Tennyson Trail
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The Tennyson Trail is a 14-mile walk from
Carisbrooke Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight and is best known as the site of Carisbrooke Castle. It also has a medieval parish church. St Mary's Church (overlooking Carisbrooke High Street with views to the ...
to
The Needles The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmo ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
. The route goes through Bowcombe Down,
Brighstone Forest Brighstone Forest is located in the southwest of the Isle of Wight. It is the largest forest on the Isle of Wight, being just a few hectares larger than Parkhurst Forest. It is spread over a number of hilly ridges which form the backbone of the I ...
,
Mottistone Down Mottistone is a village on the Isle of Wight, located in the popular tourist area the Back of the Wight.http://www.backofthewight.net It is located 8 Miles southwest of Newport in the southwest of the island, and is home to the National Trus ...
,
Brook Down A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler * BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...
,
Afton Down Afton Down is a chalk down near the village of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. Afton Down faces Compton Bay directly to the west, while Freshwater is approximately one mile north. It was the site of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where the ...
, Freshwater Bay,
Tennyson Down Tennyson Down is a hill at the west end of the Isle of Wight just south of Totland. Tennyson Down is a grassy, whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises to 482 ft/147m above sea level. Tennyson Down is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who li ...
, and
West High Down West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
to
Alum Bay Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within close sight of the Needles rock formation. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs. The waters and adj ...
. The name of the trail comes from poet
Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
, a former resident of the Isle of Wight. There are several points of interest along the walk, including The Tennyson Monument on
Tennyson Down Tennyson Down is a hill at the west end of the Isle of Wight just south of Totland. Tennyson Down is a grassy, whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises to 482 ft/147m above sea level. Tennyson Down is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who li ...
,
Farringford House Farringford House, in the village of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight, was the home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from 1853 until his death in 1892. The main house dates from 1806 with gothic embellishments and extensions added from the 1830s. ...
and
The Needles Batteries The Needles Batteries are two military batteries built above the Needles stacks to guard the West end of the Solent. The field of fire was from approximately West South West clockwise to Northeast and they were designed to defend against enemy ...
which overlook
The Needles The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmo ...
. Much of the trail, being a public byway, was formerly open to all traffic, including motor vehicles. By the early 2000s, off-road vehicles had become an increasing problem, and were damaging tracks, archaeological sites and wildlife habitats. In response, in 2006, the Isle of Wight council banned all motor vehicles from the entire length of the trail. The route can be joined at any point, or walked in either direction; however, below it is described from Carisbrooke to Alum Bay.


Carisbrooke to Brighstone

The route starts from
Carisbrooke Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight and is best known as the site of Carisbrooke Castle. It also has a medieval parish church. St Mary's Church (overlooking Carisbrooke High Street with views to the ...
near Newport. The sign for the Tennyson Trail is present on Nodgham Lane. After this, the trail follows a steep hill in a south-westerly direction along an ancient road with banks on each side. Views to the left show
Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisbro ...
, leading on to Bowcombe Valley. The route later crosses bridleways N125 and N127 and later passes N140 where a television mast is visible. At this point the path starts to descend before crossing a gate to a crossing track at the bottom. After crossing this, the route travels along Bridleway N136a to
Brighstone Forest Brighstone Forest is located in the southwest of the Isle of Wight. It is the largest forest on the Isle of Wight, being just a few hectares larger than Parkhurst Forest. It is spread over a number of hilly ridges which form the backbone of the I ...
to another gate around 80 metres further ahead. An overhead electrical cable will later pass overhead and will follow a narrow beech plantation to the left. After passing Bridleway N198 the trail continues straight ahead and uphill through open fields before levelling off at a gate which levels off and follows the sign for Bridleway N139 to
Brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...
and
Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
. As the track continues, it slowly becomes enclosed in trees through Brighstone Forest.


Brighstone to Brook

On reaching Brighstone Forest, signs for the Tennyson Trail appear. After following these signs the track starts to descend and crosses Bridleway BS58 shortly before reaching a five-way crossing. After continuing straight at the crossing, a signpost appears showing the
Worsley Trail Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is evid ...
and
Shorwell Shorwell (pronounced Shorrel by some locals and Islanders) is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It is from Newport in the southwest of the island. Shorwell was one of Queen Victoria's favourite places to visit o ...
to the left and the Tennyson Trail to the right. Following this leads to Brighstone Down. The trail continues west along this track with sea views to the left before descending steadily to exit at a picnic area onto Lynch Lane. Turning right, then left will lead through the National Trust Jubilee Car Park and onto the National Trust information board. After passing the Forestry Commission Brighstone Forest entrance, the trail follows the down following the ancient road to the summit. After leaving National Trust land through a gate and continuing ahead on level ground, the path will immediately pass ancient burial mounds on the right. The track then descends to a further gate into a field where the Tennyson Trail is signposted. It will then descend through the field to reach the
B3399 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Gre ...
to Freshwater and
Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...
to the right and Brook to the left.


Brook to Freshwater

After turning right onto the road towards Freshwater, the path immediately restarts to the left by a bus stop and car park onto
Compton Down Compton Down is a hill on the Isle of Wight just to the east of Freshwater Bay. It is part of the chalk ridge which forms the "backbone" of the Isle of Wight. It runs east to west, is approximately long and is predominantly grass downland. The ...
. This track begins to immediately climb steeply passing a chalk pit on the right then bears right to avoid overhead electric cables. The trail continues ahead, steadily gaining height towards Afton Down. It then travels through the golf course on Afton Down with the track later descending to Freshwater Bay.


Freshwater to Alum Bay

From here, the Tennyson Trail joins the westbound
Coastal path A coastal path (or a littoral path) is a trail along a sea shore or a lake shore for pedestrians, and sometimes for cyclists or equestrians. Some coastal paths were originally created for use by customs or coastguard officials looking out for s ...
next to a block of public toilets on the lane to Fort Redoubt. This lane then turns sharply left passing through two sets of stiles onto
Tennyson Down Tennyson Down is a hill at the west end of the Isle of Wight just south of Totland. Tennyson Down is a grassy, whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises to 482 ft/147m above sea level. Tennyson Down is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who li ...
. From here the trail continues along the coastline, continuing to rise to the Tennyson Monument. After reaching the monument, the ground starts to descend. At the bottom of Tennyson Down will be a stile leading on to
West High Down West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
which has a steady incline until a radio aerial comes into view. After crossing a stile by the aerial, the trail then continues right onto a tarmac road. From here to the left,
The Needles Battery The Needles Batteries are two military batteries built above the Needles stacks to guard the West end of the Solent. The field of fire was from approximately West South West clockwise to Northeast and they were designed to defend against enem ...
can be seen. The road passes a row of cottages where it turns sharply left. Here there is a stile with a descending path and another stile back onto the road. This road continues downwards to
Alum Bay Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within close sight of the Needles rock formation. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs. The waters and adj ...
, marking the end of the trail.


References

{{GeoGroup Geography of the Isle of Wight Long-distance footpaths in England Tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight