Well, we did it again ! We chose a beautiful week for our holiday to the Isle of Wight, travelling on Saturday 10th May 2025, initially to Portsmouth and then across on the ferry from the harbour where the Spinnaker Observation Tower provides a 170 metre tall landmark.
45 members from both Biddulph and Stoke/Newcastle arrived at the Ocean View Hotel in Shanklin for our 7 nights stay after a good journey. The island has a land area of 150 square miles, and is largely rural.
Our walks programme covering 6 days started on a warm and breezy Sunday from Godshill, with short, medium and longer routes for the 42 walkers. We would all see the 18th century Appuldurcombe House, built by the Worsley family, which was once the grandest house on the island, in extensive grounds. Damaged in WW2 it had partial restoration but is no longer inhabited. There was also the Worsley Obelisk on the hill above the house that we passed by. The original short and medium routes were combined into a 6.6 mile walk, and a 12 mile walk for the 6 longer walkers.
Monday was a day off for our driver Mike, so many in the group chose to visit other places on the island. Trips to Osbourne House, Ventnor, Cowes, Ryde, Sandown and Shanklin Old Village all proved popular, but 17 people did take part in walks from the hotel, one going from Shanklin to Ventnor and Bonchurch via the downs, and returning by the local bus service, and the longer walkers had a similar route but walking back to Shanklin, along the coast path.
Tuesday was hot and sunny, and the longer walkers were dropped off in the lovely Freshwater Bay for their 12 mile coastal path walk, whilest the other 28 were taken to the Needles landmark attraction. Initially we headed from Alum Bay towards the famous Needles rocks for the outstanding views, before heading to the coast path upto the Tennyson Monumant, where we had a break. The short walkers then returned to Alum Bay for the afternoon, and the medium continued along the coast path to Freshwater Bay, before returning slightly inland to Alum Bay. Later the coach returned to Freshwater Bay to pick up the other walkers.
Just 18 on the coach on Wednesday for the trip to Niton, taking in St Catherine's Hill and the lighthouse for the 11 short/medium walkers covering 7 miles on the coastal path on another warm, breezy and sunny day. An inland loop to the east prior to to joining the same route as the others for the remaining walkers took their walk to over 10 miles.
All Thursday walks ended at the NT property Mottistone Manor and gardens, starting from Shorwell Village, climbing upto Limerstone Down and then on the Worsley Trail along the top of the ridge dropping down past Dunsbury and through Hilverstone to reach Mottistone Manor after 7 miles. The longer walkers went to Fore Down, Limerstone Down, and Compton Down before moving onto the coastal path and cliff top walking before heading to the manor for an 11 mile walk. The gardens were full of colour and very pretty.
The final walks on Friday would all end at Carisbrooke Castle, and this was also the starting point for the short/medium walkers after being dropped off on the coach park. That 7 mile route would go to Little Gatcombe, Gatcombe House, Garston Down and then follow the valley back to the castle. The undulating sweeping fields as far as the eye could see had crops of barley and broad beans making more spectacular views. The other walk of 10 miles started in Chillerton and took in the central downs and Shorwell, before heading back to the castle.
We soon realised that everywhere on the island was up including the Downs ! Over the course of the week there were some significant climbs on the walks. Erosion was evident in various areas including cliff paths and The Needles, with landslips causing detours. On the downs and in the hedgerows there were large areas of wildflowers, campions, bluebells, daisies, foxgloves, wild garlic and plenty of nettles ! A real bonus was the sight and sound of Skylarks in several areas, along with buzzards, rooks, crows and on the way home , red kites. We saw small herds of cattle and sheep and we even came upon sheep shearers, just as the farmer and his 3 dogs had moved the flock into pens ready to be shorn. The views though on all the walks were quite outstanding from our vantage points, especially as the sea was very calm on several days in the continuing beautiful weather. Hopefully the photos, which will be on the website later will show all of this.
A huge thank you to everyone who took part in making this another successful holiday, and special thanks to Dave Martin for all his hard work in finding our hotel and dealing with the bookings, Martin Jones and Charlie Bigley as the main walk leaders and for Jan Bigley who produced our information brochure for the week. Finally to Mike, our driver from Hollinshead Coaches, for always skillfully managing the narrow country lanes we keep finding for him, and for the safe journey home on Saturday 17th May .