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

Brighstone Down

After spending yesterday on the sofa under a fluffy blanket, listening to the rain, watching 'Call the Midwife', and eating biscuits and Welsh cakes, I thought that I ought to get some fresh air and exercise today. I set off for Brighstone and parked at the car park at the top of Lynch Lane, next to Strawberry Lane.

Coming out of the car park, I turned right and then picked up a footpath on the opposite side of the road and bimbled along it to see where it went. I hadn't brought a map. More on that later! I stopped periodically to gaze through my binoculars at hovering kestrels and soaring buzzards, riding the wind in the sky above me. Glorious. Wish I could do that! The path led on, passing Brighstone Forest on the left and showing glorious views along the west coast on the right. I never tire of that view. 

I paused for a while to sit on a stile and gaze across the countryside and seascape below, before continuing on towards a viewpoint showing the distance to lots of different places on the Island and around the world, and then past cattle sheds belonging to Cheverton Farm and a beautiful herd of cattle (all different colours), where I paused to lean on the gate and admire them for a while.  I was later overtaken by a family of mountain bikers and later I found a sign for the 'Devil's Spine', part of a mountain bike trail run by the farm. 

I turned back shortly after the cattle, and met a lady and her puppy; we had an interesting conversation about our mutual lack of skill at photography while her puppy bounced up and down next to me. Next, I turned along a footpath that led into the forest, assuming it would head for Lynch Lane. It did, in a roundabout way! I had no map, as mentioned earlier, and managed to get myself turned around. Having found a broader, stonier path than the rather damp one I was following, I began walking along it, not entirely sure in which direction I was going. That was fine; I was ambling up a hill and spotted a hare feeding on the grass and got quietly excited as I had never seen one before. Wow! I was glad I had the binoculars as I got a really good look at it without getting to close and scaring it off. Shortly after that I met another lady who informed me that I'd end up in Carisbrooke if I continued in that direction, so i turned round and found myself back at the car park fairly soon afterwards.

This was a lovely, gentle walk with magnificent landscapes, cloudscapes and seascapes, and lots of wildlife to spot. I saw several birds that I cannot identify, lots of insects, and there was an abundance of wild flora. I'll have to wander back soon and gather hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts. It was also good to see evidence of the forest being managed, with coppicing of sweet chestnuts evident.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4798056.html

Distance: approx. 5 miles

Wild Nights (and days) Out...... August

Fireworks and Jet Planes

As it was the end of Cowes Week, we pottered down to Holy Trinity Church, laden with blankets, card games and coffee, and sat in the churchyard waiting for the evenings entertainment. This began at 7.30pm with an exciting display by the Red Arrows; I still get as excited as the average four year old by supersonic aerobatic display teams and squeaked with terror when the planes appeared to be getting too close to each other during fly pasts. I enjoyed myself and embarrassed the teenager, so all was good! At 9.30pm the annual fireworks display began, and there followed twenty minutes of exciting bangs and crashes and pretty lights in the sky. It always feels as though the whole Island turns out for this event, and the streets were certainly crowded with families, groups of sailors and wandering gangs of teenagers (who seemed oblivious to the fireworks). Lovely atmosphere as usual, and the church were doing a roaring trade in bacon or sausage sandwiches, tea, coffee and cake. Perfect evening!

Red Arrows heart

Chale Show
This annual, two day event is a much glorified village show; however, instead of the village hall there are several marquees full of local arts, crafts, food, bric-a-brac, poultry (fabulous! I'd like a black silkie please!), metal detectorists treasure, political parties, and, of course, entries for competitions such as best cake, vegetables, photography and amateur art,and children's competitions such as best Lego village, best handprint on a plate, and rice crispy cakes.  Outside are more stalls selling plants, cars, antiques, as well as charity fund raising. There are also many burger vans, a collection of vintage tractors and various ancient engines (interesting). Finally, there is an arena where you can watch falconry, horse back stunt riding, quad bike stunt riding, and the ever present Randini Magic Show.  There is also a stage with live music. To top it off, the venue is a field on the edge of the village rather close to the edge of the cliff, with stunning views along the west coast.

Fastnet Race
I didn't realise this was on and went for a quiet walk along the seafront, and ended up elbowing my way through the crowds in order to get anywhere! The Parade and esplanade at Cowes were thronged with spectators, and the cannon at the Royal Yacht Squadron blasted at regular intervals as the various starts took place. I watched the bigger yachts set off, which was very exciting, as the Solent was crowded with vessels getting in the way, which in turn were being buzzed by a helicopter and a drone, both filming I think. Nice start to the day.

Sailing
I was given the opportunity to spend the day on the 'Spirit of Scott Bader' catamaran with friends and spent a lovely day pootling about the Solent. We started from Yarmouth Harbour and sailed towards the Needles, passing through the narrows at Hurst Castle; this section was rather lumpy and we encountered a couple of squally showers. Consequently one of our number went a bit green. Not me! We headed along the coast past Hurst Castle, and eventually got to the Needles where we turned round. This section was much smoother, and we pottered around heading towards Newtown Creek before turning back to Yarmouth. Lovely day, and I got a couple of chances to steer the boat (without crashing) and also had a go at winching a rope (I think there was a more technical term for that!). I have less upper body strength than I thought. Excellent way to spend the day.

The Needles

New Forest Wildlife Park
A day trip to the North Island took us to the New Forest Wildlife Park not far west of Southampton. We spent the day admiring otters, lynx, exotic butterflies, wallabies, boar, bison, deer, owls, and wolves (awesome!). The kids had a great time playing in the various playgrounds too. Lovely day with the family.

Cowes Illuminated Carnival
Very similar to the daytime one in July, but everyone wore Christmas lights. It was a bit shorter too, but still entertaining.