IOW Part 1....

 I was away last week on another little jaunt to the Isle of Wight.   The Isle of Wight is the largest island of England, (approx 23 x 15 miles) located in the English Channel off the coast of Hampshire, separated from Great Britain (referred to by its inhabitants as "the mainland") by a strait called the Solent.  It has the distinction of being England's smallest county - but for only half of the time.  It has been calculated that during high tide Wight's area is slightly less than that of Rutland (England's smallest county), but not during low tide.   The island has many resorts which have been holiday destinations since Victorian times.  It's rich history includes a brief status as an independent kingdom in the 15th century.

Home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria, who built her much-loved summer residence and final home, Osborne House, at East Cowes, the island has a maritime and industrial tradition such as boat building, sail making, the manufature of flying boats, the worlds first hovercraft and the testing and development of Britain's space rockets.  The Isle hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight International Jazz Festival, Bestival and the recently revived Isle of Wight Festival, which, in 1970, was the largest rock music event ever held.   The island has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe.


The Isle of Wight was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became an independent adminstrative county.  Until 1974 it continued to share the Lord Leiutenant of Hampshire when it was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan ceremonial county which gives its own Lord Leiutenant and recognised as a postal county.

We were picked up from home at 7a.m. to meet our coach at a nearby motorway services, with a comfort stop at Sandbach in Cheshire, where we picked up more passengers, before heading towards Banbury for lunch.

 Banbury Cross was designed by John Gibbs and built in 1859.  At one time Banbury had many crosses but these were destroyed by Puritans in 1600.  Banbury remained without a cross for more than 250 years until the current Banbury Cross was erected in 1859 at the centre of the town to commemorate the marriage of Victoria, Princess royal (eldest child of Queen Victoria to Prince Frederick of Prussia.  The current Banbury Cross is a stone, spire-shaped monument decorated in Gothic form. Statues of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V were added in 1914 to commemorate the coronation of George V.  The cross is 52' 6" high and topped with a gilt cross.

 The English nursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross"

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes

may refer to one of the crosses destroyed by Puritans.  In April 2005, The Princess Royal unveiled a large bronze statue depicting the Fine Lady upon a White Horse of the nursery rhyme.

 There are lots of beautiful buildings in Banbury, including The Parish Church of St. Mary The Virgin. With 13th Century origins the Church stands as part of the Broughton Castle estate, home to the Fiennes family. Features include a 13th Century Norman font, 14th Century rood screen and 15th Century gateway tower.

The Church House, originally the main hall for St Paul's Church which is just across the road, the Church House was later transformed into a theatre, but future plans for the theatre were shelved and it stood empty for a number of years until about 1997 when it was fully renovated and turned into a pub / brassiere.

 and Whately Hall, a 17th Century Coaching house now a hotel,  to name a few.

We would have liked more time in Banbury to explore, but only had 90 minutes to get some lunch and have a quick look round before boarding the coach again to get to Portsmouth, to catch the 4.30 p.m. ferry across the Solent to Fishbourne, IOW, and then continue our journey to the south coast of IOW to our hotel in Sandown.

If you ever find yourself  in the IOW I can thoroughly recommend The Ocean Hotel,  family run since 1958 it offers 96 bedrooms and is conveniently situated between the High Street and the Esplanade overlooking Sandown Bay, with its six mile stretch of glorious well groomed sand.    The hotel boasts a huge lounge with real fires.

A beautiful dining room overlooking the well kept gardens.

We arrived with just enough time to find our sea view room

freshen up and go down to dinner.   The breakfast and dinner menus were vast and we were spoilt for choice at meal times and the food was delicious!  After dinner we repaired to the lounge to enjoy a couple of drinks and that evening's entertainment, a guitar playing singer.

Join me next time for our day trip to see The Needles and Yarmouth.