Freshwater Bay

It was Sunday evening and it was a very nice feeling to have led an HF Party for the first time for nearly 28 years. I have just completed a weeks leading at Freshwater Bay HF on the Isle of Wight. The Sunday 'Medium' walk went from the house, over to Colwell Bay, along the North Coast to Alum Bay and the Needles and then back over Tennyson Down.

There was a sponsored walk to raise money for the local Hospice that involved about 10,000 people in various walks, one of which crosses the whole island from East to West (26.5 miles from Bembridge to the Needles at Alum Bay). The weather was good to start with but deteriorated later on and some of the sponsored walkers must have got pretty cold and wet on Tennyson Down.

The Needles

On Monday it was windy on the 'Harder' walk as we followed the horseshoe made by the downs above Godshill and Appuldurcombe House but the views were superb across to Sandown.

Sandown from the Downs above Ventnor

This tree gives you the impression that it is often Windy!

Interesting talk about Red Squirrels in the evening.

On Tuesday the 'Easier' walk followed the Coastline in an Easterly direction into Cowes. The weather wasn't great but we visited the Max Aitken Museum, the Classic Boat Museum and Gallery all of which were interesting. 

The next organised walk was on Thursday from Ventnor Gardens to Shanklin along the Coastal Path. Landslip has caused a lot of re-routing of the path and this makes the walk a lot more strenuous than you'd think from the map. The weather was glorious though.

Ventnor Gardens

Various shades of green algae along the Promenade

On Friday I led the 'Easier' walk from the House to Yarmouth and back alongside the river Yar. This has a large estuary but is only about 3 miles long because it used to start in France! Lot's of tea stops made this a leisurely way to round off the week.

Freshwater Bay from the HF House Gardens

During the week, in the evenings, we'd had quizzes and games and we finished up with a bit of Country Dancing and a Concert with high levels of participation from the Guests making every evening a fun social occasion.

The Isle of Wight may not offer particularly challenging walking but it's very beautiful and not everyone goes on holiday to wear themselves out you know!