Headon Warren

Quick walk today as I needed a blast of fresh air. I parked at The Needles Park (I got a free parking pass this year), headed through the park and back to the road, where I picked up the coastal path after a couple of minutes. Turning left off the main road I followed a lane towards the pitch and putt course, with woodland on my left and a field of cattle on my right. One rather frisky cow, quite young, with horns, decided to follow me and made a couple of mock charges before running up the hill. Good job there was a hedge in the way!

 

Just before the pitch and putt course, the path turned to the right through a wooden fence, and headed uphill. The path was stony to begin with and later turned sandy in places. It followed the boundary of the field and was bordered with brambles, gorse bushes and stinging nettles. Stout trousers required! After a little while the path turned sharply right; however, straight ahead was a clear space so I investigated as there wasn't a no entry sign. The space was a large turfed area, sprinkled with yellow trefoil flowers, with the grass kept short by rabbits. At the far side was the remains of a battery installation. I climbed the concrete steps to the top, sat by the remains of a gun emplacement, and admired the view across Alum Bay to the Needles. The sea sparkled in the late afternoon sunshine. Glorious view.

 

I made my way back to the coastal path and continued steeply uphill to the top of Headon Warren, past flowering yellow gorse, purple heather and wild honeysuckle. The wildflowers were abundant and the view from the top magnificent. The Needles were dead head, Tennyson Down to my left, and Hurst Castle to my right. Gulls and buzzards were swooping through the sky and there was barely a human being to be seen. I followed the path round until it began to descend towards Totland, and followed a track back round the other side of the Warren, coming to a Barrow after a few minutes. This was about 3500 years old and a site of national importance apparently. I made my way back to the coastal path and headed downhill. When I was back in the lane, I took the footpath to Alum Bay Chine which went through pretty woodland, then walked up the wooden steps to the Needles Park and went home. A lovely walk for lifting the spirits.

 

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4105762.html

Distance: 2.2 miles

Footpaths: coastal path, T17, T22, T23

The Needles from Headon Warren

Alum Bay Chine

 

Headon Warren and Totland Bay

What a glorious day for a walk! We headed across the Island to Totland, getting diverted on the way as the Yarmouth road was closed for repairs. We parked next to the Broadway Inn on Madeira Road, asked for directions from a passing elderly lady, and headed off up the hill towards Alum Bay.

On the right hand side, after about half a mile, was a footpath heading onto the Warren. We followed this bumpy, sandy path between high scrubby hedges until we came out into bright sunshine on top of the Warren.  Headon Warren is sandy, flinty soil and covered in heather and gorse, with the odd stunted tree. The gorse was flowering today, but the heather looked as though it was dead; I expect that it will be covered in purple  flowers if we go back in a month. Part of the route was closed as there had been a landslip earlier in the month. We had a peek, and there was a sheer drop where the land had fallen away by about ten feet. Further along our path the land had slipped by about two feet. We didn't go much further! From this point there was a magnificent view across Alum Bay to The Needles. I don't think I've ever seen such a good view of them.

The Needles from Headon Warren

We headed back towards Totland, staying on footpaths rather than the main road. We were planning on going straight back to the car but detoured along a couple of footpaths we found and ended up on Totland Beach. the tide was right out so the kids went and played on the sandy beach for a bit, then we walked along to the pier (disintegrating), found another footpath and discovered we were back on Madeira Road. We admired the lovely houses then hopped in the car and went home.  Lovely afternoon.

Totland Bay 

Route:  http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_3807832.html

Distance: 3.7miles

Footpaths:  T20, T17, T14, T2, T33