Nettlestone to Yaverland

Today I helped take twelve teenagers on a stroll across the east of the Island. We got a coach to Nettlestone and walked towards the Priory Hotel, then followed the footpath round and ended up at The Duver, St Helen's. This is a lovely patch of National Trust land, sprinkled with wildflowers among the short turf. After a quick rest break we headed across the causeway and into the outskirts of Bembridge. The road led along another causeway, past the yacht club and numerous houseboats, and to the Tollgate café opposite the Pilot Boat Inn. We stopped at the café for lunch (some picnicked, and some bought food), then carried on.

This was the point where my dodgy map reading skills came into play, and we pootled up a lane going in the wrong direction. Oops. I soon realised my mistake however, and we turned round and joined up with the path we were meant to be on. We followed the High Street  to Bembridge Windmill and then followed the lane into the woods, across a road, past a holiday camp and onto the cliff path to Culver Down. Some of the kids groaned when they realised we had to climb the down, but they all managed it faster than I did! We stopped at the Yarborough Monument at the top and admired the view, and I admired the wild flowers, had a drink and a snack (I got an ice cream) before walking down the other side of Culver Down to Dinosaur Isle where we met the coach again.

This was a boiling hot day, with teenagers who were generally not used to walking so far, and it went really well. Another route tomorrow.

route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4579015.html

Distance: 7.3 miles

View from Yarborough Monument

Rhythmtree Festival 2017

This weekend was mostly spent at Rhythmtree  Festival on the glorious Isle of Wight. I was offered a ticket in exchange for helping teach children how to make popcorn on a campfire. Seemed reasonable! The way to do it is to make a tinfoil packet, slop in a little oil and add some popcorn kernels, scrunch the top up and put the packet in the embers of the fire and wait for them to pop. Simple. Mostly. We won't mention the burned ones. We also offered tomahawk throwing (not one of my skills or talents I found out), and one chap showed how to make rope out of bramble fibres. Oh yes, we also had quoits, and giant connect four.

As we did this, we listened to the music from the Jill's Wood stage (mostly good. I liked Brighstone Barnacles, Red Sqwrl, and the marvellous Cat Skellington particularly). Behind us was the yoga section, so we heard lots of meditation music, and the jolly fun of laughing yoga. Friday night's headliners on the main stage were the Stereo MCs who were good, and on Saturday were the Lightening Seeds, also good. Sunday night was my favourite, with the Blockheads (awesome) followed by Tankus the Henge (fabulous). Lots of boogying was done (apologies if you were behind us) and fun was had.

There was a fair amount of food to choose from, and I would recommend the ever lovely Tansy's Pantry veggie bus café (I had a delicious falafel wrap), the tea and cake stall with their lovely homemade cakes, comfy hay bales, and squishy sofa, as well as the local burger stall whose name I have forgotten but may have been part of Three Gates Farm who hosted the festival.

This was a lovely little festival, full of locals and those from further afield, and extremely family friendly. Highly recommended!

Main Stage






Brighstone Barnacles

Thorness Bay and Rew Street

Another sunny day, another walk in the blisteringly hot (for the UK anyway) sunshine. I parked at the end of Rew Street, in Gurnard, just past the River Luck, and followed the narrow footpath along the clifftop. As I walked, I disturbed countless brown butterflies and was serenaded by the chirping of grasshoppers in the neighbouring fields. The verges were bursting with wildflowers. The path wound alog, dipping in and out of the shade of trees, and suddenly turned a corner to reveal the glittering blue sea of Thorness Bay below. The path got even narrower as the cliff had fallen away. I paused here and admired the view of the sea, studded with boats, swimmers, and the wake from jet skis and motor boats, and listened to the shrieking of children playing below. In a tree across the landslip I noticed a pair of raptors - probably buzzards but I am not completely sure. Impressive anyway.

I continued along, following the path down past the old 'huts', evoking memories of childhood weekends spent here with friends, making and eating pizza and relaxing. Good times. The path continued towards, and then parallel to, the beach and led across a field to a farm track. I turned left here and followed it to Whippance Farm and then to the main road. Turning left I took my life in my hands and followed the pavementless road, full of blind corners and speeding cars, until I got to Rew Street.

Rew Street still lacked pavements, but was a little less windy and had less cars so I pottered along in a more relaxed manner. Along the way I paused to buy some Broad Beans from a roadside stall, and then bumped into an old friend at her farm, so stopped for a natter. Lovely.  Shortly afterwards I returned to the car, cool in the shade, and drove home for a well earned cold drink!

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4573057.html

Distance: 4.4miles

Thorness Bay

Firestone Copse

Well, it was high time I got off my behind and went for a proper stomp again. With that in mind, teenager and I headed off to Firestone Copse near Wootton (on one of the hottest days of the year so far) and went for a shady stroll through the trees. It was lovely! Neither of us had ever really explored the copse so we went wherever a whim took us, turning right here, left there, and eventually ending up on the banks of Wootton Creek. Here the path was riddled with exposed roots and strewn with fir cones, with patches of golden sunlight streaming through. We were enchanted. I had only really seen the creek from the road or the ferry before, so this stretch was new to me. The path continued on and gently up, and we pottered along deserted woodland paths by the banks of dried up streams before eventually turning a corner and finding the carpark. Here we found lots of people returning from dog walking, or starting a family barbecue in the shade of the trees.

Our next stop was Quarr Abbey, where we stopped for a nice cup of tea and some people watching, before admiring the piglets (some very new born and exceedingly cute!) and heading home via the seaside where we stopped for a quick paddle. It's great to live on this Island.

Creekside Path

Quarr Piglets

Log piles

Wild Nights Out ....... June

Rhythmtree Festival Warm Up

We joined friends out at The Cow Co at Tapnell Farm near Freshwater for a warm up gig. Three bands played; we sat outside for the first two, who sounded good (and slightly bonkers for one of them!), and went indoors for the final band, The Ohmz. My friends husband was playing keyboards and we had fun listening to their excellent reggae tunes. Very good band, and worth seeing again. We ate burgers - yummy - and I drank soda water and elderflower cordial from the bar. Also nice. We might even go to Rhythmtree this year!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge
Teenager enjoyed this more than I did; I think the series is getting a little jaded now. However, the special effects were good and enough of it was funny to overcome the stilted acting. Not entirely sure why Paul McCartney was in it, albeit briefly - perhaps because  a Rolling Stone was in an earlier one? I preferred the Rolling Stone!

Wild Nights Out...... May

Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra
This was, as ever, a glorious concert. The first piece was 'Danzon No. 2' by Marquez; this was lively and really set the bar for the rest of the evening. The next two pieces were written for recorder, and featured the extremely talented Miriam Nerval. Her first piece was a Recorder Concerto by David Bedford, and used every type of recorder, with orchestral accompaniment. The concerto began with bass recorder and gradually worked up through tenor, treble, descent and sopranino. I enjoyed the latter stages more than the start as the deeper recorders were harder to hear, however Miriam played extremely well, and at times was playing two recorders at once! Skills. The final recorder piece was Vivaldi's 'Recorder Concerto in G Major'. This was glorious. I have never seen anyone's fingers move so fast - the skills and techniques needed were extremely demanding, and Miriam did a superb job.

 

After the interval, the orchestra performed 'Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93' by Shostakovich. I wasn't so keen on this; it was played well, but went on for a long time and I got rather bored in the first part. The piece did improve on me later on and I was really enjoying it by the end. Another superb evening by IOW Symphony.

Medina College Hair show

Every year, the Hair and Beauty students of Medina College put on a show. I went for the first time this year and was really impressed by the skills of the students involved - I struggle to do even the basics with my hair, even now, and these students had made some really complex creations. The evening was also a fundraiser, and raised £1000 for 'Kissy Puppy', a local children's charity. Very well done to all involved.

Quarr Abbey again

As it was a glorious spring afternoon the teenager and I  decided to get some air and headed off to Quarr Abbey near Binstead. We pottered about and admired the pigs and piglets, popped into the art exhibition, admired the updated shop (rosaries in all shapes and sizes), and looked round the exhibition about the Abbey's history. Next we strolled past the Abbey itself, and down to the woodland walk where we ambled in the shade, pausing at the wildlife shelter to see if we could spot any squirrels. No luck, sadly. If ever I get a large garden, or garden of any size, I would like a shelter like that to wile away sunny afternoons in. The path meandered on past log piles, and trees sprouting new growth, and came out opposite a paddock with some newly shorn sheep. We paused again and watched a pair of buzzards circling in the sky above, then strolled down the green lane between banks of hogweed and cow parsley, field maple, dogwood and wild grasses, spotting bees on the flowers.

The lane came out opposite a stone cottage by fields containing the ruined remains of the medieval Abbey, and more sheep. Another lane led on towards Binstead in one direction, so we pottered that way passing beneath a huge weeping willow and uphill to a gate. We turned around then and followed the lane back to the car and home. If I lived in Binstead or Wootton I think I would come to Quarr all the time; it is such a peaceful place with magnificent wildlife and beautiful surroundings. Glorious - I can see why the monks settled here.

Quarr Abbey

Wild Rose