A Sunday ramble - Arreton

Sunday started a bit grey and unpromising, but by mid-morning it was showing every sign of being a lovely autumn day.  We both felt we should make the most of the good weather (we still had visions of those snow-ploughs - is the outlook for winter really that bad?) so N looked out a book of local walks, published by the IW branch of the Ramblers, and selected one that looked interesting.  Backpack packed with water, route, first-aid kit (we never go anywhere without it now; you never know when you may need it) and a snack for lunch.  Walking boots fetched from the shed - again, we always wear them for rambling as it's so easy to turn an ankle on loose stones or a misjudged step.

We are blessed on this island with beautiful countryside and a very good network of bridleways and footpaths.  The walk we did took us through Arreton Valley and up and down the downland on either side.  It's a circular route so we were able to park the car at the start/finish point.  

The route was easy to follow for the most part, just a couple of places where things weren't quite as they had been in 2000 when the booklet was revised.  A 'grassy area' was now overgrown with ferns, and somewhere else we had to take a bit of a diversion to avoid a newly-planted woodland, but generally the directions were clear and straight-forward.  Most of the footpaths are numbered which is always helpful.  Part of the walk linked up with one of the cycle-paths that form part of the National Cycle Network.

N and I have in our time both enjoyed cycling on these routes, and they are well used by cyclists, walkers and horse-riders, all of which we encounted on our walk.  

We saw very old buildings ...

St Georges Church, Arreton, dates back to the 12th century.  It has a very squat tower with interesting buttresses.

a wonderful gargoyle ....

and an old railway bridge, where someone decided to have a bit of a rest ;) ....

The Isle of Wight used to have a large rail network in the days of steam, and it is quite usual to come across remnants of it when you get out and about in the countryside, like this bridge over the river, or old station platforms now grown over with ivy and brambles.  Our route took us along part of the disused railway system, many miles of which are now getting a new lease of life as footpaths. 

I like walking in the autumn, just as the seasons are turning.  The leaves are still green but many of the plants have set seed:

I loved these - the seed heads of cow parsley and teasels against the blue autumn sky

Clematis vitalba

This is what I call 'Old Man's Beard'; it's Clematis vitalba - the little black seeds have long silky strands to help them disperse.  I can remember, as a very small child, picking this to decorate my Auntie Sybil's house.  She was well-versed in the old traditional country ways, and if there were no flowers for her vases in the autumn, then we looked for interesting seed heads instead.  Funny the things that stick in your mind, isn't it?


We also saw a huge green grasshopper, a pair of green woodpeckers, a kestrel sitting on top of a telegraph pole - N got some great photos of it.


Here are some views from along the way ...

An old chalk pit - the downlands here are mostly chalk

Rolls hills and green valleys with farms and hamlets tucked away

A very steep climb right near the end of the walk caught us by surprise!

Very straight trackways . . .

. . .  and ones that disappear downhill!

And finally, we were impressed with this field of cabbages - our little seedlings have a long way to go!

We thoroughly enjoyed our ramble around the Arreton valley.  The booklet said the walk was about 8 miles; wearing my pedometer, we reckoned it was nearer 9 but we parked further away from the start/finish car park suggested.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours at a steady pace but we stopped here and there to admire the views and consult the map.  All in all, a really good day out.