Isle of Wight - Part 2: Walk on Compton Beach

 

On the Saturday it was cool and windy but sunny. We decided to go to Compton Beach which is my favourite beach from the whole of Britain although I have to admit Llandwyn Beach on Anglesey comes a close second!

After we'd left the car D and I soon discovered lots of new plant species for the 2026 Wild Plant Challenge although identifying them is not proving easy! even with the help of  the Field Studies Council Guide to Coastal flowers plus zillions of wild flower id books I have.  There is also quite a lot of information available via the internet. Anyway with a bit of help from a friend on Twitter - thanks Kirsty -  I think we now have id's!

Sea Beet

 Sea Plantain (Plantago maritima)

Slender Thistle

Mallow

I thought at first that this one was easy as it was surely Wild Carrot but when I looked into it - there is also a species called Sea Carrot!  It gets more complicated by the minute.  I don't have photos of the diagnostic features needed for Sea Carrot and in any case there were no seed heads which are distinctive so it will be classed as a Wild Carrot.

Someone is having fun - paragliding! You wouldn't get me trying that!

We had an icecream first.

Then down onto the beach.

The geology of the Isle of Wight is absolutely fascinating.  The rocks along Compton Bay are the oldest exposed rocks on the island formed in the Cretaceous (125-140 million years ago).  The gently sloping and in parts almost horizontal Wealden beds consist of red, green, purple and grey mudstones containing bands of limestone and sandstone.  The top of the cliff is composed of a layer of gravels deposited in more recent times (at the end of the last Ice Age) by rivers.  The harder more resistant layers run as parallel ledges to the the sea.

In this photo in the far distance towards Freshwater you can see chalk cliffs.  These and the Needles were deposited 80-90 million years ago in clear, warm seas.  The rocks in places are almost vertical.  Chalk is made up of miniscule fragments of tiny algae ( coccoliths) which formed spheres only 1/100th of a millimetre.

Some of the  more resistant layers of rock running towards the sea.

By this time B, D and E were as usual miles in front of me because they did not keep stopping to take photos or look at pebbles!  You can see them in the far distance in this photo!

The Isle of Wight is known as "Dinosaur Island" because so many dinosaur remains have been found - many on Compton beach.  There are several dinosaur footprints on the beach (we were shown these years ago when we went on an organised fossil hunt).  Other fossils found on the beach include lignite (fossilised wood), oyster shells, and occasionally amber.

(Note - I should perhaps add that this area of the coast is subject to erosion and you should not go too close to the cliff in case of rock falls.  You are not allowed to dig into the cliffs for fossils although I understand you can pick up fossils from the beach).

Limpets on the rocks

Stranded jellyfish

Cuttle Bones - not really bones as such but internal calcium rich shells that Cuttlefish use for buoyancy. I remember we used to feed my budgie these!

Back at the steps leading up to the beach.  I have to admit I really struggled getting up these - my knees are not good these days!

Some of D's photos

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After leaving Compton Beach we went to the large Tesco in Freshwater to get some shopping for the week.

D took this photo on the return  journey.  You can see Chale church on the right and on the down behind in the very far distance! is St Catherine's Oratory or the Pepperpot as it is sometimes called.

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The following day we went to Arreton Manor Barns and I had chance to revisit the church of St George but I will write about that in the next post.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. Those marked *D were taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Isle of Wight - Part 1: Arrival and Cottage at Niton and Coastal Path Walk

 

We left home on the Friday about 10.20 am which was later than we planned - as usual!!!  We hit traffic at the usual places on the journey to Lymington where we were catching the 2.00 pm ferry to the Isle of Wight. Consequently we arrived at five minutes past two and had just missed the ferry!!!  Wightlink are very good though and just put you on the next ferry which was 40 minutes later.  At least it gave us time to eat our sandwiches and have a look around the ferry terminal shop.

The ferry journey from Lymington to Yarmouth is fairly short - around 35/40 minutes.

Isle of Wight ferry coming the other way :)

Arrival at Yarmouth - you can see Yarmouth Castle in the second photo.

Some of D's photos of the ferry crossing

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We stayed in a beautiful thatched cottage which is early C17th and Grade II listed.  I think it is about the fourth time we have stayed here as it is in a lovely location.  There is a really beautiful cottage garden full of herbaceous plants at the rear of the cottage.

Front of the cottage

There were sea hollies in the garden which were absolutely covered in bumble bees - white-tailed, buff tailed, red tailed and common carder.

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D spotted a wren taking food into a nest which had been built in the cottage's thatched roof.

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This is the old fireplace in the dining room - it even has a bread oven :)

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One day we were thrilled to see a Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the garden nectaring on  Salvia "Hot Lips" and later Valerian. D managed to get a few record shots.

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D did a coastal path walk from Niton early the next morning. I have included the photos in this post as it gives you an idea of the village where we stayed and its surroundings.

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This plant is Hottentot Fig which is native to South Africa. It is a plant that has been grown in gardens since around 1690 and was first recorded in the wild in 1886. It is classed as an invasive species and can be a threat to wild plants. Its distribution is limited to coastal areas around the south and south west of England. It also occurs on the south and north west coast of Wales. I don't think we can count it though in our 2026 Wild Plant Challenge!

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This is St Catherine's Lighthouse built in 1883 by Trinity House to guide shipping in the channel and vessels approaching the Solent. It is situated at Niton undercliff and was automated in 1997. We once went on a tour of the lighthouse which was really interesting and well worth doing.

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The White Lion which is only a few hundred yards from the cottage 

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We arrived at the cottage just after 4.00 p.m. and after unpacking the car spent the evening relaxing.

Sorry for all the photos but I also use this blog as a record of my days out, holidays and church crawling.  You will be relieved to hear I haven't included all the photos we took :)

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those marked *D  taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).