We were very lucky with blue skies and warm weather on the Isle of Wight at the beginning of October, the last day came round very quickly, and since the island is criss-crossed with so many well signposted footpaths and bridleways, we thought we'd have a longish walk.
Also conscious that we hadn't found any fossils, we headed for a car park on the south western part of the island adjacent to Compton Bay, walked along the coastal path towards Freshwater Bay, crossed the main road and walked along the Freshwater Way until we reached the golf course when we took a very sharp right turn and walked along the ridge via Tennyson Trail with Shalcombe Manor in the distance. It was beckoning, and there's a footpath passing very close to it, but we decided to leave it for another time and walked back along towards the coastal path.
Above is a photo of Freshwater Cliff, leading to Freshwater Bay.
I think maybe people get married above Freshwater Cliff
After the walk, we went down to the beach below the car park, and took a photo of some of the cliff which had recently slipped down, there were no fossils to be seen. In fact we didn't see any fossils, although there was an information board in the car park saying we'd see fossils.
It's a surfer's beach, lots of people took surf boards down, I have included two photos so you can see how dramatic the cliffs below Tennyson Down are from Compton Bay.
This was a photo of one of the last views of the sea before coming home
After the day out walking, we had somehow missed out on lunch altogether so went to the cafe at
Ventnor Botanic Garden for afternoon tea and cake. It was there that we saw Annie and Steve who'd also done the same thing. Before we went to the Isle of Wight, I was conscious that Annie, who used to live in Swindon, lived somewhere on the island, but wasn't sure where. What a coincidence to find out she and Steve live opposite the Botanic Garden, and on the last afternoon! Annie invited us round that evening, and here she and Steve are with friends in the garden.
They live in a very special, beautiful house with a large garden which I'd love to see in daylight
Here's the view of the light over the front door, and below a view of the outside of a magical building in the garden.
What a fascinating end to a brilliant holiday. Looking forward to going back before long.
Comments
Post a Comment