Isle of Wight


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    The Isle of Wight is an Island off the South Coast of England, approximately diamond shaped in form and can only be accessed by Ferry (mostly, and see below about that). Once its own Kingdom for short time, now a full part of the United Kingdom. Its major industry is tourism and has been known as a holiday destination since the Victorian Era. Also known for its fossils, many which have come up in the West Wight, on the Western side of the Island.

    The Seven Wonders

    • Cowes: A town in two parts, divided by the River Medina.
      • Cowes is known for Yachting, in particular Cowes Week in June every year. Location of a Moment of Awesome in 1942 by the Cowes-built ORP Blyskawica, which defended the town from bombing while under refit.
      • East Cowes is the smaller counterpart the other side of the river. Despite not much being there, it has a few claims to fame—it was where the first hovercraft was built and tested (in a hangar which is still there). It is also the location of the Red Funnel ferry terminal. Also Obsourne House—one of Queen Victoria's favourite residences is nearby.
    • Freshwater: A major village in the West Wight, near to Yarmouth.
    • The Needles: A set of Chalk Stacks off the Western tip of the Island. A tourist attraction which also has two Forts, a rocket testing site and open-top buses that run to the Forts. Much smaller than you'd expect.
    • Newport: The ‘Capital’ of the Island, home to Isle of Wight Council and most of the major shopping chains. And traffic. Has an infamous roundabout called Coppins Bridge, known for traffic delays and being one end of The Dual Carriageway—all half-a-mile of it.
    • Ryde: The other major Island town. Home of Ryde Pier, one of the longest in the World and one of a few to have regular trains running down it.
    • Newtown: Once a rival to Newport, now non-existent. Became a Rotten Borough, and now owned by the National Trust.
    • Lake: A place overshadowed by Shanklin and Sandown, the resorts either side of it. Now pretty much has a few shops and a major road junction.

    The Other Places

    • Shanklin: A seaside resort on the East coast of the Island. Known for the Old Village the Chine and for being one end of a PLUTO pipeline used after D-Day.
    • Sandown: North of Shanklin and Lake. Another more developed resort, more tourist-y than Shanklin. Has a Dinosaur Museum and an open-top bus service.
      • Yaverland: Slightly further North than Sandown, it's a small place. Known for Extreme Sports. Also the Isle of Wight Zoo, built in an old fort, is near here.
    • Ventnor: Another resort, this time on the South of the Island. Built on the side of St. Boniface Down, the highest hill on the Island. Has been somewhat run-down since the railway station shut in the late 1960s, but is now slowly being regenerated by cafes and antique shops. Known for the Radar Station on the Down. Famous visitors have included Edward Elgar, Karl Marx and Winston Churchill.
    • Godshill: A village near the middle of the Island. A tourist ‘honeypot’. Has a model village, lots of free parking and lots of cafes and people in the Summer.
    • Yarmouth: The biggest ‘town’ in West Wight. Has one end of the Yarmouth-Lymington ferry, Yachting, a Fort and a few shops.
    • Bembridge: The place at the other end of the Island from Yarmouth. Also has boats (and Houseboats), the Airport and a Hovercraft Factory.

    Transport

    Ferries

    The only real way to get to the Isle of Wight is by ferry. Fares are expensive in terms of distance (the most expensive piece of water in the World, no less) and are divided up between three routes and three operators:

    • Wightlink: Formally the British Rail ferries, and now owned by an Australian bank, they operate the Portsmouth-Fishbourne car ferry, the Fastcat passenger catamaran from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head and the Lymington to Yarmouth route
    • Red Funnel: Owned by another Bank, Red Funnel operates a car ferry from Southampton to East Cowes and a catamaran from Southampton to Cowes (the other side of the Medina to the car ferry, which docks in East Cowes).
    • Hovertravel: The only regular hovercraft service in the world from Southsea to Ryde Seafront. Runs every 20 minutes and is usually the first service to be cancelled in rough weather.

    Buses & Trains

    Once on the Island, Southern Vectis are the major bus operator covering most of the Island. Owned by the Newcastle-based Go-Ahead Group from 2006, SVOC is an expensive - and the only - bus service on the Island (as it has been since the 1970s). Despite the high fares, Southern Vectis actually has a more modern fleet than most of the country, and is well-regarded in the industry for it's publicity, and for running buses even on Christmas Day.

    And by Rail? A lot less than before Beeching (but even before then lines were being closed), the Island’s Rail Network is down to one line between Ryde Pier Head (yes, trains on the Pier) and rumbling down the Eastern coast of the Island to Shanklin. The line used to go down to Ventnor and into a rather unique station, but that was closed in 1966.

    Anyway, continuing the Island’s traditional use of old rolling stock, the current trains are 1938 London Underground Stock due to clearance problems on the tunnel in Ryde. Now owned directly by Island Line and a bit of an enthusiast line, with trains running in a version of their original livery, There is also Isle of Wight Steam Railway, running from Smallbrook Junction to Wootton Bridge. Owns the last of the second-hand Island steam trains named Calbourne (an LSWR O2) and some ex-WD locomotives and a load of Island carriages (also second-hand. That is a theme for the Islands railways - nothing’s new).

    There’s a small airport at Bembridge where the Islander aircraft is made by Britten-Norman. A few air services have been tried but nothing came of it.

    And the roads? Apart from a few main roads, and 1/2 mile of dual carriageway in Newport, it’s good to remember that Island Roads are Different.[1]

    Not to be confused with Our Wights Are Different.

    Island Tropes

    • Destroyed in Nebulous, after an attempt to be moved to the left by Professor Nebulous himself.
    • Home of most of Level 42
    • ...and the Isle of Wight Festival. The Original Festivals were in 1968-1970. The revived Festival has been based outside Newport since 2002.
    • Namechecked by the The Beatles in When I'm Sixty-Four
    • The British military evacuated the Royals here during the events of Dies the Fire, and used it as a base to recolonize an England reduced to a scattering of cannibal savages.
    1. ↑ mostly because they are narrow and are full of holes
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