Wootton Circular Walk

Yet another windy February Day on the lovely Isle of Wight, so we headed for Wootton with two teenagers. As my friend had new boots we decided to do a short walk to break them in. The Ramblers had written a route of three miles so we decided to follow that.

We parked the car in Brannon Way, and headed off up the road via Mary Rose Avenue until we got to Station Road. Here we turned left, and then left again into Packsfield Lane, following it as far as the railway track for Isle of Wight Steam Railway. We crossed over and followed the pathways through extremely muddy fields full of sheep, and some damp but less muddy woodland; as we entered the field we watched a farmer rounding up his sheep with an apparently incompetent sheep dog in the neighbouring field, who were being watched in turn by a flock of geese. After a while we came to another railway crossing. On the other side of the crossing was a solid path leading through woodland and past fields, covered in leaf mould and little rivulets of water all the way back to Wootton Bridge. We stopped on the way to inspect an ice house that belonged to the Fernhill Estate, the house of which burned down in the 1930s. We also paused to watch three buzzards circling overhead in the strong updrafts that were preceding the coming storm.

This was a lovely walk, with signs of spring approaching - daffodils and catkins mostly, and some lovely winter-flowering cherry blossom. On the final stretch was woodland and a wildlife reserve that need further exploring on a less stormy day. On the way back we stopped for another cup of tea at Briddlesford Farm's Bluebell's Café. Cos we could. Oh yes, we DID NOT GET LOST. Not even once. Whoop whoop!

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4243651.html

Distance: 3 miles

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Ice House Information

Mud glorious mud!

Appley to Seaview

The teenager and I have decided to go for a walk every Sunday afternoon for the foreseeable future, come rain or shine. I'm not sure about the last bit as we are essentially creatures of comfort who prefer to stay in the dry, if not the warm. However, we have made a start.

 

We drove to Ryde and parked in the car park behind Appley Tower, a folly on the seafront, then strolled through the soggy park and down to the promenade. From here we turned right, headed past the tower and stomped along the seafront past the wintry, sandy beach full of dog walkers, and avoided small children on bicycles and scooters. The wind was behind us, and the drizzle was upon us, but we carried on, chatting amiably about films, books and school. Very pleasant. The promenade took us past lots of fading Victorian and early 20th century villas, and as far as the beginning of Seaview, a lovely village, and its extremely nice beach houses. When the path turned towards the village proper, we turned back, and detoured through Puckpool Park, built in the remains of a 19th century coastal fortification.

 

On the way home we made a minor detour and stopped for a cuppa and a slice of cake at Bluebell's Café at Briddlesford Farm. Very nice it was too, and I highly recommend the lemon drizzle cake!

Fellowship of Groove

The teenager and I went to a fundraising gig at the Quay Arts Centre tonight; she wasn't sure she wanted to go, but once she had had a glass of coke and a packet of crisps she perked up. The gig was in aid of 'Uzima in our Hands', a local Island charity  raising funds for an orphan and day care centre in Kenya.  Music was provided by 'Ukuladies', and 'Fellowship of Groove'.

 

Ukuladies were a group of ladies playing cover versions of popular songs on ukuleles! Their music was very pleasant to listen to, and they told us more about the charity. Fellowship of Groove was a collection of musicians playing percussion, brass, keyboards and sax in a a very groovy way! Their music was great, and they got everybody's toes tapping. We had a lovely time, met some friends and enjoyed some great music.

Niton, Whitwell and Bierley

Time to start training for this year's  'Walk the Wight', so we headed off to Niton full of confidence in our route-finding abilities. Oops. Once we got to Niton (easy) and parked (also easy), we headed confidently off only to realise after five minutes that we had gone in the wrong direction. We retraced our steps, consulted the map as well as the walking guide, and found a footpath that was heading in the right direction. We also found a friendly local who reassured us that we were indeed heading the right way. Phew!

We followed the path past the primary school, along Allotment Road, and into a muddy field, and squelched up the track towards Whitwell. We passed the cottage mentioned in the book and whooped with happiness! The rest of the walk went to plan, and involved several extremely squelchy footpaths and bridleways, and a walk through a quiet woodland on the downs with many elderly trees. One footpath was bordered with bracken and was soft underfoot with dead bracken leaves. Lovely.  The views over the countryside of this part of the Island were lovely, and would have been spectacular on a sunny day, rather than a damp and drizzly Sunday afternoon in January.

Points of interest included the rather ancient and lovely churches of Niton and Whitwell, and the unexpected delight of Stockbridge Manor and its Alpacas.

Distance: 4 miles
Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4229021.html

Whitwell Church

Whitwell Church

View from the Downs

Walk the Wight 2016

We're gonna do it. Honest. At least half anyway. Training shall commence shortly. As soon as it stops raining anyway....

Training Log
Niton, Whitwell and Bierley (January 17th)

Wootton Circular Walk (February 7th)

Carisbrooke and Froglands (February 14th)

Chilton Chine (March 31st)

Bembridge Down (April 1st)

Dairyman's Daughter, Arreton

We were invited out to lunch the other day, at short notice, and ended up at The Dairyman's Daughter at Arreton Barns. I bagged a large table, and, once everyone had arrived, we ordered food. I ordered a fish pie with fresh vegetables, the teenager ordered sausage and mash, and others ordered pork schnitzel, cottage pie, and steak and ale pie. Each portion was huge, and scrumptious. Somehow the children managed to consume ice cream for dessert! I would definitely eat there again, post diet of course!

 

After lunch we wandered down to the 'penny' arcade (10p a go) and played on the ancient machines. These included fortune tellers, shove penny, one armed bandits, and duck shooting. This was much more fun than I imagined and everyone was giggling by the end. Some of us went and looked round the gift shop, then went and watched the glass-blowing until the rain started again. At this point most of the party went home, but teenager and I stayed to watch a glass panda being created. The heavens opened during this, so it was nice to be in the warm and dry.

 

Arreton Barns is always a safe bet for an afternoon out with visitors, especially if they have smallish children.

Christmas Cantata Choir Concert

How's that for an alliterative title? Another soggy and windy afternoon an the Isle of Wight, and my Mum happened to be in the Cantata Choir Christmas concert at Medina Theatre to which I had agreed to attend. Stupidly I hadn't bought a ticket, but they hadn't sold out. While waiting in the box office queue, a chap came in and asked if anyone was buying a single ticket as he had a spare. I said yes, but sadly had no cash on me so couldn't help. No body else was interested so he turned round, said 'Happy Christmas' and gave me the ticket! What a lovely man. I have no idea who he was.

The concert itself was reasonably well attended. The choir performed the following songs:

• Gaudete (Anon. 16th century)
• Shepherd's Cradle Song ( K. Leuner)
• A Winter's Night (C. McDowell)
• Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day (J. Gardner)
• The Little Road to Bethlehem (M. Head)
• The Colours of Christmas (J. Rutter)
• Jingle Bells (J. Pierpont)

I particularly enjoyed the first two and A Winter's Night, although all were lovely.  The choir were sometimes accompanied by a brass and percussion ensemble (two trumpets, a trombone, a French Horn and a Tuba), and/ or a piano. The ensemble also performed twice with a variety of Christmas arrangements.

The audience, as is traditional at this biannual concert, were expected to join in with some of the more well known carols such as Once in Royal David's City, and Good King Wenceslas. We were also encouraged to join in the descant parts if we knew them. So I did. My apologies to those around me as I am getting warbley in my middle age. Lovely way to spend a wet December afternoon.