Finally back in Brighstone for a week of dog-sitting having been put off for two years due to Covid-19 restrictions. The heat wave has abated and we have had a week of sunshine, showers and drizzle. Perfect! Rosie, who I normally look after, is now old and arthritic and cannot walk far anymore, but there is a new addition in the form of Monty the black and white Collie puppy, who is about a year old, fully grown and a proper attention seeker. Just like a toddler.
We have done a variety of walks around the Coombe Lane area, as follows:
Limerstone Down
Up Coombe Lane to the end of the cottages, follow the footpath around until it becomes a tunnel of trees and follow that to the perpendicular junction at the top of the incline. Turn left and follow the increasingly steep path up to the top of Limerstone Down where it meets Brighstone Forest. Wander about in the forest for a while then follow the main path to Lynch Lane and walk back down the hill, stopping to pick wild apples and blackberries along the way.
Rowborough Down Reservoir
Up Coombe Lane to the end of the cottages, then turn right and through a gate leading uphill. Check if there are sheep present if your dog is off the lead. Follow the path uphill (it's quite steep!) to a set of double gates at the top. Once through these you can turn left and follow a level path - excellent for stick throwing - to the end of the field and either go downhill or retrace your steps. Back at the gate you can continue straight on, which will lead you to a path where you turn left to make your way either back to Coombe Lane or up to the top of Limerstone Down, or turn right and follow the path to the village. You could also turn right at the gate and choose either a steep path downhill or a slightly shallower path down through a gully. Both will take you to the village.
Grammars Common and the Longstone
Follow Lynch Lane downhill to a turning on your right (BS83), keeping the dog on the lead until you are past the houses, then along the footpath (BS56), avoiding the turning for Gaggerhill Farm (BS65) and along the road until you get to a footpath on your right leading to Gaggerhill (BS64). Follow this to a lane, turn right and keep going until you see the footpath for Grammars Common on your left. Turn here, follow the path uphill pausing to admire the view at the top before going into the woods at Grammars Common. Follow the well-signposted path through the woods, across a field leading downhill to Strawberry Lane. Beware of cows. Cross the road and turn right before shortly turning left and following the path to the Longstone. Pause here for a while and enjoy the peace and quiet, take in the views, and have a swig of mead if you remembered to bring some (we didn't). You have choices here; we chose to retrace our steps to Strawberry Lane, walk uphill and then down Lynch Lane, but you could also pick up a path that leads to the top of Mottistone Down and from there head either to Brook Down or back to Lynch Lane or through Brighstone Forest. Choices galore, all glorious.
Strawberry Lane car park to Mottistone
We had a cunning plan, and popped the dog in one car and drove both cars to the National Trust car park near Mottistone Manor, then drove the one with the dog in to the National Trust car park at the top of Strawberry Lane. Slight change to our plan here as there was a herd of cows baby the gate, so we scooted into the forest to the right and followed the path uphill and emerged near the top of Westover Down. Here we climbed on top of a hillock, probably a tumulus as there are several here, and surveyed the view. We could see the Solent to our north, the aenglish Channel to the west and south, and the entire west coast of the island stretching away below us.
We wandered back down the hill briefly before turning right and heading steeply downhill and following a small path until it met a broad official path that led through a gate. The dog found a very long branch which he decided to take with him! This path met others, so we turned left and headed for the longstone, and then right and downhill again, through woods, and then to the car park. Glorious!
