Isle Of Wight Coastal Path : Shanklin To St.Helens
| North From Shanklin | Sandown Pier | Sandown Dinosaur Isle |
We set off early and walked about 500 metres before stopping at the cafe by the station for a good old fryup. Back on the road again heading North takes us through Sandown where the pier boasts of being “a whole day of fun”. I am sure they are right, but as we had to move on we only managed to spend half an hour and £1 on the 2p falls. Continuing North takes us past the dinosaur museum which is architecturally pleasing to my eye, being vaguely in the shape of a Pterodactyl.
| Sandown From Culver Down | Portsmouth And Bembridge Harbour | Bembridge Lifeboat Station |
Onwards and upwards to the Lord Yarborough Monument at Culver Down overlooking the most Easterly point of the island and down over Bembridge Harbour. Lord Yarborough was a keen sailor who became the first Commodore of The Royal Yacht Club in 1825. Apparently he ran his ship very strictly and got his crew to sign a document agreeing to be flogged if necessary, for which they got an extra shilling a week.
There are also views of Bembridge airfield, home of the Britten Norman aircraft company famous for manufacturing the Islander and Trislander aircraft. Although aircraft production has now moved elsewhere, spare parts are still manufactured here. After inspecting the remains of the gun emplacements and sampling coffee and cake at the tea shack by the monument we descended into Bembridge through some welcome shade in woodland. We spotted a lizard sitting on a football in a school field and bypassed a couple of over expensive eating establishments before finding a good value cafe overlooking Bembridge Harbour.
| Causeway Across Bembridge Harbour | St Helens Church | Queen Mary 2 At Dusk |
