Enter Isle of Wight Adventure Activities (IWAA) who offer activities Island wide, the perfect guides to help you fulfill any holiday hankerings.

Coasteering is their speciality – clambering your way around the bottom of the majestic chalk cliffs at Freshwater in helmets and wetsuits, then climbing up the negotiable parts and cannoning down into the foaming waves beneath. This is not an activity for the faint-hearted but it’s great fun. The coastline here has many caves in the chalk cliffs, some of which are only accessible from the sea, so this is chance to see some of the truly secret parts of the Island by scrambling, swimming, crawling and climbing around, across and sometimes through the bottom of the cliffs.

IWAA’s coasteering adventures are run by qualified outdoor professionals who have a vast experience of the coastal environment and they are licensed by the Adventure Activities Licensing Service (AALS). Owen Burson has been coasteering for the past 20 years, eight of them here, having run coasteering in lots of other parts of the country. He’s also a nominated technical advisor for the sport from the AALS and has trained all of his team, so you know you’re in very experienced and qualified hands.

But this year it is their Bushcraft courses that are attracting the most attention, especially to families who are booking up for the three hour introduction sessions in the woods and forests of the Isle of Wight (currently Brighstone Forest and Firestone Copse). You learn shelter building and fire lighting and then get to forage for food that you cook on your camp fire. Matt Hannah leads these sessions: a qualified chef, Matt learned bushcraft in France and will help you to find edible plants and roots, wild herbs and garlic and teach you to cook a foraged meal over a fire you’ve made and lit yourself.

Isle of Wight Adventure Activities are based at Afton Park, freshwater, right next to the Afton Apple Farm, surrounded the greenery of the apple orchards and the superb and unspoiled West Wight. It is an idyllic spot and boasts classrooms, reception area and kit stores – you need a lot of kit for many of the activities on offer, which include kayaking, mountain boarding, stand up paddle boarding, archery, rock climbing and power kiting.

Stand Up Paddle boarding was all the rage a couple of years ago and is still very popular. Freshwater Bay on a calm day is an ideal location to learn this relatively simple sport – it’s easier than trying to windsurf, although you do have to learn how to balance on the board. Kayaking is also very, very popular here with clear deep water to practice rolling and paddling, and of course you have the stunning chalk cliffs to explore once you’ve mastered the basics.

IWAA also act as agents for other activity providers around the Island. Maybe you’d like to try your hand at falconry with Haven Falconry at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in Havenstreet, or fossil hunting with the fossil man, Martin Simpson, at the primeval Brook beach? Up in a small copse outside of Newport you can practice your stalking techniques and shoot people with lazer guns at Headhunters or try horse riding at the nearby Hill Farm Stables in Freshwater. The choices are endless and the adventure is just about to begin…

Certain beaches are better for getting out on your board: the beaches around the south coast are more popular with surfers as the waves in the English Channel are far larger than those in the Solent. Surfers do use Yaverland, Sandown through to Shanklin and Ventnor but it is Brook and Compton that are probably the most popular beaches for surfing, along with Freshwater Bay. Kitesurfers tend to congregate at Yaverland, Ryde and Brook, depending on the wind direction and for windsurfing Bembridge and the south east coast seem to be used most often, although Totland and Colwell Bay are also popular.

If you need a few lessons first then there are many reputable teachers who can help you learn the techniques:

Wight Waters

Wight Waters is on Dunroamin beach between Sandown and Shanklin and offers surfing and bodyboarding, windsurfing, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding (SUP) and sailing courses. An ideal location for learning watersports, with shallow waters and a sandy beach, windsurfing courses range from taster sessions to RYA Advanced instructor courses, surfing and kayaking are given in beginners, intermediate and advanced courses and SUP (Stand Up Paddleboarding) can be learned in an hour taster or a half day session.

Billed as ‘the Isle of Wight’s coolest watersports centre’ Wight Waters certainly does have an impressive team. Started by Ian and Ceri Williams back in 1984, Wight Waters is now run by Ceri’s stepson Scott Gardner who has competed in national and international surfing and windsurfing championships and his brother Ross who was crowned European Formula Windsurfing Champion 2012. Aaron Williams is also a professional windsurfer and former champion, and now looks after their retail shop Earth, Wind and Water in Shanklin where all equipment can be purchased.

iSurf

iSurf specialise in teaching surfing and stand up paddle boarding (SUP) on the whole range of different beaches that the Isle of Wight has to offer as they are a fully mobile surf school. Run by Surfing GB qualified surf coach Chris Mannion, who has been riding waves (and wiping out!) for nearly 20 years, Chris started teaching surfing on the Isle of Wight at just 16 years of age so is confident he knows the best and safest surfing spots the Island has to offer.

iSurf provides tuition for both adults and children from the age of eight and surfing can be taught in groups or on a one to one basis. When you get to the beach iSurf will kit you up with an Xcel wetsuit to keep you from getting cold in the water and you use Alder’s range of soft surfboards that are made of a material similar to a body board. iSurf are also able to film and photograph your lesson so you can watch and see yourself surfing.

UKSA

From its campus and marina in Cowes, UKSA’s team of experienced and fully-qualified instructors provide a comprehensive range of ocean-based training; making sailing and watersports accessible to everyone.

There are courses in everything from kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing, moving up through dinghy and keelboat sailing to yachting in which you can take skippering, yachtmaster and cruising qualifications. As a registered youth charity, UKSA is committed to inspiring children to get out on the water and try new experiences with courses in kayaking, keelboating and dingy sailing along with windsurfing and kitesurfing. As well as running school residential and day trips, special watersports programmes are run during the school summer holidays giving those as young as eight the opportunity to earn recognised qualifications.

Windstalker

If the wind is up and the conditions are right Windstalker Island Kitesports are likely to be on the waves around the Isle of Wight teaching others how to kitesurf with confidence. You just ring Jane and Eric Harris at Windstalker to book a lesson and they’ll tell you where to be and meet you there with all the kit.

Eric Harris started off as a land-boarder and then took up kitesurfing around nine years ago and is now a very experienced teacher of both sports. He’s especially good with more advanced students, teaching tricks and different moves in serious one to one sessions, but equally good with new students. Jane has been kite surfing for over four years and is great with newcomers.

Once you’ve got the bug you can buy your own kit as Windstalker are Cabrinha stockists – they can do all kite repairs too. Windstalker can also store your equipment for you if you’re an Island visitor and bring it to the beach for you when you come down, which is really handy.

“If you’re lucky whilst out walking you may catch sight of some of the Island’s rarer wild flowers – some are so rare, like the Wood Calamint, that the only place in Britain where they can be found is here on the Isle of Wight.

“It occurs in one valley in the chalk and just grows on one sunny bank. It was discovered by the eminent Victorian botanist, Dr William Bromfield, who covered the whole Island and wrote Flora Vectensis,” said Colin.

“He discovered it as being new to Britain and it still grows there today although in much smaller quantities,” he explained. “Many years ago Woolworths had a picture of it on their carrier bags.

“Our rarer flowers are quite showy,” he continued. “Field Cow-Wheat grows around the Ventnor area and was quite a serious weed of the wheat fields as it would contaminate the crop and workers would pull it out by hand.

“Now it’s confined to a few sunny banks at the wildlife trust reserve at St Lawrence and it’s out through July and August.

“The Pyramid orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) is found across the downs from Culver to Freshwater and it’s also found in cemeteries on the Chalk such as Mount Joy (behind Carisbrooke Castle). Because it does so well it was voted the County flower by Plant Life about six years ago,” said Colin.

“Cemeteries are good places to look for wild flowers as they are often left to grow. The reason for this is that the cemeteries were traditionally taken from farmers’ fields and haven’t been changed.

“The meadows at Newtown are full of flowers and there you can find the Corky-Fruited Water-Dropwort. It’s quite common with us but  found mostly in central southern England. It’s also found with Dyers Greenweed, a dwarf yellow broom that was used for dying cloth.

“Meadows and salt marshes like those at Newtown, St Helens and Yarmouth are the place to go to see Sea Lavender, a nice showy plant, and Knapweed has purple heads and is tallish, and so good for bees.

“Also Ventnor Down and Headon Warren are good places to see all the different heath flowers and the dwarf gorse that is in flower with the heathers. The other thing to see on Ventnor Down are the bilberries,” added Colin.

“Early flowering Gentian flowers on chalk down land and is only found on the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and Dorset and we get a lot of it over here,” he explained.

“If you go to the Duver at St Helens look for the tiny blue flowers called Autumn Squills that flower in August and September – it’s the only place in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight where they grow. They look like miniature bluebells and are also found on the cliff tops of Devon and Cornwall.

“By and large we’ve been quite fortunate as most of the plants that Victorian botanists found are still with us. You can also see the exotic plants that escape from gardens like the succulents and echiums,” said Colin.

‘These thrive because it’s warm and sheltered and it adds character to the Island. The cliff walk from Sandown to Shanklin is good for this – you see a lot of exotic plants that have escaped from gardens.

“Red Valerian is a particularly prolific garden escapee. Insects love it as it is a good source of nectar and in Ventnor it has been named ‘Ventnor Pride’ as it grows on the cliffs. But when it grows on walls it can do a lot of damage – at Quarr Abbey it has caused considerable damage to the medieval ruins.

But Colin also wanted to warn our readers. “Harm is done by digging things up and trampling them down, so keep to the paths in the meadows,” he stressed. And, of course, it is an offence to dig up rare wild flowering plants, or indeed any plant from land where you do not have permission.

Dr Colin Pope is Ecology Officer for the IW Council, making sure that the council takes nature conservation into account. He is a very keen botanist and keeps a data base of all Isle of Wight plants, flowering plants, lichens and fungi as well as working closely with the Natural History Society www.iwnhas.org

If you come to the Island during the Walking Festival in May or the Walking Weekend in October you’re in for a treat, with over 270 walks to choose from in May and 60 more in October. More than 20,000 walkers descend onto the Island for the Walking Festival and there is something for everyone in the programme, from short strolls to an energetic 24 hour circumnavigation of the Island. Or cover the entire Island over a three day period on a Beaches, Bars and Blisters walk around the coastal paths with local author David Yates.

A chalk ‘backbone’ of downland stretches almost unbroken across the Island, affording fantastic views for those who choose to walk it. Every year a sponsored ‘Walk the Wight’ follows this ridge from east to west with money raised going to the local Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

It is perhaps the westernmost section of the Island that is the most unspoilt in terms of scenery, and if you make your base in the south or the west of the Island there are many lovely walks between these points. The western coast is superb: rugged coastline that stretches from the majestic tumbling cliffs around Blackgang in the south to the monolithic white chalk Freshwater cliffs in the west. In between lie miles of sandy and pebble beaches, stewn with fossil finds. One of the best views on the Island must be from the Viewpoint car park at Blackgang, where you can see the entire stretch of the south west coast. Gently rolling fields sloping from the downland to the north, gently indented orange cliffs with blue bays that culminate in the bright white cliffs at Freshwater and the Needles in the far distance.

Stay a while…

Base yourself at the self catering cottages at Tennyson’s former home, The Farringford, in Freshwater Bay and you can walk the entire coastline if you wish or try Weston Manor, just up the road, which has superb B&B accommodation and is within easy reach of the Warren, another wonderful walk at to fully explore the western end of the Island.

Chale Bay Farm nestles near to the coastal path on the Island’s southern side, or you might like to take a room at the Enchanted Manor for romantic walks around St Catherine’s Point, the Isle of Wight’s southernmost point. Ventnor is just around the corner and boasts two top hotels in the Hambrough and The Royal Hotel, plus boutique B&B Ocean View for lofty views down to the bay. You can walk right to the top of Ventnor downs from the town if you’re feeling fit with footpaths taking you up and down this terraced town. The landslip towards Luccombe is a particularly lush walk to take in the summer time – walk along from Ventnor to Bonchurch beach and then up into the green canopy where you can find the ‘Devil’s Chimney and the ‘Wishing Seat’.

Over in the east of the Island looms Culver Cliff, another great walking destination, and beneath it the reclaimed Yar estuary is a RSPB reserve with a wealth of wildlife to discover. Bembridge Harbour and the sand dunes of the Duver are perfect for discovery on foot and for a luxurious base, with its own beach, The Priory Bay Hotel at St Helen’s is the perfect place to stay.

Arts for All

Ventnor hosts the Isle of Arts Festival over the weekend of April 19^th to 21^{st -} a real smorgasboard of comedy, drama, literature, music, magic and much, much more. Big names this year include comedian and actor Alan Davies with his surreal observational story telling, the humourous Sarfraz Manzoor on how the ‘Boss’ (Bruce Springsteen) influenced his life and best selling author and raconteur (and ex international drug dealer) Howard Marks on his intriguing dealings.

The eclectic line-up includes illusionists Barry and Stuart, children’s storytelling from The Nosey Pacas, Lloyd Lee as Charles Dickens and a talk on Benjamin Britten.There’s a blues brunch on Saturday with JC and the Dance Preachers with cool cajun food from Phileas Fogg and a Jazz Brunch on Sunday with jazz singer and clarinetist Jacqui Kicks accompanied by top notch food from Robert Thompson from the Hambrough. Other musical offerings include edgy rock/pop from The Voice winner Adam Issac, ska from the Skatonics, jazzy pop from the up and coming Miss 60 or if you’re a mod at heart there is music with From The Jam who will be playing hits such as Going Underground, Town Called Malice, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight featuring the Jam’s former guitarist Bruce Foxton.

Isle of Arts is spread between over seven venues throughout the town that include the beautiful East Dene, former home of the poet Swinburne where a ‘Regency Ball’ is to be held on the Sunday night with period dress encouraged, dance cards, period dances from the Bath-based Jane Austen Dancers and the opportunity to learn the moves in a Regency Dancing workshop earlier in the day.

Growing and Eating

Gold-medal winning mainland plant-nurseries that you would see at Chelsea Flower Show and the cream of Isle of Wight garden businesses converge upon Robin Hill Country Park for a superb Spring Garden Show every April and this year it falls on April 27^th and 28^th. Star of the show will be Kate Goodman, the fresh new face of the BBC’s recently re-launched Food & Drink programme who will host the Spring Garden Show’s ‘World of Wine’, with tastings each afternoon for vistors to enjoy. This will complement the Southern Co-operatives ‘Finest Flavours pavilion’ hosting a range of tantalising food stalls and the popular food theatre with guest local chefs who this year will be offering a ‘Follow the Chef’ cook-a-longs where visitors can learn how to fillet a mackerel or prepare asparagus to perfection.

Other attractions include a petting farm for children, laser clay pigeon shooting and falconry displays and the perennially popular IW Chainsaw Carving competition will be bigger than ever in 2013 with no less than seven national and international carvers taking part.

Walking on the Wild Side

Over half of the Isle of Wight is designated AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and has over 500 miles of public footpaths, many of which are included in the annual Walking Festival held for a fortnight at the beginning of May. This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the festival which runs from 4^th – 19^th May and includes over 250 walks that will be trodden by over 20,000 festival-comers from all over the UK and indeed the world.

Some of the walks are free, others ask for a donation to charity and some have a small charge of between £2 and £5. All have themes and you get to learn something of the countryside, the wildlife, the former illustrious residents or even the extinct dinosaurs that lived here long ago.

Family Frolics

Blackgang Chine is possibly the oldest theme park in the country and is celebrating its 170^th anniversary this year with a big party over the weekend of May Bank Holiday 27^th to 30^th. Postman Pat and Jess his cat will be travelling to the Isle of Wight on Red Funnel ferries to make a special visit to this well-loved attraction; making an appearance on the ferry and then spending two days around the park meeting visitors. Added to this there will be other ‘Blackgang characters’ coming to life, especially pirates who will be encouraging you to join in their pirate games – ooh argh! Live music and other activities such as balloon modelling are on offer and the park will be staying open until 7.30pm each night over the celebratory weekend.

The term ‘dinosaur’ was first used in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen after he examined a fossil that had been found on the Isle of Wight but the first documented finds on the Island were in 1829. Although it is likely that people were finding these strange relics but not realising what they were thousands of years ago. Shark’s teeth and trilobites have been found in stone age burial mounds for example.

Robert Hooke

The first person associated with the Island and known to have an interest in fossils was Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703), who was born in Freshwater and he is said to have looked for fossils on Headon Hill near Alum Bay. “He knew about the big ammonites and because creatures of this size are only found in ‘torrid environments’ he surmised that the Isle of Wight could have been somewhere else once upon a time,” said Trevor Price from dinosaur Isle.

Dean William Buckland

Dean William Buckland (1784-1856) was the first person to scientifically describe Megalosaurus (‘great lizard’) in 1824 and he was a visitor to the Island. The first material he found on the Island was in 1829 at Yaverland and was an Iguanodon (‘iguana tooth’) pedal phalanx (toe bone), but this was prior to the naming of ‘dinosaurs’.

In 1832, Buckland spent the summer at Yaverland, and found five boxes worth of fossils, the first Island dinosaur bones to be part of a dinosaur collection. William Buckland also had a complete Hypsilophodon skeleton in his collection from the Brighstone area, but failed to recognise it as a new species, believing it to be a baby Iguanodon.

Gideon Algernon Mantell

Gideon Algernon Mantell (1790-1852) was a physician and surgeon who lived in Lewes, East Sussex, and he first discovered the dinosaur he named Iguanodon in 1822 in a quarry in Cuckfield. He believed it was like a prehistoric iguana, which he named Iguanodon, meaning Iguana Tooth. Publishing the description in 1825, he became the second person to publish the discovery of a dinosaur.

Mantell’s curiosity led him to the Isle of Wight where in 1850 he wrote: “The quantity of bones collected from the seashore in Sandown, Brixton (Brighstone), Brook and Compton Bays during the last few years is very considerable; the examples I have seen and in the possession of different persons, must have belonged to between 150 and 200 individual dinosaurs.”

Mantell wrote several books on geology and palaeontology, including Geological excursions round the Isle of Wight and Along the Adjacent Coast of Dorsetshire in 1854, and the article Notes On The Wealden Strata of the Isle of Wight, with an Account of the Bones of Iguanodon and Other Reptiles Discovered at Brook Point and Sandown Bay in the second Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London in 1846. The dinosaur Iguanodon mantelli is named after him.

Sir Richard Owen

Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) is perhaps most famous for inventing the term ‘Dinosauria’ in 1842 to describe the first three dinosaurs to be discovered – Buckland’s Megalosaurus and Mantell’s Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus. He was instrumental in establishing the British Museum of Natural History, now known as the Natural History Museum.

Owen created the name ‘Dinosauria’ after closely examining a fossil discovered on the Isle of Wight in late 1841. This was the first Iguanodon sacrum discovered, and Owen noticed that it had identical characteristics to the sacrum of Megalosaurus: the five sacral vertebrae that formed the lower part of the spine of both Megalosaurus and Iguanodon were fused identically¹. This unique characteristic immediately distinguished the dinosaurs from the other pre-historic lizards found; the sea lizards, pterosaurs and crocodiles did not have a fused sacrum. This discovery meant that dinosaurs could be united into a distinct group separate from all other forms of prehistoric reptiles, and Owen created the name ‘Dinosauria’ in recognition.

John Whitaker Hulke

John Whitaker Hulke (1830-1895) was a British surgeon, geologist and long-time fossil collector from the Wealden cliffs of the Isle of Wight. His work on vertebrate paleontology included studies of Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon from the Wealden (Lower Cretaceous).

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) started writing The Origin Of The Species (first published in 1859) while staying at Sandown, very near Yaverland and it is likely that he went dinosaur fossil hunting while he was here as he would have been aware of recent finds.

William Fox

But the real champion of dinosaur fossil hunting was local resident, William Fox (1813-1881), curate of Brighstone Village, who was avidly collecting fossils around the Brighstone area – known as Brixham in those days – and has more English dinosaurs named after him than anyone else.  He would write about his finds to Richard Owen, who had been introduced to him by the poet Tennyson in 1865 and to and Gideon Mantell.  Although he was not a professional scientist William Fox became obsessed with dinosaur bone hunting and also bought fossils from local fishermen,  discovering  the rear of the first four Poliacanthi to be found on the Island.

But William Fox’s dinosaur hunting got him into trouble with the church as he was described as putting “always the bones first and the parish next”. He was denied a permanent position in Brighstone but in a letter to Owen said: “I cannot leave this place while I have any money left to live on, I take such deep joy in hunting for old dragons.” Although Fox was unable to remain curate of Brighstone Church he stayed on the Island until he died.

Fox’s collection of more than 500 specimenswas acquired by the Natural History Museum after his death and he is credited with the finding of several species, most described by his friend Owen and named by him after their finder. These include Polacanthus foxii, Hypsilophodon foxii, Eucamerotus foxi,Iguanodon foxii, Calamosaurus foxii (formerly Calamospondylus) and Aristosuchus.

Samuel Husbands Beckles

Samuel Husbands Beckles (1814-1890) visited the Isle of Wight on several occasions and was the first person to discover dinosaur footprints on the Island.  He described these in ‘On Some Natural Casts of Footprints from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight and Swanage’, published in 1862 in both ‘The Geologist’ and the ‘Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London’

Reginald Hooley

Reginald Hooley (1865-1923), a Southampton business man, was making frequent visits to the Island around the turn of the twentieth century and found a near complete skeleton of a six metre long Iguanodon Atherfieldensis, several incomplete skeletons and thousands of individual bones.

Brighstone

Bang opposite the church where William Fox was curate is Seven, a restaurant and tearooms that has only four bed and breakfast rooms but was refurbished in 2008 to a high standard. You can look out of the windows and imagine William Fox rushing out of the church in the early 1800s to meet the fishermen and see what fossils they had found him that day. Grange Chine is walkable from here and many finds have been made on the beach, or you can travel up the coast towards Compton Bay, or down towards Atherfield.

Right on the cliff edge is Grange Chine Holidays that have four barn conversions, static caravans and a large campsite and a little further along the military road is Brighstone Holiday Centre where you can book a vintage style chalet or camp out under the stars.

Brook

Home of the dinosaur footprints that are uncovered at low tide at Hanover Point, Brook has a few self catering properties but the best are at Brook House that are in the wings of this old manor house and the coach house. You can walk down to Brook Beach from here and Compton is about another ten minute walk.

Compton

You can hire a holiday cottage at Compton Farm from the National Trust or opt for camping at Compton Farm. Not only will you be at the best beach on the Island but you’ll also be bound to find some fossils. You could even walk all the way from here to Atherfield at low tide.

Chale

A good place to base yourself for a foray up the south west coast is Chale and former dairy farm, Chale Bay Farm is set in 26 acres and has modern, purpose built guest rooms set around a relaxing courtyard with water garden, creating bespoke, luxury guesthouse accommodation.

Freshwater

Tennyon’s former home Farringford has holiday cottages in the grounds and this is an ideal place for a base to travel the south west coast in search of fossils. You can also find chalk fossils on the beach at Freshwater. The best cottages are Alfred Cottages, designed by the famous architect and visionary, Clough Williams-Ellis, which have vaulted ceilings and stone fireplaces with log burning stoves.

Sandown

The Ocean Hotel on the seafront at Sandown is the largest hotel in Sandown and arguably the one with the best view. The Kings Bar, which is only a short walk away, is in the building where Charles Darwin stayed when he was writing Origin of the Species. With palm trees and an outdoor pool, it’s only a short walk along the seawall to Yaverland, home of Dinosaur Isle and the Wealden beds that emerge in the cliffs here.

Yaverland

Fort Spinney has holiday bungalows that look out over the beach and Riviera Park has cottages and chalets on the cliffs above Yaverland beach.

Push the Boat Out

If you want to opt for luxury and seclusion you could book Rocklands Manor in St Lawrence just a short way from St Catherine’s Point and Rocken End.  Organise your own bespoke fossil walks with Martin Simpson and you could really impress your friends.

After entering, via its ‘mouth’ and purchasing your tickets in the gift shop you enter the museum at the ‘Ice Age’ with the most recent finds of ancient mammals from the Newtown Creek area. As you walk through these spacious corridors you are going back in time and further round the Island, through the chalk to the Wealden beds on the south coast.

One of the most striking exhibits in this area is the life size Ichthyosaur swimming in the sea surrounded by brightly coloured ammonites. The museum got this model from ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ and there is also a video kiosk where you can see footage of how this enormous creature would have looked when it was alive.

Three bones of a flying pterosaur are just around the corner and these proved it was a new species of pterosaur named after the Island ‘Caulkicephalus Trimicrodin’. “They were found by three separate collectors at Yaverland,” said Peter Pusey the museum’s General Manager.

You then walk into the cavernous belly of the museum and you are confronted by life-size animatronic dinosaurs in their ‘natural’ habitat. This experience is much enhanced by the sounds of these creatures that are triggered by sensors hanging from the ceiling bringing the cretaceous period into the 21^st century, all designed by Haley Sharpe Design Ltd from Leicester.

Just inside the door is a pneumatic dinosaur that you can operate. “People love the pneumatic dinosaur. It was made by the West Group to show what they could do with pistons,” explained Peter.

A little further in on the left is the ‘identifying’ table covered in things that you can pick up and peruse. Also if you have a specimen that you’ve found you can bring it here and ask one of the qualified palaeontologists to identify it. Martin New was on hand to explain finds when we visited.

“The Isle of Wight goes back 120 to 130 million years – that’s the oldest exposed strata. Anything older and you have to drill down,” explained Martin. “We’re always pleased to identify anything anyone brings in. We have seven palaeontologists and all fossil finds are recorded on a data base.”

Another interactive activity requires you to stick your hands into boxes to feel what is inside – dinosaur poo, which is called Coprolite, being one of the things you feel. It is fossilised and hard of course, don’t worry.

The far wall has the Sauropod that was found at Barnes High (near the Dinosaur Farm) displayed as a life size skeleton.  Missing pieces have been ‘made’ in order to get an idea of how the beast would have looked. In front of this exhibit is a huge leg bone that was found on Yaverland beach that can be touched.

Further round the hall is a black ‘Neovenator’ dinosaur, again embedded into the wall in a glass case – this monster was found by former curator of Dinosaur Isle, Steve Hutt. There are also some of the remains of an Eotyrannus. “Neovenator and Eotyrannus are unique to the Isle of Wight so far,” said Peter. “Eotyrannus was the precursor to Tyrannosaurus Rex.” A lifesize model of an Eotyrannus gazes down from the central dinosaur habitat feature.

Near here is a Goniopholis (a type of crocodile) in a glass case that was found by Nick Chase. In fact there are many finds by amateur and professional dinosaur fossil hunters in the museum, with more upstairs in the teaching room, including a new cabinet bought by the ‘Friends of Dinosaur Isle’ that houses a collection by Andy Yule.

“We see around 70,000 visitors a year and about 10,000 are school children, the bulk of which are mainland schools who are over here for a week-long visit. They tend to come for a talk on the geology of the Isle of Wight, a visit to the museum and a fossil walk on the beach,” said Peter. Trevor Price is Dinosaur Isle’s Community Learning Officer and resident geologist if you wish to book a visit.

“Steve Hutt was curator here and then we had Martin Munt who went to the Natural History Museum. We’ve been the training ground for many palaeontologists,” said Peter proudly.

Tennyson’s Monument/The Highdown Inn

Wild and windy or cold and clear, the walk from Freshwater Bay up to Tennyson’s Monument is one you mustn’t miss on a visit to the Isle of Wight. You can imagine Tennyson himself tramping across the cliff tops wearing his long black cape and big brimmed hat as this was one of his most favourite places to roam.

Entry to the pathway up to his monument is via a lane that is 200 yards or so on the left up the main road west to Alum Bay, Gate Lane. There is a small car park here that costs £1 per hour – or a larger car park in Freshwater Bay – and the bus stops at the end of the lane.

It’s a fairly steep climb up to the monument from here, but you are rewarded with wonderful views of the west coast of the Island that become more expansive the higher you climb. Once at the top the whole panorama of the western end of the Isle of Wight, the Solent and the mainland open up in front of you – an amazing sight, especially on a clear, sunny day.

But you don’t have to walk all the way to the Needles. Carry on walking and about half way to the iconic chalk stacks is a beacon to your right that is lit for occasional celebrations. It also marks the lane down to the Highdown Inn where you can get a hearty pub lunch in their bar, which is warmed by an enormous open fire.

Then you’ll be ready to tackle the rest of the walk to the Needles, or you could opt to meander back to the Bay where you could discover the rocky beach and its hidden caves and the Dandelion Cafe.

Compton Bay/The Sun Inn

Compton Beach is a great favourite for Isle of Wight walkers, surfers and fossil hunters. Make sure it’s not high tide if you’re going to walk here as in the winter the beach all but disappears, but if this is the case you can still walk along the cliff top path and look down on the crashing waves below.

Walk east from here along to Brook Beach and then take the public footpath to the Sun Inn in Hulverstone. Or, if you have a car, it is only a few minutes to drive to this pretty thatched inn with far reaching views to the coast. Pheasant and local lamb are likely to be on the menu here and there is an open fire in the lounge.

After lunch you could wander up to the Longstone. Take the sunken tree lined pathway that runs up from Mottistone Manor (car park) to this ancient standing stone that marks the entrance to a former long barrow.

St Catherine’s Lighthouse/The Buddle Inn

A walk down to St Catherine’s Lighthouse and Rocken End beach is another favourite ramble and it’s wild in the winter months. If you are coming by car you have to park at the top of St Catherine’s Lane as signs will indicate that the road is closed to public traffic. But as a footpath it is open and as you walk down through the trees and around the corner the view of the lighthouse and the sea will open up in front of you.

It’s a pleasant walk down and a gentle climb back up, until you get to the steep bit at the top. You’ll be looking forward to a drink at the nearby Buddle Inn by this point by the open fire in the bar.

The Taverners in Godshill has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the best gastro pubs on the Island. They serve good Island ingredients in inventive and delicious ways, and will even exchange your home grown veg for food and ale in their pub. Boards on the wall tell you which foods are currently in season and therefore more likely to be in your lunch or dinner. Dine in the large back room or the olde worlde former pub in the front of the building that overlooks the high street.

The New Inn in Shalfleet specialize in game when it’s in season and have won many awards for their food. The pub has a roaring open fire in the winter and sits by the bridge over the river that becomes Shalfleet Creek – a lovely walk before or after dining will take you down the edge of this beautiful stretch of water. In the winter months you are likely to hear the guns that are shooting your dinner as you walk along the path! Pheasant, partridge and duck are often on the menu along with other local meats and seasonal fayre.

The Fishbourne Inn is now owned by the same people as the New Inn and has a great revamped menu to match their sister establishment. Now decorated in a modern minimalist style, the pub offers quality dining in a pub setting. Again it features Island produce and tells you your food’s provenance on the menu where you can opt for a full main course or a smaller portion for ‘the smaller appetite’. Deli boards for two to share are popular and the pub also has Isle of Wight crab and lobster on the menu.

But the most well-known pub for sea food has to be the Crab and Lobster in Bembridge, although they do also have a wide range of other dishes on the menu nowadays. Once the local haunt for fishermen, smugglers and excise men the pub grew up with a tearoom serving seafood alongside it. This has now become incorporated in the pub as their dining room and it is local crab and lobster that they have become famous for, along with the sea views across Bembridge Ledge.  The seafood platter for two to share is especially popular as are the pub’s infamous enormous crab cakes that are freshly prepared on the premises.

The Bonchurch Inn has long been a well-kept secret amongst those in the know and now its reputation is spreading far and wide. Waiters in long black aprons and the Italian menu give this pub a definite gastro atmosphere, but the pub itself is like a well preserved antique. Little has changed since the Inn gained its license in the 1840’s, making it one of the most unspoilt Pubs on the Island. Once the tap to the nearby Bonchurch Hotel, the interior is out of a bygone age and there’s a sun/family room across the pretty courtyard. Ulisse and Gillian Besozzi have been landlords since 1984 (hence the Italian menu) and are now partners with their children Adrian and Victoria.

At spring tides at Compton Beach you can see the remains of the tug boat Carbon that hit the rocks in 1947 when the towing line snapped while she was being towed from Portland to Southampton for salvage. She was not worth anything in salvage so was left to rot and there is less of her to see every year.

Another tug, the Harry Sharman, foundered off Culver Cliff in 1970 during the Pacific Glory incident when attempts were being made to re-float the stricken oil tanker that burned off shore for many days. All on board the tug were saved but pieces of it still sit at the base of the chalk cliffs.

On Bembridge Ledge there is a very shallow channel called the Run, and where it exits the Ledge, off shore from the Crab and Lobster pub, you will find the wreck of the Empress Queen. In February 1916 this 370ft paddle steamer was off to collect troops from France when she hit the Ledge. The old Bembridge lifeboat was rowed out to her and saved all 116 people on board along with a dog and a cat. Before her demise she used to carry 2,000 passengers across the Channel at 21 knots but now she, like the Ledge, snares unwary sailors who are unfamiliar with these waters and she can be spied at low spring tides.

If you want to see the wreck of the Clarendon you only need go to the Wight Mouse Inn for a drink or meal as the pub was partially built from the timbers of the infamous ship that foundered in Chale Bay in 1836. Traveling back from St Kitts with a cargo of sugar, molasses and rum, the ship had 11 passengers and 17 crew but on the morning of 11^th October 1836 she hit the beach at Blackgang in a gale, rolled onto her side and broke up in less than 10 minutes. Local fisherman, John Wheeler, tied a rope round his waist, gave the end to a mate, and plunged into the surf, saving three crewmen. But everyone else, including a family with four daughters aged between nine months and eighteen, were drowned or killed by timbers in the pounding surf. Eighteen of the dead are buried in Chale churchyard.

The Sirenia was another terrible wreck as three lifeboat men were lost as well as two crew/passengers on the ship. On the morning of March 9, 1888 in dense fog, it sailed on to the rocks at Atherfield Edge and by the afternoon the Brighstone life boat had managed to save two women and two children but the coxswain Moses Munt was washed out to sea and killed and later the second coxswain Tom Cotton was also lost. The Brook Lifeboat was beaten back by the waves and her second coxswain Reuben Cooper was lost overboard as well. This terrible tragedy saw the Atherfield lifeboat being brought into service, and divers still find relics on her bones beneath the waves.

But perhaps the largest loss of life was sustained by the Mendi that went down in 1917, claiming the lives of 656 native men from South Africa who were on their way to dig trenches on the front line. Now a war grave, the men had never been to sea before and couldn’t swim. Bodies were washed up all over the south coast and yet no recognition was given to the tragedy at the time.

The wreck of the Mendi was found by local diver Martin Woodward 40 years ago. “It was apartheid at its worse,” said Martin. “I feel quite sad about it. The Queen unveiled a plaque to those who died in 1994 so they got their recognition in the end.”

Relics from all of these ships can be seen at Martin’s Shipwreck Centre and ‘Wreck and Rescue’ Lifeboat Museum at Arreton Old Village along with much, much more.

Between the Needles and St Catherine’s Point is the most treacherous piece of coast on the Isle of Wight. Extending half a mile out to sea are the clay and smooth rock slabs known as Brook and Brighstone Ledges, which have claimed many ships and lives.

For hundreds of years, ‘wreck,’ like smuggling, was an important source of income for Islanders. If the longshoreman could not use the goods themselves they would sell them on, using the same distribution routes and networks as the smugglers. The timbers from wrecks were used to build houses, sheds and boats – beams within the Wight Mouse Inn were taken from the wreck of the Clarendon in 1836 and the panelling in Mottistone Church roof was taken from the Cedarine, wrecked in 1862

A series of wrecks along the west coast in 1859 resulted in committees being formed by the rectors of Brooke and Brighstone and Charles Seely, the owner of Mottistone estate. Enough money was raised for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to build two boats, one for each village, and the first lifeboat station to be established on the Island was that at Brooke in 1860. From then on everyone in Hulverstone, Mottistone and Brook was in some way connected with Brooke Lifeboat and up until 1937, when it was closed down, the Brooke service is credited with saving 381 lives.

To launch the Susan Ashley (1904 – 1937) took thirteen crew members, ten heavy horses and up to thirty helpers with six horses needed to launch the boat and ten to recover it when it was heavy with sea water. The crew of thirteen included five oars on each side, a coxswain, a second coxswain and bowman. Support work on shore included keeping a chest of dry clothes always ready for those shipwrecked.

In July 1867 the Committee of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution decided to base a lifeboat at Bembridge using £524 donated to the RNLI by the citizens of Worcester.  The life-boat was named for its donors, the City of Worcester, and was delivered in October of that year.

The first lifeboat was launched off a carriage with the aid of oil flares on dark nights, and messages had to be passed by foot messenger or a man on horseback. The first Lifeboat house was constructed the same year, at a cost of £165.

City of Worcester was replaced by the Queen Victoria in 1887, and a lifeboat station at the end of a long pedestrian pier was installed to ease her launch. This station, the pier and the lifeboat were replaced in 2010 and opened by HMH Princess Anne.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II opened the new RNLI lifeboat station in the former customs building in Cowes when she visited the town earlier this summer as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour.

RNLI Yarmouth, Isle of Wight lifeboats West Wight, covers the western Solent with the largest class of lifeboat, a Severn and there has been a lifeboat station here since 1924.

The RNLI constructs up to 60% of the lifeboats it needs in its own purpose-built manufacturing facility, the Inshore Lifeboat Centre (ILC) in East Cowes.

Fifty lifeboats are now constructed at the centre each year, while up to 200 are serviced and refurbished.

There are also three independent lifeboat stations on the Island: Ryde Inshore Rescue at Appley, Sandown and Shanklin Inshore Rescue between Sandown and Shanklin and Freshwater Inshore Rescue on Freshwater Bay.

Blackgang Chine is one of the oldest theme parks in the country, if not the world. Ever since the original owner, Alexander Dabell, dragged a beached whale from the Needles to his newly opened Chine gardens in 1843, for everyone to see the enormous beast’s bleached bones, there have been people flocking to see the attractions on offer.

Nowadays there is so much more to see and do, with bits being added practically every year. Newer attractions such as the roller coaster ‘Cliff Hanger’ and the ‘Waterforce’ shutes are the most thrilling and adrenalin pumping activities that are on a par with larger amusement parks and a great hit with kids of all ages.

But it’s the oldies but goodies that everyone loves. The maze with its lofty viewing platform from which relatives and friends shout directions. The lifesize dinosaurs on the steep cliff walk who’ve had a new paint job this year – the blue Brontosaurus is an interesting colour combo. Those of a certain age remember Blue Peter covering their arrival back in the sixties.

The Crooked House has been moved a few times, because of subsequent cliff falls, since it was first installed in 1968, but Blackgang wouldn’t be Blackgang without it. Frontier Town must be the only place where you can buy a gun and shoot people – albeit with caps and while you’re pretending to be a cowboy/girl. It’s all so refreshingly non PC.

Walk a little further on and you find the brand new Fairy Castle and Fairyland, which, as everyone has just bought guns, is somewhat incongruously being defended from the battlements by hoards of tiny gunslingers. Little girls love the little fruity fairy homes below too.

Need more exercise? Then there is the giant Snakes and Ladders game next door with loads of steps to climb and slides to take you much faster back down to the bottom.

Want to be scared? Make sure you visit Rumpus Mansion with its eerie inhabitants. Or pay a visit to the dinosaur’s dinner with more monsters to terrify tiny tots.

The enormous fibreglass whale that you enter at your peril, being squirted with water for your troubles, is always full of children screaming with laughter. And Hell’s Mouth is another garish cavern for those who dare to crawl into it.  What’s not to like about being curious and scared in equal measure? You wouldn’t experience this on a computer screen.

But there is a large screen where you can taste The Wight Experience, a helicopter ride around the Island, and some parts are pretty exhilarating – especially as you climb the cliffs at Luccombe or race along the coastline, with the whirring of the helicopter in your ears.

The park also goes to some length to educate the visitor on the history of the surrounding area, the landslides and what might have been nearby in days of yore. A reconstruction of a Victorian sawmill, with the various trades associated with wood. Old steam traction engines and other ancient machinery that would have been used in the fields and local industry long ago.

Blackgang got its name from the local band of brigands who used to plunder the shipwrecks around this coast, so there is a smugglers cave to explore. But pirates have got in on the act too and a new pirate themed area opens next year. The lofty pirate themed Cross Bones Adventure Island playground that spans the walkways near the way out is very popular – how can those kids still have any energy?

And don’t forget the hall of distorting mirrors – another of the original attractions from the mid 1800s that everyone still loves.

It’s a really good castle, with ramparts to walk, a keep to climb, donkeys to ooh and aahh over and a grisly history to hear.

It’s had a new visitor centre and shop added recently and it’s through here that you walk to enter the castle and then on through and under the iconic turreted gatehouse and into the courtyard.

Just on your right as you enter the courtyard is the former shop that is now a video room showing a film about the castle, narrated by a cartoon donkey with Phill Jupitus’s voice – he was born on the Island as it happens. The film is humorous and mainly aimed at children but it does give a potted history of the castle in an accessible fashion.

It also introduces the donkeys who walk the enormous wooden wheel in the well house to pull the water from the 50m well. Actually they don’t pull it that far any more as nobody uses the water, but they do a short stint so you get the general idea and they are very cute. You can go and meet them in the stables nearby too.

Then you can wander the castle at your leisure and a walk around the top of walls is something you must take if you are able. You’ll have the most amazing view of the surrounding countryside, Newport and Carisbrooke village and the Medina River wending its way to Cowes.

The weathered grey stones appear almost white with the lichens growing upon them and it’s a long way down when you look over the top, especially if you take the steep steps up to the keep where you can also walk around the rim – not for those afraid of heights!

The castle’s main claim to fame was that it became the prison of Charles I when he was on the run from Cromwell and the parliamentarians. He tried to escape a couple of times but the first time he got stuck in the window (apparently he was getting 20 course meals so this is hardly surprising) and the second time he was betrayed. You can see the window on the outer wall from which he tried to flee the last time.

He was eventually taken from the castle to London for his beheading leaving behind his 14 year old daughter Elizabeth who caught pneumonia playing on the parade ground in the rain and died a year later. Her story is told in the museum, where the room in which she died is situated, and you can also see the room that Charles I was imprisoned and from which made his first botched escape.

The museum also has weapons, interactive games and a model of the castle on the ground floor giving an idea of what warfare within a castle was all about. Upstairs there is more history of the Isle of Wight with artefacts to see such as the ornate carved wooden organ that was given to Princess Beatrice who was Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter.  After her mother’s death she came to live at the castle and also became governor of the Isle of Wight.

The newest addition to the castle is the pretty walled garden that was designed by celebrity gardener Chris Beardshaw and opened in 2009, behind the little church that was rebuilt by Princess Beatrice. Based on her crest and her favourite colours the garden is just beginning to look established and you get an especially good view of it from the top of the walls. Take a hamper with you and you could sit in the garden on one of the many benches for a picnic lunch.

Or you might like to visit the café/restaurant that hidden away behind the buildings near to the donkey stables. It’s well signposted though and you’ll definitely find it if you’re walking the ramparts as there are steps down from the top into the outdoor courtyard eating area.

Make sure you also pay a quick visit to the gatehouse on your way in or out, especially if you have kids as there are guard’s uniforms and helmets to try on for photo opportunities and weapons to see. In fact there are loads of cannons dotted about the castle grounds and kids love climbing on them – if you make your way out to the large parade ground to the south eastern side of the castle there are larger ones at the corners of the field.

The spring emerges as a waterfall at the head of Shanklin Chine and this is where Shanklin Old Village is nestled, a collection of ancient thatched houses and cottages that are now tea gardens, pubs and gift shops.

The Chine is very lush and green with a pretty walkway down to the beach below, a small museum and during the season it is illuminated after dusk when it is especially magical.

All around the Old Village are walkways through tree lined lanes and parkland – Rylstone Gardens on the cliff to the southern side of the Chine is a particular find with its flower-filled tea gardens and panoramic views from the cliff top. At the bottom of the Chine sits the Fisherman’s Cottage, a pub dating from 1817 that once offered hot brine baths to visitors.

Shanklin Old Village was the original village from which Shanklin grew and it has a particular charm with perhaps the largest number of thatched dwellings in one area on the Island. Walk up the hill towards the newer town and you will encounter Keats Cottage where Keats came to stay in 1819.

It was thought that the spring had health giving properties and it is likely that Keats visited the village for that reason. Keats found inspiration for some of his greatest poetry while staying at Shanklin in 1819 and wrote: “The wondrous Chine here is a very great Lion; I wish I had as many guineas as there have been spy-glasses in it.”

At the very top of the hill sits Shanklin Theatre, which is the only traditional theatre that is currently in use on the Island and has a full bill during the season, including good local am dram productions. From here the High Street continues down the hill into Shanklin town and the main shopping centre that is in Regent Street, which runs at a right angle to the High Street all the way down to the train station.

The rail link from Ryde Pierhead opened in 1864 and still runs to this day, utilizing old London Underground trains. This line also sees many commuting workers on a daily basis with a direct linked journey through to London Waterloo taking just over two and a half hours on a good day.

In 1890 Shanklin was in its heyday as a beach resort and a pier was built for visitors to the town, followed by a lift from the top of the cliff to the beach that was finished in 1892. The pier is long gone – finally finished off by the storm in 1987 – but the lift is still in operation during the summer months.

Shanklin seafront boasts many good pubs, restaurants and a large traditional holiday arcade, with adventure themed crazy golf, kids indoor play area, bowling and coin slot machines. But you will be spoiled for choice if you’re looking to stay in Shanklin as hotels and guest houses abound around the town centre, there are several hotels on the cliff top and a few hotels and guesthouses on the seafront. The Old Village boasts two hotels and nearby Luccombe has a handful of good ones too.

In the North

Kendalls Gallery in Cowes was opened by former newsreader Kenneth Kendall and is now in a large airy space on the parade in Cowes. The Gallery represents over 80 contemporary artists and holds a new show of around 100 new paintings every four to five weeks.  The purpose designed 1500 sq ft gallery shows some very large pieces and many have a sailing or maritime feel – especially during Cowes Week.

Also in Cowes is the quirky pale blue Pelham House Gallery and café known as PHG. Full of great art PHG is passionate about promoting handcrafted work of high quality from artists, designers and small artisan businesses, most of whom are based in the UK. There is a vintage, coastal theme to the gallery that sells the work of upwards of sixty artists with textiles nestling happily alongside ceramics, paintings, prints, jewellery and sculpture.

In the East

Island Fine Arts in Bembridge has some very exclusive and collectable works of art at its High Street location and specialises in art of the 20^th and 21^st century. Founded in 1997, there are four rooms in this gallery and work from several artists is often featured, although there are usually rotating exhibitions by featured artists monthly.

Quarr Abbey has an exhibition space that is hired by Island artists throughout the year, and it is opposite the library in the gatehouse to the left of the main abbey. There is also a tearoom here in the pretty walled garden.

Seaview Art Gallery is a small family run gallery towards the top of Seaview High Street and it specialises in maritime art produced by local artists.

In the West

Yarmouth Gallery, run by artist Anne Toms and her son, is another good space to find work by Island artists although there are works by those from further afield. There’s a definite coastal feeling to a lot of the art, especially Anne’s depictions of the chalk cliffs and nearby scenery. The gallery is off of the main square, up the quaint narrow High Street and has paintings, ceramics, sculptures and jewellery along with a good card selection.

Dimbola is both a museum to pioneer photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and an exhibition space for contemporary photographers. Along with the permanent collection of JMC photographs and an exhibition telling her story and that of the building, the museum has a 1970 Pop Festival installation and a statue of Jimi Hendrix to commemorate his visit to the festival. The Victorian themed tearoom has a small garden and views down to Freshwater Bay.

In the Middle

Quay Arts in Newport is our largest gallery and venue space with the Michael West Gallery hosting a major exhibition, sometimes by an Island artist but often from those who are nationally and internationally renowned. The Rope Store here provides a smaller more intimate exhibition space and the Café Walls show a selection of art, usually by Island artists. The Quay Shop is also a good source of more arty items, especially ceramics, jewellery and quirky decorative pieces. The Anthony Minghella Theatre is a great place to catch bands, plays and other performances and the café hosts a monthly comedy night and regular acoustic evenings. A balcony opens out from the café, overlooking the river, and it makes an ideal spot for art lovers to take lunch or a snack after taking in the galleries.

And all Around

And if you don’t find what you want at any of the galleries above, then keep your eyes peeled at Island events and village halls where local artists may be exhibiting, and make sure you don’t miss the hugely popular Open Studios that runs over two weekends in July, where artists open their homes or studios to the public to visit and view their work.

In its honey coloured Italianate splendour, Osborne House looks out across terraced gardens and down through a tree edged shallow valley to its own private beach below. Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, likened the view to that of the Bay of Naples when he decided to build this summer residence at East Cowes for his family and it was here that he taught all of their children to swim. Visitors to Osborne House can now for the first time in years walk on this private beach and image the fun this close, loving family would have had here growing up.

Albert loved designing things and had a floating ‘swimming pool’ made that was moored off shore for the royal princes and princesses to learn to swim in safety. A model of it can be seen in the first room you enter in the house, which has informative hanging banners and exhibits telling the story of Osborne from Albert’s building project to the present day.

From their home high above the beach their nine children must have looked out of their nurseries on the second floor each day to see if the weather was suitable for bathing. It is here that you can see their playroom, dining room and bedrooms along with marble models of their hands and feet.

Below on the first floor are Victoria and Albert’s bedrooms, bathrooms, dressing rooms, studies and private sitting room looking as if the couple have just walked out. Queen Victoria kept Albert’s rooms as they were when he died in 1861 and used to lay out his clothes every day. These rooms were all sealed off after her death in 1901 and not opened again until 1954 – you can see the enormous black and gold gates that shut their memories away for over fifty years.

Albert had an illuminating fresco painted in his private bathroom of Hercules being enslaved to Omphale that may shed light on how he felt as the queen’s consort! Another enormous fresco fills the wall of the stairwell featuring Neptune surrendering the sea to Britannia, painted by William Dice in 1847, which is really quite something to behold.

Paintings, statues and ornaments fill the rooms of Osborne House and drip from the walls that boast stunning gold leaf embellishment to their ornate plasterwork ceilings. The best of these are on the ground floor where visitors would have been entertained such as the Council Room where Victoria received members of the Privy Council and the smaller Audience Room with its astounding chandelier of glass arum lilies.

Downstairs in the basement the kitchens are long gone but you can see the Table Deckers’ Room and the Servery from whence the food would be taken to the diners upstairs, including the place setting guides and copies of the original plates Victoria used after Albert’s death. The guide here will tell you that Queen Victoria was a very fast eater and once she had finished each course everyone else had to stop eating too!

Upstairs again and the plush pink and red dining room looks down on that fab view of the beach and looking down on you is a host of enormous family portraits. You then walk through to the sumptuous drawing room with its glowing yellow upholstery and more works of art including marble statues and amazing gifts from her subjects such as tables inlaid with intricate mosaics. This L Shaped room also houses the enormous marble billiard table and the family’s grand piano. Don’t miss the Horn Room just near here too – a really quirky room that you can only look in on where most of the furniture and fittings are made from deer antlers.

You are ‘guided’ through the house and the last port of call is the newer wing housing the Durbar Room that was added as a banqueting hall in 1890/91. A long corridor full of portraits of her Indian ‘subjects’ takes you to this ornately embellished Indian-themed hall that has a deeply coffered ceiling made of intricately moulded plaster. With a white peacock above the fireplace and symbols of India such as Ganesh, the elephant god of good fortune it’s a bit like being inside a giant inside out wedding cake.

Laid out before you as you exit the house are the Italian style terrace gardens with their traditional planting, statues and pathways and that lovely view of the sea again. Behind the house is the walled garden, which you shouldn’t miss as it is quite astounding, especially in the summer time.

Albert also had a Swiss Cottage built in the grounds for the children where they could learn housekeeping, cooking and gardening. Each would have had a plot of the garden and these are still cultivated with fruit and vegetables and the children would have learned about the world from the amazing museum full of natural history exhibits next to the cottage. This is another 15 minute walk from the main house but there is a courtesy bus.

If you want to know anything about the house you can ask one of the very helpful guides: they are very knowledgeable and if one person hasn’t got the answer they will find someone who does. In the gardens you can ask one of the gardeners if you want information too – they are all very approachable and a mine of information. There are also various guides on sale in the admission centre and tours of the house are available in high season.

You can take lunch in the waiter-service gourmet Terrace Restaurant overlooking the gardens and the the sea or there are self service cafes in the entrance hall and on the ground floor of the Swiss Cottage, which both have outdoor seating areas.

Founded by the Adams family in 1971 as ‘The Flamingo Park’ this popular attraction was joined by General Manager, Jules Brittan, in 2009 who with Lorraine Adams has rebranded and renamed the attraction, bringing many more people through the gates to enjoy the experience. Meerkats, wallabies, Humboldt penguins, miniature pigs, otters, bunnies, guinea pigs and loads of different types of birds, including pelicans, are just some of the animals in the park. And in the new Tropical House all manner of reptiles, tropical fish and mini beasties can be seen – and many can be touched.

Getting up close and personal with the animals at Seaview Wildlife Encounter is the best part about the whole experience and it’s well worth signing up for one of the Wildlife Encounters before you come on your visit. Choose from a Wildest Date, for that special someone in your life, a Junior Wildlife Experience for your kids, a Meerkat Encounter, a Penguin Encounter or a combination of these. You might like to be a ‘Keeper for a Day’ if you’re mad about animals and hands-on birthday party encounters can also be arranged.

You do get a very intimate introduction to the wildfowl as soon as you walk in the gate as they are wandering all over the park without a care in the world. Don’t forget to buy corn to feed the birds and if you get there first thing in the morning they will mob you as soon as you enter and start to scatter the food. Every type of duck, goose and wildfowl seem to be meandering about, along with groups of guinea fowl, and the central part of the park is given over to the Barnacle Geese that return here every year to breed. At first there were only a pair that came and now over 200 arrive in the spring and leave in early autumn.

There are flamingos for which the park was originally named and they breed very successfully here too. The Chilean flamingos had several grey fluffy chicks when we visited. The park has also successfully hand reared 16 baby Humboldt penguins this year and these have moved up to Longleat to begin a colony there.

Up at the penguin enclosure it is Dippy the penguin who is the star of the show. Hand raised and ‘imprinted’ by this experience to think that he’s a human, Dippy has his own facebook page and fans all over the world. Twice a day the penguin feeding show is a big crowd puller and if you’re having a ‘wild encounter’ you get to go into the pen, feed them by hand and pet the tamer birds whilst loads of photos are taken of your experience for you to take home.

You mustn’t feed the wallabies but these cute little marsupials, looking just like mini kangaroos, will often encircle you as you enter their open compound. Many of them have babies in their pouches and quite a few of them are pure white. Beware if you are pushing a pram with bags containing food hanging from them as their little fingers are adept at getting into places where they shouldn’t.

Alfie and Willis, the miniature black pigs, are real little characters. Jules gets into their pen to tickle them behind their ears and they make the most amazing noises. For the Meerkat Encounter Jules or one of the other keepers will take you into their enclosure and you sit very still with a bowl of special treats on your lap (mealworms mixed with sand for them to rifle through as they would in the wild). A young lad was having a combo encounter on the day we visited and the cute little Meerkats were scampering up and down his legs and under his arms to get at the bowl and he was beaming from ear to ear.

A quick look at the visitors’ book in the shop/cafe, where you can buy loads of wildlife themed goodies and good food to eat indoors or out, will tell you all you need to know about the encounters and experiences visitors have at the attraction. Everyone loves it and so will you.

Not only this but it contains the excellent Anthony Minghella Theatre that hosts great plays, live music, cinema nights and ‘evenings with’, and the restaurant doubles as a venue for the Open Mic Comedy nights once a month and is a gallery space too with local art featured on the walls.

The dedicated art galleries feature fantastic exhibitions from local, national and international artists and musicians, and performers of every kind and from all corners of the globe pass through. This is the Island’s cultural hub and its only major art centre and gallery so make sure you don’t miss it.

Currently in the large Michael West Gallery is major solo exhibition of work by Island-based artist Lisa Traxler: large vitreous enamel and paper sculptures. Lisa is best known for her now collectable large canvas abstract paintings. Over the years her prolific volume of work has grown to include stitched collages incorporating photography and archival works and until more recently, wall murals and sculptures of vitreous enamel on steel.

Across the landing and you are in the Learning Curve Gallery that usually features work by local youngsters giving a response to the major exhibition and often in conjunction with the artist. Currenly, however, it has an exhibition of monoprints with supporting sketches and paintings by Deborah Richards of areas including Luccombe, St Catherine’s lighthouse and nearby Rocken End, Gurnard and Cowes. 

The ground floor is mainly taken up by the restaurant that sits in the old red brick warehouse with its attractive windows. The walls of the cafe serve as another exhibition space and currently host ‘Takeaways’: a selection of affordable work by local and regional artists that can be bought and taken away on the same day.

The food is fab, affordable and features a lot of veggie options with gluten free meals and cakes too. There is also a conference/function room off of the restaurant that can be hired, and it is often used by local businesses for meetings. It also houses further art and craft exhibitions at certain times throughout the year.

Walk out from the restaurant café and across the terrace and you are in the Rope Store gallery that tends to be a showcase for more local artists, although it also features work from ‘overseas’. The current exhibition is a retrospective on Peter Wright, one of the Island’s best known artists. With a painting career spanning over 60 years and coinciding with his 80th Birthday, this exhibition celebrates the breadth of his work over the last 12 years.

At this point don’t forget to stop and look over the pretty geranium filled flower boxes to the river below where you are likely to see hosts of swans and ducks, particularly at high tide. On sunny days you can dine on this terrace and it must be one of the prettiest and warmest sun traps in Newport, with large parasols to shade from the rays.

A sunburst of porcelain adorns a wall in this area – a legacy from previous ‘artist in residence’ Sue Paraskeva. Further round the building you will see ironwork birds and ceramic dolphins – all adding to the artistic atmosphere. And if you want to make a sound investment much of the work in the galleries are for sale.

Smaller items are on sale in the Quay shop, which is the very best place to buy a tasteful gift for family, friends or just yourself as you are bound to fall in love with something in here – beautiful pots and mugs, prints, mirrors, stained glass, driftwood items and gorgeous jewellery feature amongst the cornucopia of arty items in this emporium. You’ll find it hard to walk through without buying a little something – and you usually have to walk into the building through the shop, which has its main entrance in the picturesque Sea Street that houses some of the oldest buildings in the town.

There’s loads of parking nearby in one of two car parks or nearby Quay Street. Make sure you have some spare change for a parking ticket. Disabled access is very good, with wide doorways and a lift to the first floor.

It is indeed ‘Oil of Wight’, as it is made from the seeds from the eye-catching yellow rape flowers that bloom around the Island in early summer. Caroline Knox, nee Smith, is in charge of production on the family farm, and the oil is sold at most of the farm shops and butchers on the Island, the Co-Ops, Godshill Cider, Island Wines in Ventnor, Norris’s in Niton, Sweet Chariots and Philips Fine Food. It is also available online from Made on the Isle of Wight, Godshill Cider and The Garlic Farm and is widely distributed by Medina Foods.

Caroline moved with her parents to the Isle of Wight in 1983 and the family began farming a wide range of vegetables. Originally, dairy farmers from the Clyde Valley in Scotland the Isle of Wight’s milder climate offered new opportunities to produce fresh produce including potatoes, cauliflowers, sweet corn and carrots. But gradually they focussed on crops that could be harvested by combine – currently wheat, peas and oil seed rape.

The family then decided to try and add value to their produce. “Oil from rape seed looked like the obvious choice, and we decided to make culinary oil,” said Caroline. A simple cold pressing technique is used and a lower yielding, but highly flavoursome oil, is gently extracted from the seeds. The residue for the pressing is utilised in a biomass boiler to heat the farmhouse reducing waste and Caroline’s energy costs.

“The oil has great health benefits,” said Caroline. “Ten times as much Omega 3 and half the fat of olive oil and it has a high smoke point, which means that it can reach a high temperature before smoking. This means it’s great for baking, roasts and stir fries.” Caroline suggests that you take a bottle to a dinner party, instead of a bottle of wine.

Oil of Wight is also great for making into dressings and Nula Grandcourt of Wild Island dressings was busy making these when we visited the farm. They include: Isle of Wight salad dressing with honey and thyme, Isle of Wight Chilli oil made with chillis from Godshill’s Chilli Farm, Isle of Wight raspberry dressing with honey, mustard and sea salt, Isle of Wight dipping oil with basil and Isle of Wight marinade with garlic, rosemary and sea salt. Nula also produces lovely vinegars: Isle of Wight raspberry cider vinegar, Isle of Wight chilli cherry drizzle and a yummy Isle of Wight balsamic vinegar with raspberry.

Still keen to utilize all of the residues from their food production on the farm, the family wondered about the energy value in the wheat straw. Dry straw has a very high energy value and that’s how they ended up making their Fuel Britannia Straw Logs. The straw logs are made from chopped and compressed straw which is the by-product of the wheat, pea and oil seed rape crops that the family grow for food. The lignin in the cell walls melts under the heat generated by the force of compression and then binds the logs together on cooling.

Each full size log is 27cm long with a diameter of 7cm and weighs approximately 1kg. These are sold in packs of 5 logs. If you have an open fire or log burner to feed these are a great hot and consistent alternative to logs.

It’s great to see a company that are utilizing all of their produce and waste to make energy – whether to feed us or to fuel our homes. A bottle of Oil of Wight makes a great present to take home for friends and family from a holiday on the Island – a little bit of bottled Isle of Wight sunshine you might say