Day 8a: Shalfleet to Hamstead Point.

We caught the 8:50 am no:7 bus from Carisbrooke and in less than a quarter of an hour we were standing in the road outside the New Inn to start the last 7 miles of our round the IOW walk. Whereas yesterday was quite overcast this morning was sunny although there were clouds around. I estimated 70% clear sky when we were waiting for the bus.

Nearly opposite the New Inn was the Norman church of St.Michael  the Archangel. As we were not too pushed for time today Frau Barr suggested we might pay it a visit. If you are walking the Coastal Path, and are interested in old buildings,0 it is definitely worth a visit. We are short of space for pictures so we can only give you the outside view but the inside is also impressive, an interesting roof and some really beautiful stained glass.

From the church the 'Coastal Path' runs alongside the main road for about 3/4 mile. Although the road was very busy, at least today there was a grass verge for pedestrians on the RHS of the road. Interestingly, just before we reached the right turn off the road and into the fields/paddocks the skies darkened and a squally wind developed. It started to rain!!! We put on our rain/ wind jackets. However within 10 minutes the squall had passed and we packed our jackets away for good. ( Look how Frau Barr is dressed in the photographs). By the time she was crossing the foot bridge over Ningwood Lake (actually a small river entering Newtown Harbour) the wet weather gear was gone!

The path then joined a dusty dirt road which was not as quiet as one might expect . Four cars passed us in about 10 minutes, leaving clouds of dust behind them. The area was nicely shaded by trees but the lower foliage was covered in dust. Check out the first photograph below. Within half a mile the road branched to the right on the Hamstead Trail. At first the trees were very tall and fir like, and there was a lot of movement aloft, due to the wind. I was a little concerned about falling dead branches. Then suddenly the trees changed to mainly oak. The path had been climbing for a while and eventually we started to get the occasional view of the Solent through the trees. The track eventually descended to a sailing jetty on Newtown Harbour.

The path then continued around the Newtown River estuary to Hamstead Point. The path may have been waterlogged in some places at high tide an there were many bridges a d runs of duck boards needed to enable us to keep our feet dry. There were lots of wild flowers and today they seem to have attracted lots of moths and butterflies. Sadly I only managed to photograph one of them. The strong wind didn't help. I did manage to photograph some sloes however. They don't move around as much and were prolific.