The sun came out today for the first time in ages so a friend and I headed to Freshwater Bay and sauntered up Tennyson Down. I had forgotten that the Down goes up and up and up, but luckily the views were worth it every time I had to stop to catch my breath (quite often!). We could see a long way down the west coast of the Island, as well as along the north coast with glorious views of the River Yar sparkling in the sun, Hurst Castle and Fort Albert. The Solent was flat as a pancake and very blue.
We continued to the Tennyson Monument and then down to the replica of Nodes Beacon and carried on for a while until the Old battery was in sight. We decided to head back then as we weren't sure there was still a cafe there and were getting peckish. We went back the way we came, admiring wildlife on the way; we saw a very tame robin, a kestrel, lots of small brown birds, gulls, and a very hairy brown caterpillar. There were also lots of solitary bees around, the occasional red-bottomed bumblebee and a few flies.
Back in Freshwater we had a cup of tea at a cafe but didn't fancy their sandwiches so headed down the coast to Isle of Wight Pearl, and were extremely satisfied by the food, and sorely tempted to try their cakes. We resisted, and instead strolled round the corner and walked down to Chilton Beach and along to Brook where we picked up the coastal trail and walked along the cliffs to the car park. On a couple of occasions as we walked along the beach parts of the cliff started crumbling; these were only mini falls of pebbles and soil, and we were glad nothing worse happened! The beach was, as ever, lovely and mostly deserted apart from the occasional dog walker. We didn't get back in time for cake unfortunately, but will definitely try again in the future!
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| View across Tennyson Down towards the Needles |
Distance: approx 9.5 miles in total
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