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

Chilton Chine to Brook Chine

Today was an absolutely glorious winter day with clear blue skies, low temperatures and a slight breeze. Gorgeous! We were going to go on a hilly walk but the teenager wasn't feeling overly energetic so we headed to Chilton Chine and one of my favourite beaches on the Island. The tide was starting to come in but we had four hours or so until high tide, so we started down the steps to the beach (not for the faint hearted at the bottom) and strode off towards Brook.

There was lots to see; this part of the Island has amazing geology with crumbling cliff faces, and random boulders on the shore. We think we saw a cast of a dinosaur footprint but neither of us really know what we're looking for! The boulders are wonderful, eroded by the sea into weird and wonderful shapes, somewhat like the teeth of giants in places. I love the red reef here, punctuated by rock pools and stretching out to sea. The surf starts some distance out, and is good for proper surfing further up the coast. At one point we noticed somebody had been doing some extreme recycling; there was a rope ladder dangling down the cliff face with some plastic crates piled above in a crevice with ropes dangling towards them. Odd!

The coastal views are glorious, stretching to Freshwater Bay and Tennyson Down in the north and down to Blackgang Chine in the south. The crumbling clay cliffs are replaced by soaring chalk downs at Freshwater, making a stark yet beautiful contrast. 

Once we got to Brook Chine we paused briefly then headed briskly back, not wanting to be caught by the high tide. I think we had plenty of time, but it isn't a good coast to be caught out on. Definitely a walk worth doing regularly!

Distance: 3.8 miles
Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4691335.html 

Dinosaur foot cast?

Extreme recycling

Brook Chine

View to Tennyson Down

Chilton Chine

Family Get Together

Another trip to the North Island, this time to Winchester for a gathering of the clan to celebrate my Mother's birthday. Several of us arrived early so met at the Cathedral and had a cup of tea in the Refectory Cafe, before heading to the restaurant to meet everybody else. The restaurant in question was the delightful Chesil Rectory; this was a pre-reformation building that had had a number of uses over the centuries, but had been a restaurant for the past 85 years. We were given a large side room and served the most delicious food. I had carrot and cumin soup, followed by lamb (fell apart, yum!) with chickpeas and chorizo, followed by sticky toffee pudding - my brother in law was rapturous about this, and I wasn't far off. Scrumptious! The finale to the meal was a wonderful birthday cake created by my brother-in-law's daughter at Three Little Birds Bakery. Looked and tasted delicious!

After several hours, some of the party headed home, and the rest of us waddled to our cars and headed down to Dorset to the Hoburn Naish holiday park in New Milton. We spent the evening in a cabin, eating more delicious food and telling silly family stories until we all needed to retire.  The following morning began with a leisurely breakfast, and then a stroll along the beach towards Highcliff and back. Glorious views along the coast towards Muddiford, and towards Barton-on-Sea, and across the water to the Island and the Needles.

We all headed home early afternoon, and us Island people managed to get an earlier ferry back thankfully. Tired but happy.

Beating the February Blues

I felt properly miserable with the world today, so in order to cure it I went for a drive followed by a breezy walk. I drove along the lower road to Brooke, with a pretty clear run, blasting 1990s dance music through the stereo and gradually cheering up. I turned onto the Military Road on the west coast and sped along until I got to Chilton Chine, where I parked up. A narrow path led between hedges until it came to the cliff edge and led down good steps at first, which turned into rather worn, muddy steps leading down the lower part of the cliff, with a handrail of scaffold poles to cling on to. A stream gushed along the chine itself, which was littered with broken lobster pots and bits of wood. The steps ended near the bottom of the cliff and after a short scramble across a shingle bank I was on the broad, sandy beach at low tide. The low tide exposed a reef where the cliff had once been, with parts that may have been a petrified forest - there is one further up the coast anyway. The beach stretched away along the base of the cliffs and appeared deserted. Excellent! I strode off on the firm sand, investigating rock pools and looking for smooth stones. I kept away from the cliffs as they looked rather loose, and had clearly had some cliff falls recently. Not being entirely sure if the tide was going out or coming in, I didn't go too far as there wasn't another exit from the  some time. On the way back I met a very friendly dog and her owner, and spied a heron out on the reef. Back up the precarious steps to the car, and I felt very grateful to live in such a beautiful place and rather less miserable than I had been at the outset. Hurrah!

 

 

St Catherine's Lighthouse

A short but beautiful walk today. I met up with a friend, her tweenager and her dog and we drove to St Catherine's Road in Niton, and parked beyond the Buddle Inn. The private road beyond this led steeply downhill, between hedgerows in full flower, towards St Catherine's Lighthouse on the most southerly tip of the Island. At the end of the lane, just before the lighthouse we climbed a stile to our right and crossed into a meadow. The footpath led past an enormous rock (perfect for scrambling up) covered in sea thrift (Armeria), and then towards and then along the cliff edge. The ground here is notoriously unstable and we could see the results of past landslips in the surrounding landscape.

We followed the path through a buttercup-strewn meadow, over another stile, and down to Watershoot Bay, a very rocky beach. Lovely though. Behind the beach was some woodland so we scrambled up to it and had an explore, finding the remains of a couple of camps that locals had made. The dog was having a lovely time running around the undergrowth, and we had fun exploring more slowly!

We made our way back to the beach and retraced our steps back to the car, pausing briefly to admire the cattle in the field by the road. I'll definitely go back and explore some more!

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4333195.html

Footpath: NT37

Distance: 1.5 miles

St Catherine's Lighthouse

Totland Beach

Totland is fast becoming one of my favourite Island beaches. It is mostly shingly, with parts that are predominantly made up of rounded flint. There is a seawall, and an old lifeboat station, both slowly becoming dilapidated, wooden groynes holding the beach in place, and the shattered remains of a Victorian pier. By the road entrance is a toilet block, two blocks of flats that have seen better days but are being renovated, and slightly further on is a restaurant. At the start of the pier is a recently built wooden building, presumably to be a cafe but it looks unoccupied. Beyond this, the seawall continues towards Colwell Bay but comes to a sudden stop where a recent landslip rendered it unsafe. 

Every time I have been here there have been few people around, and those that were there were either locals or more plucky tourists. The atmosphere is relaxed. On our visit yesterday we discovered a large barrel jellyfish in the surf, which was gradually washed up onto the shore. It was beautiful, with a blue dome with violet edging, and violet tentacles. We got utterly over-excited about it as we'd never seen a jellyfish like it.