Today I took one of my favourite walks, the Landslip walk from Shanklin to Ventnor. Of course you can take it in either direction, but Shanklin-Ventnor is definitely easier on the legs as it is mostly downhill.
Usually the walk starts at Shanklin Old Village, by taking Chine Hollow to the left of the Crab Inn and following it to join Luccombe Road.
Today I started at Big Mead, just south of the village, and followed Priory Road to join Luccombe Road, heading west past the two new blocks of apartments.
Along Luccombe Rd, these sheep kindly posed for a foreground to my view.
From the top of the hill the view extends over Sandown Bay to the chalk cliffs of Culver Down.
Throughout my walk I came across patches of willowherb or Chamerion angustifolium, so it must be weed of the month.
The cause of the slippage here is the soft Gault clay, known locally as Blue Slipper, which lies beneath the harder Upper Greensand rock. The current landscape dates from the major landslips in 1810 and 1818 and another in 1995. The picturesque, wooded landscape appealed greatly to the Romantic Victorians, who built a series of staircases and walls to turn the area into a popular woodland walk among the natural features such as the Chink, the Devil's Chimney and the Wishing Seat.
It's not unusual around here to come across stalls selling pot of preserves with an honesty box for payment. Having left home with just my bus fare, I couldn't be tempted this time.
No chance of making a call from here, but it did catch my eye.
All along the path were carpets of another spring visitor, Allium ursinum, also known as Ramsons or wild garlic.
At the end of Luccombe Road we enter the Landslip proper, about 3km of ancient mixed woodland. Uprooted by storms and land movement, huge oak, ash and beech trees lie in deep chines and hollows and ivy climbs the trunks and boughs.
Here, as in most quiet woodland areas on the island, you may catch a glimpse of a red squirrel, but I have never been quick enough with my camera to capture one, so until I do I've borrowed one of Peter Trimming's beautiful images.
Arriving at Dunnose Cottage, I was delighted to find that the cottage has just reopened as a tea-room. (Edit 2022: The tea room has closed again.)This place was a favourite stopping point on this walk when I did it with my family as a child, when we would look at the rabbits in the grounds and, if I recall correctly, a donkey.
In those days it was a traditional cottage garden; now it is more landscaped with a pool and statuary, but it's still gorgeous. But since I had no money on me, I had to forego my cream tea.
A little further along we come to the Wishing Seat, a mossy crop of stone where, as always I stopped to make a wish. However, I must say it doesn't have a great record of success in my case!
This postcard, from a collection by Jarrolds, c. 1910, shows it was originally a larger stone. Here are the notes from the book: "
The Landslip which lies between Shanklin and Ventnor is a favourite resort to the inhabitants and visitors of both places. The catastrophe that wrought this magic transformation has resulted in producing scenery of entrancing beauty. The efforts of Nature to cover and hide the deformities of riven rocks and yawning chasms have produced trees of fantastic shape and remarkable diversity. The broken rocks afford sustenance for many plants, the chloritic marl liberated making the ground wonderfully fertile. This stone seat forms a natural throne on which many parties have found a trysting-place. As it stands in the principal pathway it is a well-known resting-place."
If I am not mistaken, I chose the same old oak to photograph as Jarrold did in 1910!
Believe it or not, my photo is straight, it's the seat and pole that are wonky, probably because of land movement since they were placed.
As we near the end of the Landslip the sea appears between the trees.
At this point we get a good look at the Landslip itself as the path edges a steep drop below.
We emerge above Monk's Bay.
Monk's Bay Cottage, now a holiday letting, always has a colourful display in its garden.
The coastal path leads down to Horseshoe Bay and from here you can see how it got its name.
From this point, one can either follow the sea wall back into Ventnor, or take the steps uphill to return to town via Bonchurch, which is what I did today. The echium that I photographed in my previous post is now in flower.
The path winds uphill past the stream; I always peep over the fence for a view of this little archway.
I never an excuse to take another photo of the Old Church at Bonchurch, so I had to pop in and catch a few final bluebells.
The whole of the Landslip and Bonchurch is edged with mossy dry stone walls, a thing of beauty in their own right.
This one was covered with lichen and ivy leaved toadflax or Cymbalaria muralis, a plant native to southern Europe
Wandering into the Bonchurch Parish Church, I spotted this interesting tombstone among a carpet of wild garlic. I will see if I can find out anything about it.
This is the resting place of Algernon Swinburne, the poet, who lived at nearby East Dene.
Passing the Bonchurch Pond, I noticed how still the water was and thought I'd have a go at shooting reflection in the water.
I passed the staircase leading to The Pitts and Upper Bonchurch.
Today I followed Trinity Road to enter Ventnor, snapping Holy Trinity Church as I passed.
Ventnor always offers a surprise and today the Convolvulus cneorum bushes along the car park were looking fab!
Alternatively, follow Stokeys Solar System Walk along to reach Ventor by the seafront and take an interplanetary stroll as you go!
Walk Details
Distance 3.25 miles
Start: Shanklin Old Village, Priory Rd
Finish: Central Car Park, Ventnor
Time: 2 hours
Bus: No. 3 Ventnor to Shanklin
Refreshments and WC: A diversion up to the road leads to the Smugglers Haven Café, open approx April to Sept, public WC .
Many thanks for this informative commentary on the walk from Shanklin to Ventnor. We used this during our recent trip to the island and based our own walk on it deviating up to the Leeson Road car park and ascending the 'Chink' staircase before dropping down into the Landslip once more via the 'Devil's Chimney'.
ReplyDeleteAlso after visiting Bonchurch 'Old Church' we chose the coastal route into Ventnor, (though we did return to Bonchurch in the car later).
Unfortunately, during our walk, we could not find an 'open' tea room in the Dunnose area and hence or detour to the 'Smugglers Haven' on Leeson Road.
Will certainly be keeping an eye on your blog in the future to plan some more walks when we return to the lovely Isle of Wight again next year.
Kind Regards
Janette & Stewart
Hi Lin Thank You for your lovely blog. This brought back a host of memories from my childhood in the 1980's . As a kid we stayed at both
ReplyDeleteMonks Bay Cottage and the Boat house at the bottom of the landslip. Many happy memories of those years. My parents had a Victorian property in Freshwater on the Afton Road up until I was about 11, which they planned to move to (and decorated) but we never quite got out of London. I remember Dunnose Cottage well, just up from Luccombe Chine bay. Memories ÷ even that old oak with the scary face along the landslip walk! My brother lived in Ventnor for about 18 years so my summer's were always spent on the Island even in my teenage years.