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| Arrival - our view of the bay |
Here we are in flaming June and it has been much like that so far which I was particularly pleased about in the past week as I was away on a walking holiday in the Isle of Wight. A friend and I booked through
HF Holidays and we spent four nights at Freshwater Bay House in....Freshwater Bay! This lovely hotel overlooking the bay had a very well known guest back in the day....Alfred Lord Tennyson, the poet. He later bought a house of his own just a stones throw away. There is a monument to him on the aptly now named Tennyson Down. This whole area is steeped in history.
Away from the main tourist areas of the Isle of Wight this was a lovely place to relax and watch the sea. My friend and I would stroll down through the garden after our walks and sit on a bench overlooking the bay. This was also our meeting point for the three walking groups - the easy riders (6/7 miles), the medium walking group (9/10 miles) and the harder walking group (approx 13 miles).
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| Back of hotel with pool |
This was my second holiday with the company so I knew the format - great meals, great walks and interesting evening entertainment. The first walk was in a figure of eight. We started off from the hotel and walked to the only thatched church on the island. We had a short time to explore before we set off towards The Needles where we stopped for lunch at the Old Battery. While we ate the fog horn was going and then suddenly The Needles Lighthouse disappeared behind a thick blanket of fog. Round the corner the sun was still blazing. After lunch we walked to Alum Bay, though we didn't go down into it. Instead we observed the coloured sands from the cliff top. We wound our way back via Tennyson down where our leader, Sally, stopped by the monument and read The Charge of the Light Brigade and explained about the poem The Crossing of the Bar which is mentioned there. It's made me want to read more of Tennyson's poetry as it seems more accessible than I thought it would be (me being more into contemporary poetry). As we walked back we saw the hotel in the mist but this later cleared.
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| The Needles and lighthouse |
The evening's entertainment on our arrival had been a series of short quizzes put together by our three leaders (great fun). The evening after the first walk we were entertained by a harpist!
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| Alum Bay |
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| Tennyson's Monument |
The following day we set out by coach to St Helen's where we were dropped. This was a strange day for stops. We'd hardly got started when we came to St Helen's Bay where everyone was keen to top-up their caffeine care of the cafe named Baywatch! Then it was a queue for the toilets (one toilet for all the women of the walking group...about 14 women!) I didn't need a loo as we'd had use of one when we got off the coach!. But this set the tone for the day. Every time we passed a loo they were all in there. I was getting a little frustrated with all the stops because we were held up and by the time we reached the lunch stop there wasn't time top visit Bembridge Windmill (beforehand there was a nice causeway walk to Bembridge Harbour with some rather appealing houseboats). Actually, there would have been time because our guide said it took only ten minutes to walk round not the 40mins English Heritage stated! While we could gets drinks we had to pay to go in to use the toilets. This time I was rather keen to use one and eventually the guy in the kiosk (probably worn down by us) relented and let us borrow the key to the toilet and three of us used it. At this point we were passed by the medium walkers!
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| Bembridge Harbour |
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| Bembridge Windmill |
On we went to our final destination Sandown. As we crossed the downs we saw lovely bays Culver and Whitecliff and stopped at a monument to the Earl of Yarborough. No loos here but a there was a small cafe where we bought ice cream. At this point we were then passed by the hard walkers. Utter humiliation! We headed down the cliffs towards Sandown in the distance. It was mentioned there would be time for a paddle or a cafe visit. I told my friend I was going for a paddle. She took a bit of convincing but in the end she was game. I told one of the ladies 'don't go without us' and headed off the prom down to the sand. We'd come unprepared but to hell with it - I was doing this! Walking shoes were abandoned, socks pulled off, trouser legs rolled and off we went to the sea. We were joined by an elderly man from our group (who took our photo to prove we did it!) and then his wife joined us (I reciprocated with the picture taking). The water was not nearly as cold as we'd expected. In fact it was so refreshing to our tired feet. We splashed around a bit before reluctantly returning to try and remove as much sand as possible (we were down to napkins from lunch for this). At least it was the end of the walk and a coach ride back. We all agreed it was wonderful and much better than another loo/cafe stop!
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| Sandown - ah the sea beckons! |
That evening we had a chap come in to give us a talk, with slides, on the history of the island. Very interesting.
Our last day began with another coach ride and we were dropped off in Shorwell where we visited a church and enjoyed looking at some thatched cottages. We then headed up. Our final destination today was
Carisbrooke Castle. This was the hottest day and seemed by far the hardest with lots of uphill drags. We went via Gatcombe and took a very hot lunch break overlooking fields. The view was lovely but we were all boiling by then. We walked along the Shepherd's Trail and an original Roman road - one used by pack horses to carry stone to build the castle. This was a shady downhill walk. Very pleasant. Gratefully we arrived at the castle and headed for the loo (I refused to use the bushes - no loos stops on this walk) and then the tea room. The 40 minute walk of the walls was just beyond us. We were all tired. Instead we visited the donkeys who put on a short display of turning the wheel for the well, the museum and chapel. By then it was time to leave by coach.
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| Onwards and upwards |
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Donkey walking the wheel to bring up the well bucket -
Carisbrooke Castle |
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| Chapel at Carisbrooke Castle |
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| Charles I's bedroom, Carisbrook Castle |
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| Dimbola - home of Julia Margaret Cameron |
That evening we went to visit Dimbola, the former home of pioneer photographer
Julia Margaret Cameron (whose exhibitions I'd been to see in London earlier in the year). When I'd found out her house was in Freshwater I was keen to see it, then on the first night when we had our meeting to discuss the walks etc. they said we would be going. I was over the moon! As it happened we could see the house from our bedroom window! So that night we all walked over and settled into the tea room for a talk. Afterwards we walked around the house before heading back to the hotel.
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| The bedroom - note the William Morris wallpaper |
I nearly forgot to mention that it was my birthday on the Sunday. I'd taken the cards from home that had arrived before I left on the Saturday and opened them on Sunday morning, My friend gave me a present and had brought a Happy Birthday banner for me which she put up on the fireplace. I was touched. I usually have to do my own banner! I put all my cards on the cabinet in front of the old fireplace. In the evening after dinner the house manager presented me with a helium balloon, a card and a present of a candle set. Everyone in the room sang Happy Birthday (how embarrassing!) as a huge Victoria Sponge arrived with candles! It was cut up but I cut it into smaller pieces and everyone who wanted some had it. The rest I left for the staff who worked so hard to make everything run smoothly. I couldn't have wished for a better birthday.
The holiday was really great. I was tired and exhausted but we'd done and seen so much. Our companions and leaders were great company and we had many laughs.
This was my second holiday with the company so I knew the format - great meals, great walks and interesting evening entertainment. The first walk was in a figure of eight. We started off from the hotel and walked to the only thatched church on the island. We had a short time to explore before we set off towards The Needles where we stopped for lunch at the Old Battery. While we ate the fog horn was going and then suddenly The Needles Lighthouse disappeared behind a thick blanket of fog. Round the corner the sun was still blazing. After lunch we walked to Alum Bay, though we didn't go down into it. Instead we observed the coloured sands from the cliff top. We wound our way back via Tennyson down where our leader, Sally, stopped by the monument and read The Charge of the Light Brigade and explained about the poem The Crossing of the Bar which is mentioned there. It's made me want to read more of Tennyson's poetry as it seems more accessible than I thought it would be (me being more into contemporary poetry). As we walked back we saw the hotel in the mist but this later cleared.
I nearly forgot to mention that it was my birthday on the Sunday. I'd taken the cards from home that had arrived before I left on the Saturday and opened them on Sunday morning, My friend gave me a present and had brought a Happy Birthday banner for me which she put up on the fireplace. I was touched. I usually have to do my own banner! I put all my cards on the cabinet in front of the old fireplace. In the evening after dinner the house manager presented me with a helium balloon, a card and a present of a candle set. Everyone in the room sang Happy Birthday (how embarrassing!) as a huge Victoria Sponge arrived with candles! It was cut up but I cut it into smaller pieces and everyone who wanted some had it. The rest I left for the staff who worked so hard to make everything run smoothly. I couldn't have wished for a better birthday.
The holiday was really great. I was tired and exhausted but we'd done and seen so much. Our companions and leaders were great company and we had many laughs.
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