The Wednesday Walk 16th September

The Plan

A walk to Highcliffe

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Trisha, Jackie, Tony R, David

The Walk

There were only five of us this week. Had someone warned the others that the weather was due to turn bad? We parked at the Steamer Point car park and walked along the path that runs past the now-disused coastguard training base and continued to Highcliffe Castle. We stopped in the café there for tea and coffee.

          Highcliffe Castle was built between 1831 and 1835 by Charles Stuart, 1^st Baron Stuart de Rothesay on the site of a Georgian mansion house. The castle was designed in a Gothic Revival style by William Donthorne and incorporated large quantities of carved medieval stonework salvaged from the Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Jumieges and the Grand Maison des Andelys. Lord Stuart de Rothesay was born in 1779, the eldest son of General Sir Charles Stuart. He was educated at Eton and in 1801 he entered the diplomatic service, serving in Vienna, St Petersburg, French occupied Spain, and Portugal. While in Spain, he helped the Duke of Wellington and accompanied him on the run-up to the Battle of Waterloo. After Napoleon’s defeat, Charles escorted the exiled King Louis back to Paris and became the British ambassador there. He was made Baron Stuart de Rothesay in 1828.

          I’m sure you’re glad to know that. You can impress any visitors by repeating it next time you are at the castle.

Suitably refreshed after our tea and coffee, we walked on to the pub in Highcliffe. There was a slight drizzle as we reached our destination. By the time we left, the rain was getting a bit out of hand. Within ten or fifteen minutes we were experiencing a very heavy downpour and we all got soaked. We were glad to get back to the car.

There are no photographs this week because it was too wet.

The Pub

The Globe Highcliffe. We’ve eaten here many times before and always found the quality of the food good. But there’s more to it than quality. The pie-eater awarded nine out of ten for the quality of his steak and merlot pie. But only seven out of ten for the size of the pie. And five out of ten for the size of the meal as a whole. And a few vegetables would have been nice.

Next Week

Meet at Wendy’s at 10am for a walk from the Silent Woman.