Friday 6 April 2012

magical ISLE OF WIGHT

Are you thinking of visiting England for the first time? If you are, no doubt, you’ll want to see the sights in London and catch a production of a Shakespeare play in Stratford-upon-Avon. You’ll enjoy doing both but what if you’re looking for something quintessentially English? What if you want to escape the hoards of other American tourists and break out on your own? These articles are written for you… At the end of the article there’s a list of useful links to more information. Welcome to England!
Escaping London and Visiting the Isle of Wight…
Imagine, you’re staying in London, you’ve seen Buckingham Palace, The Tower and at least ten museums and art galleries. If you’ve been to New York, you’ll be discovering that the Apple and London have much in common. London and New York are both vibrant, fast paced, in your face cities – they are exciting to be in but a joy to escape – if only to come back revitalised and ready for more.
If you’re on your own or want to be; if you’re a couple looking for romance or if you’re family with youngsters – visit the Isle of Wight and experience something completely different.
Take a train from London to Portsmouth or Southampton. If you go via Southampton you’ll glimpse the medieval walls of this once important defensive city. If you’ve time to explore you’ll notice the shopping is good here too. If you go via Portsmouth you can visit the National Maritime Museum where some of the UK’s Battle Ships are still moored. You could see the ship where Nelson died - you won’t believe his sumptuous living quarters. (Nelson’s the Admiral bloke who masterminded the Battle of Trafalgar against the French and the man on the column in Trafalgar Square in London).
Also, while you’re at The National Maritime Museum “take a butchers” (have a look) at the remains of Henry VIII’s battle ship the Mary Rose. The ship sank in The Solent (the body of water between the south of England and the Isle of Wight, nowadays the busiest shipping channel in the world) seemingly because Henry had over equipped it with the latest canons or because of communications problems with the foreign crew – opinions vary. Whatever, it sank with great loss of life because of nets which covered the decks as a measure against invaders. The Mary Rose was built between the years 1509-11. Feel the history! Some of the artefacts recovered are quite touching – the personal effects of nameless cannon fodder from another age. The Prince of Wales was instrumental in the ship’s archaeology it cost £21m to bring the experience to visitors.
You haven’t even got to the Isle of Wight yet! If you arrive on a ferry from Southampton you’ll land in West Cowes. This is the more upmarket side of Cowes nowadays but remember “upmarket is a relative concept”, don’t expect 5 star hotels but do expect a cosmopolitan mix of people with long established locals. Cowes is famous for Cowes week – a festival for yachties – and The Royal Cowes Yacht Club situated on the Esplanade. Beware of the starting canon which, as a small sign points out, is liable to go off at any time, to signal the start of races. This is positioned pointing out to sea and over the heads of unsuspecting amblers.
The Esplanade is the Victorian built Promenade from Cowes half way to Gurnard – if you’re into sea air and watching the ships and yachts’ activity this is a good walk. It’s flat too so good for skating or a sedate walk for the elderly. It’s a two miles at most from Cowes to Gurnard along this path. There are places to picnic, benches and a Victorian water fountain. The pub in Gurnard serves typical pub grub and is very popular. There’s a place around the headland – ask the locals – that has a real good vibe, views and sometimes excellent food…
If you arrive from Portsmouth you’ll land in East Cowes. You can bring a car over on this ferry. Osborne House in East Cowes was once the favoured residence of Queen Victoria (died 1901) and her Prince Albert (died years before her and caused his wife to be miserable and dress in black for the rest of her life). Osborne House is definitely worth a look. Even Hollywood celebrities in their mansions and Elvis at Gracelands didn’t achieve the luxury of this place. Though it’s not everybody’s cup of tea (it’s not to everyone’s taste). The marble reproductions of baby’s arms are difficult to understand and with “The Cottage” and grounds it can be reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s mansion – DO NOT mention this to the locals!
To journey between East and West Cowes there’s a floating bridge. Free to foot passengers but a small charge for cars. The bridge is attached to a seriously big chain – mind you don’t trip over it! This is the only bridge over the River Medina. The river runs a course to the centre of the Isle and the town of Newport. After 11pm or thereabouts, the floating bridge suspends operations. When there is no floating bridge the only ways to get from East to West Cowes or visa versa are river-taxi or a car taxi (if you can find either) and you’ll need “serious wanger” (lots of money). You could walk around the river – at least ten miles but you don’t want to do this unless its planned!
West Cowes is a nosey person’s paradise. There are vantage points everywhere to sit and watch human and sea activity. There’s an excellent Thai Restaurant on the High Street. As you get off the ferry in West Cowes, notice the Tourist Information Office where you can pick up free maps and a diary of events. If you’re on foot for your stay you can enquire about bus tickets – they do special dealsfor unlimited travel. “Rover” tickets can be bought on all busses. The busses aren’t that frequent but quite dependable and get you to many places all over the island. Enter into the spirit of the place and get into the unique experience of bus travel…more about this below.
Whatever you do, while you’re in West Cowes, visit the Sir Max Aitken Museum. You’ll never see a museum like it. A really staggering collection of historical artefacts – not only maritime related. Where else can you see a dagger which was found in Hitler’s bunker after World War Two, given to Stalin who gave it to Lord Beaverbrook? The Museum is housed in a sail loft where, in 1907, the mainsail was made for the Britannia. Look out for this famous pink building as you approach Cowes over the Solent from Southampton. If you’ve developed a taste for maritime history you’ll be glad to visit the outstanding museum.
Inland the Isle of Wight is dotted with places of interest, some with dramatic views, some just unusual. If you walk the interior with a good map and a compass you’ll find small churches and grandiose graveyards populated by writers and poets you’ve likely never heard of. You may get the impression of a place once fashionable among sons and daughters of the nineteenth centuries gentility and idle rich – would be neo-Pre-Raphaelites, there (a bit like you perhaps) to get in touch with their inner creativity. The Isle does have history with some great writers too – J. B. Priestly lived here and H. G. Wells was a regular too. You can stay at Alfred Lord Tennyson’s old house – now a hotel on the south side of the Island in Freshwater Bay – if it’s not being refurbished still.
Freshwater Bay brings us to the most famous American ever to visit the Isle – Jimi Hendrix. He played at the Isle of Wight Festival here a year after Woodstock. Visit Dimbola Lodge, the home and studio of the photographer Margaret Cameron, while your around Freshwater. The Lodge had a gallery and exhibition space and if you like to buy cards and prints – the gift shop will ensure you do.
There are some excellent walks along the coast from Freshwater Bay – you can walk around most of the island on a path. This is an excellent place for fossil hunting and many a dinosaur has been discovered on the south-side of the Isle. If you, like most children, like dinosaurs you can visit the Dinosaur Museum at Sandown. Sandown and neighbouring Shanklin have perfect beaches for swimming. Sandown is best for sandcastles.
The best walk from Freshwater Bay is Tennyson Down. It’s all uphill but not ridiculously so. About 4 miles in total. The Down ends at The Needles a place of spectacular, outstanding, natural beauty. The Needles are chalk hills of land broken from the Isle with swirling seas – Tennyson Down is actually a big Needle, gladly still firmly attached. At the end of the Down you will find The Battery and one of the world’s first rocket launching sites. The Battery is a nineteenth century defensive fortification built to attack the French (and anybody else) who dared sail up the Solent from the West – but it never saw active service. You’ll see that only the most reckless of enemy would have dared to invade England this way.
Before The Battery was built there had been a few invasions. Vectis as the island was known was a Roman territory – there are some Roman remains still. (If you ever go to Sousse in Tunisia – remember they both had the same Roman governor). There’s a Roman villa at Brading which is on the “clickety” single-gauge railway line from Ryde – another port on the English side of the island you can reach by Hovercraft from Portsmouth. The isle was also (like the rest of England) invaded by the Normans. The French made a short invasion around Yarmouth too. Yarmouth is another port – served by a car ferry – and handy if you want to cross over to see William the Conqueror’s New Forest (new in 1085 at any rate).
The Norman Conquest is a strange part of English history that you need to get your head round to understand the English better than they do themselves. It was very bloody and very enforced. It’s as though the greater island went from a laid back, lackadaisical place to a place under the thumb of a hostile invader. You can see how the Normans meant business if you visit Carisbrooke Castle. There are other reasons to visit the inland castle – donkey lovers can meet friends. History lovers can walk the castle walls and think about one of its old visitors – actually more a prisoner – King Charles I. You can see the widow from which the soon to be beheaded king tried to escape. Doing so will remind you that you are in a land where regicide was once committed.
There are many other places worth visiting but the best advice is to explore the isle yourself. Below are some links to places recommended but not mentioned and then a list of links to all the places mentioned above.
Links to Places Not Mentioned:
The small church of Saint Boniface, Bonchurch, Isle of Wight is atmospheric… this site gives information on all of the Isle’s churches:http://familybraithwaite.com/ISLAND.HTM#Bonchurch
*Visit the Manor and the Long Stone on the same day. There are some wild ponies that congregate by the Long Stone.
Links To More Information About Visiting The Places Mentioned Above: The National Maritime Museum, Portsmouthhttp://www.nmm.ac.uk
The Mary Rose Organisation http://www.maryrose.org
The Sir Max Aitken Museum http://www.sirmaxaitkenmuseum.org/
Robin Hill Countryside Adventure Park http://www.robin-hill.com/
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