Introduction
R and I took a week’s holiday in the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England. There are normal ferries but you can also get there from Portsmouth by hovercraft; not the only reason to go, but certainly an important factor.
Saturday: Ventnor
We stayed in a small town called Ventnor on the south coast of the island. The best reason to go there may well be the amazing Crave Ice Cream shop, which sells home-made ice cream with different flavours every day. But it is also quite a nice seaside town in other regards.
Sunday: Ventnor and St Boniface Down
In the morning we looked around Ventnor some more.
In the afternoon we took a walk up the hill behind the town to St Boniface Down, which includes the tallest point on the island at 240 metres above sea level. (I’m not sure I told R that part beforehand.)
There was a steep climb up a hillside path from the station area (more about that later) to the level of the downs.
The downs once hosted a military radar station, which has now been sold for civilian use (I think it’s a radio station for emergency services). There are still brick pillbox structures dotted around the landscape.
Our circular walk then descended on the opposite side of the old railway station. The railway line has been closed, but it used to run through a tunnel which emerges in a gash between two hills. The station area is now an industrial estate.
Monday: Shanklin Chine
On Monday, R suggested a trip to Shanklin Chine, which claims to be the island’s oldest tourist attraction. On the island, a ‘chine’ is basically a steep-sided valley where a stream runs down to the sea. This one is quite pretty and the Victorians had the idea of charging entry to it.
After leaving the chine, we followed the coastal path back to Ventnor.
The path ran through The Landslip: an area where the cliffs repeatedly collapsed in the past. It’s got quite impressive trees. While R took a breather, I detoured to see the Devil’s Chimney - a very narrow path that takes you up 225 steps to the current clifftop level. Then I came back down the 225 steps again. Of the two of us, arguably I have slightly more tolerance for that type of detour.
After that little excitement, we continued along the coast to Ventnor.
We had a quick look inside a small church.
The path into Ventnor ran along the sea defences at the base of the cliffs.
That’s all for now - I split this into two parts. The next part contains among other things some pointy rocks, a rocket launching ground, a castle, and a pair of lighthouses.