What is it about islands that are so appealing! I hadn't appreciated until recently that I'm drawn to places surrounded by water ... Isle of Skye, Isle of Arran, Isle of Wight. I thought it might be just because I'm used to living on one of the Great British Isles but I suspect it's more to do with the size, or rather the contained space that makes exploring whole new areas, and particularly coastlines, so 'do-able' in a few short days. Whatever 'it' is, drew me to the Isle of Wight for a long weekend in May 2008.
We took the ferry across the Solent from Lymington to Yarmouth (another appealing aspect of islands) and whilst the sun decided to stay hidden, the weather didn't cloud our eager anticipation about the prospect of exploring somewhere new. Not wishing to miss a thing, we sat on the top deck of the ferry watching the island, and our mini-holiday, get closer - and the fact that it was shrouded in mist only added to the intrigue. Once off the ferry, we headed east and began our adventure straight away, checking out places along the way. Colwell Bay and it's colourful beach huts, Totland Bay and it's rickety pier and Alum Bay with it's multi-coloured cliffs and the famous white Needles.
I guess most people associate the IOW with the Needles, Sailing or Cowes, but having done some advance Googling on the place we were more interested in what the south west coast had to offer - no large towns, deserted beaches, craggy cliffs, pretty countryside, potential for photos!. Hence our base for the weekend was in a village just a mile or two from what looked to be an interesting stretch of fossilised and crumbling Cretaceous coastline.
Discovering that our whitewashed thatched cottage was down a narrow leafy lane in a delightfully picturesque village was a good start to the weekend, and the local pub looked promising for nosh too. After 'checking in' to our B & B and 'checking out' the local amenities we set off eastwards along the coast road towards the seaside town of Ventnor, to do a recce of the area and to decide which places were worth returning to the following day. The south west coastline promised to be everything the internet blurb had said it would be, so as the sun started to set we headed back towards our B&B in Brighstone, but via Brook Bay and with cameras at the ready to capture the sun turning the beach to golden peach before it slipped behind the headland for the night.
The sun performed for us the next morning too, shining in a bright blue sky, uncluttered by clouds and making an already perfect landscape glow with it's Midas touch. Our first photo stop was the most southerly point of the 'Wight', St Catherine's Point. We parked on top of the headland and took a gentle 750 ft walk inland and upwards to St Catherine's Oratory, a 35 ft tall rocket-shaped tower and the second-oldest lighthouse in Britain. The views from this vantage point were stunning, across gently undulating gorse-covered hills to pastel patchwork fields in the distance which swept down to an almost seamless blend of sea and sky. A further short walk across the headland provided views over one of Wight's 20 'Chine's. This is the local name given to the steep-sided gorges to be found on the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastlines, caused by determined rivers as they forged their way through the soft sandstone cliffs to get to the sea. Black Gang Chine on St Catherine's Point is a particularly spectacular example of a Chine that is constantly changing shape due to the continual erosion and landslide of the soft sandstone cliffs.
Being the person responsible for planning the weekend's itinerary meant that I had a list of 'must see' places, a list of what might be good to see if there was enough time, and enough scope to throw all plans out of the car window and doing something completely different instead! Top of the 'must see' list was the stretch of coastline that incorporates Compton Bay, Brook Bay and Brightone Bay. The cliffs along this section are a riot of colour, a feast on the eyes like a Moroccan Medina displaying richly coloured oriental spices from cinnamon and ginger through saffron and turmeric. This soft cretaceous sandstone continues to erode and crumble onto the beach as it has done for millions of years, each time revealing new strata and secrets of eras long since past, when dinosaurs rather than donkeys roamed our shores. According to my research on this area there was even the prospect of finding fossilised dinosaur footprints still intact on the beach ... .
Another 'must see' was the Needles, last visited in the 1960's on a day trip from a summer holiday on the mainland. My only memory of that visit was a tourist keepsake from Alum Bay, a small lighthouse-shaped glass container into which I'd carefully poured layers of differently coloured sands, and which I'd kept until years later when the cork stopper loosened mixing the layers up and ruining the effect! My lasting memory of the Needles in 2008 is the source of those coloured sands, the stunning sandstone cliffs in full sun, lit up like a Jackson Pollock painting in an art gallery to bring out the full beauty of the colours.
Luccombe Bay was one of those places that I hoped we would have time to see, but it wasn't the easiest place to find. It had been described on the internet as a quiet, secluded bay between Ventnor and Shanklin, with limited access from the high cliff above. That somehow made it all the more appealing, but I hadn't bargained for the steep, almost vertical steps down the cliff, which of course were no problem going down ... . Luccombe bay was pretty enough, and the sun was more than hot enough; the climb back up was more than steep enough, but the location of little cafe at the cliff top was just right!
We threw caution, and the itinerary, to the wind, put a metaphorical pin in the map and drove to Bembridge, for a picnic, and more photos. Bembridge is located almost at the eastern most point of The Island, and has a pretty little village, a small busy harbour, a wide sandy beach, a long lifeboat pier and a huge busy shipping channel beyond it! Wishing to avoid the tourist areas, we then took a rural scenic route back through the centre of the island from east to west, along narrow winding lanes, through pretty little villages, drinking in the picture postcard scenery and breathing in the pungent smell of wild garlic in the hedgerows! Our long weekend break was coming to an end ... and we hadn't seen one dinosaur footprint, not even a fossil! Hmm, if you've read previous posts you'll have noticed there seems to be a pattern emerging here (no puffins on the Farne Islands, no otters in Skye, no dinosaurs in the Isle of Wight). I'm hoping to see my first Kingfisher soon, so watch this space for a break in the pattern!
We took the ferry across the Solent from Lymington to Yarmouth (another appealing aspect of islands) and whilst the sun decided to stay hidden, the weather didn't cloud our eager anticipation about the prospect of exploring somewhere new. Not wishing to miss a thing, we sat on the top deck of the ferry watching the island, and our mini-holiday, get closer - and the fact that it was shrouded in mist only added to the intrigue. Once off the ferry, we headed east and began our adventure straight away, checking out places along the way. Colwell Bay and it's colourful beach huts, Totland Bay and it's rickety pier and Alum Bay with it's multi-coloured cliffs and the famous white Needles.
I guess most people associate the IOW with the Needles, Sailing or Cowes, but having done some advance Googling on the place we were more interested in what the south west coast had to offer - no large towns, deserted beaches, craggy cliffs, pretty countryside, potential for photos!. Hence our base for the weekend was in a village just a mile or two from what looked to be an interesting stretch of fossilised and crumbling Cretaceous coastline.
Discovering that our whitewashed thatched cottage was down a narrow leafy lane in a delightfully picturesque village was a good start to the weekend, and the local pub looked promising for nosh too. After 'checking in' to our B & B and 'checking out' the local amenities we set off eastwards along the coast road towards the seaside town of Ventnor, to do a recce of the area and to decide which places were worth returning to the following day. The south west coastline promised to be everything the internet blurb had said it would be, so as the sun started to set we headed back towards our B&B in Brighstone, but via Brook Bay and with cameras at the ready to capture the sun turning the beach to golden peach before it slipped behind the headland for the night.
The sun performed for us the next morning too, shining in a bright blue sky, uncluttered by clouds and making an already perfect landscape glow with it's Midas touch. Our first photo stop was the most southerly point of the 'Wight', St Catherine's Point. We parked on top of the headland and took a gentle 750 ft walk inland and upwards to St Catherine's Oratory, a 35 ft tall rocket-shaped tower and the second-oldest lighthouse in Britain. The views from this vantage point were stunning, across gently undulating gorse-covered hills to pastel patchwork fields in the distance which swept down to an almost seamless blend of sea and sky. A further short walk across the headland provided views over one of Wight's 20 'Chine's. This is the local name given to the steep-sided gorges to be found on the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastlines, caused by determined rivers as they forged their way through the soft sandstone cliffs to get to the sea. Black Gang Chine on St Catherine's Point is a particularly spectacular example of a Chine that is constantly changing shape due to the continual erosion and landslide of the soft sandstone cliffs.
Being the person responsible for planning the weekend's itinerary meant that I had a list of 'must see' places, a list of what might be good to see if there was enough time, and enough scope to throw all plans out of the car window and doing something completely different instead! Top of the 'must see' list was the stretch of coastline that incorporates Compton Bay, Brook Bay and Brightone Bay. The cliffs along this section are a riot of colour, a feast on the eyes like a Moroccan Medina displaying richly coloured oriental spices from cinnamon and ginger through saffron and turmeric. This soft cretaceous sandstone continues to erode and crumble onto the beach as it has done for millions of years, each time revealing new strata and secrets of eras long since past, when dinosaurs rather than donkeys roamed our shores. According to my research on this area there was even the prospect of finding fossilised dinosaur footprints still intact on the beach ... .
Another 'must see' was the Needles, last visited in the 1960's on a day trip from a summer holiday on the mainland. My only memory of that visit was a tourist keepsake from Alum Bay, a small lighthouse-shaped glass container into which I'd carefully poured layers of differently coloured sands, and which I'd kept until years later when the cork stopper loosened mixing the layers up and ruining the effect! My lasting memory of the Needles in 2008 is the source of those coloured sands, the stunning sandstone cliffs in full sun, lit up like a Jackson Pollock painting in an art gallery to bring out the full beauty of the colours.
Luccombe Bay was one of those places that I hoped we would have time to see, but it wasn't the easiest place to find. It had been described on the internet as a quiet, secluded bay between Ventnor and Shanklin, with limited access from the high cliff above. That somehow made it all the more appealing, but I hadn't bargained for the steep, almost vertical steps down the cliff, which of course were no problem going down ... . Luccombe bay was pretty enough, and the sun was more than hot enough; the climb back up was more than steep enough, but the location of little cafe at the cliff top was just right!
We threw caution, and the itinerary, to the wind, put a metaphorical pin in the map and drove to Bembridge, for a picnic, and more photos. Bembridge is located almost at the eastern most point of The Island, and has a pretty little village, a small busy harbour, a wide sandy beach, a long lifeboat pier and a huge busy shipping channel beyond it! Wishing to avoid the tourist areas, we then took a rural scenic route back through the centre of the island from east to west, along narrow winding lanes, through pretty little villages, drinking in the picture postcard scenery and breathing in the pungent smell of wild garlic in the hedgerows! Our long weekend break was coming to an end ... and we hadn't seen one dinosaur footprint, not even a fossil! Hmm, if you've read previous posts you'll have noticed there seems to be a pattern emerging here (no puffins on the Farne Islands, no otters in Skye, no dinosaurs in the Isle of Wight). I'm hoping to see my first Kingfisher soon, so watch this space for a break in the pattern!
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