clockwork s'Mart

Wow what a day! 3 places I’ve never seen before; how an earth did I miss them before?

Crompton Bay was dark and misty this morning, the west side of the island is usually the last to wake up…

Beetle ready to go… power packed 200BHP turbo; lovely!

First stop today was something on the dark side; The Devils Chimney!

Just past the Botanic Gardens in Ventnor nip into the Smugglers Cafe, grab a bite to eat and walk down to the the bottom of the green and off to the right you’ll find a pathway to the Devil’s Chimney.

At the top around 567’ above sea level, sheer rock cliffs drop drop towards the sea below. Nature had been tough on the rocks and deep crevices formed; smugglers made use of these huge concealed fractures and carved steps into them allowing then for many years to escape detection while making their way up from the coastline.

After navigating the steps and narrow passageways daylight again! You can see from the image below the entrance to the stairway is well concealed.

At around 375’ above sea level there were more steps down; and some awesome photographic opportunities where a landslide occurred revealing the many roots of trees

… did I mention the steps down?

… and more…

… of course going down was the easy part; with the Beatle parked at the top it was really hard work getting back up to the top! Needless to say – I made it! biggest workout I’ve had this year!

After recovering in the Beatle for a bit I drove on to Fishbourne towards the north of the island and Quarr Abbey which was completed in 1917, and is the home of Benedictine monks.

… open think that really surprised me was the shear size of the Abbey; travelling around the island there are numerous places of worship but none on the scale of Quarr. I think the thing that hit me most was how well it’s hidden, coming up the drive; and WOW!

… did I m
entioned how beautiful the architecture was (by the French monk-architect Dom Paul Bellot).

With my head still in the clouds, the third and final visit was to Totland Pier for the sunset; sadly I missed the sun by about 3 minutes so hopefully the weather will be gracious and grant me a second attempt.