Niton and Bierley

Another walk with friends today, again starting in Niton. We headed up Pan Lane to Niton Shute and up to the top of the downs, filling our faces with blackberries enroute. From here we headed along the ridge towards the Hoy Monument but took a path on the right hand side a few hundred yards before we reached it. This led downhill through a small wood with fallen sycamores and lots of nettles; wild and lovely.

The path led past a cottage and across the top of a field, through a gate and into another field. After a scramble past a fallen willow and up a bank we discovered a large herd of cows and calves. We were a little nervous as the cattle were stood right on the footpath and we had two dogs with us (on leads). However, we got past without incident, passed through a gate and into a shady lane with views to a manor house, and followed a path by a stream through the woods. This eventually turned uphill and to the right, leading past an ancient carp pond on the left and then down to meet another stream where we found a small, hidden waterfall. Gorgeous! We got back on the path, found the road and followed it through Bierley and Kingates to Niton and lunch at the White Horse. Excellent excursion!

Niton and Chale

Gorgeous walk with friends today after a week of miserable weather. We started in Niton and headed up Pan Lane to the downs, then followed the path to the Hoy Monument. Along the way we were picking and eating plump blackberries and admiring the many wildflowers in the hedgerows and in the fields.  We turned left near the monument, walked down the path to a junction and turned left again heading eventually over fields, past a dairy farm, and down to the road. We turned left again and before very long were at the Wight Mouse Inn at Chale. We stopped for lunch, obviously! This was scrumptious, and I recommend the stilton burger.

After lunch we carried on along the road to the junction with the military road, turned left and picked up the coastal path and headed uphill towards Blackgang Chine. The next path went over a field, the oversold car park, and headed upwards to Blackgang View Point car park. Fantastic views up the west coast from here. At the far end of the car park we picked up the next path and headed for a time along the cliff top in a stiff breeze before turning left after a stone wall and picking up a path back to Niton. This led past a wheat field and eventually back to the village. There were more glorious views here, across to the downs in the late afternoon sunshine. We live on a beautiful Island.

Route: www.plotaroute.com/route/907930
Distance: c. 5.5miles

Tapnell Trail

We parked on the Causeway at Freshwater then ate our picnic on a bench overlooking the river Yar, admiring the swans and terns swimming there. After lunch we found our footpath and followed it along, eventually reaching Tapnell Farm after walking across several cropped fields and a sweetcorn plantation. We stopped briefly to use the facilities, then managed to completely lose the path we were meant to be on. After several false starts we said 'Sod it, lets walk across this field' and miraculously ended up in the right place!

The path led diagonally across another cropped wheat field and then another led down to a lane and onwards to the main road, which we crossed quickly. The next path led uphill and then right. We went wrong again, and walked round two edges of another sloping sweetcorn plantation before realising our mistake, retracing our steps and then walking through a sheep field and along the proper path; this was bordered by brambles (juicy blackberries), nettles and roses. We spotted two hares running around in the field opposite us. A magical sight! We turned right into a field and followed the top edge, crunching over wheat stalks, until we met the next path on the right which led past a field with a flock of birds, possibly starlings, that performed a couple of murmurations as we approached. Beautiful. The path came out nearly opposite to the entrance to the Causeway, so we crossed over, walked along, collected the car and drove a couple of hundred yards to the Red Lion pub and had a well earned coffee.

Distance: approx. 8.5 miles (supposed to be 6.5...)

Intended route: http://www.iowramblers.com/easy--access--trails  This is a more up to date version than I have and explains why we got lost!

Carisbrooke

Up early (for me) and decided to stroll to Carisbrooke Castle. I walked up Castle Road to the mini roundabout, and instead of walking up Castle Hill as intended, I took my life in my hands and walked up Whitcombe Road instead. There are no pavements on this road, just brambly, nettley, thistly hedges and quite a lot of traffic coming in both directions. I kept leaping into the hedge and ended up nettle-stung and prickled. After a while I noticed a turning for Carisbrooke Cemetery; this can be seen from Newport as you look up the hill. As I had never been in there, and had meant to visit for some time, I took the opportunity. I'm so glad that I did.

The cemetery road winds uphill to a chapel, which is surrounded by ancient gravestones rising from wildflower meadows. The footpaths wind round and among the burial grounds, with the grounds becoming more clipped and tidied the further from the chapel you get, around the more modern stones. Here you find memorials adorned with plastic flowers, photographs, solar lights, football scarves and the occasional beer bottle, as well as war graves commemorating individuals who dies in the First World War. Benches line the top path, giving spectacular views across the north of the Island, with the sweep of the River Medina to the East, the Solent in the North, and the hills above Chillerton in the West. Newport and Carisbrooke lie below with the ancient tower of Carisbrooke Church, Newport Minster, and Carisbrooke Castle juxtaposed with the modern buildings of Christ the King and Carisbrooke Colleges.

From the cemetery I found a footpath crossroads that led to either Whitepit Lane, Nunnery Lane, or Whitcombe Road. I choose Nunnery Lane and plunged downhill along a dusty path between hedges before coming out on the quiet, narrow Nunnery Lane. Turning right here I passed a Catholic Retreat before coming to the junction with Whitcombe Road with Carisbrooke Priory on my left. Ahead of me lay Carisbrooke Castle. I crossed the road and followed the road round to the left, sticking to the verge where possible, turned right into Froglands Land, and shortly after turned right onto a footpath that led downhill across a field and into a tunnel between two hedges, before emerging at the bottom of a chalk path leading up to the embankment next to the castle moat. I turned left at the top and followed the moat round to the gatehouse and then took a left over a stile, following the path through a sheep paddock and into Millers Lane. 

I didn't really recognise this bit, so turned left and followed the lane past some lovely houses to the junction with Clatterford Shute. Here I turned right and walked along towards Clatterford Road, over the ford where Lukely Brook floods the lane. From Clatterford Road I headed back towards Carisbrooke, crossing straight over the road at the roundabout (had to wait a while for the traffic) and into Gunville Road. The next footpath was opposite Dave Death Motorcycles (great name!), and led past a large pond and down to Wellington Road past various schools. The path resumed on the other side of the road and I followed this back to Newport and a much longed for breakfast!

Distance: approx 6km

Cemetery Chapel

Brighstone 2019

Well, we were invited back to Brighstone to house - dog - and - cat sit and leapt at the chance. The weather started off cool and damp but we had some nice walks with the dog. Our first was from the National Trust car park at the top of Lynch Lane, up the downs as far as we could until the path started dipping back down towards Brooke. We turned back then as I had a nettle sting under the strap of my sandal. And there was a big hill to walk back up. During the afternoon we had to go to Newport, so we took the dog, let her scare off all the cats in my garden, then went to Carisbrooke Castle and walked twice around the moat, watching teenagers struggling to jump off walls. We didn't laugh, honest. In the evening we strolled  along Coombe Lane, up the green footpath and then back along another which was somewhat overgrown and nettley, and back to the cottage.

On Monday we drove to Chilton Chine and had a lovely walk along the beach throwing the ball for Rosie, as far as Grange Chine, and then strolled back in the driving drizzle picking up litter on the way. We got a reasonable amount. After lunch we left the dog at the cottage and went to Mottistone Manor gardens; I had never been before as I always got the day it opened wrong. The gardens were much larger than they appeared from the road, and had many well planted herbaceous borders and mature trees, with a particularly spectacular Mulberry tree. I hadn't seen one before, and it was covered in fruit. There was also a lovely specimen of a weeping lime tree, absolutely humming with bees in its canopy. We finished with a look at the plant stall (I bought one, oops), a cup of tea and a cake in the tea garden, and a look around the 'shack'; this was a wooden building raised on staddle stones and laid out rather like a boat cabin, with high level bunks, two large desks, a kitchen area and bathroom. It was used as an architects office by the owner in the 1930s. I want one! In the evening we went for another walk with the dog along Coombe Lane, up to the top of the down, across a sheep field and down a gully into a sunken lane and back into Moortown Lane in Brighstone, and then home. Lovely, except for the biting flies.

Tuesday was hot. After breakfast we took Rosie for a walk in the shade of Brighstone Forest, which was lovely and cool and had lots of interesting smells. We came to a crossroads and started walking on, but Rosie picked her ball up, turned around and trotted off in the direction we had come from so we gave up and followed her back to the car! One determined pooch!

The rest of the week followed a similar theme with walks on the downs and the beach. I did a lot of paddling. We had lunch one day at the Piano cafe in Freshwater (lovely open steak sandwich), and also went and explored Ventnor on the opening day of Ventnor Fringe festival. We had lunch at a little Italian restaurant on the seafront, then mooched around the town, ending with delicious ice creams from Crave, a visit to the book bus and a look at The Shed, which had an exhibition about Greenham Common, and sold handmade pottery.

We had a lovely week exploring the countryside and chilling out. We saw lots of fauna, including woodpeckers, coal tits, red squirrels, lots of butterflies, dragonflies, newts, toads, pigeons, herring gulls, buzzards, kestrels, and water boatmen to name a few. This truly is a magical Island.

Sundown at Chilton Chine

Open Gardens and Crazy Golf

The National Open Gardens Scheme is in full swing again locally, so three of us had an expedition to Rookley Manor this afternoon. I had no idea it existed, although I knew of another at the other end of the village. The house has a one acre garden which is beautifully planted and well thought out. We had a lovely time admiring it and pinching ideas for our own, much smaller, gardens. In particular I enjoyed the old fashioned roses, which were deeply scented and lolled around through the flower beds. There were also many Alliums and Astrantias, Nigella ("Love in a mist), Peonies, a magnificent Rhododendron, Sedum, a splendid Lantern Bush, an ancient copper beech tree, Sisyrinchiums, and many many other plants. To top it off, Rookley WI were doing teas. Lovely. This is definitely a garden worth visiting, and I look forward to going again.

Afterwards we headed to Shanklin seafront and had a round of crazy golf on the Dinosaur course; I was whupped by the opposition unfortunately However, we all had fun and finished with a cup of tea and a sandwich at the cafe behind the course. After that we went for a stroll along the revetment towards Sandown before returning home. The teenager and I have decided that this Summer's challenge might well be to play on all the crazy golf courses on the Island. Happy days!

Niton and St Lawrence

Today's adventure was around the south of the Island. We parked at the top end of St Catherine's Road then walked down and joined Castle Haven Lane. We followed this past some lovely gardens and a great view of St Catherine's Lighthouse, down to the beach, where we found several lobster pots, a cafe and some huts. The tide was very high so after walking along the rock sea defences we turned back and walked up to Undercliff Drive.

Undercliff Drive has been closed to through traffic for several years due to a large landslip. We ambled along it for some time, passing woodland, interesting houses, snails, crossing a bridge and a strange stone inscribed with initials and a date and surrounded by a cage. No idea what it was for! We also found the remains of a stone cottage in a small nature reserve which had a small cloud of bumblebees buzzing round it. There were also enormous fungi!

We followed Undercliff Drive to Ventnor Botanic Gardens and had a very pleasant lunch in the cafe there. Afterwards we had a mooch around the gardens (Gardeners World 2 for 1 card came in handy here!) admiring all the interesting plants and then joined the coastal path and started our way back.

The coastal path led past Orchard Bay. We could see a rock at the far end with three cormorants on it, so we went down the steps and crossed the beach to have a closer look. This was a new beach to me and I really liked it! The beach was covered in fine shingle (not ideal when wearing sandals) but had big rocks at the bottom and sides which were great for scrambling on. We got quite close to the cormorants and then had an explore of the rocks and rock pools; there were lots of clusters of winkles (I think. Sea snails anyway.) in depressions in the rocks, and a lot of limpets. As we made our way back over the rocks near the steps we saw a lizard - really exciting! Neither of us had seen one before. We then saw a wren, which was nice but not as exciting.

Back up the steps then to follow the coastal path to St Lawrence and up a side path leading to St Lawrence Old Church. This was delightful. The church is small, seating perhaps 60 people, and dates from the twelfth century. The first rector was called Roger! There is a beautiful pre-raphaelite stained glass window there too.

We walked back into the village and rejoined Undercliff Drive and made our way back to the car. A really lovely, interesting walk.

Distance, including the botanic gardens, approx. 16km.

Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/843531?units=km

Monk and Merchant walk

It's April for heaven's sake, and this is the first proper stomp I have had. I have been a bit busy...  I met up with a friend and we headed to the White Mouse Inn at Chale for a sandwich and a cuppa, then drove up the hill to the Blackgang Viewpoint car park. From there, we crossed the road and headed up hill towards St Catherine's Oratory (Pepperpot), and paused  for a while to take photographs, before heading along the crest of the down to the Hoy Monument. This is a huge stone column erected by a local merchant with Russian connections, to celebrate the visit of Tsar Alexander I to Britain. As you do. 

From there we turned left onto a footpath heading down the hill, going through several gates and passing to the side of a property called the Hermitage. The path led through a field to a quiet lane, rejoined a footpath and led towards Moorhills Farm, which housed a timber merchant and sawmill. Now, we were busy chatting and missed our turning and continued down the lane past ponds and streams until we arrived at the main road through the village of Bierley. Once we had realised our error we doubled back, found the footpath, waved at the chaps in the sawmill, and carried on across fields heading towards the oratory which we could see on a distant hill.

We passed Downcourt Manor Farm and turned uphill, having rather lost the path, and clambered onwards coming to a barbed wire fence with no obvious route through. We managed to climb through and headed upwards, spotting what we thought was our route. We also stopped to admire a hare bounding along the hill in front of us. We were again thwarted by a barbed wire fence, more robust this time, which stood between us and  a herd of cows. We turned right and followed the fence along until we saw the footpath and were able to get to it. From here we headed back towards the oratory hill, skirting along the base of it and then back down the hill to the car. This was a lovely walk, which would have lovely views on a clearer day!

Intended route: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/st-catherines-down-and-knowles-farm/trails/the-monk-and-the-merchant-walk

Approximate Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/809584

Distance: c. 5.5. miles

St Catherine's Oratory

Benches at Moorhills Farm

New Year

I started the new year off gently by going for a stroll from Quarr Abbey to Binstead and back with a friend. It was a glorious winter afternoon, cold but dry and bright, and we caught up on all the news as we walked. Lovely. We stopped off at Holy Cross church in Binstead on the way back; this is an old church that I have walked past many times but never been in. It has a beautiful wooden 'boat' ceiling, which has Norman style wooden arches overlaying it. The stone pulpit is in just the right spot to survey the congregation and keep an eye on wayward choristers! The church was, unsurprisingly, very tranquil. Worth a visit.

Afterwards we stopped for a hot drink and cake at the Abbey cafe before wandering up to admire the pigs and then toddling off home.