Open Gardens and Crazy Golf

The National Open Gardens Scheme is in full swing again locally, so three of us had an expedition to Rookley Manor this afternoon. I had no idea it existed, although I knew of another at the other end of the village. The house has a one acre garden which is beautifully planted and well thought out. We had a lovely time admiring it and pinching ideas for our own, much smaller, gardens. In particular I enjoyed the old fashioned roses, which were deeply scented and lolled around through the flower beds. There were also many Alliums and Astrantias, Nigella ("Love in a mist), Peonies, a magnificent Rhododendron, Sedum, a splendid Lantern Bush, an ancient copper beech tree, Sisyrinchiums, and many many other plants. To top it off, Rookley WI were doing teas. Lovely. This is definitely a garden worth visiting, and I look forward to going again.

Afterwards we headed to Shanklin seafront and had a round of crazy golf on the Dinosaur course; I was whupped by the opposition unfortunately However, we all had fun and finished with a cup of tea and a sandwich at the cafe behind the course. After that we went for a stroll along the revetment towards Sandown before returning home. The teenager and I have decided that this Summer's challenge might well be to play on all the crazy golf courses on the Island. Happy days!

Ventnor to Shanklin

More travels with teenagers today. We were dropped off at Ventnor Botanic Gardens, left the car park, turned right and followed the road to the cricket pitch where we turned right again to go down to Love Lane. The path from here led us to Steephill Cove, where we walked above the beach for a while then along the shore path and up, steeply,  to Flowers Brook where we skipped down the hill towards the green and the pond, and continued along the path, up steep steps and on to Ventnor.

 

The road led along the seafront and we paused for a comfort break at the far end below the Winter Gardens. We continued along the seafront revetment  until we got to Bonchurch Pottery, and shortly afterwards took the path that led up through the woods to the church and East Dene House. The path skirted the edge of the grounds and led on to the Landslip, a local landmark which is heavily wooded. It was somewhat humid in the woods, and I suffered a bit. However, this gave me an excuse to stay at the back and mop up straggling students! We eventually emerged from the Landslip and followed the path past Dunnose Magna and on to Luccombe, from where we followed the road down to Shanklin, and then down on to the beach where we stopped for lunch and a well earned cuppa!   

 

I was absolutely exhausted by the end. This was a relatively short walk, but the heat and humidity combined with the ups and downs of the path made it hard going. However, we made it in one piece, and I finished the day judging a sand sculpture competition for another group of students from our school. Lovely.

Distance: 5.5 miles
Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579407.html

Wild Nights Out..... September

Shanklin Chine

We decided to end the summer holidays with an evening visit to Shanklin Chine; this meant that parts of the chine were illuminated with ever changing coloured lights and looked delightful. We had a lovely time pottering along the paths, and admiring the view over the English Channel with the lights of container ships glittering on the horizon. Definitely worth a visit if you are down that way.

Mark Steel's In Town, Ventnor Winter Gardens
I was allocated a couple of free tickets to this by the BBC and had a lovely, giggly evening with a friend, listening to Mark take the piss out of Ventnor and the Island #nitonnotnitten #microclimate

Isle of Wight Day
We got more involved than usual with this, although not by much! We started with a visit to the library to peruse the book sale and cake stall, and then headed to Newport to look around the Mosque which was having an information day. A team had come down from Regent's Park Mosque in London and set up some interesting displays about the history of Islam and its culture. There were some very helpful chaps on hand to answer any questions and explain a bit more, and I got free dates (fruit) and a bottle of water. Very pleasant and informative.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Took teenager to the flicks to watch the lovely Colin Firth and chums in action. Not as good as the first film, but still very enjoyable. Worth a watch.

Ventnor to Shanklin

Day 2 of Rambles with Teenagers. There were only nine students today. We were dropped off at Ventnor Botanic Gardens, where teenage wails of "There's no signal" were accompanied by staff guffaws of "Mwahahaha!". However, the portable music speaker was working so we set off accompanied by a better selection of tunes than yesterday. In fact, on the bus Queen was played, and many voices joined in to Bohemian Rhapsody. Jolly.

We left the carpark and right, heading along the main road past the cricket pitch, and down Love Lane. At the bottom we picked up the footpath and headed steeply downhill to Steephill Cove, a lovely little beach full of cafes and tiny shingle and lobster pots. The path led out steeply at the end, and we continued towards Ventnor proper, heading along the cliff to Flowers Brook, up more steps, and then descended to Ventnor esplanade. We pottered along here, walked past the fishery, stopped at the loo, then continued along the revetment to Bonchurch. Interesting fact from the language teacher with me  - 'revetment' in this case doesn't refer to the coastal defences but rather to the Victorian practice of changing for bathing (from the French). I never knew that!

We stopped near the pottery on the seafront for a breather, then set off up some steps into The Landslip. This is a wild woodland area and really rather delightful. It is full of pathways and steps, as well as many trees, ferns, brambles and other wild plants. I had the feeling it hadn't changed much for a hundred years or so. We bypassed the 'Devil's Chimney', and continued through the woods towards Luccombe. There was a thunderstorm last night, so it was very humid in the woods, and we were delighted to plunge out into open air for a while by Luccombe Chine, before heading into more on the final stretch to Shanklin.

The footpath met Luccombe Road so we followed it down to Rhylstone Gardens (another toilet break), and then down steep steps to Shanklin beach, near the chine and the Fisherman's Cottage pub. We continued for a little while longer, and stopped at the Lazy Wave café for lunch. Most of us picnicked, but some bought chips and the staff bought much needed tea and coffee! The last leg of the journey took us along Shanklin Esplanade and Hope Beach, and then up the final steep path to the clifftop and the car park by Winchester House YMCA where we waited for the bus back to school. Another lovely, if rather damp and drizzly, walk.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579407.html
Distance: 6 miles (with lots of steep bits!)

The Landslip

Cliffs near Shanklin Chine

Culver Down from Shanklin Chine

Beach Huts

Wild Nights Out.... March

One of my challenges this year is to go out more of an evening. So far this month I have had two such expeditions. The first was to Shanklin Theatre to watch the hilarious Omid Djalili and his equally funny warm up man, Boothby Graffoe. The theatre was lovely and old fashioned, and the show was a hoot! The only downside was the lack of parking in Shanklin, but we found a side street with a parking space eventually.

Yesterday I attended the spring concert of the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. This was sold out, as usual. The programme was music from Poulenc, Ravel, Franck, and Saint-Saens; the Ravel piece was 'Piano Concerto in G', with the soloist Viv McLean. This was performed beautifully, and Viv McLean's solo in the second part moved me to tears. Yes. Really. Wow, he was superb! I could see his face throughout and he was clearly enjoying every moment - a joy to watch and listen to. The concert ended with Saint-Saens 'Bacchanale from 'Samson and Delila'', which was played with skill and enthusiasm by the orchestra. Absolutely glorious.