Newport To Ryde Isle of Wight Pt.5

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It’s the 15th March 18, and sadly it is our last day on the Isle of Wight and I have to say it’s been really nice. The walking here is fantastic, but it is a walk of contrasts. In the south of the Island the scenery is better and on the north, although still nice, it has issues with some unkempt paths. I know that a lot of people are concerned that in England the care of paths has now switched to the Highways Agencies and worry that our paths will suffer with money being prioritised for road maintenance rather than recreational paths. I know from experience in my home county Kent, there are signs this is starting to happen already and some paths are now unwalkable. I do hope that the Isle of Wight does not let this happen because it is such a lovely place that needs good access for walkers. I also hope they continue to get access to areas of the foreshore currently without paths for walkers to truly get the walking around Wight experience. I also feel I should mention the hospitality shown to us on the island has been second to none, the people here try to make your visit one to remember and bend over to be hospitable at every opportunity, these people help make the island an absolute gem. Thanks to all those who have helped us on this leg of our coastal adventure.
So after a great night’s rest at the Castle Lodge Guest House (which we can recommend), it’s back into town to continue our walk back alongside the Medina River to East Cowes.

Newport is the capital of the Isle of Wight and sits at the head of the navigable section of the Medina River, which runs north to Cowes and the Solent.

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As you leave Newport on the east bank of the River Medina, the river starts to open up and you can see the original Newport Rowing Club Boathouse on the west bank. This unique wooden boathouse was built in 1863.

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As mentioned in my blog on the Shalfleet to Newport section pt.4, wind turbines and their blades are tested and manufactured by Danish firm Vestas on the banks of the River Medina. Here one of the huge blades is being loaded onto a barge and you can see it overhangs the bow being longer than the boat deck itself.

Vestas has invested £56 million in its new wind turbine blade research facility on the banks of the River Medina and at the time of construction it is the world’s largest test facility providing cutting edge technology for material research and development.

This three-storey office block, with link atrium housing the reception and café, provides high quality accommodation for its 150+ strong workforce of designers, project managers, administrators and ancillary functions. Housed with two massive 170m long halls at 50 metres wide and 36 metre high, the foundations extend in parts to 35 metres depth for the most critical bearing test rigs.

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, produces blades that form part of the innovative V164-8MW wind turbine, the most powerful wind turbine in the world. These turbines produce enough electricity in a single rotation from 1 individual turbine to power an average UK household for 29 hours (13,3 KWh), and have significantly reduced the cost of producing electricity through offshore wind.

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A little further down the Medina river on the east bank is the abandoned PS Ryde paddle steamer. The PS Ryde was built in 1936 at Dumbarton Clydeside by William Denny & Brothers and cost the old Southern Railway £46,800. She was commissioned to replace the PS Duchess of Norfolk on the Portsmouth to Ryde passenger ferry service in 1937. Sadly this beautiful boat is now breaking up on the salt marsh beside Island Harbour Marina. She saw wartime service as HMS Ryde and patrolled the Straits of Dover as a Minesweeper and later as an anti-aircraft ship on the Thames Estuary at Harwich. However her main claim to wartime fame is that she took part in Operation Neptune on D-Day ordered to run aground if coal got low she sheltered American troops on Omaha beach. After she limped back to British Waters, she eventually resumed her roll for the Southern Railway on the Portsmouth to Ryde passenger service. Now after many years abandoned and used as nightclub on her Medina moorings, she started to be scrapped but this was halted. The new owners of the marina are now currently looking into the feasibility of still saving her. It is hoped like the Kingswear Castle and Medway Queen that a full restoration may still take place. My fingers are crossed that this can happen for this proud historic ship.
https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2016/03/ps-ryde-abandoned-paddle-steamer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Ryde

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At the widest part of the Medina River below Heathfield Farm the land can get waterlogged due to river flooding. Ignoring the sign that the path had been closed due to said flooding, we were pleased to find the path ok and walkerable. The alternative route would have meant walking along the busier A3021, which we did not want to do. Sometimes you just get the hunch that the signs should have been removed sometime earlier and the river side views made it worth the small risk of having to turn around if indeed it was impassable due to flooding.

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After a brief stop to remove waterproofs at the beautiful Whippingham Church and chatting to a lovely couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, we then walked the short distance into East Cowes. At East Cowes we stopped for a cuppa in a cafe and beside it was this decorated tree nicknamed “the umbrella tree” by locals. On closer inspection the tree planted by one of Queen Victoria’s staff more than a century ago had become the focus of dispute between the residents of the island and its Roads Department, who want to remove it. This iconic local tree is said to be infested with “heart rot fungi” but local tree surgeons are divided on whether it poses a threat to the populus, if it were to fall over. A metal frame built around the tree should prevent this and as a self confessed tree hugger, I hope it is left for many more years for others to enjoy.

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At the widest part of the Medina River below Heathfield Farm the land can get waterlogged due to river flooding. Ignoring the sign that the path had been closed due to said flooding, we were pleased to find the path ok and walkerable. The alternative route would have meant walking along the busier A3021, which we did not want to do. Sometimes you just get the hunch that the signs should have been removed sometime earlier and the river side views made it worth the small risk of having to turn around if indeed it was impassable due to flooding.

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After a brief stop to remove waterproofs at the beautiful Whippingham Church and chatting to a lovely couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, we then walked the short distance into East Cowes. At East Cowes we stopped for a cuppa in a cafe and beside it was this decorated tree nicknamed “the umbrella tree” by locals. On closer inspection the tree planted by one of Queen Victoria’s staff more than a century ago had become the focus of dispute between the residents of the island and its Roads Department, who want to remove it. This iconic local tree is said to be infested with “heart rot fungi” but local tree surgeons are divided on whether it poses a threat to the populus, if it were to fall over. A metal frame built around the tree should prevent this and as a self confessed tree hugger, I hope it is left for many more years for others to enjoy.

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After walking along the esplanade of East Cowes with its stunning views over the Medina to Cowes featured on my feature (title) picture at the top, we have to turn again slightly in land due to the private lands of Osborne House. Sadly there are no footpaths through Osborne’s grounds along the foreshore, so we must follow the very busy A3021 mentioned earlier. As we find our way through the cul-de-sac’s of East Cowes and up the hill to Osborne House, I spot this little rock on the front of someone’s grassed driveway. It is a post-Medieval Milestone of 5 miles to Newport with a nice stainless plaque. There are other milestones on the Isle of Wight mentioned here http://www.iwhistory.org.uk/HER/0808milestones.htm

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One of the many entrances to Osborne House. Osborne House is a former royal residence built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as a summer home and rural retreat. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the 22nd January 1901, following her death, the house became surplus to royal requirements and was given to the state, later it was used as a college to train junior Royal Naval officers. Now the house is cared for by English Heritage and open to the public.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_House
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/

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A nicely decorated garden gate on the road between Dallimores and Westwood near Palmer’s Brook. This delightful metal work gate is truly a work of art and both a credit to the those who made it, paid for it to be made and keep it looking like this today.

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At Wootton Bridge we stop for a drink in the beer garden at the Sloop Inn. Overlooking Wootton Creek, its an idyllic spot to rest before we set off on our last leg to Ryde.

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After our refreshment we walk up Kite Hill beside the busy A3054 and into the leafy suburb of Fishbourne, here the path passes the new Quarr Abbey and older ruined Quarr Abbey.

The new Abbey now grade 1 listed monastic buildings and church, completed in 1912, are considered some of the most important twentieth-century religious structures in the United Kingdom; Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Abbey as “among the most daring and successful church buildings of the early 20th century in England”. They were constructed from Belgian brick in a style combining French, Byzantine and Moorish architectural elements.was built in 1912.
Today Quarr Abbey is home to a small group of Benedictine monks who strive to dedicate their lives to the glory of God, and whose day is characterised by prayer, work and community life.

The older ancient abbey of Quarr was founded in 1132 by Baldwin de Redvers, later Lord of the Island and Earl of Devon. He brought monks from Savigny Abbey, in Normandy to the island for the monastery. The abbey took its name from the quarry to the east of it. It had a library and an infirmary: some of the monks were doctors and pharmacists who tended islanders. The abbey maintained the bridge at Wootton, tide mills and salterns (for producing salt). It had an establishment at the entrance to Wootton Creek at Fishhouse, now Fishbourne, from which its ships could sail. Monks from Quarr were responsible for many surrounding granges (large agricultural establishments) and churches, including for a time Saint Nicholas’ chapel at Carisbrooke Castle.

In 1147 the whole congregation of Savigny, including Quarr Abbey, joined the Cistercian congregation. Foundations were made from Quarr Abbey at Stanley in Wiltshire in 1154 and at Buckland in Devonshire in 1278. Following the French attack on the Isle of Wight in 1377, the Abbey fortified Fishouse and the mill on Wootton Creek; a few gun-ports were set into the enclosure wall facing north.

Despite the good reputation of its monks, the Abbey was closed under King Henry VIII in July 1536. The last abbot, with one of his monks, crossed the Solent to resume their religious life at Beaulieu, while two other monks went off to Quarr’s daughter house at Buckland. The abbey was purchased and demolished by Mr John Mills of Southampton. Some of its stone was used for building Yarmouth Castle.
http://wightchurch.net/history/history-of-quarr-abbey/

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Rydes Westfield House entrance was built in 1860, by Thomas Dashwood for Admiral Sir Augustus Clifford. Admiral Clifford bought Westfield in 1843 and added the gateway, which is surmounted by the beautiful bronze stag so much admired in the Great Exhibition of 1851. The stag was also a favourite work of art in the eyes of Prince Albert. Queen victoria was known to stop her carriage when she passed to Osborne House to admire it, thinking of her late beloved husband. Sir Clifford had an illustrious Naval career and amongst the many posts he held, on the 25 July 1832 he become the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/clifford-augustus-1788-1877

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Finally we arrive at Ryde Pier having completed walking around the whole of the Isle of Wight. We have kept as close to the foreshore as we could and I have to say I have loved every minute of it. I am now looking forward to getting home and to start planning for the next leg of my journey around the coastline of the British Isles. After a short walk to the end of the pier our journey around Wight is over. I would like to thank both Dave Beech and Dave Evans for their company 13.83 miles. Total for Isle of Wight 89.66 miles.