All right on the Isle of Wight

After a walk round charming Lymington on a hot and sunny morning we were soon boarded on the ferry which threaded its way through the moorings of Lymington marina and forty minutes later pulled up at Yarmouth.

A quick whizz across to Wootton saw us parked up behind the Woodsman's Arms and off on the bikes down to Ryde where the remarkable hovercraft over to Southsea still runs regular passenger services directly from the beach. We locked the bikes up and were amazed at the way the huge craft arrived in a flurry of spray and roaring engines before settling down for the front door ramps to open. We were soon onboard and secured window seats for the ten minute flight. The fast ride felt like a plane rumbling along before take off and soon had us deposited at Southsea where we walked through the rather tacky amusement arcades and along the defensive walls towards Portsmouth where the Spinnaker Tower lorded it over the city. This combined with an incoming cross Channel ferry had me looking forward to future trips and reminiscing on those before.

Another exciting return to Ryde followed by a speedy ride back to the van gave us time to freshen up before the pub served us an excellent meal and we slept well in the quiet field.

Blue skies and sunshine greeted us as we set off back to Ryde calling at the beautiful Quarr Abbey with its brickwork soaking up the heat. Better photos of the hovercraft were taken before we cycled round the shoreline to Seaview and then grabbed coffee and an ice-cream at Duver before taking the causeway across to Bembridge. The mill was shrouded in scaffolding and tarpaulins for renovations so we carried on to Sandown before picking up the old railway line, now a cycle track, all the way up to Newport. Heading up the east side of the Medina river we passed the rusting hulk of a paddle steamer and then cut across back to Wootton after a stunning day.

We had booked tickets for the IOW steam railway just ten minutes walk from the pub and arrived in time for a look round the small Wootton Bridge halt before the steam hauled train puffed in to view. After watching the loco run round and couple up we jumped in to our First Class compartment and were instantly transported back to a different era of rail travel. Plush seats, ornate decorations, mirrors and lights combined with drop down windows to create a sense of travel as it used to be. We had the six seater compartment to ourselves as we headed towards the company's main centre Haven Street where we alighted to explore the museum, workshops and other displays as our train headed away south. We caught it again later to maximise our experience of steam travel by returning to Wootton Bridge and then all the way back via Haven Street to Smallbrook Junction where the mainline is joined. We decided to hop on the train to Ryde and enjoy the experience of riding out along the pier to the ferry terminal. We then returned right through to Shanklyn and walked along the seafront back to Sandown after taking the lift down. At Sandown we looked at the forlorn ruins of the burnt out Ocean Hotel that rather blights the seafront before the comfy train took us back to Smallbrook and a final steam hauled ride in another empty First Class carriage back to Wootton Bridge.

We moved on that evening to a lovely camp site at Queen's Bower where we had hook up and good views courtesy of Yasmin and Sean. Next day we rode down to the cycle track again and cycled through to Sandown, along to Shanklyn for fish and chips and then enjoyed the deep fern and shrub lined valley of Shanklyn Chine.  The Chine had been used for the route of a remarkable war time project called PLUTO (Pipeline Under The Ocean) which pumped essential fuel under the Channel to support the Allied forces as they liberated Europe. This link will give you more information on this remarkable project Here We climbed out at the far end to enjoy Old Shanklyn with its thatched cottages before enjoying a large bowl of mussels at the Fisherman's Cottage Inn right on the shoreline. After a steep climb out we followed the coast path which involved some steep wooden steps and eventually reached Ventnor with its harbour and IOW shaped paddling pool. Steep Hill cove was reached by another path after which we climbed back up to the tarmac and followed the quiet road round to St Catherine's Point. A return over the downs to Godshill put us back on the cycle track to the site and included a good view of a red squirrel.

After another run along the cycle path we reached Newport and stopped at the Bargeman's Restaurant, a huge linear pub with a sunny terrace, for hot chocolate before continuing up the west bank of the Medina passing the large wind turbine blade factory and reaching Cowes with its narrow streets and range of shops. On the marina we absorbed the busy scene as yachts sailed in and out, the Red Funnel ferry headed over to Southampton and a team were carefully lifting out a number of training yachts for winter storage, each receiving a good jet wash before being lowered on to bespoke trailers. We got talking to an Ozzie guy working on his friend's super yacht which was due to be transported down to Greece for the winter aboard a cargo ship at a cool £70k....A good 'hot soup and a roll' deal in the waterside caff set us up to cycle round to Gurnard with superb views across to the mainland. A curious reproduction vessel, the Nao Vittoria from Spain, passed by before we dropped back to Cowes to cross to East Cowes on a small passenger ferry which was temporarily replacing the larger chain ferry that was undergoing maintenance. We squeezed aboard with the bikes along with a gaggle of schoolchildren and then returned to Newport along the opposite bank and then back to the site via the cycle path once more.

An early start saw us getting laundry done in Sandown before we arrived at the hugely impressive Roman mosaics at Brading Villa which entertained us for a couple of hours. 

Osborne House, the holiday home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was very accessible with endless rooms full of their treasured collections of art, sculpture and furniture topped off by the opulent Durbar dining room which reflected her love of and connection to, as Empress of, India. Mature trees in the grounds below the formal gardens led to the jetty and private beach where the family had played and a little further on stood the Swiss Cottage designed by Albert to reflect his German roots, as a play house for their nine children. Finishing off with the walled garden we again returned to the Turfcutter's at Wootton for another good meal and a quiet night.

Returning to Godshill the following day we found the Model Village absolutely fascinating with the detailed models and layouts enhanced by carefully trimmed bonsai trees and bushes. A model railway trundled around, music came from the churches and many of the sights from the last few days were faithfully recreated in miniature including the Chine and local houses in the village.

Up at the real church we admired the interior decorations and grounds before heading off to a lofty lunch spot up on the Downs with panoramic views over Ventnor and the container ships out in the Channel. We had seen the Arcadia and Disney Princess Cruise liners heading to Canada and Spain respectively and appreciated how much more we enjoy our self contained and flexible approach to travel. Down at Shanklyn we had an evening meal before returning to the Chine after dark as it is illuminated and at this time of year has a number of Halloween themed 'enhancements'. 

Returning to the Downs we had a quiet night with another van nearby and then moved on along the south coast to Freshwater Bay. Here a lovely old character from Huddersfield provided simple camping for a tenner a night on his sheltered two acre field alongside the Golf Club. Witty had retired here twenty years ago but after losing his wife earlier this year was considering a return to Yorkshire so his rather tired bungalow was on the market for almost £700k. In his early 80's it seemed a daunting prospect but he was a lively character and we wished him well.

The newly refurbished Rock Hotel looked out over Freshwater Bay and from the bus stop nearby we caught the open topped Needles Breezer in to Freshwater village and then through Totland and out initially to the rather tacky Needles Landmark Attraction. Riding the open topped upper deck was as ever great fun, offered good views in to homes and gardens and set the pulse racing as we squeezed through narrow lanes and up to the Needles Batteries high above Alum Bay. We stayed aboard as far as Yarmouth and then had a good look round the small town spotting an immaculate VW T2 van before getting the last but one bus back. On a stunning evening this gave us time to walk over Tennyson Down to his granite monument before returning to base.

Next day our 24 hour ticket gave us time to return to the Needles on the bus and from the Attraction hop on the cable car down to the coloured sands of Alum Bay. Here we were tempted to jump aboard the RIB for an excellent journey along the foot of the cliffs and out around the Needles lighthouse. Close up when back onshore the sands of the cliffs were of a remarkable range of colours and bright white chalk pebbles rounded by the seas were scattered around the beach.

After catching the chairlift back we walked up to the National Trust run Needles Old Battery looking across to the New Forest beyond Hurst Castle Spit. As expected it was all very well presented with access to various rooms, a long tunnel out to a searchlight point and of course the five huge gun emplacements that had guarded the Solent and its approaches. The cafe in the Lookout Tower had stupendous views and energised us for the walk up to the New Battery and Coastguard look out passing a rocket testing station that had been part of the UK's early forays in to nuclear weapons. 

From here it was a rolling walk over the downs again past Tennyson's monument once more and back to the van after a varied day.

Yesterday was our final full day on the Island and began with a short ride up to the Dimbola Museum and Galleries located in the former home of Julia Cameron, an early female pioneer in the field of photography. Much of her work was on display along with early photographic equipment and a rather bland range of photos from the IOW Photography Society. Of more interest were photos from Syria and elsewhere capturing mosques, temples and monuments from across North Africa, many now destroyed by conflict. The lovely Orchards Stores grocery provided some basics following a visit to the thatched church after which we had an early lunch back at the van before setting off over Compton and Brightstone Downs on superb flowing grassy tracks with wonderful views. We dropped in to Brightstone itself for a drink and then picked up the Military Road to head west and back to base. We stopped at Hanover Point but failed to spot the dinosaur footprints as the light was fading so will head back there later today before our evening ferry back to Lymington.

From there we will move on to Frome tonight to leave the van for a week whilst we embark on King Alfred's Way, a 240 mile ride round Wessex, mostly off road following the Ridgeway, Kennet and Avon Canal and some of the South Downs Way over 5 nights and 6 days.

The IOW has hugely exceeded our expectations and given us many great memories and experiences including 10 different modes of transport all enjoyed in superb weather.

Extras as always...

Still busy!

 As the memorable summer slowly transitioned in to Autumn I joined Jan and two friends from Brecon on a short visit to Moel Prysgau bothy with the drive from Lower Chapel over the Eppynt to Beulah and then through Abergwesyn and over the Devil's Staircase being as enchanting as ever. Tree felling has altered the landscapes and opened up the views and there is still a fair amount of windblow from Storm Darra last year.

We parked up near Nantystalwyn and took the higher route above the Towy before descending alongside a patch of clear felling that had rather obscured the old footpath. Laden with rucksacks and some coal we were glad to arrive at the bothy with the final river crossing made easy by the low water levels. Paula and Daisy were intrigued by their first bothy visit and I was relieved that it was in good order following the recent Bank Holiday. We spread out our gear and set off up the track aiming for the source of the Towy but more windblow and a setting sun prevented us from reaching it.

As we returned to the bothy three lads were lugging in loads of kit and said they were going back for their bikes. These turned out to be unregistered off road bikes, something of a no no in the NRW forests but they were decent enough guys and happily took up the space in the vacant half of the building. After tea and a chat I shuffled off to sleep under the trees down by the confluence leaving the girls some privacy for bedtime. I wanted to test a new bivvy bag which I had been assured would be waterproof and breathable (it wasn't) and slept soundly on 12 inches of dry sphagnum moss.

After waking I walked up to the bridge where the lads had parked and noted another van with a guy crashed out in the front. Back at the bothy all was well and after breakfast the bikers had to push one machine that failed to start back up to the top track whilst we walked out to the bridge and then followed the river back to the van. Again low water levels led to largely dry crossings and we collected almost enough 4x4 parts to build our own vehicle.

In Brecon I got a refund for the bag and then headed out to Sennybridge to collect pills and mail from friends before we all headed down to the excellent Shoemakers for a meal.

I the headed over to Priddy up on the Mendips for a couple of days resting during a spell of unsettled weather enjoying the huge range of channels from the 1000' high Mendip transmitter. Down at the Hunters Inn I enjoyed a cauliflower cheese washed down with two Butcombe in a place almost unchanged in my 45 years of visiting before heading over to another old favourite : Watchet.

Here my mate from Lynton joined me for a night and we caught up with a year's news at the excellent Spice Merchant before the sounds of a small folk group encouraged us to return to the Pebbles Tavern for a few more beers. After a look round the art collective Greg headed home as they are in the early stages of moving house and I enjoyed a second quiet night in the van. The West Somerset Railway had suspended steam services following a line side fire over the Bank Holiday weekend but the replacement classic diesels were a throwback to my early trainspotting interests in the mid 70's.

I returned to Priddy for a final night before moving on to Rock Farm at Shelton Mallet where Gavin was again hosting a work camp for the Greenways and Cycle Routes charity that is currently working to complete the Somerset Circle and connecting routes including the historic Strawberry Line. It was lovely to meet up with so many of the talented and hardworking people from last year and enjoy the excellent catering from Chris and Clare under the welcome cover of a large marquee.

Over the next week dozens of volunteers put in hundreds of hours on various tasks with work focusing on fencing and enhancing a new section cut in to the embankment of the former line, constructing an all weather shelter, installing four concrete cattle crossings, building numerous gabions and for Pete and I tackling the construction of two types of seating made from ekki, a West African hardwood that had been a wharf in Holland until it's arrival here. The Simplicity bench was certainly that in design and concept but the assembly and installation proved anything but as the solid ekki was heavy to handle, almost impossible to drill and needed more substantial brackets than initially expected.

However with the help of two volunteers from Bristol we had one installed by midweek which would have been more level had anyone spotted the extra packer in time. The gabion, dam building and fencing teams had done sterling work despite a day of torrential showers and the sociable evenings around the firepit warmed cold extremities and eased tired limbs. As always I was grateful for the shower and heater in the van which also transported a wheelbarrow, 6 bags of concrete, two 20l jerry cans of water and various tools in to Shepton where Pete and I finished off some minor snags on the bridge installed a year ago. We called in at the cemetery to see how much the walkway and pergola had settled in to the landscape over the last twelve months before returning to walk up the cycle path and inspect progress. A small diversion saw us recovering a Tesco's trolley from the deep valley beneath the viaduct (later repurposed as a frame for filling sandbags).

Two excellent examples of the innovative approach to path building involved the repurposing of nearly 200 250kg concrete railway sleepers to form a striking bridge using RSJs and a retaining wall along a new section of track : genius.

On the Thursday most of us walked the proposed onward extension over a normally locked viaduct and on to the Showering's factory where cider production has replaced the once famous Babycham. The family may eventually allow the cycle path to cross over the magnificent 26 arch viaduct that curves high above the beautiful Kilver Court Gardens where they kindly gave forty of us tea and cake during a visit.

That evening the inspirational John Grimshaw who started Sustrans over forty years ago gave us a talk covering much of the work carried out locally and across in the Wye Valley and reminisced on the successes of the last ten years of work camps. The original team of John, his brother Chris and wife Clare are all in their 80's now but do have a younger cohort (largely 60+!) to pass things on to and Gavin and his family have kindly extended an invitation for their home to host another camp next year.

Friday saw a flurry of activity to get the new track finished off with the fencing contractor laying stock fence at speed with an ingenious tracked machine, Mark, the roads and surfacing contractor, covering the retaining gabions and making good whilst we collected up the tools and equipment to return to base. A large team repointed a retaining wall with the mortar being hand mixed as the petrol mixer refused to start and two friends of Pete's from Frome joined us to install the second Simplicity bench plus construct two others of more conventional design. I managed to get a splinter from the ekki which became infected over the next couple of days but fortunately I still have the Doxycycline left over from Mauritania to fall back on.

Friday night was the last night and saw fewer numbers, probably a good job as the water supply failed temporarily and we'd had the odd power outage as the demands on the supply were high at times and I was away first thing on Saturday to fill up at Tesco's before heading to a washing machine at Cheddar. En route to Highbridge Station to collect Mandy I called in at a couple of motorhome dealerships but nothing caught my eye.

A few boisterous youngsters were heading up to Bristol and I wondered if any would eventually ride the completed cycle path, perhaps with families, and even begin to appreciate how much hard work and good will goes in to such projects

A quick run across the Levels saw us back at Priddy to join up with Bill, Nick, Dale and Pete for another catch up session in the Hunters followed on Sunday by a walk over to the mast and down towards Wells. Lunch just before the heavens opened was timely but we all got soaked heading back and the others were soon away to warm up and dry off. Earlier we had heard the sad news that our friend Jan over at Lower Chapel had lost her beloved Major a 33 year old horse and companion of 25 years that we have all known so well.

We fired up the Eber and hot water and had a relaxing evening in before on Monday walking over the fields to Priddy for lunch at the Queen Vic, which now has new owners, and then calling at the camp site shop for a few bits and pieces. Monday's BBC2 quiz night was as intellectually challenging as ever....

We said goodbye to Dorothy who looked much brighter than a year ago, despite losing a daughter earlier this year, and headed in to Shepton so Mandy could admire the works of the previous two years. We stayed in the quarry and walked up to this year's projects where a few local volunteers were still hard at it and met a guy who is currently living in an eco retreat adjacent to the main quarry that we knew nothing about.

In Shepton the following morning I grabbed a much needed haircut from a young Kurdish/Turkish lad whose home town was Diyarbakir, one of the highlights of our visit earlier this year and who knew the superb Lake Van.

A visit to the now closed Shelton Mallet prison was fascinating and thought provoking with plenty of history as well as descriptions of modern prison life until its closure in 2013. Walking the huge wings was like being on the set of 'Porridge'... Norman Stanley Fletcher.....

Finally we moved down to a pub outside Lymington where the excellent Turfcutters Arms were happy for us to overnight. We enjoyed some of the best food in recent years there and had a quiet night before heading to Lymington for our planned visit to the Isle of Wight .... Full details next time!

Meanwhile extra pics are here