Isle of Wight Camping Adventure, 4th-8th July, 2023
Grange Farm Camping, Brighstone Beach View!
For your ‘landlubbers’ out there, the Isle of Wight is the diamond and we camped approximately where the black dot is, West Wight.
Not a bad view from our tent!
Image of St. Cathrine’s Oratory or known as ‘Pepper Pot’ to islanders.
The first night was bucketing it down with rain and so we didn’t do much, however the next day was really sunny and we decided to do a 10 Mile+ hike, following the Chale coastal route.
During the start of our walk we hiked up the Chale Downs. We could see the white cliffs of Freshwater from afar.
The Pepper Pot looks like a Folly but was actually initially part of a Church that was, ‘built in 1314 as a penance for stealing wine from a merchant ship that ran aground on the rocks of Atherfield’. (www.visitisleofwight.co.uk)
Below is a map of Southern Isle of Wight, showing the route we took.
Credit to ‘Track my Run’, and glad we walked it instead!
Our walk lead us through scenic paths, teaming with wildlife. Here are some photos we took of the creatures we discovered!
We spotted loads of Red Admiral Butterflies.
Dragonflies, I think this might be one of the Hawker ones.
Another one!
St. Catherine’s Lighthouse, Niton.
Halfway through the walk we ventured down to the coast that took us to Niton. Niton is famous for its long history of lighthouses; the first one was built in 1323 with many reconstructions after that. The one standing today was built by Trinity House in 1838 to help guide ships to and fro the Solent. You can actually be shown around the lighthouse still, on specific days. Unfortunately, it was closed when we walked by.
Then we had a steep hike up to the cliff path, you can see the lighthouse from afar.
The next day I helped Joe to discover the Red Squirrels. He took the lovely photos below, they definitely took a liking to him!
Soo cute!
Tent selfie, worn out but happy!