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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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England
as it Used to Be Hollywood’s idea of England is alive and well and living on the Isle of Wight…complete with Morris Minors by the village church. West Wight is the quiet side of the island. But you’ll have heard of the famous natural landmarks, the Needles and the coloured sands of Alum Bay. As well as breathtaking coastal scenery, West Wight also has its fair share of picturesque villages and rolling countryside. It’s the best of England all in one place. Alfred, Lord Tennyson fell in love with Farringford House at Freshwater Bay. So he bought it. In 1852 he wrote: …come
to the Isle of Wight. I did come. I did walk across the downs. I also enjoyed watching the sunset over Totland Bay. The magic works for me too, even though I don’t have the skill with words to express my simple pleasures in quite the same way. West Wight does cast a spell. Like Lord Tennyson and Julia Margaret Cameron I immediately felt ‘at home’. So it is possible to have that defining moment… that once-in-a-lifetime, golden opportunity to stop and think, reflect and decide: This really is the first day of the rest of my life. Without doubt or hesitation, this is where I belong. So I went for it… or at least I started to. Slow down...slow right down. Just take things at the island’s pace and enjoy the moment. The retirement cottage of our dreams is out there somewhere. There’s plenty of time. And island time is very slow. We can enjoy more holidays first. The ferry from Lymington in Hampshire brings you straight to Yarmouth harbour. This is overlooked by the last castle built by Henry VIII. It’s just a 10 minute drive to Totland, Freshwater village and Freshwater Bay. If you travel to the coast by train before boarding the ferry, the number seven bus stops next to Yarmouth Quay. The picturesque landscape of West Wight is designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. Much of it is protected by the National Trust. It’s all very special to local residents… new and long-established… and discerning visitors. I came to the island for the first time in January 2003. It was love at first sight. There were clear blue skies, yachts in the harbour and out on the Solent… and a warm welcome. Three months later I was back looking for somewhere to live… somewhere to settle for the second half of my life. I had always wanted to live by the sea. I had always wanted to live on an island and be by the sea. How English is that? Remember the 1950s? You’ll love West Wight. It’s almost another country… in time if not in place. Accommodation Farringford, between Freshwater Bay and Totland Bay, is a country house hotel with self-catering cottages. Hotels in Totland include Sentry Mead and the Country Garden. Sandpipers and the Albion are at Freshwater Bay. There is a good choice of self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation in Yarmouth. It’s yachtie heaven. Walkers and bird watchers prefer Freshwater Bay. Totland Bay is more restful with a long stretch of sandy beach. Frenchman’s Cove, on the winding road between the two bays, is a small hotel with a holiday flat above the coach house. The surrounding fields are full of rabbits. Freshwater village is largely residential with two supermarkets, post office and banks… but it’s well back from the beaches. Staff in the tourist information offices in Yarmouth and Newport are very friendly and helpful. The accommodation guide lists a range of individually owned holiday cottages. The sights Brighstone Village Museum Just imagine a picturesque, stone cottage housing a small museum with a Victorian theme and a National Trust shop next door. Note it down as ‘worth a browse if passing’. Also, it’s open all year and free. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/regions/southern Calbourne
Water Mill If you’re enjoying all the simple pleasures of West Wight, this is as exciting as it gets. Not just a working 17th century mill… on a site mentioned in the Domesday Book… but a war museum, a museum of bygone days, a giant bouncy galleon, putting green, punting on the millpond, doves, peacocks, chickens and ducks… all in 11 acres of landscaped valley. And there’s a café with clotted cream teas, of course. Calbourne Water Mill is open Sunday through Friday for the main holiday season. Cream Teas - check that they are open before you go, especially outside July and August. Dimbola
Lodge, Freshwater Bay You won’t be the first person to get hooked on photography on the Isle of Wight. Victorian pioneer Julia Margaret Cameron got there first. She was a family friend of Alfred, Lord Tennyson who lived nearby at Farringford House. His country home is now a hotel. Dimbola Lodge, however, is a museum of photography with a vegetarian restaurant, tearoom and a shop selling postcards and souvenirs. There’s also an antiquarian and second-hand bookshop. The tower in the middle connects two former farmhouses. You can see that someone had an eye for symmetry and a good picture. There are also excellent views across the bay. It really is unspoilt. The name of the house and studio comes from the family tea estates in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The poet Henry Taylor wrote: …a house to which everyone resorted for pleasure, and which no man, woman or child was ever known to be unwelcome. “Everyone”
included Tennyson, Darwin, Thackery, Lewis Carroll, Robert Browning, Edward
Lear, Ellen Terry and Fort Victoria Planetarium, extensive model railway, sunken history exhibition and marine aquarium. They’re all open seven days a week for the main holiday season. The 50 acre country park is a family favourite with sandy beaches, woodland walks, panoramic views across the Solent and picnic areas with DIY barbecues. It’s open all year. Countryside Rangers give guided tours. These have to be booked in advance on 01983 760860 or 823893. Freshwater
Bay Golf Club The 18 hole links are on open, natural downland off the Military Road. Members have reserved tee times and visitors are advised to book. Tuition is available and you can hire trolleys, power caddies and clubs. The course is 5,238 metres (5,725 yards) long, par 69. Natural hazards on Afton Down include Neolithic and Bonze Age burial mounds. Mottistone
Manor Garden This is just
one of many National Trust properties on the Isle of Wight. The manor
house itself is Medieval and This is a good starting point for a walk on the downs with magnificent views over Freshwater Bay. Seasonal opening, four days a week. The manor house is open on August Bank Holiday Monday only. The Needles
and Needles Park This is it. The island’s signature landmark. Great views, of course. And there’s a chairlift down to the beach at Alum Bay. Take a look, too, at the Alum Bay Glass workshop and showroom and the sweet factory. Willy Wonka eat your heart out. Or am I thinking of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Or both? The Old Battery is owned by the National Trust. There are more great views of the Needles from the searchlight position 80 metres (250 feet) above sea level… if you can squeeze yourself down the spiral staircase and along the 70 metre (200 foot) tunnel that is. Alternatively, go to the café for a cream tea. If you need an excuse, say it’s for the view. I first saw the Needles from Swanage in the 1960s. It took 40 years to get this close. But it was worth the wait. Wonderful! And the coffee cake was good, too. The fort was built in 1862 to keep an eye out for Napoleon III’s threatened invasion from France. The headland also saw active service in both world wars… and as a rocket testing station after 1945. And another bit of history: Marconi’s first wireless telegraph transmitter was set up on this headland. The buildings are closed all winter, but the headland is open to walkers. Note: When you turn right into the car park, the road ahead up to the battery is for buses and walkers only. Come prepared with suitable shoes and a coat if it’s windy. Winds here can be strong and cold at any time of the year. It’s very exposed. Newtown
/ Francheville Be careful not to confuse Newtown near Yarmouth with the island’s capital Newport near Cowes on the River Medina. But, in any case, once you’ve seen them, you’ll know that they couldn’t be more different. If you go for a stroll through just one small village in West Wight, this is the one. But please, keep it a secret. The old name for Newtown is Francheville (free town). The busy port was attacked and destroyed by the French in the 14th century and has never recovered… despite its special status in Elizabethan times as a tax free area. It’s now part of a national nature reserve, so take a walk out to one of the bird hides on the salt marshes. This place is really, really special. And there’s an old town hall, too. This has limited opening hours in the main holiday season. Red squirrels On the mainland you’re more likely to see the American grey squirrel. This was introduced to Britain more than 100 years ago when the native red squirrel was affected by parapox. Naturally, the incomers fought hard to establish themselves and took over. Red squirrels still live on the Isle of Wight, Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour and remote parts of Cumbria and Scotland. They thrive on the Isle of Wight because there are no deer to eat the young trees and shrubs that the squirrels need for feeding. If you’re lucky, you may catch sight of them as you walk in the woodland near Fort Victoria or Park Hurst near Cowes and Newport. www.wightsquirrels.co.uk Walk from Old Freshwater to Yarmouth This circular walk along the banks of the Western Yar passes four pubs: the Red Lion in Old Freshwater and the Bugle Hotel, Wheatsheaf Hotel and the King’s Head in Yarmouth. Make your way to the eastern end of The Causeway. Stop and take in the view. Forget the Neeldes, this is the best view on the island...and have some bread to feed the swans. Take your time. Linger. Enjoy. The eastern bank of the River Yar, a former railway track bed, is now a designated a cycleway and bridleway. It’s completely flat from The Causeway in Freshwater to the ferry terminal at Yarmouth… a very easy walk. The route on the west side of the river is through fields and woods and can be muddy. It includes a number of stiles. The route is clearly marked from the side of the church as part of the Freshwater Way. So you can do the full circular 6.5km (4 miles) route, return by the same side of the river, follow the route clockwise instead of anti-clockwise or catch the bus back to Freshwater. The choice is yours. The Freshwater Way from Yarmouth to Freshwater Bay and Compton connects with other long distance footpaths, the Tennyson Trail and the 96km (60 mile) Coastal Path. For the short walk, you can also start at the former railway station on Afton Road opposite Afton Nature Reserve. The End of the Line Café is perfect for lunch or afternoon tea. But first you have to earn it. Duration: Two hours’ round trip at a steady stroll. For full details see the Official Guide to Pub Walks published by Isle of Wight Tourism and the council’s leaflet on the Freshwater Way and other marked, long distance footpaths. Other short walks in West Wight go from Alum Bay to the Needles Battery, Yarmouth to Fort Victoria and north and south of Freshwater Bay over West High Down, Tennyson Down and Afton Down. The tourist information centre in Yarmouth has leaflets and maps. The Isle of Wight Council also organises guided Health Walks for residents and visitors. They leave from Brookside Health Centre in Moa Place on Monday afternoons (beginners) and Wednesday mornings (three hours, advanced). Telephone 01983 823893/532121 or visit www.iwight.com/walks to find out more. Yarmouth
Castle A sleepy seaside town with its own little castle. What more could you want for the perfect afternoon outing? Completed in 1547, Yarmouth Castle is the last of Henry VIII’s coastal defences and the first arrow head castle in Britain… the first without a series of round towers to protect the gunners and give them a vantage point. Inside you’ll find photographs of old Yarmouth and paintings of the island. If it’s the right day for a picnic, this is the perfect spot to sit and watch the ferry come and go… and all the yachts in the Solent. Now for the cliché: On a clear day you can see for ever. Well, to the west, certainly. But it’s definitely the place to get a good view of Hurst Castle and the New Forest. Yarmouth Castle is managed by English Heritage and is open April through October. Note: If you’re tempted to cross the Solent to Hurst Castle, there’s a ferry in summer from Yarmouth Pier. Details from the tourist information centre on Yarmouth Quay. Coffee shops and cafes Apple
Tree Café, Afton Park Nursery, Freshwater Chessell
Pottery Coffee Shop Gossip’s
Café, Yarmouth Pier Tudor
Lounge, School Green Road, Freshwater Warren
Farm, Alum Bay Pubs and Restaurants Dimbola Lodge,
Freshwater Bay (for vegetarian lunches) Farringford,
Freshwater Bay The King’s
Head, Yarmouth The Red Lion,
Old Freshwater The New Inn,
Shalfleet SAIL AWAY… AND WAVE GOOD-BYE TO THE MAINLAND Ferry from
Lymington to Yarmouth (Wightlink) 0870 582 7744 Tourist Information
Centre, Newport. 01983 813818 Other useful contacts: Bicycles
- Boat trips - Hurst Castle
Ferries (from
Yarmouth Pier, summer only) 01590 642500 Buses - Fishing tackle
- Horse riding
– PS We’re still looking for the right house to convert into a new home and holiday flat to let. Watch this space! First published in VISA issue 53A (Dec 2003) |