A Suprisingly Interesting Treasure Trail In Newport

Newport's Treasure Trail exceeded my (low) expectations

Over the years, we've completed most of the Isle of Wight's Treasure Trails.

The children have been successfully tricked into going for a walk on each occasion, as we've searched for clues in Shanklin, Cowes, Freshwater Bay, Ventnor and other towns and villages (see the roundup).

My favourite was The Needles, as it had decent views for nearly the whole walk and very few cars. My least favourite was Godshill, which involved trying to avoid having your foot run over by a bus when the pavement vanished.

The Needles Treasure Trail offered some of the best views

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The missing trails

There were two Treasure Trails that we had delayed attempting - Bembridge and Newport.

Bembridge is a lovely large village with plenty of interest including beaches, a windmill, an airport, a harbour and - most thrillingly - a very old phonebox.

However, the Bembridge Treasure Trail is a cycling route of about seven miles. We enjoy a family cycle but getting our bicycles and people into the right location requires similar levels of logistics to a small wedding. 

We hadn't bothered with the Newport Treasure Trail because I had assumed it would be rather tedious.

The other Treasure Trails include sea views and maritime history. Newport - I assumed - would involve walking between Sports Direct and Asda and perhaps wouldn't reach the scenic heights of the Needles Old Battery or Tennyson Down.

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I can't resist a freebie

I was finally prompted to attempt the trail when I spotted a rare freebie being offered by Treasure Trails. The trails usually cost about £10, which is fine if it provides half a day's entertainment for four people but felt a bit steep for a walk around Newport. 

On the day we attempted it, the Island was baking in 30 degree heat. However, I had suggested the trail a couple of days earlier to child one and was fixed into a verbal agreement. She didn't embrace my suggestion that we just stood in front of the fridges in Morrisons instead.

We were against the clock as we had arranged to meet Mrs Guru and child two at M&S a couple of hours later (they were sent off to Godshill Model Village).

And so, we set off on the gremlins themed trail.

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On the trail

At first, this gremlins theme seemed a little random, but I later twigged that this had been carefully thought out - as Treasure Trails usually are.

As we walked around and stood in shady spots we came across several plaques, monuments and oddities that had completely passed me by. We basically bypassed Newport high street and instead focused on the interesting back streets where there are statues built into houses and signs telling you that tricycles are banned. 

This was particularly pleasing to me as I grew up in Newport and Carisbrooke but noticed lots of things I'd never seen before. As is always the case with your home town, you tend to follow the same routes and don't pay attention to things you walk past every day. It didn't have the lovely sea views of several other trails but it was still an interesting tour. 

The route followed the attractive back streets including Holyrood Street

The area around Quay Arts held a couple of clues

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A disappointing finale at M&S

As our deadline approached, we triumphantly typed our answer into the Treasure Trails website to be entered into the monthly £100 draw. I found the trail quite easy as I knew all the street names so could guess the general direction we were heading in. And so, I was crestfallen when it revealed that we had failed the trail and had entered the wrong answer.

My attempts to figure out where we had gone wrong were interrupted by a series of text messages asking me to buy a series of highly-priced M&S picky bits before we met. 

I lost the webpage and still don't know where we went wrong. On the plus side, I did enjoy the Gherkin, Sweet Chilli Pepper and Red Leicester Kebabs.

I would still rank the Newport trail fairly low compared to the trails around coastal towns - but it was very well done and is certainly worth doing if you a) are a completist or b) are offered it for free.

The Trail included plenty of local history...

...and it passed this bakery, which is famous for its Mr Blobby biscuits