A Walk Along the Grand Union Canal

 

D and I haven't been on a canal walk for ages and, as it is something we love doing, earlier this week we visited the Grand Union Canal near Knowle.  We haven't done this particular canal walk before.

There were ripe berries everywhere along the hedgerow at the side of the tow path - blackberries, haws, sloes and rose hips.

Ivy was covered in flowers.  We saw pollinators galore and the one species I was particularly thrilled to see

was Ivy Bee.  This is a new species for me and there were dozens of them on the flowers.

The Ivy Bee is a relatively new arrival in the UK having first been seen in 2001 and it is gradually spreading North.  It feeds mainly on ivy nectar and can be seen at this time of year ie September to November.

There were a lot canal boats moored along the canal.

Good to see a solar panel on this boat :)

Heronfield Small Breeds farm and animal sanctuary is next to the canal and D got this photo of a Shetland Pony.

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Damselfly

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Speckled Wood

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Dragonfly

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We walked for an hour or more and then had lunch at the King's Arms which is conveniently situated next to the canal.

We both had the same an open sandwich of avocado and goat's cheese with fries.  The sandwich on toasted bread also included pesto, pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes. It was delicious.

It was so good to get out for a walk in the country. I am hoping we can return to the caravan soon.

I won't say too much about events at the caravan park but a planning application has been submitted to place 21 new caravans on the field opposite our caravan which means we will lose the lovely view we currently have from the lounge window.  There are many things that concern us about the proposed development but as this is a public blog I won't say any more apart from the fact that I am not happy!!!

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 camera and those marked *D taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS.  (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).