Isle of Wight Coast Path: Compton Bay to St Catherine's Point
17 October 2013
My third walk on the Isle of Wight Coast Path, and my final coastal
walk during this week's holiday, started at Compton Bay on a windy
morning with the objective of St Catherine's Point at the southern tip
of the island.
A look back across Compton Bay as we start today's walk. It is the most
isolated section of the walk, mostly on cliff tops, many suffering from
erosion, some of which made it safe to have the dogs off lead, but much
of the walk was done with them on an extending lead on their harnesses,
just in case their enthusiasm got the better of their sense.
A car park gradually disappearing into the sea.
I'm not sure what this structure is
Typical views for today's walk
Presumably erosion is the cause of moving all the traffic to the inland
side of the road, though there doesn't seem to be any immediate threat.
A pleasant little track down to the sea, but our way lies slightly
higher along the cliff tops
A look inland at the quiet Isle of Wight
Some of the extensive undercliffs where the land is slumping into the
sea
More gradual erosion
Part of a holiday camp falling into the sea, with the original coastal
path already gone
Steep cliffs hereabouts - I wonder where that stile goes
Hmm, nowhere any longer
The rapid erosion means that this is a good spot for dinosaur fossil
hunting (at lower states of the tide)
More disappearing coast
A zip-wire allows for equipment to be hoisted from boats on the beach
below
Heading for St Catherine's Hill
"Access to the beach is closed due to coastal erosion"
At Chale, we walk briefly along the road past the church
Then take to this green path before more walking alongside the main
road.
The road walk brings us out above Blackgang Chine
Heading along Gore Cliff, St Catherine's Lighthouse can be seen at the
bottom, my objective for the day.
The route ahead for the remaining half of the official Coastal Path.
Our route lies down a footpath to St Catherine's Point at the bottom of
the cliffs. If I'd been planning the official route of the Coastal Path,
I'd have taken it to St Catherine's Point, but the official route sticks
to the cliff tops. As a result, the little footpath was in need of some
maintenance, but we eventually made it to the little lane at the bottom,
where we met with Lucy and the other dogs.
The six of us continued down the hill to the lighthouse
...and then did a little circuit before climbing back up the hill to the
car and to the cottage. Just over half way around the island, and the
rest will have to wait for another year.
Total walk 21.9 km in 6 hours 6 minutes - to the point where I
left the official Coastal Path route was 19.2 km in 5 hours 34 mins
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