The trail officially runs from Carisbrooke to Freshwater Bay. We started walking in Newport after getting the train to Portsmouth, ferry to Ryde and bus. Sounds awful but all the connections worked seamlessly, which made the travelling a bit of a marvel because it was simply working as designed.

It was a beautiful walk along a ridge line for much of the way, through fields and woods. In the second half we could see the sea the whole time and tomorrow’s coastal walk. We reached Freshwater Bay at about 4pm. The beachfront pub and restaurant Albion was decent and very clean.

After a couple of drinks we walked the last part to Stoats Farm (the yellow dot) and pitched our tents. The proprietor had a deserved reputation for being bossy and a stickler for rules. But the place was immaculate and orderly. I was more than willing to take off my shoes in the bathroom.