Off to the Isle of Wight

In all my nearly 60 years, I’ve only been once to the Isle of Wight – and that was almost 30 years ago. But this weekend, Vee and I are off for couple of days to visit Trev and Tess Jessop whom we befriended on our holiday in Indochina. Trev is an artist and you can see some of his excellent work on his web site.
More than half of the land on the Isle of Wight is designated an area of outstanding natural beauty and the island attracts more than 2 million visitors a year. Yet, although the island is known for its wealthy yachting community, it now has the second lowest wage levels in the UK, more than 25% of people are on benefits, and nearly half the 130,000 inhabitants are over 50.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 9th, 2007 at 9:20 am and is filed under My life & thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

One Comment

  • Richard Leyton
    November 9th, 2007 at 9:30 am

    I’ve spent many a holiday on the IoW, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. If you have time in your schedule, some highlights:
    * Carisbrooke Castle
    * The UK rocket test installation above Alum Bay. Not least that my grandfather was instrumental in the history there, and it’s a little known part of post-war British history.
    * Alum Bay. Make yourself a coloured sand memento. You know you want to.
    * One of the dinosaur museums on the island, as well as (of course) the beaches where many of the bones have been discovered.
    * Osbourne House. Not that I’ve been, but I gather it’s quite something.
    Enjoy.
    Richard