FRESHWATER BAY

Two more sea stacks, mini versions of The Needles, can be found in Freshwater Bay, products of the highly eroded chalk cliffs. The poet Lord Tennyson lived here between 1853 and 1864 in Farringford House, which is now a hotel. The memory of his time there lives on in the form of a trail named after him, The Tennyson Trail, just over 16 miles long, from Carisbrooke Castle to The Needles. In 1970, the area near Freshwater known as East Afton Down was the scene of another cultural phenomenon: the infamous Isle of Wight Festival of that year, Britain’s answer to Woodstock, featuring such giants as The Doors, The Who, Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix, who gave one of his last great performances before his death. This wasn’t the first rock festival on the island, but is probably the best remembered, unfortunately not necessarily for the right reasons. There were a number of violent incidents, and the police had to intervene when a group of Hells Angels started causing trouble. The spine of East Afton Down, which takes in part of the Tennyson Way, was nicknamed Desolation Row during the festival, due to the fact that those who were unwilling or unable to pay to get into the festival congregated there for a free listen. Eventually the masses gathered there succeeded in tearing down the fences which were meant to keep them out, and the festival was declared free.

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Map of the area.

Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight, England-26Dec2013(2). Photo by Linda Hartley, via Wikimedia Commons.

ALUM BAY/THE NEEDLES

When I was a child holidaying on the mainland with my parents, we made a day trip to the Isle of Wight, touring around the island. There are several things which stand out in my memory about that day, and one of them was Alum Bay with its multi-coloured sands. The cliffs at Alum Bay are formed from layers which were once horizontal, but have been uprighted so that the layers are now verticle, and the layers are a variety of colours. This results in different coloured sands, and I remember being fascinated by the souvenirs for sale in the gift shop consisting of glass containers with rainbow layers of alum sands. In Victorian times the sands were used to make artwork, a technique known by the term ‘marmotinto’.

Near Alum Bay is one of southern England’s best known geological features, The Needles, a row of three tall, pointy chalk stacks rising out of the sea at the western extremity of the Isle of Wight. A red and white lighthouse finishes off the row, like a jaunty bookend. Looking at the Needles website, and comparing it with what I remember, it would appear this beauty spot has been given the “Lands End treatment” (see my Lands End post if you are wondering what I mean), i.e. that it has been turned into a quasi themepark, offering “a range of attractions”...”the perfect day out for all the family” – oh dear. Looking at some of the reviews on Tripadvisor it would appear I am not alone in my dismay at seeing yet another wonderful beauty spot turned into an amusement park. No doubt there will be as many people disagreeing – oh well, each to his own.

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The Needles

YARMOUTH

The little estuary town of Yarmouth is situated on the west side of the Isle of Wight, at the mouth of the River Yar. There is a ferry linking it to Lymington, a crossing of half an hour. For many years the town was protected by Yarmouth Castle, which was built by Henry VIII in 1547. Activities here centre around yachting and fishing, while during the summer there is an old paddle steamer called the Waverley, which takes tourists on trips round the island. There is a disused railway track which has been turned into a delightful walk from Yarmouth towards Freshwater, with wildlife viewing opportunities which include the possibility of seeing red squirrels.

In 1908 the sea off Yarmouth was the scene of a naval tragedy when a steamer called St Paul sank HMS Gladiator, which took just 20 minutes to reach the seabed. The tragedy took place during a snowstorm and resulted in 30 deaths and many more injured. The vessel was eventually righted using cables anchored to the shore, and the anchor points are still visible on the footpath between Yarmouth and Fort Victoria, the remains of which form the focal point of Fort Victoria Country Park. Attractions at the Fort include a planetarium, a maritime heritage exhibition and a marine aquarium.

For events on the island follow this link.

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Yarmouth Harbour, Isle of Wight - geograph.org.uk - 1717470. Photo by Christine Matthews, via Wikimedia Commons.

COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT

Cowes can be reached from Southampton by ferry, and for those arriving without a car, there is an excellent bus network for exploring the island, and there are plenty of walking and cycling paths. Cowes is synonymous with yachting. Each year in August during Cowes Week, the town is descended on by thousands of yachtsmen and spectators. This event dates from 1826 and is the largest regatta of its kind in the world, holding up to 40 daily races for around 1,000 boats. The focal point of the event is the Royal Yacht Squadron in West Cowes Castle, an exclusive gentleman’s club founded in 1815. The town is situated on the banks of a river with a curiously Moorish-sounding name, the River Medina, and in fact there are two towns bearing the name on either side of the river, the main one, West Cowes and the smaller East Cowes. A vehicular chain ferry, the Cowes Floating Bridge links the two towns. Queen Victoria loved this area so much that she had a holiday home near East Cowes called Osborne House, which is open to visitors courtesy of English Heritage.

For events throughout the island, see here.

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Map of the area.

Cowes, Isle of Wight - geograph.org.uk - 490666. Photo by Anthony Eden, via Wikimedia Commons.

SOUTHAMPTON

The last time I visited Southampton we were due to depart on a cruise from one of the city’s three cruise terminals. Southampton is such a major departure point for cruises that it is not unusual for several cruise ships to depart on the same day. In fact, the day we went out, we were the first of a convoy of four ships leaving Southampton, which made an impressive sight as we gazed backwards from the deck of our ship. For this reason, anyone visiting Southampton would do well to avoid the docks area on a day such as this, because the traffic generated by the cruisers-to-be causes a big tailback through the town. Happily, our ship made it safely back to Southampton a week later, which is more than can be said for the most famous ship ever to depart from there. The ill-fated Titanic left Southampton on 10 April 1912, having been declared “unsinkable”. I don’t need to remind you how misguided that description turned out to be. Next year the centenary of the disaster is due to be marked with a series of events.

Like Plymouth, Southampton suffered badly from bombing during World War II. However, there are glimpses of the city’s past still on view: the towers of the 14th century town walls, the 12th century Bargate building and the 15th century Tudor House. The city needed its walls, having been on the receiving end of a succession of attacks. The first fortifications were established following the Viking raids of the 9th century. In the 14th century the town was sacked by ships operating under Charles Grimaldi, the proceeds going towards the establishment of the Principality of Monaco. The city was an important centre for shipbuilding, including Henry V’s ship HMS Grace Dieu. Speaking of Henry V, a group of plotters were tried and executed for their part in the Southampton Plot, just before Henry’s departure for the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The trial took place in what is now the Red Lion pub in the High Street, and the executions took place outside the Bargate. Back in the present, alongside the luxury yachts moored at the waterfront development Ocean Village is the SS Shieldhall, built in 1955, the last working coastal passenger and cargo steamer, which is open to the public.

For events in Southampton, follow this link.

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Southampton Docks - geograph.org.uk - 1721650. Photo by Rod Allday, via Wikimedia Commons.

HYTHE

As we move around to the estuary area known as Southampton Water, the entrance to the estuary is dominated by the oil refinery at Fawley, the largest such facility in the United Kingdom. But moving up the estuary to Hythe, the shoreline is once again given over to leisure pursuits. One of the favourite activities at Hythe is to stand and watch the enormous cruise ships passing by, having left their terminals at nearby Southampton Docks. Meanwhile for the seriously well-heeled, there is a Marina with berths for expensive yachts, as well as a ‘village’ with waterside dwellings, restaurants, shops and bars. Properties in the marina can be had for upwards of £450,000 at the time of writing. It is no doubt an attractive place to live, since as well as the delights of the waterside on the one hand, on the other there is the New Forest right on the doorstep, which comes right up to the outer reaches of the town.

In 2003, Hythe made the national news when a 700-tonne dredger collided with the pier serving the ferry which connects Hythe with Southampton, splitting it in two and resulting in repairs costing £308,000. The following year, the captain of the dredger was jailed for eight months, having been found to be two and a half times over the drink drive-limit. The only thing to be thankful for about this sorry episode is that the ferry was not disembarking people at the time: shortly before the incident, 235 people had come off the ferry, on their way home from a football match.

Map of the area.

Hythe Foreshore Facing Hythe Marina - geograph.org.uk - 328849. Photo by Gillian Moy, via Wikimedia Commons.

EXBURY GARDENS AND LEPE

On the opposite bank of the river from Bucklers Hard is Exbury Gardens, a stunning woodland garden started in the inter-war period by Lionel de Rothschild. The gardens offer up a riot of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, to name but a few plants to be found there. Different features of the garden peak at different times of the year, for example the impressive rock garden is at its best in April, so whatever the season a visit to Exbury is a must if you are in the vicinity.

Heading back round to the Solent, we come to Lepe. There is a country park here with walks including a World War II walk featuring relics from D Day, Lepe being a number of places along the south coast which had a part to play in this pivotal wartime moment. There is also a wide variety of birdlife, including Little Egrets, Oystercatchers and Ringed Plovers. There was a harbour at Lepe village from the 1700s which was used for shipbuilding, but it silted up in 1825. This was another area where smuggling was rife, and the captain of a smuggling ship, Billy Coombes, was captured and hanged at Stone Point in the 1800s. Curiously, he has the same surname as George Coombes, who met a similar fate at Mudeford (see earlier post); maybe he was a descendent. Lepe’s contribution to the D Day landings included not only acting as a departure point for the troops and equipment, but also the construction of a Mulberry Harbour, a type of temporary harbour used to facilitate the unloading of troops onto the Normandy beaches, and as a mainland base for the P.L.U.T.O. pipeline, (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean), which were used to pump the vital fuel supplies needed by the troops in France in order to carry out their operations.

Map of the area.

American Garden, Exbury - geograph.org.uk - 450119. Photo by Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons.