27/5/24 Shanklin & Ventnor

 

    And off we go adventuring , lets see what Isle of Wight has to offer . All roads seem to take us down narrow country lanes , even the main roads aren't terribly large - glad we're not dragging the 5th wheeler around here !! First up is the town of Shanklin , with lots of two storey terrace houses in all styles - we were told that it's like stepping back 50 years here on the isle , and I now believe it . 

   Further into town and we find the road that leads to the beach and a carpark , this is the view to the north from the carpark , with a row of beach huts lining the bottom of the cliff . The beach wasn't doing anything to inspire us yet - either was the weather !! The wind was cutting into us , temperature was getting to a max of 18 today - can pull it's socks up , it only feels like half of that !

    Further to the north is Sandown Bay , with some houses and a monument poking skywards , all sitting on these white cliffs .

    Looking south , here's the beach . Justin & Isla played on the beach while we went for a walk down the beach . Yes this is what they call a beach here ???? Hmm , again , not what we'd call a beach . The sections going out into the water are for retaining the sand apparently .

    Amusement arcades line the promenade , as well as the obligatory ice cream shop , and somewhere to purchase you're sand bucket , spade , bathers ( as they call them ) , sunscreen etc , and food shops . The high structure out the back is a lift , so you can down to the beach and back up again - only costs 1pound each way !!

    Just so you know we were actually here , all dressed in our finest Summer clothes , wished we'd packed a beanie & neck warmer 😂

    Down the southern end of the beach is the Fisherman's Cottage Inn - another pub / restaurant .

    This is inside , I had to duck as I went through the front door , the ceiling isn't much higher !

    Back into the car and down to Ventnor , again car into a paid parking lot and walk to the beach . There's some pretty steep streets here , one came down nearly at 45 degrees . One way streets are a favourite here to keep traffic moving , otherwise it wouldn't work .

    Didn't know The Smart Cars came out in a racing version 😂 Probably the best car to have over here given the space you have to drive on .

    We sat at some tables overlooking the beach , the wind coming off the English Channel was worse than it was earlier .

    The coastline here is equally impressive .

     Houses have been painted in bright colours , the one on the left was built in 1867 .                                                                

    Where we had lunch looked over the beach and carpark , pink flowers were carpeting the hillside .

     Views of town , there is a fairly high ratio of churches to people here , same can be said about the ratio of pubs to people also .

     We'd seen these around the place , but finally got to take a photo of one in flower . The flower spike is over a metre tall .

   Leaving Ventnor , we headed toward the southern end of the Isle . There are walking tracks everywhere here - they're called Public Pathways , and wind through farmland and waterfront all over the place . I got Justin to drop me off at one so I could get some photos of a white cliff I could see in the distance - this'll be easy right , walk up past the guernsey cows to the cliff edge and wallah - no , not even close , this is what I found .

    The water certainly wasn't appealing either , black sand and dirty brown water ( at least it was sand ). The quick walk turned into a 5klm hike along the track to where I could get said photo's of the cliffs !

   And here they are , the wind hadn't abated , and it was still cold .

   More of the cliffs , and to my surprise , the road went over the top of the cliff !!!!! Annoyed , you bet !

    As my walk brought me back toward the road at the 5klm mark , I passed this little cottage , straight out of a fairy tale book , with thatched roof and rock fence , as well as the British flag flying proudly .

    Across the other side of the road about 500m away was this row of colourful houses sitting above a field of flowers - nothing else there , just these houses . After a little research , they are Coastguard houses - well they used to be , but can be rented out now .

   And with that our day was done , back to the cabin for a well earned beer . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1lsvs8O3NzwXwHgiC0bwcbtYQQl-MfEc&usp=sharing

26/5/24 To Isle of Wight

 

     Time for a trip , Isla has a mid term break , so we load up the car and head to Southampton , where we'll catch the car ferry over to The Isle of Wight . This is normal traffic for the A3 to Southampton , probably assisted with mid term break traffic as well .

 After an hour & a half driving we arrived at Southampton and checked in to the dock area . 20 mins later we board the ferry and we commence our 45min journey across to The Isle of Wight . The old dock is just rotting away , gradually falling into the water .

    There were a couple of cruise boats in , they sail in & out of here regularly during the season . The pink ship is a container ship that you can't miss .

    Varied architecture in these dockside buildings .

    It was a pleasant cruise over to the Isle , with many sailing boats out on Sunday afternoon . They had a brisk wind to sail with - it was too brisk to stay outside and enjoy the view though , the windchill was horrendous !!

    An interesting looking boat approached , it carries wind turbine blades from the manufacturing plant on the Isle - it's name - Bladerunner 2 !!

    Arriving at East Cowes , it didn't take long to get the 100 or so cars , trucks & vans off . And so here we are , all of us on a new island , trying to get to our lodgings , down very narrow lanes , more hedges , and the odd crazy driver . You need to concentrate on your surroundings , so you can nip off into some of the slightly wider sections to let oncoming vehicles past - those vehicles include double decker buses , tractors & trailers , and the odd semi trailer thrown into the mix .

    With all the hedges around , views from the car out onto the surrounding fields are scarce , but we found this one .

    Plenty of crops are grown here , wheat , barley , corn etc - probably a reason why it was a prized area of land over the generations , and was fought over many times by different invaders .

    Here is what we call a park home back home . It was well furnished with electric heating , gas cooking and was very comfortable . It also had 2 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and walk in robes , and a deck outside . Kitchen was well equipped and we cooked each night , there were books & board games as well .

     After getting settled we headed in to do some shopping at Tesco - WOW - this supermarket was the size of a Bunnings store , and had a similar amount of everything . All the grocery goods were there , clothes , electrical goods toys and heaps more we didn't even see . We went to the beer aisle , and I had to laugh - they were selling Fosters beer - i haven't seen a can or carton of Fosters for years & years , not sure if it's even sold in Australia any more .

    

 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1y7KiR11__eqqZ67eEwXwIVBNb0lkyR0&usp=sharing

23/5/24 West Byfleet Basingstoke Canal

 

     Seems I skipped this one , but here it is . The 3 of us went down to another section of the canal for a pleasant walk . We parked and wandered down to the canal beside Lock Cottage , a nice old house beside one of the locks .

    Climbing roses are a feature over here and don't disappoint .

    A short stroll down beside the canal and we found some barges and canal boats all set up and being lived in . most are fairly permanent affairs , with sheds and entertaining areas beside the canal . 

     Some are like houses and well kept .

   Others are canal boats/homes , this one is reasonably new & still shiny .

    Lots of different colours make for a break in the green .

   Here's a map link : - https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1yVCdAFFux-Wo6AlsjVzLHe68L6VvccQ&usp=sharing  

25/5/24 Horsell walk

 

    Saturday arrived , Justin , Taylor & Isla had birthday parties to go to , so Lyn and I just had a walk around the neighbourhood , checking out more of the local area of Woking and Horsell . Across the canal and down a couple of streets , checking out houses & gardens .

    There are lots of roses out at the moment .

   This one was intriguing , with yellow and red flowers from the one plant .

    Some poppies for a change .

    Different houses on this side of Horsell - they seem to have more room for car parking & back yards as well !

     Wandering down another street , we met a guy who said Hello and then proceeded to chat to us for about 10 minutes . Turns out he has a brother at Preston Beach - just south of Mandurah where Emma is . Small world ! 

    We ambled back home , had a shower & cleaned up before the others came home . When they did it was hustle , hustle , we were going out to The Cricketers at Horsell for dinner . It has a huge beer garden out the back , with tables & chairs , pods ( gazebos with roof & 3 walls ) and a kids playground . The British are a very social lot , spending a lot of nights down at the pub or club . Most cricket clubs have their own clubhouse and sell alcohol - win , win for a lot of cricketers I played with 😉😂😂

     A cruise Saturday , nice to slow down a little bit every now & again , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ICfa1nCINVkNr_U64ERVMaZrKraCuAA&usp=sharing

24/5/24 Farnham Castle

 

   Today we head to Farnham to check out Farnham Castle , through country lanes and the ever present greenery . Arriving in the carpark , this was our view , a stone walled fortress .

   This is what I'm calling the gatehouse , it has some magnificent climbing roses either side of the blue door .

   After checking the short video on the castle , we start climbing the stairs to where the drawbridge used to be . It covered the entryway and was flush to the walls , giving protection from the enemy .The uneven steps are the only protection now .

     Below the castle are a series of buildings built well after the original castle . The date on the wall plaque is 1677 - a mere 747 years ago !! This section can be rented out for functions .

    A better view of the buildings , gate house on far right .

    this is the view from inside the ruins looking back to the drawbridge . There are stairs & steps you can wander up to check it out , and we did - this is so interesting , visual history , walking in the steps of who knows how many people & soldiers , battles fought & lost , real living history .

    The views down to the gardens were excellent , we couldn't access them though unfortunately . There's stone walls surrounding the gardens , buildings , and castle ruins .

    The gatehouse from above .

    The slots in the walls up above where they repelled the attackers , were for the archers to shoot arrows at the attackers , and have protection whilst shooting .

   There was a well under a roof and the foundations of various old buildings that were on the initial mound where the castle was built .

     Down below was the entry door into the manor , with an impressive coat of arms in place above the door . You can see where the different buildings joined up . 

     More climbing roses adorning a stone wall entry to the gardens .

     Our exit from the castle was through this gateway , complete with timber doors .

    Another view of the gatehouse .

    We ventured down into the town of Farnham looking for a place to have our lunch . Stumbling on a car park , Justin found this neat little garden where we could eat out of the cool breeze - Victoria Garden . Turns out , it was a bathing pool once upon a time , but has been turned into a peaceful garden .

     We wandered around town for a look and see . Narrow main roads & footpaths with barely enough room to walk next to cars driving by .

    One pub had an impressive wind vane on top of the roof , with a sailing ship to indicate wind direction .

    Many people have told us - you'll be sick of seeing castles & church cathedrals , but for now we are still happy to have a look at them . There are so many churches here and most places we've seen in England , that & pubs - if you don't like a particular pub just go across the road and you'll find another and another .

    Couldn't resist a photo of this planter tub at an intersection in town - very British !!

     Another excellent day out with Justin , we have been really lucky to be able to get this free time with him , glad we arrived earlier than we had planned to . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_gZxGqi31cvJSNDtQkgUceY36IDP5qA&usp=sharing