Tennyson Down and The Needles

 Tennyson Down is a chalk upland where the poet, Lord Tennyson, is said to have walked every day during the 40 years he lived in nearby Farringdon House; it culminates in three jagged rocks that form the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight. Tennyson Down is currently managed by the National Trust.

It's best to set aside a fine day to walk along Tennyson Down, the walk starts in Freshwater Bay which can be reached by bus or car. Car parking in Freshwater Bay can be quite expensive, but along the Military Road into the village, there are several National Trust car parks where if you're a member you can park without paying. Approaching Freshwater village, the scenery is spectacular, the chalk cliffs, sea and sky make perfect material for photography, however I didn't take any photographs until we reached Tennyson's monument, 147 metres above sea level.

Here's Tim resting before we embarked on the walk along West High Down to The Needles, a lovely walk, 3 miles from Freshwater village.

I took a couple of photos of The Needles, they are so spectacular and this shows how white the cliffs look, although if you look at the beach, there's quite a lot of black down there, presumably from erosion of soil at the top of the cliff.

This is walking down again to Freshwater where you can see the dramatic cliffs of Compton Bay, I think. 

I didn't include this photo at the beginning of this piece, but I was very impressed by the newly built toilet block in Freshwater village. Bucking the trend everywhere else where toilets close or are poorly maintained, Freshwater has provided for the people walking around the village and Down. However I've searched to find out more and there's an article from 2021 when this block was proposed at a cost of £130,000, local residents were not supportive or impressed. As a tourist, I was very impressed and felt it showed pride in the local area.

In the shelter by the beach at Freshwater are three mosaics created by Freshwater Bay Residents Association in 2009 with help from Boris Moscoff and Catherine van Ciap and unveiled by watercolour artist Muriel Owen

Here's a photo of the beach at Freshwater Bay, there's lots of benches and there were people in the sea when we visited on 21 September