Isle Of Wight – Travel Review

by Gareth

Time to load up the trusty Tatonka Barrel again. It was time for a littIe trip over the sea. I was lucky enough to be going out with a girl whose sister has a holiday home, nestled in between stunning National Trust land, perched on the cliffs of the Isle of Wight, overlooking Alum Bay, the famous Needles and the Old Battery. The holiday home makes up a row of cottages about 60 years old, that were once part of Headon Hall. One of the cottages is let out as a holiday home, which, according to the couple from Staffordshire who are renting at the same time as us, described  as ‘we’ve been renting cottages for decades and this has to be the most beautiful setting we’ve ever been in.’ Imagine, looking across a sun dappled sea to soaring white cliffs, leading up onto the grass covered Tennyson Down, where colourful blue, yellow and white butterflies go  about their love of pollinating the rich purple clover and other wild flowers. Imagine walking out of your back door and up onto the rich heathered Headland Warren, where, when you stop, all you can hear is the buzzing of the local honey bees, collecting the nectar from the heather, with the gentle onshore breeze carrying the scent of the wild honeysuckle past your nose making you want to just stop sit and never move out of this wonderful moment.

This part of the Isle of Wight is rich in history and has so much to see and do, all within walking distance. Of course, bring your car and explore the whole island, I’ve been assured that there is a lot to see and do on this little outcrop of sand, chalk and fossils, a mere, 30 minutes by ferry from the mainland. Our first day saw us out on a walk to the beach. Yes, we could have strolled down the cliff in about 10 minutes to  Alum Bay and sit below its world famous coloured sand cliffs, but we decided to walk to Colwell Bay, about an hour over Headland Warren and along the coastal path. The headland is well managed by the rabbit population, with remnants of an old fort to explore on the way up. The headland is covered in heather, honeysuckle and gorse providing a glorious array of colours and smells to help you along your way. The views from the top are straight into the mainland one way and across the island in the other direction. Stroll down the old wooden steps and onto the coastal path and you are at once in a traditional British Seaside resort. Walk along the coastal path and you are given beach huts, brightly painted wooden sheds crammed with people and things to help you enjoy the beach. Walk along a little further and you come to the old Lifeboat House, with a group of young people out the front eating cake and drinking tea while their friends struggle to slide an old wooden yacht down the ramp, into the sea.

We found a patch of sand to sit on, relax, read and admire the yachts and boats of the wealthy that had shored up for lunch. I went out for a swim around, gingerly entering the cold Solent waters that sucked the breath out of my lungs until I managed to take the plunge and get swimming. We walked back down the coastal path towards the ‘open 365 days a year’ seaside café to get our lunch, stopping on the way to browse the seaside shops flaunting their tacky but colourful array of inflatable dolphins, boats and rubber rings. The café food was delicious, even though it was served by a surly teenage girl that had obviously run out of smiles for the tourists. The rest of the day was spent lounging around on the beach until the evening when we decided to head into Yarmouth for dinner.

Being a Bank Holiday weekend, being perhaps the hottest weekend of the summer we thought that heading into a small town on the Isle of Wight would provide us with a wonderful choice of restaurants that we could take our pick from. How wrong were we? Everywhere was crammed full to the rafters, one interesting restaurant that took our liking said that they may be able to fit us in about an hour and a half. We declined and booked for the following night. This evening we ended up in a large heaving pub and eagerly awaited our traditional pub grub, served with a salad garnish.

A lazy morning ensued, and it was time to take in the tourist attractions. I forgot to mention that as well as overlooking the Tennyson Down and the Needles, the cottage is literally a couple of hundred yards from the Needles Amusement Park with views of the chair lift to Alum Bay and, if the wind is in the right direction, you are serenaded by the likes of Chesney Hawkes’ ‘I am the one and only’. Obviously we had to go and explore such attractions. Being in our early 30’s with no kids in tow, the exploration of this tourist attraction lasted about 15 minutes, 10 of which were in the shed where you can make your own coloured sand souvenir. However, across the road was the infinitely more interesting glass work shop, where, for only a pound you can see a demonstration of how glass vase is handmade. Did you know that it’s a five year apprenticeship to learn the art of glass working?

This was closely followed by a brisk walk up onto Tennyson Down and across to the old battery. Whilst walking along the down we were guided to the Old Battery by an unidentified bird of prey that kept moving along the fence as we walked along the path, leading us right into the grounds of the old battery. We were also accompanied by a myriad of butterflies as we strolled along the chalk hills. The Old Battery is a fantastic National Trust tourist attraction to look around. The history goes back hundreds of years as a look out point to stop the invasion of the Portsmouth Dockyards. You can see where the old search lights were, where they carefully filled the shells with gunpowder and where the cannons were in case of attack. Latterly, between 1956 and 1971 the site was used as a secret test site for British rockets during the cold war and for the space race. The rockets that launched the only Bitish built and launched satellite were tested here. The Old Battery also has a wonderful tiny café where they make traditional recipes cakes and savouries such as boiled fruit cake and cheese scones. If it is a beautiful day, go out and sit on the ramparts with your lunch and watch the boats go sailing along the Solent

It was only a short break to the Isle of Wight the area known as West Wight, but it was so worthwhile. I had no idea how beautiful it is (I’ve only been here as a tiny child and to the Isle of Wight Festival before) or how important it has been to the security of our country. Go to this delightful part of this little island, enjoy the heady smells of the honeysuckle, the vibrant purples of the heather and the delightful flittering of the butterflies whilst being over looked  by birds of prey and absorb the wonderful mix of tacky British Seaside resort, rich history and stunning natural scenery.

Top Tips for a short break to the Isle of Wight - West Wight:

• Try the boiled fruit cake and cheese scones at the tea shop at the Old Battery.
• Go on the boat out to the Needles, you can really appreciate the stunning cliffs as you cruise by them.
• Take a butterfly and bird identification book and throw in your binoculars.
• Book a restaurant if it looks like it is going to be a busy evening in town.
• Get the earliest ferry out and the latest one back - I wanted to spend as much time on the Island as possible. It is such a beautiful part of this country. Don't be put off by the tourists and seaside resort image.