St Helens’ Rock Pools and Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight

St Helens Salt Marshes

This blog post is about a day out on the Isle of Wight with my girlfriend visiting the rock pools at St Helens and then onto Carisbrooke Castle.

 

St Helens

I had checked the UK Tide android application the night before, to make sure the tide was out when we visited.  Due to bus times and the tide we got up early and caught a bus from Ryde to St Helens. In under twenty minutes we were dropped off at St Helens.

St Helens Salt Marshes

 

We knew we had a short walk ahead to the seafront and whilst there was a road, we decided to take a muddy path, rather than walk down a road without a pavement. Once down the muddy path, we then enjoyed a five minute stroll along a track through salt marshes.

St Helens Rock Pools - Isle of Wight

We had visited St Helens before and it is a stunning location. There are the remains of a church which has been consumed by the sea, and nearby the rock pools are to be found.

Crab at St Helens - Isle of Wight

It should be noted that it is incredible slippery and more than once I slipped, and on too numerous occasions found my feet in the water! However we viewed crabs and other creatures which we think were water shrimp and even an eel!

Creature in St Helens Rock Pools

We headed back to the village via the road route and discovered it cut our return journey in half. We decided to wait for the bus outside of the pub near the green, and hopped on the bus to Ryde.

 

Carisbrooke Castle

We caught the bus to Newport from Ryde which are every ten to fifteen minutes, and after a half hour or so we pulled into the bus station. We then caught another bus to Carisbrooke and got off near to Castle Hill.  A walk up a muddy path and then some steep ancient steps found us at the castle’s moat, and finally a short stroll to the front of Castle.

Carisbrooke Castle - Isle of Wight

We paid for entry and strolled into the grounds. We only experienced a light sprinkle of rain during our visit, and without doubt the castle is a visit for a dry day.

Carisbrooke Castle Wall

We strolled around the castle walls, said hello to the donkeys, sat in a small garden, popped into the museum and sat relaxing at the bowling green.

Inside Carisbrooke Castle - Isle of Wight

We were not in any hurry and spent a few hours at the castle. We brought a pot of tea for two in the cafe, where I left a generous tip in the container at the till, as it appears most people were being very conservative in their tipping.

Carisbrooke Castle Wall Walk

 

Round-up

By planning the day and with lucky timing on the tide level, we were able to squeeze in two trips on the island, but without feeling rushed. The bus network is very good, and with some sunshine we had a lovely day out.

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