Today was a glorious spring day, so my friend and I decided that a yomp up to the Yarborough Monument on Culver Down would be the ideal way to test post-covid lung capacity!
We parked in the estate beyond the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, crossed the road and the carpark beyond, then began our ascent along a path in the turf. The path led through some scrub, past an abandoned building that may have been a gun emplacement in WW2, before coming out into the open again by a holiday camp.
Soon we were on National Trust land and walking along the top of Red Cliff, aptly named for the colour of the rock. To our right was a large area of landslip, covered in golden gorse; as we breathed in we were hit by the delicious coconutty smell of gorse blossom - glorious!
Soon we were ascending again, this time on chalk Downland and heading ever upwards to the monument. When we got there, we discovered the tea stall was shut, but luckily the pub offered tea and a seat with a lovely view of the channel.
We descended after a while, listening to the skylarks and admiring the view across Sandown Bay. When we reached the far side of the landslip, we turned left and followed a path down through the gorse bushes, took our chances on a makeshift set of stepping stones on a very muddy section, and eventually ended up on the beach. We strolled along looking vaguely for sea glass and new-to-science fossils (no such luck!) before heading back to the car and home.
