West wight

The area known as West Wight is somewhat quieter than the rest of the Island, and has many areas of outstanding natural beauty - rolling countryside, peaceful forests, and picturesque villages with breathtaking views of rugged white cliffs at Freshwater Bay, multicoloured cliffs of Alum Bay, and of course the famous Needles rocks.

Yarmouth

Pier © Steve Gascoigne
www.availablelightphotography.co.uk

The port town of Yarmouth, with Its ferry link to Lymington, is packed with maritime history. Around the time of the Norman conquest the port was among the busiest on the Island, and was the first town on the Isle of Wight to be granted a royal charter in 1135. Yarmouth became a borough in 1440, and remained a fairly busy port.

Over the centuries it has been sacked by the French twice, in 1377 and 1524, leading to Henry VIII's building of Yarmouth Castle in 1547.

The Town Hall rebuilt in 1764 stands in the square which was used as a meat market until 1888. St James Church, (c16l4), contains a fine white marble statue of Sir Robert Holmes, Governor of the Island in the later part of the 17th century. On July 19th 1876 Yarmouth Pier (pictured) was opened, at a length of 685 feet.

Totland

The Broadway, Totland's shopping quarter, is lined with individually owned and specialist shops, cafes and tearooms.

A short Esplanade runs along the bay near the privately owned Pier. The shingle beach at Totland changes to fine sand once in the water. Nearby is Alum Bay, renowned for its coloured sands and pleasure park with its chairlift running down to the beach below.

Christchurch stands on the hill inland and is a fine example of Victorian Gothic. Its massive lych gate is carved from timbers of HMS Thunderer which fought at Trafalgar in 1805.

Freshwater

With its long, busy shopping street, Freshwater has the air of a town but in fact it holds the status of a village. Its facilities include an 18 hole golf course and an indoor swimming pool.

Farringford House was once the home of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Garibaldi, Lewis Carroll, Charles Darwin, Henry Longfellow and the Prince Consort were amongst his eminent visitors. Farringford, now a hotel, still retains a list of Tennyson's guests available for public viewing.

Julia Margaret Cameron, the Victorian photographer lived at Dimbola overlooking Freshwater Bay. St Agnes, the only thatched church on the Isle of Wight, was built in 1908 and is situated between Farringford and Freshwater Bay.

The Bay offers splendid cliff walks across unspoiled downland along the Tennyson Trail to Tennyson Cross and the Needles beyond, with breathtaking views of the Channel and the Solent.