Walk 28 Shalfleet to Newtown - 6.7 miles

The Newtown Estuary is one the more remote corners of the island, a nature reserve run by the National Trust, and an area of of meadows, woodlands and salt marshes that is home to butterflies, red squirrels and dozens of varieties of birds. My walk began at Shalfleet with its 11th century tower with 5ft thick walls that provided refuge from Danish and French raiders when they sailed up Newtown Creek.

The lane alongside the New Inn, Mill Road, follows the creek to a boatyard. With the exception of the final section around Clamerkin Lake, the walk is all on tarmac paths so is good for winter.

Today there were huge flocks of Canada Geese on the waters.

There is no walking route around the coast at this point, so once the boatyard is reached I retraced my steps.

Normally, just before the New Inn, Mill Lane leads to a footbridge over the creek and a path towards Newtown, but today the bridge was under replacement, so I walked back along the main road to the Dairy Deli, where Corf Road leads into Town Lane, with the option of taking a footpath parallel to the road on the inside of the hedge. We reach the Causeway Lake and from here can either follow the road into Newtown village or, when its dry underfoot, take the footpath along the lake.

Even if going by road it is worth a detour back along the gravel track to see the views of the lake.

The footpath leads into the old Newtown, which was originally called Francheville (Freetown) and grew up as a 'new town' around the natural harbour in the 13th century; the original street plan can still be seen in its roads and footpaths. It became a prosperous harbour town with a saltworks and oysterbeds. It is thought that the town declined with the invasion from the French in 1377 and outbreaks of plague until it was almost deserted.

Newtown's Church of the Holy Spirit is a Victorian replacement of an earlier chapel. Harvest offerings were on show during my visit.

In the churchyard is this row of 16 graves all belonging to the local Kingswell Family.

Just past the church, a path leads up towards a bird hide equipped with several telescopes for observing the birds nesting on the far banks.

The footpath running behind the hide would be muddy in winter, but today it was a quick cut to the end of the causeway that projects into the salt marshes; the town's decline seems to have been assured once the harbour silted up.

However, the causeway is a very popular subject for photographers, so I had to add to the myriad already on the web!

The path heads back around two former salt pan feeder ponds, as salt production was a major industry here from medieval times until the 1930s. Here we pass two square pans separated by levees.

Now a private home, this was the Newtown Arms Inn until 1916, also known as Noah's Ark and bears the coat of arms of "S. Comatis de Francheville de L’ile de Wyht".

Just down the lane is the former Town Hall, built in 1699 with two members of Parliament, but with just few cottages with eligible voters, it soon became a Rotten Borough and the Town Hall fell into disuse until given to the National Trust who keep it open to the public. (See visiting hours.) Just opposite is a car park with a NT visitor centre and WC.

Behind the town hall Town Lane, or a parallel footpath across fields, leads to Clamerkin Lake and the eastern estuary. A footpath leads through Walter's Copse to the lake; keep to paths inside the woods as the banks are very soft mud.

I returned via a second woodland path, but it was a bit hard to follow, so next time I'll take the same path back to come out back on Town Lane, which leads a junction. Turning right along Corf Road will lead back to the New Inn but I crossed over and took the lane opposite to come out at the bus stop on the Yarmouth Rd.

Walk Details

Walk Details
Start: Shalfleet Church
Finish: Yarmouth Road
Distance: 6.7miles
Time: 4 hours
Refreshments: New Inn, Shalfleet, Dairy Deli
WC: New Inn and National Trust Visitor Centre Newtown

Walk 27 St Catherine's Point - 3.13 miles

At one time this area would have have been part of the coastal path but due the numerous landslips the official path now follows the clifftop. However, I chose this hot September day for a short stroll around the island's southern tip.

I took the No 6 bus to the Buddle Inn, a former smugglers' haunt, just below Niton, a convenient start or finish for this walk.

 Opposite the Buddle, a path leads downhill to join Castlehaven Lane.

Along the lane, we get a view of St Catherine's Lighthouse, and the surrounding wall that was part of the original  chapel, St Catherine's Oratory, where a priest would say masses and show lights to guide passing ships.

The lane leads down past Castlehaven café and caravan park to Reeth Bay, an isolated beach reached by clambering over rocks, but today the tide was high so that there was no beach at all.

 

From the corner of the caravan park the path continues along the cliff edge with views of the Undercliff, a wooded strip of land below the chalk cliffs.

This is the largest landslide complex in Europe and the Undercliff consists of a bench of slipped soft clay and sands, whose sheltered position creates a warm microclimate favourable for Mediterranean planting. Another large landslip occurred in 2014, following the wet winter, resulting in the closure of the main road, Undercliff Drive, and the evacuation of seven houses.

There has been a lighthouse on this site since 1323, but the current one was built in 1838 following the loss of the sailing ship Clarendon. 94 steps lead up to the lantern, whose light can be seen for up to 17 miles.

Originally the fog signal house was on the eroding cliff edge but it cracked and was re-sited in the smaller replica tower.

During WWII, a bombing raid destroyed the engine house, killing three keepers, commemorated by a plaque in the main tower. The last keepers left the lighthouse in 1997, when it was automated.

The Clarendon sailed from St Kitts in August 1836, carrying a cargo of rum, sugar and molasses, 11 passengers and 17 crew. On 11th Oct, just off Blackgang, a huge storm wave hit the ship, which rolled over and sank, leaving just three survivors.

The path skirts the lighthouse on the inland side via wooden steps over the wall, and then follows the cliff edge, now very close as this broken fence shows. The terrain along this stretch of coast is treacherous, with patches of blue slipper clay which appear dry but in fact are very boggy; I learned this the hard way taking a short cut across the slope and ending up sunk in to my thighs...very scary! I would definitely advise sticking to the paths.

The path comes to an end at Watershoot Bay, a rocky crescent accessible despite an electrified fence around another area of landslip.

Here the path doubles back to climb back up towards the back of the lighthouse and through the courtyard of Knowles Farm.

The path back up to the Buddle was lined with hedgerows; these attractive red berries are not be tasted though, as they are the poisonous Solanum or woody nightshade.

From the Buddle I headed up the main road back to Niton for a pitstop and to pick up the bus back.

Walk Route Details

Walk Details
Start: The Buddle Inn, Niton
Finish: Niton village
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 2.5 hours
Bus: No 6 from Ventnor to Newport
Refreshments/WC: Buddle Inn, Castlehaven café, Niton village  
Trinity House operates 40 minute tours of the lighthouse.