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
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| St Catherine's Oratory |
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| Benches at Moorhills Farm |
