Whilst spending a few days at Cowes we went for two fairly lengthy walks, first around Gurnard Bay and then to Newport and back. We’d been lucky with the weather – bright sunshine so it was sunglasses rather than thermals that were needed.

The views down the western end of the Solent from Gurnard are not only spectacular but really interesting if you know the water well. Surprisingly this was our first walk along this stretch of coastline that we’d seen so many times from the sea. Cowes and Egypt point has a charm of it’s own but once you get past the village of Gurnard the landscape changes to become more rugged, more remote. It’s surprisingly busy withs many holiday shacks tucked away in odd corners, almost certainly built before any planning regulation was imposed. Several were made from old railway cartridges, there must have been many left over when the IOW railways closed.

We took the eastern path to Newport which is a bit boring until you get to Whippingham Church but then becomes really pleasant as you pass through the Folly, Island Marina and along a recently made up cycleway to the harbour. The return is along the path of the old railway, very straight but plenty of interest. passing toehold cement works and several streams.

It was good to hear the songbirds once more who were in good voice after a period of quiet whilst moulting. Not too many flowers were evident although this

Hedgerow Cranesbill did stand out alongside the path along the old railway track. At Gurnard on the hills there seemed to be quite a few domestic plants, these Cyclamen and some Honesty; it wasn’t clear if they were wild or escapees.