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.
Arrival at Yarmouth - you can see Yarmouth Castle in the second photo.
Some of D's photos of the ferry crossing
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.
D spotted a wren taking food into a nest which had been built in the cottage's thatched roof.
This is the old fireplace in the dining room - it even has a bread oven :)
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.
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.
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!
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.
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).
13 comments:
I have never been to the Isle of White even though it is more or less driver down the A34. I do have a friend who lives there. If you want to visit St Margaret’s I would try and combine a visit to Dore Abbey you can then dive on along the road to Bacton and St Margaret’s. Three churches in one visit
Thanks so much Billy. We drove down the A34 but be warned traffic can be horrendous in one place and there is always a traffic jam in one part of the route through the New Forest. Thanks so much for the info re: Dore Abbey. Bacton is also definitely on my list to visit.
Your holiday cottage looks delightful both inside and in the gardens. Good to know you were able to catch a ferry fairly quickly after missing the first one. The journey across from Lymington to Yarmouth looks calm and relaxing. Not too many photos at all, I'll look forward to more:)
Thanks so much Rosie especially about the photos as I know I put far too many on at times :) The cottage is really lovely although it has doubled in price since we last went! I much prefer the Lymington Yarmouth crossing to the one from Portsmouth to Fishbourne.
Don’t talk to me about the A34 I used to work in Oxford and used it nearly every day from 1972 till I left in 2004 watching the traffic get heavier and heavier. When I started working at Rutherford I 2004 I drove over it at Chilton and used to look at traffic jams and hear about the accidents. We go along it to get the M4 to go to Wales but I hate it.
So sorry Bill it must have been awful to use it nearly every day when you were at work. Most of it for us was ok apart from massive jam of 30 minutes when we had to get off it to join a motorway.
What a lovely cottage and garden, but NOT good about the doubling in price. I hope it was a good few years ago and not recently. I haven't been to the IoW for half a lifetime (more probably). Considering I was a Southampton girl, that's a terrible admission, right on my doorstep!
P.S. Bacton is very near Abbey Dore. Use your satnav for St Margaret's!!
I know the island very well and agree the Lymington crossing to be so much nicer. There are some very interesting places to visit. The islands only thatched church St. Agnes at Freshwater, Queen Victoria's church Whippingham where she worshipped when living in Osborne House. Her daughter Princess Beatrice is buried there. St Thomas church Newport where another princess lies, this time Princess Elizabeth the daughter of Charles 1st aged just 14. Beautiful sea views on nearly every outing. Have a wonderful time. T
Thanks so much BB. The cottage went up in price in 2020 after first covid lockdown when people had staycations for a few years. It was not just this self catering cottage but all of them went up in price. Thanks so much re Bacton. Hard to get to Herefordshire atm due to two family birthdays, IofW trip, OH's treatment 3 hospital appts this week :( and I have an appt to have my ears micro suctioned!!
Anonymous - Thanks yes we did have a wonderful time. We have been to the island many many times over the last 30 years so I have been to St Agnes and Osborne House. But I haven't yet been to Whippingham Church or St Thomas Newport so thank you for the suggestions. Perhaps on our next holiday there I will be able to visit one or both!
That cottage is gorgeous so I don't blame you from returning year after year. The garden must be really lovely to sit out in. Short ferry hops are fun and always seem exciting (we did a couple in Croatia) and I'm glad you had a nice day for it. Look forward to hearing more about your stay, and well done D for capturing the HB Hawkmoth!
PS I stayed on the IoW when I was about 11 at primary school camp! Somewhere near Ryde, though we did travel around the island.
Thanks so much Mandy. We really do like that cottage and staying there. You are right about the garden - son and I would just sit out there and watch the bees on the plants :) I enjoy ferry rides a lot - going to the Isle of Wight on one makes it seem so much of an adventure. Thanks re D and the HBH photo :)
Lovely place for a school trip when you were 11. Once or twice we stopped near Ryde at Seaview where the chalets were cheap. This was when the kids were little and I wasn't working and we didn't have a lot of money for holidays! Not so keen on East Wight though - for me it is a bit too touristy.
Post a Comment