April

Ryde to Seaview
A brisk impromptu stomp along the seafront to the Seaview Hotel, (stopped for a cuppa),  and back, with a friend, putting the world to rights. Lovely! Excellent views across the Solent too.

 

Cowes

A brisk walk through the town and on to Egypt Point lighthouse and back in the rain, stopping off for a cuppa at Coast. Lovely way to clear the cobwebs away.

 

Quay Arts

Popped in for lunch (lovely) and had a peek at the current exhibition. Definitely worth a visit. Excellent exhibition of body sculptures and art (Olympians and meta humans) by artist Louisa Giblin.

 

Isle of Wight Cantata Choir

The IOW Cantata Choir gave a strong rendition of Verdi's Requiem, ably accompanied by the IOW Symphony Orchestra and four superb soloists. Another excellent evening out.

Ryde to Seaview

I met up with a friend today, after we had planned to walk from Ryde to St Helen's and back. While I was waiting I watched the ducks and geese on the boating lake who were in full voice trying to woo each other and fight off competitors.  We walked along the seafront from the Duck cafe to Seaview, but the weather was against us so we called in to the bar at the Seaview Hotel to get out of the rain and have a coffee. We ended up staying for a sandwich too (yummy) before heading back into the drizzle and back to Ryde.

Despite the weather this was a lovely walk! The tide was out and the beach from Appley to Seaview looked glorious, and the views to the sea forts in the Solent were good. The  bar at the hotel was cosy and full of old prints of photos of the Island, and the sandwiches were generously filled. I shall definitely go back! 

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4697812.html

Distance: 4 miles

February

'Hidden Heroes' Exhibition
We popped into the Quay Arts Centre to view their latest exhibiton on 'Hidden Heroes'. This was about Isle of Wight people, and ranged from the last Jutish King on the 7th century who repelled the Anglo-Saxons, and ensured the Island was the last place in Britain to accept Christianity, to Andy Stanford-Clark, a Master Inventor for IBM who amongst many other things helped invent Facebook messenger. In between were people who worked on Thrust II, the Black Arrow space programme, Julia Margaret Cameron (Victorian photography pioneer), Isabella de Fortibus (last independent Lord of the Wight in the 13th century) and several others. Very interesting.

Ryde to Quarr Abbey
A brisk walk this afternoon from Spencer Road to Quarr Abbey and back following the coastal path. Stopped for coffee and cake, obviously!

Quiz Night
The scouts (Explorers?) that are attending the next World Jamboree organised a quiz at Corf Camp to raise funds. I joined some friends for the night and somehow we managed to win by a reasonable margin! I was somewhat delighted at the outcome, and the box of chocs that came with it!

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

Wild Nights Out........October

Isle of Wight Cantata Choir

This concert was held at Ryde Methodist Church, a glorious building that I had never been inside before. The church was fairly large, with balconies both sides held up by decorated pillars and faced with painted ironwork. Straight ahead, and above the congregation, was the decorated paperwork for the church organ. Lovely. The concert was jazzy and bluesy. The first half saw a rendition of Bob Chilcott's 'Little Jazz Mass', followed by two solos from the visiting soloist Joanna L'Estrange, and a clarinet solo of a Gershwin medley by local music student Joshua Attrill. The second half gave a performance of Will Todd's 'Mass in Blue', which I enjoyed very much. The soloist was super, and for once was able to address the audience, which was nice. Another pleasant evening out!

 

Isle of Wight Literary Festival
I bought tickets to go and see Professor Jim al-Khalili talk about the new book  that he has edited, about science in the future. This was very interesting, and well attended. I came away with two books, and a signed copy of a Quantum Physics book that I had brought with me. Lovely chap!

Summer Strolls

We go for a few short strolls around the place as the fancy takes us, so I thought I'd list them here.

Cowes Seafront

This is always a nice walk at this time of year; the town is bustling with sailors and tourists, there is usually yacht racing on the Solent, and many people are out on the seafront watching the sailing, playing on the beach or strolling along the promenade. We also have the pleasure of fairly regular visits from a common seal who likes to lounge on the old steps by the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Ryde Seafront

We like to stroll from the boating lake to Appley Tower, the café beyond or even Seaview if we're feeling energetic. Often we paddle in the sea as this is a sandy beach, and get an ice cream from one of the vendors along the way. One's route back is often marked by the smoke from multiple disposable barbecues, with the pleasurable scent of sizzling sausages Along the way.

Cowes to Newport Cycle Track

This is a lovely walk along the route of the old railway, with plenty of shade on sunny days, and lovely views across the river Medina, and the surrounding farmland. Lots of wildflowers and wildlife, as well as walkers, runners and cyclists.

Chilton Chine

A good walk for small children and dogs! Park near Isle of Wight Pearl on the west coast of the Island, follow the path to some steps that lead down to the beach and have a pleasant walk and paddle. Keep an eye on the tide as it comes in quite quickly and there aren't many exits back up the cliffs.

Ventnor Botanic Garden

Nearly the end of half term so teenager and I decided to have an expedition which included lunch. We headed south to Ventnor Botanic Garden, via Rookley and Whitwell (nice bendy country roads), paid the entrance fee and headed for 'Edulis', the restaurant in the gardens. Unfortunately their menu is not overly friendly for a picky teenager but she eventually decided on a ham sandwich, crisps and millionaire's shortbread, all of which met with satisfaction. I took a while to choose my meal as they all sounded yummy to me, and I eventually settled on the seafood linguine. Oh my goodness, this was yummy! Freshly caught local crab, mussels and king prawns in a nice sauce. Delish!

Once lunch was over we ambled around the gardens for an hour or so, having a good old natter and admiring the plants. The garden is on the site of a Victorian Tuberculosis hospital, and in a little valley which has a lovely, warm microclimate. Being close to the coast and the Gulf Stream helps too. Due to this, a wide variety of plants that would be too tender in many parts of the country can be grown here. Today the Echiums were at their peak, towering into the sky, ablaze with blue flowers and buzzing with bees. One of my favourite plants. Many other flowers were in bloom such as Sisyrinchium, Abutilon, Osteospermum, Allium, Syringa, Arum, and Rosa. I was particularly taken with the variety of bark textures on the many trees, and particularly liked a variety of Myrtus.

Once we had finished in the garden I perused the seed shop and bought several packets of wildflowers for my garden project. The botanic garden sells seed collected from it's own plants, as well as plants grown from cuttings from the garden, so you can get varieties of plants you wouldn't ordinarily find in a garden centre. Their gift shop is also very tempting, but today I mostly resisted the urge to buy lovely things!

Once we left we headed back towards Godshill and popped into Brownrigg Farm Shop to stock up on local produce - "Oil of Wight" anyone? - and then toddled off to Ryde for other supplies; I didn't drive my usual route and went via Ashey Road, and at one point came round a corner and down a hill to see a magnificent view before us which caused me to shriek "OH MY GOODNESS! We're so lucky to live here!".  Beautiful, beautiful Isle of Wight!

Echium flowers

Acer

Myrtus bark

Pelargonium

Allium (Chives)

Quarr Abbey and Ryde

I decided to go for a stroll, alone, and sort my head out a bit. I parked at Quarr Abbey, walked past the piggery (gorgeous pigs!), and into the Art Exhibition. This was a show of pottery and paintings from local artists. All rather pleasant but nothing that made me go 'Wow!'. I continued on, past the tea gardens, and followed the path to the ruins of the mediaeval abbey. I paused for a few minutes then continued along the path towards Binstead; the lane passed through a wooded area with lovely houses on one side and every so often there were tiles embedded in the road surface with poems engraved on them. Unusual, but lovely.

 

I followed the coastal path, and after a little while there was a side path leading down to the shore. I followed it, getting quite muddy in the process, and eventually came down some wooden steps to the shingled Binstead Hard. The tide was high so there wasn't much beach, but I was able to sit on a patch by a fallen, but still living, birch tree and eat my sausage sandwiches. Bliss. There was nobody else about. I returned to the main coastal path, followed it a bit further, along Ladies Walk, and turned left at a bridge. This semi-paved footpath came out at another beach, sandy this time, with a boatyard and the remains of a pier or jetty.

 

Back to Ladies Walk and I  followed the path past Ryde Golf Course until it came out near the main road. The coastal path turned left here and went down into Ryde along the back streets. I wandered along and was amazed at some of the architecture; there was a large stone archway with a stag on top and lions to either side, clearly the remains of an entrance to a large house, but now surrounded by bungalows. I walked on until I reached the esplanade then turned round and walked back to Quarr.

 

A lovely walk, and one to do again!

 

Distance: c. 5.5 miles

Footpaths: R45, R46, R48, R94

 

Quarr Abbey pig

View of the Abbey ruins

Derelict jetty near Binstead.