Starting at the western end. Waking on the north side. Down to East Street. Cross over. Walking on the south side, back to the western end.

Our first stop is this very old section of wall, next to 95 Pyle Street. It has listed status, which dates it to the 1600s. Someone told me this used to be the town pound, the holding place for Newport’s stray dogs after they had been rounded up.

At the entrance to St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, some slates have been used to mark out a cross.

High up on the wall at 115 Pyle Street is this sign. The entwined letters are S and G. Kelly’s Directory from 1935 tells us that 115 was occupied by S Guy Ltd., corn chandlers.

A little further down is The Wheatsheaf Hotel. On their wall at first floor level is this plaque. The Winged Wheel emblem belongs to the Cyclists Touring Club. There is a similar plaque at 54A Carisbrooke High Street. This article explains the history of the Winged Wheel.

Is there a more intriguing filled-in arch than this one on the side of God’s Providence House?

124 Pyle Street. You might think this plaque tells us the year this property was built. In fact, it’s a fire mark for the Sun Insurance Company, which was founded in 1710.

This property also has a bootscraper, one of several still in existence in Newport.

The Dower House, 27 Pyle Street.

Is this a serpent?

Two door knockers. Is the first a lion? Perhaps the other is a dog.

Another Sun Insurance fire mark high up on the wall. 3904, perhaps followed by a 7.

This plaque is to the right of the car park entrance. Can you remember the sequence of the supermarkets that occupied this building? Was it International … Main Stop … Gateway … Somerfield … Cooperative?

Several old buildings were knocked down in the late 1970s to make way for the new supermarket. It was a condition of planning permission that a replica of the Mechanics Institute was incorporated into the Pyle Street frontage of the supermarket. The door and windows are fake. Someone told me the columns are hollow. The columns are to the left of T K Maxx. The plaque is not on the replica frontage: it is further left.

Gray’s Walk. First photo from Pyle Street. Second photo from Scarrots Lane.

Always a good idea to put a date on your plaque.

Inside the Walk is the memorial to Valentine Gray.