back at this point and returned to Quarr.

This was, as ever, a lovely walk. There were signs of spring everywhere with catkins on the trees, snowdrops in the verges, and blackbirds and robins twittering in the trees. Lots of families were out enjoying the sunshine, and everybody we met appeared to be in a good mood.

Quarr Abbey

Holy Cross church, Binstead

January Jollies

It's been a long month, getting used to being back at work after an illness that lasted a couple of months and making the money stretch a bit further than normal. However, I have managed a couple of evenings out.

Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra

Another wonderful concert by the IOW Symphony Orchestra. The concert began with  'Epic March' by Ireland, followed by Symphony No. 1 by Shostakovich. After the interval was a Violin Concerto in B Minor by Elgar, with the fantastic musical talents of soloist Charlie Lovell-Jones. Superb.

Social Night

I attended a meal out with a group I belong to, at the Victoria Lodge Hotel in Shanklin. This was very pleasant; we had a three course meal, which, for me, consisted of tomato soup followed by salmon in hollandaise sauce with a selection of vegetables, then apple pie and ice cream. After this was cheese and biscuits and tea or coffee. Once the meal was finished we were given a '2017 quiz' and a sheet of Christmassy anagrams to do. My team did rather badly, as we knew little about sport or popular TV! I may go again next year.