Walk 39 Butterfly World and Briddleford Lodge Farm - 2.2 miles

My last visit to Butterfly World was on such a hot day that I couldn't stay long, so I returned this year on a cooler day for another try. This time was far more comfortable and I was able to get a few decent shots even though it is a challenging shoot as most of them don't settle for long.

 

 

   

These tiny Mexican Quail run round underfoot eating the ants which are predators for butterflies.

Next I walked on up Whiterails Rd to the mini-roundabout then left on Briddlesford Rd to reach Briddlesford Lodge Farm Shop, a working dairy with a heritage centre, cafe and organic farm shop. But the busy roads with no pavements made it an unpleasant walk so I have concluded that both venues are best visited as standalone attractions rather than walks.

The farm has a herd of 140 Guernsey cows who produce 'Buttercup Milk', made into Minghella ice cream on the farm.

They are clearly used to visitors and very curious!

A few young calves were in the stalls...

Avoiding the road walk I returned via the farm track Littletown Lane.

The track bears left at this cottage to come out by the Woodmans Arms on the number 9 bus route. 5 minutes walk past the pub and over the mini roundabout is the bus stop back to  Newport.

 

Walk details

Walk Details
Start: Butterfly World
Finish: Wootton Common
Distance: 2.2 miles
Time:  60 minutes
Bus: No 9 from Newport via Staplers to Wootton
Refreshments/WC: Butterfly World and Briddlesford Lodge Farm 

Walk 38 Poppies of Yaverland - 1.4 miles

Not much of a walk, but one with a purpose: to locate the poppy field I had seen in the photos of other island photographers. I gave up on waiting for clear blue skies and headed out to Sandown en route to Yaverland, passing the unseasonably empty beaches and esplanade and the Isle of Wight zoo.

Up ahead are the white chalk cliffs of Culver Down, but here the road bears off left at Yaverland, on the bus route number 8 towards Bembridge.

In fact the field proved easy to find, clearly visible from the main road opposite Yaverland Manor and the church. 

 

 This shady avenue of lime trees leads to Yaverland Manor. 

This medieval manor house was mentioned in the Domesday Book but was rebuilt around 1620 in the reign of James I, when it passed from the Russell family who had held it from the time of Edward I to the family of a local brewer, Jermyn Richards. Now a private home, the house boasts a fine carved Jacobean staircase, a possible priest's hole and an impressive great hall. Like many an old manor house, it is reputed to be haunted!

I was not the only photographer there that day, and was offered a lift to explore the poppies at Culver Down. Originally sited on the highest point of Bembridge Down, the Yarborough Monument commemorates Charles Anderson-Pelham, the 2nd Baron Yarborough who founded the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes. He married into the Worsley family and lived at Appuldurcombe House at Wroxall. Erected in 1849, it is the largest of the island's obelisks, made of granite, with the family arms carved on two sides and an inscription stating that he was held in great affection by Islanders. 

From the top of the Down can be seen the blue waters of Whitecliff Bay; the tide was far out, revealing a spit of land.

In the event, there were not very many poppies but it was unusual to find these purple ones. By chance, my visit coincided with the centenary of the Battle of the Somme; purple poppies are worn in remembrance of the animals that lost their lives during the two world wars.

 

Walk Route Details

Walk Details

Start: Sandown Library
Finish: Yaverland
Distance: 1.4 miles
Time:  30-40 minutes
Bus: No 6 from Ventnor to Sandown, No 8 if wished Sandown to Yaverland
Refreshments/WC: Sandown Esplanade