Niton and St Lawrence

Today's adventure was around the south of the Island. We parked at the top end of St Catherine's Road then walked down and joined Castle Haven Lane. We followed this past some lovely gardens and a great view of St Catherine's Lighthouse, down to the beach, where we found several lobster pots, a cafe and some huts. The tide was very high so after walking along the rock sea defences we turned back and walked up to Undercliff Drive.

Undercliff Drive has been closed to through traffic for several years due to a large landslip. We ambled along it for some time, passing woodland, interesting houses, snails, crossing a bridge and a strange stone inscribed with initials and a date and surrounded by a cage. No idea what it was for! We also found the remains of a stone cottage in a small nature reserve which had a small cloud of bumblebees buzzing round it. There were also enormous fungi!

We followed Undercliff Drive to Ventnor Botanic Gardens and had a very pleasant lunch in the cafe there. Afterwards we had a mooch around the gardens (Gardeners World 2 for 1 card came in handy here!) admiring all the interesting plants and then joined the coastal path and started our way back.

The coastal path led past Orchard Bay. We could see a rock at the far end with three cormorants on it, so we went down the steps and crossed the beach to have a closer look. This was a new beach to me and I really liked it! The beach was covered in fine shingle (not ideal when wearing sandals) but had big rocks at the bottom and sides which were great for scrambling on. We got quite close to the cormorants and then had an explore of the rocks and rock pools; there were lots of clusters of winkles (I think. Sea snails anyway.) in depressions in the rocks, and a lot of limpets. As we made our way back over the rocks near the steps we saw a lizard - really exciting! Neither of us had seen one before. We then saw a wren, which was nice but not as exciting.

Back up the steps then to follow the coastal path to St Lawrence and up a side path leading to St Lawrence Old Church. This was delightful. The church is small, seating perhaps 60 people, and dates from the twelfth century. The first rector was called Roger! There is a beautiful pre-raphaelite stained glass window there too.

We walked back into the village and rejoined Undercliff Drive and made our way back to the car. A really lovely, interesting walk.

Distance, including the botanic gardens, approx. 16km.

Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/843531?units=km

Monk and Merchant walk

It's April for heaven's sake, and this is the first proper stomp I have had. I have been a bit busy...  I met up with a friend and we headed to the White Mouse Inn at Chale for a sandwich and a cuppa, then drove up the hill to the Blackgang Viewpoint car park. From there, we crossed the road and headed up hill towards St Catherine's Oratory (Pepperpot), and paused  for a while to take photographs, before heading along the crest of the down to the Hoy Monument. This is a huge stone column erected by a local merchant with Russian connections, to celebrate the visit of Tsar Alexander I to Britain. As you do. 

From there we turned left onto a footpath heading down the hill, going through several gates and passing to the side of a property called the Hermitage. The path led through a field to a quiet lane, rejoined a footpath and led towards Moorhills Farm, which housed a timber merchant and sawmill. Now, we were busy chatting and missed our turning and continued down the lane past ponds and streams until we arrived at the main road through the village of Bierley. Once we had realised our error we doubled back, found the footpath, waved at the chaps in the sawmill, and carried on across fields heading towards the oratory which we could see on a distant hill.

We passed Downcourt Manor Farm and turned uphill, having rather lost the path, and clambered onwards coming to a barbed wire fence with no obvious route through. We managed to climb through and headed upwards, spotting what we thought was our route. We also stopped to admire a hare bounding along the hill in front of us. We were again thwarted by a barbed wire fence, more robust this time, which stood between us and  a herd of cows. We turned right and followed the fence along until we saw the footpath and were able to get to it. From here we headed back towards the oratory hill, skirting along the base of it and then back down the hill to the car. This was a lovely walk, which would have lovely views on a clearer day!

Intended route: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/st-catherines-down-and-knowles-farm/trails/the-monk-and-the-merchant-walk

Approximate Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/809584

Distance: c. 5.5. miles

St Catherine's Oratory

Benches at Moorhills Farm