Friday, October 7, 1831 Travel Journal

1831

October

Friday 7

Margin: Down almost all the way to Brook –

Off from Freshwater Gate Inn at 8 40/60.  Walked 40 minutes along the down – fine white cliffs – Sea rough – Very high wind – At Brook, good house, Mr. Howe at 9 50/.. and a few cottages, straw thatched, which [?] right and then at Motteston, neat common farmstead and 5 or 6 straw thatched cottages and picturesque little wood steepled old church in 10 minutes from Brook, i.e. at 10 –

From Brook, narrow roads or lanes under the wind to .   .   . 

At Brightstone or Brixton at 10 1/4.  Very pretty straw thatched, very scattered, well gardened village with a neat sort of brick squire’s home (left) at the extremity of the village – Stop at the neat brick yellow whitewashed Inn at 10 20/..to give horse water and a little – neat little old church just beyond, and a few more straw thatched white cottages – and a neat small house or 2 for little gentry?

Very scattered picturesque village – the prettiest village by far as yet – Walked round the churchyard –

Off again at 10 1/2 – the coast low from Brook to some distance beyond Brixton – St. Catherine’s hill right ahead and fine – 2 towers looking like 2 gate posts, a beacon farther north along the brink or edge of it –

At 10 40/.. Westcourt, Mrs .   .   ., a large brick gable ended ivy covered house –

Shorewell junction good little village with neat old good little church – alight at the little neat old church of Chale at 11 3/4.  

Send the carriage round by St. Catherine’s hill and myself take young woman guide and down at Blackgang Chine at 12 – A mere ripple blown away in rain before reaching the bottom – Merely a blackish clayey cove or circular hollow in the hard clay rock –

Walfan chine about 1/4 mile off to the westward, quite out of our way – Not much to be seen, the cliffs have fallen in so – Besides, the 1/2 mile there and back the sea so rough and water so high, can’t get now – Perhaps might get there in the afternoon – No water falling over there and never near so big or high as this –

5 minutes here – The girls’ father says 55 feet instead of 500 as by the books – at the Chalybrate spring at 12 1/2 –1/2 way up the clayey cliff, sent the girl to the cottage for the key – The spring hut was washed or sunk away last – The present building a little entrance and then arched over the spring quite new – the water is really a strong chalybrate –

Then up to the cottage close under the cliff – Sandrock Cliff in thin horizontal strata where rooks and ravens gulls and hawks build – Very curious – Very threatening to the cottage –

Then about a mile under the cliff to the very pretty Sandrock Hotel at 1 – The very prettiest straw thatched, ground floored, jasmine and ivy covered, verandahed, cottage like hotel I ever saw – (10 miles from here to Shanklin) – Looking full upon the sea, Buddles farm just below –

Made the above notes – Went down to the stables to speak to the driver – Will be after us at 3 – Off at 1 20/.. The ostler wanted to be remembered.  I said I would pay the driver’s master and would have nothing to do with ostlers – I had missed Niton village in coming along by Blackgang chine and the Sandrock spring cottage etc.  Went into a cottage, got a boy guide – Happened to be the very ostler’s son – Off with him along the undercliff at 1 40/.. –

At 1 55/.. sauntered down the sunk way (rough large stone walling and embankment and trees at top.  Might do for entrance in Trough of bolland wood at home ), to the Orchard Sir Willoughby Gordon – In a hole – Would not live there if he would give it me – pretty little place but might as well be underground –

About 2 saw Mirables, Mrs. Arnold. very pretty cottage – Fine ivy round old bushes and bits of wall –

Soon after (left it at 2 20/..), at 2 1/2. sent off the boy – Peeped into St. Lawrence’s Church.  Very small, and at 3 the carriage overtook us and got in.

Steep hill at 3 1/4. Mr. Armble building a house there –

3 23/.. Ventnor, neat pretty new Inn, 2 stories – 8 windows front (4 down to the ground) – Very pretty cove or little bay – and baling machine and 2 or 3 little straw thatched huts – Here grass covered steep hills above the undercliff and end of the fine cliffs we had before – Very little wood – but pretty as fine hill and pretty cottages can make it –

Horse tired.  St. Boniface cottage, straw thatched – Pretty

At 3 40/.. – Goodish wood about – Stands under the immense down – We go down steepish descent – into wooded glen – Very pretty –

At Bonchurch and off to Luccombe chine at 4 – Had to walk all the way, a mile from the Chine cottage and at Shanklin at 5 20/.. then down to the Chine at Shanklin – Bought sand eels –

Back at 5 50/.. – boiled milk at 6 –

 

WYAS Finding Numbers SH/ML/TR/11/0015 and SH/ML/TR/11/0016