Doorstep Medina

We've just done the first in the series of wildlife and heritage walks focusing on the Medina Valley from the Solent right up to Newport Quay. The overall project is called 'Medina Rediscovered' (funded by Heritage Lottery) and the walks bit 'Doorstep Medina'. There is also a schools programme making use of all the Medina's varied characteristics and features as local learning resources, plugging into as many bits of the curriculum as we can. The walk on Thursday went from Whippingham down to the river at Island Harbour and back again and what a splendid spring day it was! 2 Swallows, Orange Tips, Tortioseshells, Brimstones, Oystercatchers shouting all over the place, Great-crested Grebe and about a million Primroses. We went by St. Mildred's Church too where, in the graveyard, you can find Samuel Saunders and Uffa Fox, two absolutely extraordinary men who must have helped to make East Cowes the buzzing hub of engineering and design brilliance that it once was.
Being so close to them is kind of inspiring and makes you want to rush back and do something spectacular for the town. We love East Cowes.