Isle of Wight Off The Beaten Path

  Freshwater Bay, looking east
by JBourne
 
  • Freshwater Bay, looking east
      Freshwater Bay, looking east
    by JBourne
  • Freshwater Bay, looking west with Victorian Hotel
      Freshwater Bay, looking west with...
    by JBourne
  • Arreton Downs view from our caravan
      Arreton Downs view from our caravan
    by budapest8
  • Arreton mound
      Arreton mound
    by budapest8
  • View towards southern downs of the Isle of Wight
      View towards southern downs of the Isle...
    by budapest8
 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

St Helens 3

by jayhawk2000

Not far from St Helens is this windmill, the last on the island which is now a National Trust property open to visitors.Being a National Trust property means the admission fee is a bit steep (2 pounds for adults) though it's free for NT members and parking is free for everyone, which makes a change.You'll find the windmill on a low hill west of Bembridge, south of St Helens. Their website has a map link and more details, but it's open most days March to October.I felt happy just having a walk around and taking this snap. Maybe windmill fanatics would feel more compelled to go in? Maybe it's hugely interesting and endlessly fascinating inside? Maybe it truly is the highlight of any visit to the island??? If so, please let me know...

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The Chines

by deeper_blue

There are 2 chines on the island one at Shanklin and one at Ventnor. The first covers 3 acres and is home to waterfalls and a variety of plantlife and woodland.Blackgang chine at Ventnor is more of a theme park, which is slowing erodng off the cliffs it has 3 areas ->Frontierland, Fantasyland and Nurseryland

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Tennyson's Downs & Freshwater Bay

by JBourne

The cliff tops surrounding Freshwater Bay are known as Tennyson's Downs, due to the poet's love of this area. The bay itself is quiet and picturesque and if you can, it is worth taking a day to walk the cliff tops and along the downs.This area is accessible by bus along the coast road and the scenery is beautiful. There is wildlife aplenty with adders, rare butterflies and all manner of sea birds, all along the chalk cliffs. Further to the east along the coast (within half an hour's walk from Freshwater Bay) you can follow the road to stretches of deserted sandy beach which when you tire of swimming or sunbathing, you can just hop on back on the bus.

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Arreton Manor

by budapest8

The beautiful landscaped gardens and part of the house are open to the public for the peak summer months only. They offer a guided tour through some of the rooms in the Manor including The Old Court Room and through a secret passageway to The Old Monks Rooms. Arreton Manor was farmed by the Abbots of Quarr for over 400 years from 1156.With the ongoing development of the gardens including a Tudor style knot garden, children’s play area and a tea/coffee shop, Arreton Manor is a relaxing day out to enjoy.You can take a peace of Arreton Manor home with you? They sell plants from the manor garden including clipped box and yew.The manor is no longer a museum but is a lived in family home with a strong sense of history with its original oak panelled rooms, 17th century furniture, stone floors and Secret passage way Giving a first hand look at Jacobean living.Arreton Manor is a family home full...

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Arreton Manor

by budapest8

Arreton Manor is the family home for Andy and Julia Gray-Ling with their children Amie and Will. It is such a special house with enormous history and it is because of this that they open up their home to share with the public at certain times of the year for everyone to enjoy.Set in five acres of land, nestled in the chalk-based Arreton Downs three miles from Newport, the manor was first mentioned in Alfred the Great’s will in 885 when he left it to his youngest son Etherward. Historical records in 1050 say it was owned by Edward the Confessor and the manor was mentioned 36 years later in the Domesday Book.In 1156 it was given to monks belonging to the Convent of Quarr who were thrown out in the 1530s by Henry VIII during his dissolution of the monasteries. Incidentally the monks still have a presence on the island.The manor was largely rebuilt between 1595 and 1612 on top of some of the...

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Arretton Downs

by budapest8

My first memories of Arreton are having a boy in my classat Ryde Boys School called Boswell who's parents owned a large farm in Arreton. I even got a summer job aged 13 picking sweetcorn, it was a good 50 minute bike ride from Ryde in the early morning. My sisters familly has a caravan on a farm situated on the Arreton Downs, we stayed there for a few daysin the month of August in 2006. Arretton is a site exposed to the elements and some "Megalith mounds".The ground is a Calcareous grassland - lowland.l there is a large lone barrow to the south of the Newport-Brading road, a short distance from the Hare & Hounds PH. Labelled 'Gallows Hill' on the map, site of the last hanging on the Isle of Wight.Arreton Down (grid reference SZ540872) is a 29.77 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight, originally notified in 1979 for its geological interest and then...

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The Needles history and Shipwrecks

by budapest8

Another famous wreck is that of the Ernst. She was a German three masted vessel whose sails were torn apart by a ferocious storm in November of 1898. She was blown onto the Shingles, where some of the crew were crushed to death when they tried to launch a boat. The local lifeboat, which in those days was rowed, could not get near enough to the wreck because of the massive waves, and she only managed to save two crew members after the ship had totally broken up some hours later. The roof of the Ernst's galley became a makeshift raft for four other members of the crew who were rescued from the waves at Christchurch.The last boat of any size to be wrecked on the Needles was the SS 'Varvassi', 4,000 tons, on the 5 January 1947. The Varvassi was en route to Southampton from the Mediterranean with a cargo of wines and, needless to say, quite a bit came ashore!One thing is sure, the tides mean...

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The Needles history and Shipwrecks

by budapest8

ShipwrecksIn and around Alum Bay there are some twenty named wrecks. Probably the best known is the 'Campen'. She was a ship financed by the Dutch East India Company which, with four other sister ships, set sail for the West Indies in 1627. She was caught in a southerly gale, and ran for shelter in the western Solent. The anchors were lost when she tried to anchor off Freshwater Bay and a desperate attempt to save the ship failed. She sank with great loss of life on the south side of the Needles rocks.To the south of the Needles is Scratchells Bay which can be seen from the cliff top and is only accessible by sea. Its crumbling chalk cliffs were reputedly a favourite training area for some of the more celebrated sections of our armed services but would be no fun for an exhausted shipwrecked sailor at night in a southwest storm.Perhaps the greatest rescue off Scratchells Bay was that of...

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The Needles history Rocket Site

by budapest8

Rocket SiteBetween 1955 and 1971 a top secret Space rocket and missile development centre was built on the site of the old Needles Battery. There were over 2,000 sq ft of control rooms with up to 240 people working there at any one time. They developed the space rockets called 'Black Night' and 'Black Arrow’. The Black Knight rocket was very successful with 22 test missions launched. Originally, the rocket was purely a test rocket, but in the early 1960s it was used to carry research modules into the upper atmosphere and in 1971 the only all British satellite was launched into orbit.

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The Needles history The birth of wireless

by budapest8

The birth of wirelessApart from its natural beauties and geological curiosities, Alum Bay has another claim to fame for its part played in the early days of radio transmissions. In early December 1897, to investigate and experiment with transmission to ships at sea, Gugielmo Marconi set up his revolutionary wireless equipment in the Royal Needles Hotel, above Alum Bay, and sent the very first wireless transmission.A huge 168 feet high mast was set up outside the hotel and over the next couple of years Marconi conducted ever more complex experiments with wireless transmissions. In 1898 messages were received from Marconi at Queen Victoria's Osborne House and on the royal yacht. Little now remains of Marconi's experimental stations, as the hotel and masts have long since gone. However, a monument to him stands on the cliff top within the park and information lecterns provide a detailed...

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Unique Places in Isle of Wight

Top 3 Hotels in Isle of Wight

The Channel View Hotel  Shanklin

 1 Review and 68 Opinions  We have just returned from a most excellent stay in this hotel, excellent in ALL respects. The... 

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Channel View Hotel  Sandown

 1 Review and 67 Opinions  Unfortunately I received a very nasty bout of food poisoning whilst staying at this hotel. I missed... 

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Lakeside Park Hotel  Ryde

 135 Opinions

 Hotels in Ryde

200 Hotels in Isle of Wight
 
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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hi All Has anyone ever cycled round the Isle of Wight? I've found a few routes and wondered if anyone had any suggestions. We... 

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A: IOW is a brilliant place to explore and especially out of school holiday season. I don't think it matters which way round you go as it is a circle and sooner or later you... 

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