| Page Views: 636 Last Visit to Isle of Wight: July, 2006 | Nostalgia trip by Spincat - last update: Jan 24, 2009 |
| The chine - view from the King Harry, Shanklin |
My mother-in-law is not really the sort of mother-in-law you take to the Isle of Wight. She travelled all round the world with her late husband, and just about any country you mention... she's been there.
She and I both remembered the same thing about childhood trips to the island: watching the wheels of the old paddle steamer on our trip out. I hadn't been back to the island since I was five or six, and this trip was more than just a long weekend for me.
My grandmother was born on the island; she nursed a wounded South African soldier there during the First World War and they married in the pretty church of St Blasius on Shanklin Green. She then moved to South Africa with him - one moment the green and gentle island, the next a tented horse-trading encampment in the scrubby veldt.
I have a collection of writings my mother left in which she describes coming to the UK to study. She met my father at Oxford and they too married in the same little church. When my father drove my grandmother from Wales to Shanklin for the wedding, she insisted they fill up with petrol on the mainland! For those like my granny: yes, this is an island, but it has all the facilities - and problems - of the mainland, though the slower pace of life means people seem much friendlier than in London.
Is it a green and gentle island? Not exactly. We went at the height of (short-lived!) World Cup fever, with the flag of St George fluttering everywhere and people staggering out of pubs roaring.
In one way, the island has a very cosy, 'English' feel and I was reminded of the 'Just William' books (1930s schoolboys, cream teas, apple scrumping). Much of the the architecture has an English 'Arts and Crafts' feel to it. I suspect that the island has a much rougher side - Ventnor looked a little down at heel, and think some of the tourist attractions were struggling to make ends meet. It has a sweep of higher and wilder downs and crueller cliffs than its bucket and spade reputation suggests. This makes for a more interesting place - not all it seems, I think. |
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Spincat's Isle of Wight Travel Tips
 Comments for Spincat about Isle of Wight | | | | |
pchamlis Fri Jan 23, 2009 20:12 UTC
Very nice IOW page, Mrs Spincat. I saw you were featured member I didn't remember having visited your pages. I'll be back. :) Greetings from Florida. | Lunaina Mon May 5, 2008 07:03 UTC
Great tips on this beautiful island, I was there in 1998, but cannot remember that much... | diosh Mon Oct 15, 2007 06:49 UTC
He he,I got my sons those sand filled lighthouses when they were little, when we had a lovely holiday there, at Colwell Bay. We still have them!Diana | penumbra Tue Jan 30, 2007 02:59 UTC
I think I’d enjoy a “stick of rock”. You can’t go too far wrong with sugar and mint. |
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Isle of Wight Hotels
- Shanklin Hotels
- The Grange
9 Eastcliff Road, Shanklin
- The Swiss Cottage Hotel
10 St Georges Road, Shanklin
- Clifton Hotel
1 Queens Road, ., Shanklin, PO37 6AN, gb, Shanklin
- Celebration Hotel
6 Avenue Road, Shanklin, Hampshire PO37, Shanklin
- The Avenue
6 Avenue Road, Shanklin, PO37 7BG, uk, Shanklin
- Sandown Hotels
- Ventnor Hotels
- The Hermitage Country House Hotel
St Catherines Down Whitwell, Ventnor
- Royal Hotel
Belgrave Road, Ventnor
- Windsor Carlton Hotel
5 Alexandra Gardens, Ventnor
- Eversley Hotel
Park Avenue, , Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO38 1LB, Ventnor
- Windsor Carlton Hotel (4, Alexandra Gardens )
4, Alexandra Gardens, Ventnor
- Cowes Hotels
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