Needles

This morning we’d planned to go walking.  It wasn’t raining and was warm and the day got sunnier. 

We left about 11:20am to walk the 3 miles to The Needles across Headon Warren and some incredible views of the coast and, eventually, of The Needles. Sadly, I think we missed the Bronze Age barrow. We took the path, and eventually the wooden steps, down towards the sands at Alum Bay but we decided against going to the bottom.  It’s a route that’s a little hidden as, I guess, the owners of The Needles Attraction would rather you paid to take the cable car down.  As it’s still very early in the season that wasn’t running. 

After lunch we walked up to The Needles Old Battery with a thought that we would take the cliff-top path to Freshwater Bay. Given the underfoot conditions on some of the grass we opted to come inland slightly and follow a path up to Tennyson Down. I suspect the muddy path would have been the same whichever way we went.  Tennyson Down is a ridge of chalk which rising 147m above sea level. The area is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who lived at nearby and there is a Monument on the top of The Down which is also named after him. We managed to reach the moment, after sitting on a bench looking out to sea, by about 3:15pm.

After the monument it was a pleasant downhill walk to Freshwater Bay. The Dimbola Tea Room, which features a statue of Jimmy Hendrix in the garden, was our plan for a pitstop on the way back but it’s currently closed to the public on Monday.  We wandered back towards Freshwater and onto our accommodation, getting back by about 4:30pm, without finding anywhere between Freshwater Bay and the chalet that was open for a coffee.