Isle of Wight

For other uses, see Isle of Wight (disambiguation).

Isle of Wight
Ceremonial county
Motto:  All this beauty is of God
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Ceremonial county
Area
• Rank	of 48
• Rank	of 48
Density
Ethnicity	98.7% White

The Isle of Wight is an English island and county in the English Channel five miles from the South Coast of Britain. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent. Popular since Victorian times as a holiday resort, the Isle of Wight is known for its natural beauty and for its world-famous sailing based in Cowes.

The Island possesses a rich history including its own brief status as a vassal kingdom in the fifteenth century. It was home to the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Queen Victoria had her much loved summer residence and final home Osborne House built in East Cowes. Its maritime history encompasses boat building and sail making through to the manufacture of flying boats and the world's first hovercraft. Its space history includes the testing and development of the Black Arrow and Black Knight space rockets, launched from Woomera, Australia. It is home to the Bestival and the recently revived Isle of Wight Festival, which, in 1970, was one of the largest rock music events ever held. The island is also one of the richest fossil locations for dinosaurs in Europe.

In 686 AD, it became the last part of the British Isles to convert to Christianity, a century after the rest of Great Britain had done so.

The island has at various points in history been considered a part of Hampshire, however it became an independent administrative county (although still sharing the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire) in 1890. In 1974 it was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county with its own Lord Lieutenant and the name was adopted as a postal county. The island is the smallest ceremonial county in England (not including the predominantly urban counties of Bristol and the City of London) at 380 km² (147 sq mi), slightly smaller than Rutland at 382 km² (148 sq mi). With a single Member of Parliament and 132,731 permanent residents according to the 2001 census, it is also the most populated Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of the Isle of Wight

The pre-Roman name for the island now known as the Isle of Wight was possibly Ynys Gywth meaning channel island. A name given to them by the early celtic speaking inhabitants of the island. These people may have been displaced around 50BC by Belgic refugees from Gaul fleeing the expanding Roman Empire. Later Roman documents describe the island as within the bounds of a Belgae tribe who were probably related to the Belgic people of northern Gaul.

The Isle of Wight was conquered by the Legio II Augusta (under the command of Vespasian) of the Roman Empire in c.44AD during the secondary phase of the Roman conquest of Britain.

The Isle of Wight is first mentioned in writing in Geography by Claudius Ptolemaeus written in the mid 2nd Century AD stating in the final entry of chapter II ;

...below Magnus Portus is the island Vectis...

At the end of the Roman Empire the island of Vectis became extremely vulnerable to the raids of barbarian pirates. In the year 534AD the Jutish buccaneer Wihtgar invaded and conquered the island, probably putting the Romano-British inhabitants who had bravely remained on the island to the sword. The island and the adjacent shore of southern Hampshire became a Jutish kingdom ruled by him and his successors until the year 685AD when it was invaded by Caedwalla of Wessex. The West Saxon invasion was by all accounts prolonged and bloody. It is reported in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle that during Caedwalla's attempts to subdue the population he was gravely wounded - wounds from which he would die within a couple of years. Before final subjugation most of the Jutish population of the island were slaughtered and the remnant forced to accept Christianity as their religion and the West Saxon dialect as their language.

From 685 therefore the island can be considered to have became part of Wessex and following the accession of West Saxon kings as kings of all England then part of England. The island became part of the shire of Hampshire and was divided into hundreds as was the norm.

Memorial to Charles I at Carisbrooke Castle

The Norman Conquest created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were founded. The Island did not come under full control of the Crown until it was sold by the dying last Norman Lord, Lady Isabella de Fortibus, to Edward I in 1293. The Lordship thereafter became a Royal appointment, with a brief interruption when Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick was crowned King of the Isle of Wight, King Henry VI assisting in person at the ceremony, placing the crown on his head. He died in 1445, aged 22. With no male heir, his regal title expired with him.

Henry VIII, who developed the Royal Navy and its permanent base at Portsmouth, fortified the Island at Yarmouth, East & West Cowes and Sandown, sometimes re-using stone from dissolved monasteries as building material. Sir Richard Worsley, Captain of the Island at this time, successfully commanded the resistance to the last of the French attacks in 1545; the French attempts to conquer the Island being decisively stopped after the English victory in the Battle of Bonchurch. Much later on, after the Spanish Armada in 1588, the threat of Spanish attacks remained and the outer fortifications of Carisbrooke Castle were built between 1597 and 1602. During the English Civil War King Charles fled to the Isle of Wight, believing he would receive sympathy from the governor, Robert Hammond. Hammond was appalled, and incarcerated the king in Carisbrooke Castle.

Osborne House and its grounds are now open to the public

Queen Victoria made Osborne House on the Isle of Wight her summer home for many years and, as a result, it became a major holiday resort for members of European royalty, whose many houses could later claim descent from her, through the widely flung marriages of her offspring. During her reign, in 1897, the world's first radio station was set up by Marconi, at the Needles battery, at the western tip of the Island.

In 1904, a mysterious illness began to kill honeybee colonies on the Island and had nearly wiped out all hives by 1907, when the disease spread to the mainland and decimated beekeeping in the British Isles. Called the Isle of Wight Disease, the cause of the mystery ailment was not identified until 1921, when it was traced to the mite Acarapis woodi. The disease (now called Acarine Disease) frightened many other nations, because of the importance of bees in pollination of many food plants. Laws against importation of honeybees were passed, but this merely delayed the eventual spread of the parasite to the rest of the world.

The Isle of Wight Festival could describe several events, but usually the term refers to one very large rock festival that took place near Afton Down, West Wight in 1970, following two smaller concerts in 1968 and 1969. The 1970 show was notable both for being one of the last public performances by Jimi Hendrix and for the number of attendees reaching, by many estimates, 600,000 (despite only 50,000 tickets being sold), and overtaking the attendance at Woodstock in the previous year. The Festival was revived in 2002 and is now an annual event, with other, smaller musical events of many different genres across the Island becoming associated with it.

Physical geography and wildlife

Isle of Wight map.

Isle of Wight is approximately diamond in shape and covers an area of 380 sq km (147 sq mi). Slightly more than half of the Island, mainly in the west of the Island, is designated as the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Island has 258 sq km (99.6 sq mi) of farmland, 52 sq km (20 sq mi) of developed areas, and 92 km (57 mi) of coastline. The landscape of the Island is remarkably diverse, leading to its oft-quoted description of "England in Miniature". The West Wight is predominantly rural, with dramatic coastlines dominated by the famous chalk downland ridge, running across the whole Island and ending in The Needles stacks — perhaps the most photographed aspect of the Isle of Wight. The highest point on the Island is St Boniface Down, at 241 m (791 ft), which is also a Marilyn.

The famous view at The Needles and Alum Bay.

The rest of the Island landscape also has great diversity, with perhaps the most notable habitats being the soft cliffs and sea ledges, which are spectacular features as well as being very important for wildlife, and are internationally protected. The River Medina flows north into the Solent, whilst the other main river, the River Yar flows roughly north-east, emerging at Bembridge Harbour on the eastern end of the Island. Confusingly, there is another entirely separate river at the western end also called the River Yar flowing the short distance from Freshwater Bay to a relatively large estuary at Yarmouth. Where distinguishing the two becomes necessary, each may be referred to as the eastern or western Yar.

The south coast of the Island borders the English Channel. Without man's intervention the Island may well have been split into three with the sea breaking through 1) at the west end of the Island where a bank of pebbles separates Freshwater Bay from the marshy backwaters of the Western Yar east of Freshwater, and 2) at the east end of the Island where a thin strip of land separates Sandown Bay from the marshy basin of the Eastern Yar, east of Sandown. Yarmouth itself was effectively an island with water on all sides and only connected to the rest of the Island by a regularly breached neck of land immediately east of the town.

Island wildlife is remarkable, and it is one of the few places in England where the red squirrel is flourishing, with a stable population (Brownsea Island is another). Unlike most of England, no grey squirrels are to be found on the Island, nor are there any wild deer but, instead, rare and protected species, such as the dormouse and many rare bats, can be found. The Glanville Fritillary butterfly's distribution in the United Kingdom is largely restricted to the edges of the crumbling cliffs of the Isle of Wight.

A competition in 2002 named the Pyramidal Orchid as the Isle of Wight's county flower..

The Island is known as one of the most important areas in Europe for finding dinosaur fossils. The eroding cliffs also assist hidden remains to become more visible.

Climate

Being one of the most southerly points in the UK, the Isle of Wight has a warmer climate than other areas which results in high levels of tourism, particularly along the south of the island. It also has a longer growing season than other areas in the UK.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg High (°C)	8	8	10	13	16	19	22	21	19	15	11	9
Avg Min (°C)	1	1	2	3	7	9	11	11	9	7	3	2
Mean (°C)	4	4	6	8	11	14	16	16	14	11	7	5
Avg Precip (mm)	89	61	66	48	56	53	41	56	66	79	84	89

Geology

Blackgang Chine circa 1910

The Isle of Wight is made up from a wide variety of different rock types which date from Early Cretaceous times (around 127 million years ago) to the middle of the Palaeogene (around 30 million years ago). All the rocks found on the Island are sedimentary, made up of mineral grains from previously existing rocks. These are all consolidated to form the rocks that can be seen on the Island today, such as limestone, mudstone and sandstone. Rocks on the Island are very rich in fossils and many of these can be seen exposed on the beaches as the cliffs erode.

Cretaceous rocks, normally red, show that the climate was previously hot and dry. This provided suitable living conditions for dinosaurs. Dinosaur bones and footprints can be seen around the Island along beaches, especially at Yaverland and Compton Bay.

Along the northern coast of the Island there is a rich source of fossilised shellfish, crocodiles, turtles and mammal bones. The youngest of these dates back to around 30 million years ago.

The Island is mainly made up of Tertiary clays, in most of the northern parts of the Island, limestone, upper and lower greensands, wealden and chalk.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Isle of Wight

The Clipper Ship "Flying Cloud" off the Needles, Isle of Wight, by James E. Buttersworth, 1859-60.

The Isle of Wight is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. As it has no district councils (only the County Council), it is effectively a unitary county, although not officially. It is unique in England in this way — all other unitary areas are single districts with no county council, while the Isle of Wight is the other way round. It also has a single Member of Parliament, and is by far the most populous constituency in the United Kingdom (more than 50% above the average of English constituencies).

As a constituency of the House of Commons, it is traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The current MP, Andrew Turner is a Conservative, and his predecessor Dr Peter Brand was a Liberal Democrat.

The Isle of Wight Council election of 2005 was a landslide victory for the Conservative Party, displacing the long serving "Island First" group, a coalition of Liberal Democrats and independents.

There has been a minor regionalist movement, in the form of the Vectis National Party and Isle of Wight Party, but this has generally performed badly in elections.

Demographics

From the census taken in 2001, the island's population was at 132,731. This shows a change of 5.4% since the last census in 1991 which is a higher increase than the average for the UK at 2.6%. The mean age of people from the island is 43.19. This is higher than the national average of 38.65.

From the 2001 census data, the population on the Isle of Wight by age group is:

Age Group	United Kingdom	Isle of Wight UA
Total	58,789,194	132,719
0-4	3,486,469	6,437
5-9	3,738,160	7,604
10-14	3,880,609	8,459
15-19	3,663,899	7,417
20-24	3,546,151	5,564
25-29	3,867,115	6,155
30-34	4,493,585	8,084
35-39	4,625,810	8,746
40-44	4,151,580	8,448
45-49	3,735,964	8,399
50-54	4,040,437	10,133
55-59	3,338,861	9,619
60-64	2,879,948	7,951
65-69	2,596,843	7,441
70-74	2,339,231	7,085
75-79	1,966,929	6,445
80-84	1,313,547	4,524
85-89	752,787	2,750
90+	371,269	1,458

The lack of a university on the island causes many younger people to leave for higher education. The Isle of Wight is also considered an attractive place for many people to retire, due to the perception that it is more peaceful than the rest of the UK. This results in a higher proportion of older people.

The most popular religion on the island is Christianity, with 73.72%, however this census question was optional and 7.89% did not wish to state a religion.

Main towns

Main article: List of places on the Isle of Wight

• Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight and is located in the centre of the Island and is the main shopping area on the Island. Recent developments include a new bus station with retail complex and a new retail park on the outskirts. Located next to the River Medina, Newport was once a busy port until the mid-19th century, but has now been mainly converted into art galleries, apartments and other meeting places.
• Ryde, The Island's biggest town with a population of around 30,000, is located in the north east of the Island. It is a Victorian town with a half-mile long pier and four miles of beaches, attracting many tourists each year.
• Cowes is the location of Cowes week every year and where many people across the UK go to go sailing. It is also the home of famous sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur.
• Sandown is another seaside resort, attracting many tourists each year. It is also home to the Isle of Wight Zoo and Dinosaur Isle geological museum, and an 18 hole golf course.
• Shanklin just south of Sandown, also attracts tourists by its sandy beaches. Its main attractions are Shanklin Chine and the old village.
• Ventnor is on the south coast of the Island and is built on steep slopes leading down to the sea which attract many tourists. Recent developments include Ventnor Haven, a harbour on the coast of Ventnor.

The Isle of Wight has no cities. Newport, located in the centre of the island, is the second largest town and is also the county town. There are also smaller towns along the coasts particularly on the east side of the Island. Many of these such as Sandown and Ryde attract many tourists each year.

As well as the major towns, the island also has many smaller villages. Some of these smaller villages also attract many tourists (for example, Godshill is a popular tourist destination).

Culture

Main article: Culture of the Isle of Wight

Language and dialect

The distinctive Isle of Wight accent is a somewhat stronger version of the traditional Hampshire dialect, featuring the dropping of some consonants and an emphasis on longer vowels. This is similar to the West Country dialects heard in Southwestern England, but less removed in sound from the Estuary English of the Southeast. In common with many other English regional dialects and accents, a strong Island accent is not now commonly heard, and, as speakers tend to be older, this decline is likely to continue.

The Island also has its own local and regional words. Some words, including grockle (visitor) and nipper/nips (a younger male person), are still commonly used and are shared with neighbouring areas. A few are unique to the Island, for example overner (a mainlander who has settled on the Island) and caulkhead (someone born on the Island or, for sticklers, those born there from long-established Island stock). Other words are more obscure and used now mainly for comic emphasis, such as mallishag (meaning caterpillar) and nammit ("noon-meat", meaning food). Some other words are "gurt" as in large or great, also "gallybagger" as in scarecrow..

Sport

Cowes is a world-famous centre for sailing, playing host to several racing regattas. Cowes Week is the longest-running regular regatta in the world, with over 1,000 yachts and 8,500 competitors taking part in over 50 classes of yacht racing. In 1851 the first America's Cup race took place around the Island. Other major sailing events hosted in Cowes include the Fastnet race, the Round the Island Race, the Admiral's Cup, and the Commodore's Cup.

The Isle of Wight Marathon is the United Kingdom's oldest continuously-held marathon, having been run every year since 1957. . The course starts in Ryde, passing through Newport, Shanklin and Sandown, before finishing back in Ryde. It is an undulating course with a total climb of 1,505 feet.

The Island is home to the Isle of Wight Islanders Speedway team, who compete in the sport's second division, the 'Premier League'. The club was founded in 1996, with a first-night attendance of 1740. The Island is also home to the Wightlink Raiders, an ice hockey team based at Ryde Arena. They compete in the English Premier League, the 2nd Division in the country. There is also an ENL team, Vectis Warriors, also based at Ryde Arena.

The now-disbanded Ryde Sports F.C. was founded in 1888 and became one of the eight founder members of the Hampshire League in 1896. There are several other non-league clubs such as Newport (IW) F.C. There is an Isle of Wight Saturday Football League with three divisions, and a rugby union club, plus various other sporting teams . Beach football is particularly prevalent on the Island and boasts several of the nation's premier clubs, such as the Wight Knuckle Ryders.

The Isle of Wight competes in the bi-annual Island Games, which it hosted in 1993. The Isle of Wight will host these games again in 2011.

Music

The Isle of Wight is also the home of the band "The Bees". Recently they have been having more national success and often perform at smaller concerts on the island. The Isle of Wight is also home to the Isle of Wight Festival and the Bestival.

Economy

A satellite photograph of the Isle of Wight and the Solent.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added by the Isle of Wight economy at current basic prices by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	831	28	218	585
2000	1,202	27	375	800
2003	1,491	42	288	1,161

Industry and agriculture

The largest industry on the Isle of Wight is tourism, but the Island has a strong agricultural heritage, including sheep and dairy farming and the growing of arable crops. Traditional agricultural commodities are more difficult to market off the Island because of transport costs, but Island farmers have managed successfully to exploit some specialist markets. The high price of these products overcomes the transport costs. One of the most successful agricultural sectors at present is the growing of crops under cover, particularly salad crops, including tomatoes and cucumbers. The Isle of Wight has a longer growing season than much of the United Kingdom and this also favours such crops. Garlic has been successfully grown in Newchurch for many years, and is even exported to France. This has led to the establishment of an annual Garlic Festival at Newchurch, which is one of the largest events of the Island's annual calendar. The favourable climate has led to the success of vineyards, including one of the oldest in the British Isles, at Adgestone near Sandown. Lavender is also grown for its oil. The largest sector of agriculture has been dairying, but due to low milk prices, and strict UK legislation for UK milk producers, the dairy industry has declined. There were nearly one-hundred and fifty dairy producers of various sizes in the mid-eighties, but this has now dwindled down to just twenty-four.

The making of sailcloth, boats and other connected maritime industry has long been associated with the Island, although this has somewhat diminished in recent years. Cowes is still home to various small marine-related companies such as boat-builders.

Although they have reduced the extent of the plants and workforce, including the sale of the main site, GKN operates what was once the British Hovercraft Corporation a subsidiary of, and known latterly, when manufacturing focus changed, as Westland Aircraft. Prior to its purchase by Westland, it was the independent company known as Saunders-Roe. It remains one of the most notable historic firms, having produced many of the flying boats, and the world's first hovercraft.

The Island's major manufacturing activity today is in composite materials, used by boat-builders and the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, which has a wind turbine blade factory and testing facilities in Newport and East Cowes.

Bembridge Airfield is the home of Britten-Norman, manufacturers of the world-famous Islander and Trislander aircraft. This is shortly to become the site of the European assembly line for Cirrus light aircraft. The Norman Aeroplane Company is a smaller aircraft manufacturing company operating in Sandown. There are have been 3 other aircraft manufacturers that built planes on the Island.

In 2005, Northern Petroleum began exploratory drilling for oil, with its Sandhills-2 borehole at Porchfield but ceased operations in October that year, after failing to find significant reserves.

Breweries

There are three breweries on the Island. Goddards Brewery in Ryde opened in 1993. David Yates, who was head brewer of Burts and Island Brewery, started brewing as Yates Brewery at the Inn at St Lawrence in 2000. Ventnor Brewery, under new management, is the latest incarnation of Burt's Brewery, which has been brewing on the Island since the 1840s in Ventnor. .

Services

Tourism and heritage

Compton Chine, looking east towards Blackgang

The heritage of the Island is a major asset, which has for many years kept its economy going. Holidays focused on natural heritage, including both wildlife and geology, are becoming a growing alternative to the traditional seaside resort holiday. The latter has been in decline in the United Kingdom domestic market, due to the increased affordability of air travel to alternative destinations.

Tourism is still the largest industry on the Island. In 1999, the 130,000 Island residents were host to 2.7 million visitors. Of these, 1.5 million stayed overnight, and 1.2 million visits were day visits. Only 150,000 of these visitors were international visitors. Between 1993 and 2000, visits increased at a rate of 3% per year, on average.

At the turn of the nineteenth century the Island had ten pleasure piers including two at Ryde and a "chain pier" at Seaview. The Victoria Pier in Cowes succeeded the earlier Royal Pier but was itself removed in 1960. The piers at Ryde, Seaview, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor originally served a coastal steamer service that operated from Southsea on the mainland. The piers at Seaview, Shanklin, Ventnor and Alum Bay were all destroyed by storms during the last century. Today only the railway pier at Ryde and the piers at Sandown, Totland Bay (currently closed to the public) and Yarmouth survive. Blackgang Chine is arguably the oldest theme park in the UK, and one of the oldest in the world.

As well as more traditional tourist attractions, the Island is often host to walking holidays . or cycling holidays through the attractive scenery. Almost every town and village on the Island plays host to hotels, hostels and camping sites. Out of the peak summer season, the Island is still an important destination for coach tours from other parts of the United Kingdom and an annual walking festival has attracted considerable interest.

A major contribution to the local economy comes from sailing and marine-related tourism.

Transport

A map of the island from 1945

Sea

By far the main form of access is by boat from the mainland, with regular vehicle ferry services and passenger services being available through the ferry companies:

• Red Funnel — operates a car and passenger service between Southampton and East Cowes. High speed passenger-only services to Southampton operate from "West" Cowes under the name of "Red Jet".
• Wightlink — operates a car and passenger service between Portsmouth and Fishbourne (near Ryde), and between Lymington and Yarmouth. It also operates a passenger-only service between Portsmouth Harbour (train station) and Ryde Pier Head (train station) under the name "Fast Cat" (known as the 'Vomit Comet' by the locals due to its colour), so named because the boats used are catamarans.
• Hovertravel — carries passengers between Southsea and Ryde aboard a hovercraft.

There are regular proposals for further routes, and during Cowes Week additional services have been known to operate — notably a fast catamaran service between West Cowes and Lymington.

Rail

The Island is the home of the smallest train operating company in the United Kingdom's National Rail network, the Island Line. This runs some 8½ miles from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin, down the eastern side of the island via Brading and Sandown. These are electric trains, using former London Underground rolling stock.

The Island also has a steam-operated heritage railway, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. The steam railway connects with the Island Line at Smallbrook Junction. This was part of the former Ryde to Newport line.

Before the days of Richard Beeching in the 1950s and 1960s, the Island boasted a comprehensive railway network based on a triangle of lines connecting Ryde, Newport and Sandown. Branch lines led from Sandown to Bembridge and from Newport north to Cowes and west to Yarmouth and Freshwater. Two other lines ran to Ventnor:

1. an extension of the aforementioned Island Line from Shanklin and
2. a branch of the Newport-Sandown line via Godshill and Wroxall.

The two lines terminated at different levels above the town.

Today much of the old rail network has been converted to cycle ways, including the Newport-Cowes, Newport-Sandown and Yarmouth-Freshwater sections. Other sections can still be traced on the ground, including the two tunnels where the Ventnor lines were taken through the downs.

Roads

A sign used to greet visitors to the Island disembarking from the car ferry at Fishbourne, stating Island Roads are Different, Please Drive Carefully. It is a joke amongst local residents that the reason Island roads are different is due to a lack of maintenance by the Council. Nevertheless the lighter traffic, quieter roads and slower speeds are noticeable to the visitor and are one of the reasons the Island has remained attractive to tourists from the busier mainland. The Island has 489 miles of roadway and is one of the few counties in the UK not to have a motorway.

Buses

The main bus company for the Isle of Wight is Southern Vectis. It provides a total of 24 different bus routes for the island with most of the island towns getting a 24 hour service. The most regular services run between the larger towns such as Ryde and Cowes. From April 2006, the company changed its livery on all buses (excluding open top buses) to two shades of green and also operated buses on a newly designed, simplified network. This new network did not allocate certain routes with different livery, as had been done previously. During the summer, Southern Vectis also operates four open top tour routes; The Medina Tour, The Sandown Bay Tour, The Downs Tour and The Needles Tour. These are popular for many tourists visiting the island during the summer months.

Wightbus also operate buses on the island, mainly taking students to and from school; however they do also help Southern Vectis with some of its routes.

Walking and cycling

The Island has an extensive network of byways, bridleways, footpaths and cycle tracks, including 520 miles of public rights of way. Several long distance paths are highlighted on Ordinance Survey maps and local signs, including a coastal path round the whole Island. Sustrans National Cycle Network routes 22 and 23 have sections through the Isle of Wight, including off road sections of route 23 between Cowes and Newport and Newport and Sandown along disused railway lines. There is a signed "round-the-island" cycle route primarily on road, as well as a 12 mile on and off road leisure route called the Sunshine Trail. The Island holds an annual Walking Festival in May and Cycling Festival in July.

Air

There are two small airfields for general aviation: Isle of Wight Airport at Sandown and Bembridge Airport. These are busy with day-trippers in summer, travelling by light aircraft.

Fixed Link

Currently the only ways to get to the island is by boat or by air. However, a fixed link by tunnels or bridges has been discussed.

Communications

All of the Island telephone exchanges are broadband-enabled and in addition, some urban areas such as Cowes and Newport are covered by cable lines. Some areas, such as Arreton, have no broadband access in certain places.

Media

The Isle of Wight has one local broadsheet newspaper, The Isle of Wight County Press. It discusses local issues and is published each Friday, or on the last working day if a public holiday falls on a Friday.

The Island's television station was Solent TV. It started broadcasting on March, 2006. Unfortunately, this enterprise was not financially sustainable and the station became insolvent, causing its closure on Thursday, 24th May, 2007. However it was recently announced that a new television channel would be broadcast from the island, scheduled to go on air in December. The venture could initially create up to 20 new jobs. The new channel will focus on traditional family entertainment, being very similar to the BBC in the 1950's.

The Island has two native, commercial radio stations and has access to other nearby local stations based off the Island. Since 1998, Isle of Wight Radio has broadcast on 107 and 102 FM, as well as on the internet, and on the AM band since 1990. In 2007, Angel Radio began broadcasting on 91.7 FM from studios in Cowes.

Prisons

The Island geography, close to the densely populated south of England, led to it gaining three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst which are located outside Newport on the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were once among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) made their way out of the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days of freedom before being recaptured. Parkhurst especially enjoyed notoriety as one of toughest gaols in the British Isles and "hosted" many notable inmates, including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and the Kray twins.

Camp Hill is located to the west of, and adjacent to, Albany and Parkhurst, on the very edge of Parkhurst Forest, having been converted first to a borstal and later to later a category C prison. It was originally on the site of an army camp (both Albany and Parkhurst were barracks), where there is a small estate of tree-lined roads with well-proportioned officers' quarters (with varying grandeur according to rank, but now privately owned), to the south and east.

Education

Main article: Education on the Isle of Wight

There are sixty-nine Local Education Authority-maintained schools on the Isle of Wight, and two independent schools. As a rural community, many of these schools are small, with average numbers of pupils lower than in many urban areas. There are currently five high schools. However, there are plans to close at least one of the high schools. There is also the Isle of Wight College, which is located on the outskirts of Newport.

The Island uses a middle school system.

Major events

Many events take place each year across the island, all designed to appeal to different groups of people. Many of these take place in the summer, and so attract many tourists visiting the island. A few notable examples include:

Event	Description	Running Dates
Isle of Wight Festival	A music festival which takes place annually at Seaclose Park in Newport. After three early festivals featuring such acts as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and The Who, the festival was discontinued in 1970; but was revived in a modern format in 2002.	1968-1970, 2002-present
Bestival	A music festival held in the late summer, at a country park, Robin Hill. The event is considered much more alternative and diverse, which appeals to families. Many people attending wear fancy dress. A few notable acts include The Scissor Sisters and The Pet Shop Boys.	2004-present
Garlic Festival	An annually held fundraising event organised until 2006 by the Newchurch Parish Sports & Community Association and since then by the Garlic Festival Ltd. It has over 250 stallholders selling many locally produced foods such as garlic beer, garlic seafood and garlic ice cream. Music performances take place and the event also has a large central arena for other activities.	1985-present
Cowes Week	Cowes Week is the longest running regular regatta in the world, and takes place on the Solent.	1826-present
White Air	White Air is an extreme sports festival held in Yaverland, on the eastern side of the island, near Sandown. In 2007 the date was moved from October to August. It is a week long event. The event also has a live music stage and in 2007 had headlining act The Bees performing. However due to the negative views local residents have towards the event, it is possible it could be moved to a new location on the mainland.	1996-present

Famous residents

Main article: List of Isle of Wight people

Over the years, the island has had many well known visitors. Many come over for health reasons due to the cool sea breeze and clean air. For example, Winston Churchill and Karl Marx were visitors to the Island. Alan Titchmarsh, the renowned UK gardener, has been nominated to be High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight in 2008/9.

Selected places of interest

• Alum Bay
• Appuldurcombe House English Heritage
• Blackgang Chine
• Brading Roman Villa
• Carisbrooke Castle English Heritage File:CL icon.PNG, where King Charles I was imprisoned
• Dimbola Lodge , home of Victorian photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron
• Dinosaur Isle
• Fort Victoria
• Godshill Village, and Model Village
• Isle of Wight Steam Railway
• Isle of Wight Zoo, Yaverland
• Medina Theatre, home to the Islands entertainment including music and performances.
• The Needles , which is near "The Old Battery" museum and Old Look-out Tower tea-room
• Osborne House English Heritage, where Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert had their country residence
• Quarr Abbey File:AP Icon.PNG
• Robin Hill
• Botanic Gardens, Ventnor
• Yarmouth Castle English Heritage File:CL icon.PNG, associated with King Henry VIII

Notable media references

• The 1980s pop group Level 42 is from the Isle of Wight.
• The Northumbrian scholar, Bede, recorded the arrival of Christianity on the Isle of Wight in the year 686.
• The Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-Four", written by Paul McCartney, refers to a rented summer cottage on the Isle of Wight.
• The Isle of Wight is called The Island in some editions of Thomas Hardy's novels in his fictional Wessex.
• The Isle of Wight is the setting of Julian Barnes's novel England, England.
• The Island also features in John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's sequel to it, The Night of the Triffids.
• In the radio series Nebulous, the Isle of Wight has been accidentally disintegrated by Professor Nebulous while he was trying to move it slightly to the left.
• Bob Dylan recorded the songs "Like a Rolling Stone", "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)", "Minstrel Boy", and "She Belongs to Me" for the album Self Portrait live on the Isle of Wight.
• The Isle of Wight is the setting in D.H. Lawrence's book The Trespasser, filmed for TV in 1981 on location.
• In the 1966 novel Colossus, the entire Island is selected for the development of a new base by the supercomputer, Colossus.
• The Isle of Wight is the setting of Graham Masterton's book Prey.
• Parts of Frágiles (Fragile: A Ghost Story), a 2005 movie starring Calista Flockhart, were filmed on the island.
• It is said that Karl Marx visited the Isle Of Wight on numerous occasions while he was writing The Communist Manifesto.

See also

• List of places on the Isle of Wight
• List of civil parishes on the Isle of Wight

References

• Hansard, Wednesday 14 November 2001 column 850
• Isle of Wight County Press [3]

External links

General Information:

• Isle of Wight Council
• High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight
• Isle of Wight Festival
• Isle of Wight Satellite Images

Media:

• Isle of Wight County Press
• Solent TV
• Isle of Wight Radio

Tourism:

• Island Breaks
• Isle of Wight Tourism

Photos:

• Howard Oakley Isle of Wight Photos
• Isle of Wight Pictures

50°40′51″N 1°16′51″W