Walk 47 Shanklin to Yaverland and Wildheart Trust - 3 miles

This is a perfect walk in any weather, a flat, gentle stroll along the sea path from Shanklin to Sandown, ending at the Wildheart Trust, formerly the IOW zoo, but now a sanctuary for mostly rescued animals.

I started the walk in Shanklin town centre, joining the cliff path at the end of Clarendon Rd, before descending to join the sea path at Hope Beach.   

Passing the colourful beach huts, the path skirts the fine, sandy beaches of Lake and Sandown Bay, always popular with dog walkers. 

There are several cafes along the way, but my current favourite is Tradewinds, a touch of the tropics on the English coast.

Beyond the pier and seafront hotels we come to Yaverland and Wildheart Trust . It is a small facility but the animal care is exceptional and the visitor experience extraordinary, as you can get so close to the animals and watch them being fed and engaged in enrichment activities that mirror their life in the wild.

In their large, sandy enclosure, half a dozen meerkats guard their territory with their customary stance.

Recently arrived are a family of three Eurasian Lynx, Daenerys and her offspring Tyrion and Nymeria.

Also new to the sanctuary are two servals, Tafkap and Xirius, rescued from the illegal pet trade in France, where they were locked up in a bathroom and bedroom. Despite having broken and deformed bones from their time in captivity, they now trot happily around their large, grassy enclosure. The broadcaster Chris Packham has recently spearheaded a campaign to stop the breeding of servals with domestic cats to produce Savannah Cats. Read here.

But the main attraction is the big cats. Lion feeding demos take place most days and the cats are so comfortable with visitors that they can often be found lounging in front of their cages just an arm's stretch away.

 

This beautiful tiger is one of five rescued a few years ago from a Spanish circus.

Walk Details
Start: Clarendon Road, Shanklin bus stop
Finish: Yaverland
Distance: 3 miles
Time:  60 minutes
Bus: No 2,3,8 from Ryde or Newport
Refreshments/WC:Pubs,cafes in Shanklin/Sandown, public WC in crazy golf at Shanklin and by Sandown Pier, Yaverland and in Wildheart Sanctuary

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

Walk 11 Alverstone Squirrel Walk - 4.4 miles

I have been meaning to take a photo walk to the Alverstone Nature Reserve ever since I saw the fabulous images some folk take there,.

This walk is the one published by the Isle of Wight Ramblers and the full leaflet can be printed out from here with full directions and details. As suggested I started out from Sandown Station, following the route through the grounds of Sandown Bay Academy until it joins the Nunwell Trail and enters woodland with the golf course on the left.

This is a fairly accessible walk, flat and with no stiles, but since it traverses a marshy lowland area there are some wet patches, so it is best done in late spring and summer. Much of the route is boardwalked though to give access across the wettest ground.

Since this is a nature walk I was amused to spot this rare woodland creature!

Just past this paddock an intriguing gate invited me to make a detour along the edge of the golf course along a scenic boardwalk, but it leads away from the route, so I retraced my steps after a while.

Soon we turn right to enter the Alverstone Mead Nature Reserve, an area of wet meadows, woodland and wildflower meadows, home to barn owls, kingfishers and herons.

A raised walkway leads to this wooden hide surrounded with strings of nuts to encourage both birds and red squirrels. Ducks and geese of various breeds were swimming in the stream below and nesting in the reeds, while a pair of mallards was wandering around beneath the hide. Though I and the other observers were quiet, the place was loud with the sounds of the birds.

Whilst waiting for the red squirrels to put in an appearance, I saw plenty of blue tits but they were too fast to capture; however I did just manage to catch this woodpecker swinging from the nut string just outside the hide.

Eventually my patience was rewarded when a few squirrels appeared, not up in the trees as I expected but digging around in the undergrowth. However they move so fast that none of my shots really captured them very well. They are quite tame and will take food from inside the hide and scamper along the walkway fence.

This one perched on the roof of the hide for a nibble.

But most of my other shots caught them disappearing down a hole...

Eventually I thought of taking some video and was quite pleased with the result. The ducks can be heard quacking away throughout,

A second visit offered closer views but I have yet to achieve really sharp images.

From the hide, the path follows the course of Scotchells Brook via a boardway across marshy land to come out on Alverstone Road.

Passing Alverstone Ponds I chanced a sneaky shot of this peaceful moment.

This walk was full of wild flowers throughout; they may be weeds but the hedgerows were looking lovely.

Very common, but this Speedwell was all along the path.

The path leads down to Bretts Meadow, a wet pasture where orchids flourish when in season.
 

Next the path crosses Youngwoods Copse, mostly oak trees with some silver birch, holly and hazel, where the last bluebells of the season were still in show.

This garden on the edge of the garden village was a riot of colour.

The final stretch of the walk follows the edge of Alverstone Mead, where cow parsley was definitely the weed of the week.

This riverside path behind the cycle way was lined with gorgeous clumps of wild comfrey.

So I had to play with the macro button....

The path meets the Alverstone Road by this lovely mill garden.

To the left are the water meadows of  Alverstone Mead along the Eastern Yar.

The dark green area below looks like a lake but is actually a sea of wetland grasses and wild flowers.

Here you can see the wildlife hide from the other side of the meadow.

The cycle path leads back into the bungalow suburbs of Perowne Way, but even here there were splashes of wild flowers; this is locally known as Ventnor Pride, or Valerian. Pretty, but invasive once it gets in the garden. Mostly it is pink but this clump had white spikes too.

Just behind Sandown Academy was a pretty field of daisies and dandelions to finish my nature walk.