Brighstone 2019

Well, we were invited back to Brighstone to house - dog - and - cat sit and leapt at the chance. The weather started off cool and damp but we had some nice walks with the dog. Our first was from the National Trust car park at the top of Lynch Lane, up the downs as far as we could until the path started dipping back down towards Brooke. We turned back then as I had a nettle sting under the strap of my sandal. And there was a big hill to walk back up. During the afternoon we had to go to Newport, so we took the dog, let her scare off all the cats in my garden, then went to Carisbrooke Castle and walked twice around the moat, watching teenagers struggling to jump off walls. We didn't laugh, honest. In the evening we strolled  along Coombe Lane, up the green footpath and then back along another which was somewhat overgrown and nettley, and back to the cottage.

On Monday we drove to Chilton Chine and had a lovely walk along the beach throwing the ball for Rosie, as far as Grange Chine, and then strolled back in the driving drizzle picking up litter on the way. We got a reasonable amount. After lunch we left the dog at the cottage and went to Mottistone Manor gardens; I had never been before as I always got the day it opened wrong. The gardens were much larger than they appeared from the road, and had many well planted herbaceous borders and mature trees, with a particularly spectacular Mulberry tree. I hadn't seen one before, and it was covered in fruit. There was also a lovely specimen of a weeping lime tree, absolutely humming with bees in its canopy. We finished with a look at the plant stall (I bought one, oops), a cup of tea and a cake in the tea garden, and a look around the 'shack'; this was a wooden building raised on staddle stones and laid out rather like a boat cabin, with high level bunks, two large desks, a kitchen area and bathroom. It was used as an architects office by the owner in the 1930s. I want one! In the evening we went for another walk with the dog along Coombe Lane, up to the top of the down, across a sheep field and down a gully into a sunken lane and back into Moortown Lane in Brighstone, and then home. Lovely, except for the biting flies.

Tuesday was hot. After breakfast we took Rosie for a walk in the shade of Brighstone Forest, which was lovely and cool and had lots of interesting smells. We came to a crossroads and started walking on, but Rosie picked her ball up, turned around and trotted off in the direction we had come from so we gave up and followed her back to the car! One determined pooch!

The rest of the week followed a similar theme with walks on the downs and the beach. I did a lot of paddling. We had lunch one day at the Piano cafe in Freshwater (lovely open steak sandwich), and also went and explored Ventnor on the opening day of Ventnor Fringe festival. We had lunch at a little Italian restaurant on the seafront, then mooched around the town, ending with delicious ice creams from Crave, a visit to the book bus and a look at The Shed, which had an exhibition about Greenham Common, and sold handmade pottery.

We had a lovely week exploring the countryside and chilling out. We saw lots of fauna, including woodpeckers, coal tits, red squirrels, lots of butterflies, dragonflies, newts, toads, pigeons, herring gulls, buzzards, kestrels, and water boatmen to name a few. This truly is a magical Island.

Sundown at Chilton Chine

Newtown

A lovely walk today, and not too taxing in the summer heat (remarkable considering the miserable weather of the last week). I met a friend in the main car park at Newtown and we ambled along the road past the old Town Hall, and shortly after turned onto a footpath leading along the creek. This crossed a couple of fields, then led through a wooded path and back onto the road.opposite the church. A little way beyond this was a path leading past an old house and down to the Mercia Seabrook bird hide, which we popped into briefly; it had a few people searching for birds on the wetlands and woods beyond, and we decided not to stay. Instead we walked across the field next to the hide and across the wooden footbridge to the remains of Newtown Quay, then out along a strip of land that jutted into the harbour. We stopped here for a bit, admiring the view and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere; there were few people around and we were surrounded by sea and countryside. Absolutely lovely.

We retraced our steps to the quayside then walked round the salt pans and across the field back to the road, and then onto another footpath behind the church, back to the road and along to the ancient house known as 'Noah's Ark'. This is, I think, the oldest building in Newtown and was at one time a pub, and has been many other things too. On the front is a plaque bearing the name 'Francheville', which was the medieval name for the, then, town and translates to Free Town. The plaque displays a picture of a boat and a lion, and is where the current name of the house comes from.

We went back down the road a little and picked up a footpath that led through fields and across the road to Walter's Copse. This is a lovely little copse, full of wild flowers and peace; we didn't walk all the way round it as intended, as we missed a side path. When we came out of the copse, we followed Town Lane back to the car park, and then went to the Town Hall and looked round inside (£4 a head). Upstairs were various pieces of antique furniture, clocks, Hogarth prints, a replica of the town seal and a magnificent fireplace. Downstairs, via a twisting, cast iron staircase, was a cool room with a history of the 'Ferguson Gang', a formidable group of ladies early last century, who bought various properties around the country, including Newtown Town Hall, and presented them to the National Trust. I suspect that I would have liked them immensely! There was also an ancient ring-dial telephone where you could dial up various oral histories of the area, and copies of ancient documents about the town.

Once finished, we followed the lane down to the 'main' road and headed for Shalfleet where we had tasty sandwiches at the New Inn before heading back to the car and then home.  It is amazing that this unassuming village with its wonderful wildlife and countryside was once the most important town on the Isle of Wight. 

Old Town Hall, Newtown

Route: (roughly) https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4596372.html

Route we meant to take: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/newtown-national-nature-reserve/trails/enjoy-the-estuary-newtown-walk 

Distance: 5.5 miles

Blackgang to Hoy Monument

First walk of the autumn today, in glorious sunshine and a stiff breeze. We parked at the Blackgang Viewpoint carpark, above Blackgang Chine theme park, and crossed over the road to steps leading to a field. The path led through a herd of cows, pastel coloured and seemingly kindly, and then upwards towards St Catherine's Oratory, or The Pepperpot as it is known locally. This stone tower was built in the early 1300s, apparently as a penance by a local landowner who stole wine from a shipwreck. It was originally a chapel with a beacon for shipping, but all that remains is the tower. Next to the oratory is a bronze age barrow, excavated, and further along is the 'Salt Pot', which is the stone circular base of an eighteenth century lighthouse that was never completed. We paused on the way up to watch what we thought was a kestrel, hovering above its prey, swooping to catch it, then sailing back up into the sky and swooping effortlessly along the ridge in the breeze. Beautiful.

We continued, through a field of skittish and distinctly less friendly cattle, down a steep slope past what may have been ancient agriculture (hill with lots of mini terraces), then through a gate into National Trust land and a well maintained path that led along the ridge of St Catherine's Down to the Hoy Monument. This was a very pleasant stroll, with glorious views across the Island to either side in the golden autumnal sunshine. The Hoy Monument is huge, and was erected to commemorate a visit to Great Britain by the Tsar of Russia. I don't think he made it to the Island! There is also a commemorative plaque for the troops that died at Sevastopol. Strange place to put it. We continued past the monument to a dead end, then retraced our steps to a side path and descended through woodland to pick up a path at the base of the ridge.

This path led along the edge of the wood and gradually took us back up the hill to the edge of the National Trust land. Wanting to avoid the cattle, we took a path that skirted the base of the ridged hill, only to find the cattle had moved and were ahead of us, so, wimps that we were, we retraced our steps and climbed back up the hill (on the other side of the fence!) to the trig point and the pepperpot. It was extremely windy at this point and we were glad not to have small children with us. We paused inside the pepperpot (no wind here) then plunged back down the hill towards the car park. We felt we had earned refreshment so we each bought an ice-cream from the van in the car park, and wandered along the cliff path to look down on Blackgang Chine. To finish the trip, we blasted up the Military Road to Freshwater Bay before returning home. Gorgeous afternoon!

Route (roughly): http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4412779.html

Distance: 3.6 miles

View along the West coast from the Pepperpot.

Chale mackerel

Ridged hill

Hoy Monument

Maple tree

Wight landscape

St Catherine's Oratory

Mottistone to the Sea

I dragged the teenager into daylight and headed for the West Wight today. We parked at the National Trust car park at Mottistone Manor, then followed their suggested route towards the coast. This led through the churchyard down a short lane, over a stile and onto a footpath. This was slightly squishy in places, but had a stream to the right, and plenty of herbage; the nettles were growing, and cow parsley was coming into bud, and all the hedgerow plants were greening up. We followed a pair of mallards to a wild meadow, where they took to a small pond, and we continued onwards.

The path turned right at a junction, bordered by a laid hedge to the left, and we headed onwards to walk along the edge of another stream and a small woodland. This latter was very pretty in the dappled sunlight, with the deciduous trees putting out leaves, and masses of cow parsley on the path. We could hear the songbirds warbling in the trees and hedgerows and noticed a few bees and bumblebees buzzing among the early wildflowers. The path crossed a small bridge and another stile into a rather soggy meadow, coming out after a little while onto the military road.

We turned right, passed two cottages, then crossed over the road to follow a permissive path through fields to the cliff edge at Sudmoor Point, and picking up the coastal path. There was a glorious view here all along the coast from Blackgang to Tennyson Down, and looking down over the landslip we could see that the tide was far out and that the rocky reef was exposed. Unfortunately there was no access to the beach as far as I could see, so we didn't get closer. The teenager was tired so that was probably a good thing! We followed the coastal path for a while until we met a footpath going inland, and followed this back to the military road, and then crossed over and picked up the final path back to Mottistone. This was a lovely farm track between high hedges, secluded from the breeze and warm in the spring sunshine, and led us back to the church and then the car park.

As the teenager had made it all the way round, I rewarded her (and me, obviously) with an ice cream from the van at Compton Bay before driving home along lots of country lanes, avoiding many suicidal pigeons and a pheasant.

Route: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottistone-estate/trails/a-mottistone-meander-south-to-the-sea-walk-2

Distance: 2.8 miles

Footpaths: BS74, Coastal Path, BS75, BS100

Mottistone Church

Woodland Stream

View from the coastal path towards Freshwater

Chale Green and the Hoy Monument

Proper walking today, on an overcast afternoon. I joined my friend and her two sons for a circular walk from Chale Green, following a route in one of Isle of Wight Rambler's Association's books. We parked in a layby on the main road, crossed over the road onto a patch of grass then over a footbridge and up a muddy track. The mud came and went, but the hill continued, rising almost 400ft in the first mile. We passed through a lovely little wood full of hazel bushes and carpeted with bluebell foliage where the boys had fun looking for sticks. We found a couple of concrete seats modelled on ripe fungus which we all tried out, and found to be surprisingly comfortable!

The track continued steeply up, coming out into fields before plunging back into woodland again. We came to a junction and followed the left hand path up an extremely muddy path which led to the crest of St Catherine's Down and the Hoy Monument. The monument was huge, which was to be expected as it could be seen for miles around. It was erected by a merchant to commemorate a visit to the UK by Tsar Alexander, and later had a tablet added commemorating soldiers who died at the Battle of Sevastapol. More information can be found on the National Trust page.

After we had had a brief rest and refreshments we continued, heading back to the main path and taking the other fork. This was also muddy, and led through fields and woodland bordering the down, bringing us eventually to the road. We crossed over and followed a footpath through a field, along a ditch boundary with a stream, before coming to a small sheep farm. As we approached, the farmer came out with a big smile, and asked the children if they would like to see some new born lambs. They did, as did both adults, so we followed her to the barn and were introduced to a ewe and two 12-hour old lambs. We then got to cuddle a baby baa lamb! Eldest boy declined, and youngest boy was a bit small, but both adults were straight in there after assuring the farmer that neither of us were pregnant! What fun!

The walk continued; after we left the farm driveway, the path turned steeply right and then even more steeply uphill, coming out on a broad green pathway high above the surrounding farmland. We found an unusual memorial that looked rather like a prone barrel, and which was covered in inscriptions of dates and names. Curious. Once home I did a little searching and am reasonably sure it was a commemoration of shipwrecks off the west coast of the Island. The path soon descended again, and led across the lawn of Pyle Manor then into Windmill Copse, another pleasant patch of woodland. This led past a deer park, where we watched a herd of deer watching us. They were well camouflaged against the hill.

Further on, the path led through a swampy section of woodland, with a rickety boardwalk to walk on. This was fine until the very end where the boardwalk suddenly ran out, so we hopped across the last few feet on semi-sunken branches and logs.  The path led back uphill (not steep) and across a few fields until we returned to Chale Green, muddy, tired and happy.

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4284746.html
Distance: 4.5 miles
Footpaths: C1, C37, GL60, C3, C5, C4, C21, C22, C23, C33

Mushroom Chairs

Hoy Monument

View to the West Coast

Baa Lamb

Shipwreck Memorial

Primroses

Swamp path

Bembridge Down

We tried a new route today, much to the teenager's disgruntlement. I realised that I had never walked up Bembridge Down to Culver Cliff so as today was sunny and reasonably warm we gave it a go. I parked at Yaverland, then we crossed the road and joined the coastal path behind the sailing club climbing uphill over turf towards a shrubby area. Here the path became more formal and led through flowering hawthorn and gorse, past a derelict gun battery and then up and past a holiday village. beyond the chalets the path opened out onto Bembridge Down proper, denoted by a National Trust sign and information board. We detoured around a muddy patch then began our ascent.

The down spread out around and above us, with the beacon of the Culver Cliff monument beckoning us from the hill top. To our right was the cliff edge, and as we ascended, the extent of Sandown Bay became apparent. I knew it was a large bay but had not seen it from this impressive perspective before. We stopped for a picnic lunch on a patch of springy turf overlooking the bay, and watched the sun glinting on the sea, and container ships lining up in the channel; these appeared empty so we assumed they were waiting to be called into port in Southampton. We also watched a hawk, possibly a kestrel, glide overhead on the breeze then turn and hover effortlessly above the cliff looking for prey. Glorious.

We continued upwards and made it to the top fairly quickly. To the teenager's delight there was a café serving ice cream and fizzy drinks so we paused here for refreshment. I went and explored to the end of the promontory and discovered Culver Battery, with the remains of two large gun emplacements. There was also the site of Culver Signal Station as well as a Beacon Basket. I had had no idea any of that was there. Apparently it was used by the military until the 1960s, and not much is known about what went on there. It is now managed by the National Trust. The views across the east end of the Island from here were fantastic; I could see Brading Haven, Bembridge and St Helen's, and across to Ryde and Portsmouth.

Once I had rejoined the teenager we inspected the monument which was dedicated to the Earl of Yarborough and was quite an impressive piece of masonry. We then walked down the lane towards Bembridge Fort, which is also managed by, and being restored by, the NT, but is only open occasionally. Bembridge Fort is another Palmerstone defence against possible invasion by the French in the 1800s. After this we returned to the downland and stomped down the hill to the coastal path, retracing our steps to the car. An invigorating walk, and one that could be taken considerably further.

Distance: 3.8 miles

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4283423.html

View across Sandown Bay

Landslip

Yarborough Memorial

Gun Emplacement

Bembridge Fort

Gorse