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The 'Isle of Wight' is an English island and county, off the Southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire, between the Solent and the English Channel. Popular from Victorian times as a holiday resort, the Isle of Wight is known for its natural beauty and as home to the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, a town that hosts a world famous annual regatta.
The Island possesses a rich history including its own brief status as a vassal kingdom in the fifteenth century. It was home to 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 launch of the Black Arrow and Black Knight space rockets. 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, almost a century after the rest of Great Britain.^[1][2][3]
The island is the smallest ceremonial county in England (when not including the predominantly urban counties of Bristol and the City of London) at 380 km² (147 sq mi), just beating the revived Rutland at 382 km² (148 sq mi), although at low tide it is actually larger than Rutland. With just one Member of Parliament and 132,731 permanent residents in the 2001 census, it is also the most populated Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. It has historically been part of Hampshire.

Contents

History

Physical geography and wildlife

Climate

Geology

Politics

Demographics

Main towns

Language and dialect

Economy

Industry and agriculture

Breweries

Services

Tourism and heritage

Transport

Communications

Prisons

Education

Major events

Famous residents

Sport

Selected places of interest

Notable media references

See also

References

External links

History

Main articles: History of the Isle of Wight


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.

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^[4] 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^[5], 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^[6] (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 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 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 adjoins 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^[7], 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.^[8].
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 furthest south 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

[1]

Geology

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

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 islands 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	England and Wales	England	South East	Isle of Wight UA
Total	58789194	52041916	49138831	8000550	132719
0-4	3486469	3094357	2926460	472506	6437
5-9	3738160	3307972	3122646	505934	7604
10-14	3880609	3425075	3229098	516434	8459
15-19	3663899	3217425	3032714	484052	7417
20-24	3546151	3122379	2952885	461874	5564
25-29	3867115	3435108	3268760	500033	6155
30-34	4493585	3983974	3785676	594120	8084
35-39	4625810	4093217	3881043	637577	8746
40-44	4151580	3656335	3460849	576147	8448
45-49	3735964	3296031	3111538	518847	8399
50-54	4040437	3590904	3382567	570255	10133
55-59	3338861	2962130	2785286	468146	9619
60-64	2879948	2544628	2391708	386000	7951
65-69	2596843	2292386	2153925	350290	7441
70-74	2339231	2074462	1948731	318221	7085
75-79	1966929	1754864	1645033	272357	6445
80-84	1313547	1178269	1105896	191939	4524
85-89	752787	677430	638384	115826	2750
90+	371269	334970	315632	59992	1458

[2]
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

★ '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 Medina River, Newport was once a busy port until the mid-19th century, but has now been mainly converted into art galeries, apartments and other meeting places.

★ 'Ryde', one of the Island's biggest towns 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 Ellen MacArthur.

★ 'Sandown' is another seaside resort, attracting many tourists each year. It is also home to the Sandown Zoo and Dinosaur Isle 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's county town is Newport, in the centre of the island. 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 which also attract many tourists for example Godshill.

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.^[9].

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Isle of Wight at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[10]	Agriculture[11]	Industry[12]	Services[13]
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 [3]. Lavender is also grown for its oil [4]. The largest sector of agriculture has been dairying, but due to a low milk price, 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. Although they have reduced the extent of the plants and workforce, including the sale of the main site, GKN operate 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 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, including a large manufacturer of wind turbine blades (Vesta's).
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.^[14]
A major contribution to the local economy comes from the world-famous international sailing regatta, Cowes Week, which is held every August and attracts over a hundred-thousand visitors to the Island. Other major sailing events are held at Cowes, including the Admiral's Cup held biennially in July and the Commodores' Cup in August.
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 which opened in 1993^[15]; David Yates, who was head brewer of Burts and Island Brewery, started brewing as Yates Brewery at the Inn at St Lawrence in 2000 ^[16]; Ventnor Brewery, under new management, is the latest incarnation of Burt's Brewery which has been brewing on the Island since the 1840s ^[17].

Services

Tourism and heritage

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.^[18]
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 believed to be the oldest theme park in the UK, if not the world.
As well as more traditional tourist attractions, the Island is often host to walking holidays ^[19]. 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.

Transport

'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/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:
# an extension of the aforementioned Island Line from Shanklin and
# 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''.^[20] 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 the most regular routes going to major 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 opperates 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 Ordnance 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 way to get to the island is by boat, 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 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. In March, 2006, it was launched onto Sky. Unfortunately, this was not financially sustainable and the station became insolvent, causing its closure on Thursday, 24th May, 2007.
The Island has one radio station, Isle of Wight Radio, broadcasting on 107 and 102 FM and the internet. It is a commercial radio station and is listened to by many Island residents. The Island has access to other nearby local radio stations. However, these are based off the Island.

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 jails 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 to a borstal and 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

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. 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 legendary music festival which takes place annually at Seaclose park in Newport. In its earlier days it featured such acts as Jimi Hendrix and The Who. After 1970, a law was passed preventing it from continuing, however this has recently been overturned and the festival was revived from 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 anually held fundraising event organised by the Newchurch Parish Sports & Community Association. It has been running for 22 years and has over 250 stallholders selling many locally produced foods such as garlic bear, garlic seafood and garlic icecream. Music performances take place and the event also has a large central arena for other activities.	1985-present
'Cowes Week'	Cowes Week, starting in 1826 is the longest running regular regatta in the world, and takes place on the Solent. It is very popular for sailors and each year attracts many well known people, for example Ben Fogle.	1826-present

Famous residents

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. Perhaps not a globally famous person, Alan Titchmarsh the renowned UK gardener, also has a connection to the Isle of Wight and will assume High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight duties on the island.

Sport

There is a variety of sporting activity on the Island. 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^[21].
The Isle of Wight Marathon is the United Kingdom's oldest continuously held marathon, having been run every year since 1957 ^[22]. T he 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. In 1851 the first America's Cup took place around the Island.
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 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 club^[23], plus various other sporting teams ^[24]. Beach football is particularly prevalent on the Island and boast several of the nation's premier clubs, such as the Wight Knuckle Ryders.

Selected places of interest

★ Alum Bay

★ Appuldurcombe House

★ Blackgang Chine

★ Brading Roman Villa

★ Carisbrooke Castle 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

★ The Needles The Old Battery - museum and tearoom

★ Osborne House where Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, had their country residence

★ Quarr Abbey

★ Robin Hill

★ Botanic Gardens, Ventnor

★ Yarmouth Castle 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.

★ 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 Calista Flockhart's 2005 film ''Frágiles'' (''Fragile: A Ghost Story'') were filmed on the island.

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 [5]
1. ''Saxon Graves at Shalfleet'', Isle of Wight History Centre, August, 2005
2. ''England, A Narrative History'', Peter N. Williams
3. ''The English Accept Christianity'', The Story of England, Samuel B. Harding
4. http://www.connected-earth.com/Galleries/Telecommunicationsage/Awirelessworld/Theoriginsofradio/index.htm
5. http://beebase.csl.gov.uk/public/BeeDiseases/adultDiseases.cfm
6. Movies
7. Operation Squirrel
8. http://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/plantlife-discovering-plants-county-flowers.html Plantlife: County flowers
9. The Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect, , Jack, Lavers, Dovecote Press, 1988, ISBN 0-946159-63-7
10. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
11. includes hunting and forestry
12. includes energy and construction
13. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
14. A list of aircraft and airplane manufacturers as well as airfields on the Isle of Wight
15. http://www.goddards-brewery.co.uk/aboutus.htm
16. http://www.yates-brewery.co.uk/
17. http://www.ventnorbrewery.co.uk/1840.html
18. A website with Isle of Wight statistics for investors
19. http://www.wight-walks.co.uk
20. Hansard 20 Dec 1995 : Column 1457
21. http://www.skandiacowesweek.co.uk/web/code/php/main.php?section=home
22. http://www.rydeharriers.co.uk/Marinfo.htm
23. http://www.iwrfc.co.uk/
24. http://www.solent.tv/sports.aspx

External links

★ Isle of Wight Council

★ Isle of Wight County Press

★ Solent TV

★ Isle of Wight Radio

★ High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight

★ Island Breaks