Isle of Wight Series - Ports and Harbours

A tiny island, a teeny weeny charm.  Almost 20 years ago, I visited Newport, the county town of Isle of Wight, on business, and must have been wearing rose tinted glasses at the time.  This time, in the height of summer, a return visit yielded a different kind of memory.  The island seems to be in a time warp, as if it has not emerged from the era of formica table top and oiled table cloths.  What brings the place up to date is the attire of the tourists: even in 4* hotels, they are in trainers or hiking sandals, and this season's hot number - those three-quarter length trousers that are clearly not designed for varicose veins or legs that are of a deathly grey colour.  But the wearers are not there to please others, just themselves.              

Southampton Dock

One of the routes to IOW is by ferry boat from Southampton to East Cowes.  At a rather shabby gate at the Southamption Docks, the Red Funnel plies this service, charging £66 per car for a return journey, each leg lasting an hour.  It is an efficient service and it runs on time, which is remarkable by UK's public transport standard.  The interior of the ferry boat needs a refresh, but given the price, the passengers don't seem to care much about the decor. 

East Cowes

On arrival at East Cowes, the visitor is welcomed with the sight of banks upon banks of boats on the waterfront.  It is difficult to imagine that the Solent, separating IOW from mainland England, is an area of fierce tidal streams that has become the training ground for world-beating sailors.  East Cowes is the site of Osborne House, the former summer residence of Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert, plus their brood of 9 children.  It is at Osborne House that Queen Victoria enjoyed the "cosiness" and "snugness" that she so craved.

Yarmouth

On the north west part of IOW lies Yarmouth, the entry point for the ferry boat from Portsmouth.  The waterfront is less crowded and less industrial, and it boasts a gatehouse to a fort that Henry VIII once kept there. 

Royal Holloway College

Described by Pevsner as the most ellubrient Victorian building in the Home Counties, the Royal Holloway College, now part of the University of London, stands as an architectural gem in Egham, a stone throw's west of Heathrow Airport.  It is not on any guidebook, although it is considered to be one of the most remarkable university buildings in the UK.  The main building, known as the Founder's Building, was designed by William Henry Crossland, who also designed the Holloway Sanitorium nearby.  The magnificent red brick construction is complemented by stone carvings and stone windows of every conceivable shape and size; its sheer size attests to Victorian engineering of a bygone era.  It is unashamedly grand and imposing.

 

Main entrance

Thomas Holloway (1800 - 1883), the philanthropist
who founded the College in honour of his wife

The magnificent College Chapel

Bodiam Castle, East Sussex

Built by a soldier of fortune in the 14th century to show off his power and wealth, Bodiam Castle stood proudly in the East Sussex country side, surrounded by a wide moat, which has now become the playground of an army of ducks.  Hardly a defence against foreign invasion, it was more a grand residence but now sadly in ruins. 

The castle seen here with a massive round tower at each corner and square towers in the side walls. Strangely, its setting was a working estate with farmland, wharf and flour mill.

Within the walls are found the ruins of domestic buildings, including a Great Wall.  There are spiral staircases leading to the towers where there are great views of the Rother Valley.  

Probably the finest of its type among

medieval-moated castles

The orginal portcullis in the gatehouse

Great Dixter flowers

There were so many splendid specimens at Great Dixter that a few here cannot do the charming gardens justice.

Great Dixter, Kent

On a thoroughly wet day, we made our way to Kent, the fruit garden of England.  All along the country roads were fruit gardens growing and selling strawberries and cherries, but mostly closed due to the inclement weather.  In the pouring rain, the roadside hawkers of strawberries were sadly wanting of punters. 

Great Dixter, a gem of a garden, hidden along Dixter Lane, without the benefit of a "brown sign", confused even the most sofisticated sat nav.  In the constant downpour, the gardens and the meadows shimmered with carpets of meadow flowers and natural ponds.  It was truly a stunning garden experience at every turn.

Summer Flowers

Hughenden Manor

Once the country retreat of Benjamin Disraeli, a British Prime Minister during the reign of Queen Victoria, this manor, nestled among the Chiltern Hills, looks imposing from the outside but the interior is but a modest affair.  The house contains an array of memorabilia and personal possessions of Dizzy, offering an insight into the private life of an individual who rose from a humble background to the top.
What adds interest to the building is the period when the manor was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence during WWII and turned into a secret cartographic production unit where bombing maps were made for missions including the Dambusters raid. Some maps were so top secret that they could not be taken into the air; presumably the route would have to be memorised by the navigator.

Front entrance of Hughenden Manor

WWII memorabilia including a Ration Book!

A scarecrow in the Walled Garden