IoW Tour 2019 Day 1 - Reading to Southampton, East Cowes to Shanklin (14/09/19)

Isle of Wight Tour 2019

Day 1  - Reading to Southampton, East Cowes to Shanklin

(14/09/19)

Southampton - Free Parking

Set off from Reading at 6am. Arrived in Southampton 7.15am.

Parked in a quiet residential street near Southampton Common (just about where that grey car is in the picture right).
An uneventful 20-minute cycle ride through Southampton - on a quiet Saturday morning - followed. The temperature was about 18 degrees and climbing.

Arrived at Red Funnel ferry about 30 minutes before departure (for the 8am crossing). I had a bit of a panic when we discovered that the ticket office was closed. Had to navigate the Red Funnel wifi connection and book a ticket online before discovering that there was a ticket machine just down the end of the hall (Doh!).

Lovely crossing via Southampton Water and the Solent in bright sunshine. Sat inside and had a snack and then went out on the deck and watched the ferry dock in East Cowes.




Cowes (you cannot milk)

The great thing about cycling onto the ferry is that you get off first. Literally, as the doors were opening the 10 or so cyclists went streaming down the ramp and onto the island, past Waitrose and then onto the main road (A3021) into East Cowes towards Osborne House. It's quite a steep hill and the more accomplished cyclists whizzed past me as I stopped half-way up the hill to get my breath back.

St. Mildred's Church - missed this, bummer!

I had originally planned to weave my way through the residential streets of East Cowes (so missed out of St. Mildred's Church - see pic.) but the traffic was light and taking the main road was quite a bit faster.

Made good progress along the A3021. I got a little confused when we got to a roundabout I had not anticipated from memory (I'd planned the whole thing using Google Streetview; what a wonderful FREE resource). Took the 1st exit on instinct. Checked on my phone based (offline) map about 100 yards later and the instinct had been correct. The next turn was 100 yards further on the left.

Took Alverstone Road then Brocks Copse road towards Wooton. Beautiful, well surfaced quite narrow road (so no cars) and gentle downhill so covered about 1/2 mile without pedaling. The section in the woods was uphill though but quite a gentle uphill. Arrived in Wootton much more quickly than expected.

Joined the main road in Wootton (following the round the island route). The main road was pleasant, traffic was light and all downhill to Wootton Bridge. Stopped at Wootton Bridge to take a picture. Kite Hill was steep but not that long. Took the wrong left turning for Fishbourne and got a bit lost in the various coastal route paths.

Eventually found a way back to the Fishbourne-Portsmouth ferry entrance. Filtered past the backed-up traffic and turned right onto the footpath leading up past Quarr Abbey, This led (via a golf course) to the outskirts of Ryde.

Ryde (where you walk)

The path through the golf-course leads back to the main road but then immediately turns off to the left onto a quiet residential road (Spencer Road) which leads all the way into central Ryde. Then a 2 minute downhill tear to Ryde esplanade. A gentle breeze in bright sunshine. My vitamin D supplies have been restocked.

Took a detour to see David Icke's mansion 😀 (click to see video).

Stopped near the pier to take in the view. The last time I was here the sea was a bit rough and I had gone for a swim and dived off some of the concrete breakwaters into the choppy waves.

Adjusted Joseph's seat to give a more comfortable ride.

Rode along Ryde esplanade past the Hovercraft and the railway tunnel (to St John's Road). There were some American muscle-cars parked along the seafront which we stopped to look at.

Appley Towers

Followed the promenade toward Seaview past Appley Towers. It looks like something out of a fairy tale. The cycle path follows the shore with a short detour inland around Puckpool park. There's a mini-golf course. I remember playing there about 50 years ago (shudder!).

It reminds me of a riddle.

This thing all things devours:
birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
grinds hard stones to meal; 
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.


Followed the coast all the way to Seaview where we had to divert to the high-street for a modest distance and then various coastal paths of varying standards of bumpiness towards the Priory bay Hotel.

The path led past Nodes Point holiday village.  Got a bit lost here and had to consult the map to get back on track.

Back on track; got to St Helens and took a brief left-turn to visit (the very nice; popular with the locals) Duver Beach. It was getting close to lunchtime now so needed to decide the best location to get lunch. Decide to visit Brading where we knew there was a very good Fish and Chip shop.

Had to take a bit of a detour via a very stony path across Brading marshes but it was worth it as it was a good short cut. It follows the course of the old railway line from Brading to St Helens Railway Station (which was felled by the Beeching axe) I wondered if either of us would get a puncture here as it was very bumpy but everything was fine.


Got to Brading at 11.45am and headed for the Fish and Chip shop. It did not open until midday so headed for Down Edge (a holiday house where we had stayed a few months earlier).  Nobody was home (but here is a nice video).

The fish and chips were outstanding. We sat in the Bullring and ate them washed down with a bottle of Coke.

Followed the stony path back to St Helens to continue the route.  Then onto the B3395 road towards Bembridge Marina.  There were some pretty house-boats which we stopped to look at.

Got a bit lost in Bembridge and followed a rough path to a secluded beach.  There was no promenade here so went back to the main road and followed it to Bembridge high street. Consulted the map again and were obviously looking a bit lost because a nice lady asked us where we were heading (Culver Down) and gave us directions.

Field - without cows!

Eventually, found the route back to the original plan via Mill Road and Hillway Road. This led to a dead-end road which became progressively more unpassable.  It terminated at a gate with a field full of cows leading uphill in the general direction of the Yarborough Monument on Culver Down.

We had to lift out bikes over the gates and climb over stiles at the entry and exit of the field. The cows obligingly just moved out the way as we traversed the well-traveled path.  A steep path up the hill followed with fantastic views of Whitecliff Bay and Bembridge harbour.

(picture of me and Joseph at Culver point)

At Culver point saw a plane take off from Bembridge Airport. Had to lift the bikes over a gate to get to the road that led along Culver cliff toward Yaverland (bloody annoying, I guess this is to kids on motor scooters whizzing around culver point).

It was difficult to cycle along the top of the cliff. There were some very nasty bumps. I think I developed a (slow) front puncture along here which became more obvious nearer Shanklin.

The views from the top of the cliff were outstanding. The sun was shining and there were very few clouds. I started singing "Don't fall off the cliff".

(to the tune of Lloyd George knew my father)
Don't fall off the cli-i- i-i-if
Of the cliff don't fall
Don't fall off the clii-if

Of the cliff don't fall

.... (well you get the idea),

Yaverland to Sandown

Heath Cottage (sans garden)

The Culver Downs ends in a car park in Yaverland. We then followed the promenade and then Sandown high street to the Pier.

We stopped to take a look at Heath Cottage in Beachfield Road - a holiday house I stayed in as a child.  Somebody has built a house in the back garden!







Headed down the hill where the Blue Lagoon penny arcade once stood (long gone now and Wight City Arcade is no more).  A bit like the decomposing composers.

Followed the path along the bottom of the cliffs from Sandown via Lake to Shanklin. The surface was good at first but got increasing gravelly as we neared Shanklin.  I discovered that I had a slow puncture at this point. I wasn't sure whether it was caused by the gravelly path of the earlier very bumpy surface on Culver cliffs.


We walked up Hope Hill/Road, Atherly Road to our Hotel, Langham Court (a very nice/economical hotel with a Fawlty Towers vibe).

The initial room we were given had someone in it (fortunately they were not there at the time). The room (with nobody in it) was much better. Had a nice cup of tea and a sit-down and a shower and felt much better.

Regulating the hot and cold water via the taps proved a considerable challenge.



We went for a walk around Shanklin.  Saw the remains of the pier which was destroyed by the Great Storm of 1987.

All that remains is a plaque on the stump of the pier.

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias

Continued ... in part 2.