Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Isle of Wight

  • Isle of Wight Trip – Day 0 (Cowes – Holy Trinity Church)

    Sadly, Holy Trinity Church in Cowes was locked when I tried to visit, so I wasn’t able to see inside. However, it was built in 1832 and was designed by Benjamin Bramble using primarily Isle of Wight yellow brick and was based on the same designs which were used for St. Thomas’s Church in Ryde. The church was funded by Sarah Goodwin and intriguingly she did this to provide employment for her son-in-law the Reverend Maximillian Geneste. How rather noble…

    The church was formally consecrated on 21 June 1832 by the Rt. Reverend, the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. There was a collection held after the service which was donated to the Funds of the County Female Penitentiary. I liked how the church was advertising for a new curate in 1867 and they wanted “an active, earnest fair preacher, of no extreme views”.

    A view of the tower which has extensive views out to sea, so it’s no surprise that there is a strong connection with the maritime community. In the garden of the church there is a memorial to those killed in the Fastnet Race in 1979, when fifteen yachtsmen died along with another four people who were watching the event from a yacht.

    It was mildly disappointing that I couldn’t get to see inside, but maybe another time.

  • Isle of Wight Trip – Day 0 (Cowes – Cowes Ale House)

    The Cowes Ale House, the sister pub of the Newport Ale House, which has a marvellous concept of a welcoming environment, bar snacks, no jukebox and a community feel. A few years ago this was a clothes shop and the conversion is a positive move, this trend of bringing shops back into use as small pubs is one I’d like to see even more of. The staff member at the bar was helpful and warm, so the environment was welcoming.

    The Good Beer Guide said to expect the occasional mild and porter. So I did. And they didn’t have any. The nearest to a dark beer they had was the Robinsons Trooper, which is linked to Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. The beer was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, which was good as it was in a cooling jacket and these are sometimes more effective than others.

    The beer tasted a bit bland to me, no real strong flavours or depths of taste and I couldn’t get the subtle hint of lemon.

    Some of the pump clips from past beers, and there are some interesting past selections, not least the Ernie’s Milk Stout. The prices of the beer were reasonable, mainly coming in at just under £4 per pint.

    The pub wasn’t particularly busy when we went in on a Saturday afternoon, but there was a welcoming and comfortable feel to the pub. I do really like the whole concept of this pub and the environment feels just right for a relaxed drink. Unfortunately for me and this visit the beer selection didn’t have anything to interest me.

  • Isle of Wight Trip – Day 0 (The Train)

    Our journey from Norwich to Southampton started at 05:37 and Gordon was there and he came bearing sweets, so very generous of him. I didn’t really doubt him though at any time on this. A longer than usual train took us to Cambridge, departing from Platform 6, and it wasn’t particularly busy.

    The amount of shrubbery neatly placed along the track at Cambridge railway station did give me the impression that the planting was deliberate. It’s certainly unusual to have so much foliage between tracks.

    The train arrived safely into London King’s Cross from Cambridge and it wasn’t as busy as I had been anticipating. It was the fast service from Cambridge which didn’t stop between there and the capital, with the train being relatively busy but not packed.

    In order to cross London, we got a chance to go on my favourite underground line (everyone has a favourite underground line don’t they?), the Waterloo and City.

    Getting off the Waterloo and City Line, nearly always a leisurely and comfortable service outside of commuting hours.

    The former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station. After getting a Boots meal deal (living the dream….) I was able to get us a four-person table seat on the South-West Trains service to Southampton. The train was clean and functional, although there was a lack of an at seat trolley service, which Gordon was slightly devastated about.

    We arrived in Southampton dead on time at 10:22, which is impressive given that we had three trains and two underground trains to navigate. The entire ticket price was just over £20, which I thought was excellent value. I was also pleased that there were working power points on all of the three trains, meaning I was always fully charged and ready to go. How lovely.

  • Isle of Wight Trip – Coast Path

    The walk this week is the Isle of Wight coastal path, a total of around 70 miles, so one of the shortest long distance walks that we’ve done.

    9/6/19: Cowes-Yarmouth 16 miles
    10/6/19: Yarmouth-Totland 8 miles
    11/6/19: Totland-Chale 13 miles
    12/6/19: Chale-Sandown 12 miles
    13/6/19: Sandown-Ryde 12 miles
    14/6/19: Ryde-Cowes 10 miles

  • Isle of Wight Trip – And So it Begins

    And it’s just gone 4am in the morning, which means that it’s the beginning of the Hike Norfolk trip walking around the Isle of Wight. The adventure today is getting the train from Norwich to Cambridge, then from Cambridge to London, then crossing London, then getting the train from London to Southampton and then getting the ferry from Southampton to West Cowes. So, a lovely easy day.

    Why a 4am start? Well, there was the choice between getting the £22 rail ticket to get us to Southampton (leaving at 05:30) or spending twice as much and getting a slightly later one. Much as a slightly later one would have been rather more comfortable, economy wins out….