Mother's Day

I began the day with a fried breakfast in bed courtesy of the teenager, then I hoiked her out of the house for a stomp around Parkhurst Forest. I had forgotten that it was likely to be squelchy so my lightweight trainers got a bit soggy. Ah well. We had a good stomp around, starting by walking up to the squirrel hide and spending a few minutes sitting quietly and listening to the bird song. We then carried on and presently heard lots of whooping and yelling; this turned out to be a pack of adults running round the forest on a 'hash' looking for piles of sawdust to show them where to go, and blowing hunting horns as they went. Everybody seemed to be having fun, and it made us laugh. It appeared to be a cross between orienteering and foxhunting without horses or foxes.

 

We continued on, following paths at random, mostly keeping our feet dry, and commenting on how full the streams and ditches were. After about an hour we made it back to the car and then headed to Forest View nursery for a cup of tea and more nattering.

In the afternoon I took my Mum out for a cup of tea and a slice of cake at Isle of Wight Pearl on the west coast. The cake is to be recommended; I had the chocolate cake and Mum had coffee and pecan. We bumped into friends who were also very pleased with their cakes! We then drove along the military road to Freshwater Bay and back home. Lovely Island!
 

View from squirrel hide

Chilton Chine to Brook Chine

Today was an absolutely glorious winter day with clear blue skies, low temperatures and a slight breeze. Gorgeous! We were going to go on a hilly walk but the teenager wasn't feeling overly energetic so we headed to Chilton Chine and one of my favourite beaches on the Island. The tide was starting to come in but we had four hours or so until high tide, so we started down the steps to the beach (not for the faint hearted at the bottom) and strode off towards Brook.

There was lots to see; this part of the Island has amazing geology with crumbling cliff faces, and random boulders on the shore. We think we saw a cast of a dinosaur footprint but neither of us really know what we're looking for! The boulders are wonderful, eroded by the sea into weird and wonderful shapes, somewhat like the teeth of giants in places. I love the red reef here, punctuated by rock pools and stretching out to sea. The surf starts some distance out, and is good for proper surfing further up the coast. At one point we noticed somebody had been doing some extreme recycling; there was a rope ladder dangling down the cliff face with some plastic crates piled above in a crevice with ropes dangling towards them. Odd!

The coastal views are glorious, stretching to Freshwater Bay and Tennyson Down in the north and down to Blackgang Chine in the south. The crumbling clay cliffs are replaced by soaring chalk downs at Freshwater, making a stark yet beautiful contrast. 

Once we got to Brook Chine we paused briefly then headed briskly back, not wanting to be caught by the high tide. I think we had plenty of time, but it isn't a good coast to be caught out on. Definitely a walk worth doing regularly!

Distance: 3.8 miles
Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4691335.html 

Dinosaur foot cast?

Extreme recycling

Brook Chine

View to Tennyson Down

Chilton Chine

Cowes Cycle Track

We went for a brisk Sunday morning walk in the drizzle along the cycle track towards Newport today. This is a popular route with walkers, runners, dogs and, of course, cyclists. I do wish that the latter group would all get bells and use them as you can't always hear them coming up behind you. Mind you, when one did employ his bell I nearly jumped out of my skin and into the river! Didn't get run over though...

There were early signs of the approaching spring around, with many trees laden with catkins and birds tweeting furiously and swooping through the air between bushes. There were lots of swans and cygnets on the river and inlets too, with the occasional mallard or coot to be seen.

As we approached our furthest point, between Vestas and the big metal bridge over Dodnor Creek, we found that someone had made a discovery among the undergrowth and what had been scrub land was now an archaeological dig. This was the site of 'Mummies Caves', a local cement works from the last 200 years. Plenty of infrastructure is still standing and was fascinating to look at through the fence. We paused again halfway along the bridge then turned round and made our way back to Cowes and lunch.

Distance: approx. 5 miles

View towards Whippingham



Mummies Caves, Dodnor



Dodnor Creek



Disused boatbuilding dock



Dilapidated workshop, Arctic Road

Firestone Copse, Quarr and Newnham Farm

Week two of the teenager's D of E challenge, so she decided a four and a half mile walk was in order. We headed for Firestone Copse near Wootton Bridge, and then stomped off along a main path before heading up a steep, muddy path on our right. This came out on another main path so we turned left and followed for a while before picking up a path on our right which led through the trees to the road. From here we walked back towards Wootton and came out on the main road to Ryde, which we crossed further up and picked up the bridleway that led eventually to Fishbourne Lane. Further along the lane, opposite the Fishbourne Inn, was another bridleway that led to Quarr Abbey. We paused here to admire the pigs (of course) and use the facilities, then walked through the woods to the main path to Ryde, followed this briefly, then turned right and followed the lane to the main Ryde road. We took our lives in our hands here - busy road - and dashed across when there was a gap, only to find an extremely muddy gateway to cross!

We navigated the mud, crossed the field, paddled through another gateway and entered woodland where we slithered up the muddy path. This led past a very large pond which was beautiful in the winter sunshine. There were a few ducks, coots, moorhens and cormorants on the pond. The path continued to be very muddy and ended in a gateway that was essentially in a pond. I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to try and get across with dryish feet by climbing round the fences that surrounded the gate. My first move was to stand on the lower rung of the gate itself, and this turned out to be somewhat unwise as I nearly fell off and into the water. The teenager found this hilarious... Anyway, I changed my mind and climbed through the barbed wire fence next to the gate, where the ground was drier, and got caught up in the process. The teenager took pity on me and freed my clothing and I climbed through, followed by her. 

The path led uphill past several majestic oak trees, and then onto a lane. We turned right here and followed the lane to Newnham Farm, through the back of the farmyard and a couple of fields, then squelched up a hill to the war memorial chapel at the top. The views here were magnificent and we could see as far as Portsmouth. The path led back downhill to the road, and we stopped at the Wight Milk shack to buy a pint of milk and some eggs, then followed Firestone Copse Road back to the copse, and followed some more muddy paths to the car park. Here things got civilised and I was able to buy a delicious coffee from 'Drew's Brews' coffee cart. Yum!

The weather was absolutely perfect today, and we both really enjoyed the walk. I was glad that I had put on my boots as the route was extremely wet and muddy for the most part.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4502120.html
Distance: 4.5 miles

Firestone Copse

Pond

Oak Tree

Memorial Chapel 

Quarr to Ryde

A quick walk on a bright but chilly February afternoon to get back in gear for walking. The teenager has signed up for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and has chosen walking for her activity. As we have been spectacularly inactive lately we decided to start with something simple and headed for Quarr Abbey after stopping for lunch at Bluebell's Cafe (always delicious!).

We began the walk by stopping to admire the pigs, as is traditional, then strolled through the woods to the ruins of the medieval abbey and on to the main path towards Ryde. This took us to Binstead Church, and then the path cut through the golf course and up to the main road. We turned back at this point and returned to Quarr.

This was, as ever, a lovely walk. There were signs of spring everywhere with catkins on the trees, snowdrops in the verges, and blackbirds and robins twittering in the trees. Lots of families were out enjoying the sunshine, and everybody we met appeared to be in a good mood.

Quarr Abbey

Holy Cross church, Binstead