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10 Things You Didn't Know About the Isle of Wight
Whilst most people know the Isle of Wight as England's favourite holiday island which attracts over 2m visitors each year there are many facts about this popular diamond shaped isle that you may not know that include beers cans, Isle of Wight "wonders", earthquakes, ghosts, dinosaurs, how small and big it the island is, radio, movies and the effect of the last ice age..:
Small Enough for All The World....
The Isle of Wight measuring just 23 miles by 13 miles is the second smallest county in the country (Rutland being the smallest) With a total of just 147 square metres just 20 miles is developed. 99.5 miles is farmland and 57 miles beautiful coastline. Small it may be but it is the largest island in England and has over 477 miles of roadways and over 500 miles of pathways and cycleways. For such a small county it is surprising that it boasts 7 golf courses! You'll also find there are 203 scheduled monuments, 60 ancient monuments and 1910 listed buildings.
With over 130,000 people resident on the island the Isle of Wight is the country's largest political constituency.
It is understood that if all the population of the world stood shoulder to shoulder then they would all fit on the Isle of Wight... (only just I feel...)
The Isle of Wight Competes with the World for "Wonders" – it has 8!
No visit to the Isle of Wight is complete without a visit to these popular island destinations known locally as the "8 Wonders of the Isle of Wight":
- Needles you cannot thread
- Freshwater you cannot drink
- Cowes you cannot milk
- Newport you cannot bottle
- Lake you can walk through and stay dry
- Ryde where you walk!
- Newtown which is old
- Winkle street where there are no winkles
When People Say the Isle of Wight is Like Stepping Back in Time They Are Right..
Not only are those steps back in time very old they are often very big! Remains have been found of more than 20 different types of dinosaur including the largest in Britain at 26 metres long! Whilst examples from the lower Cretaceous period may be found in North America, Australia and Chile you'll find the world's best preserved and most varied on the Isle of Wight. Here you'll also find fossil remains that you'll not see elsewhere. The Isle of Wight is a fossil hunter's paradise with the best location being the 11 miles between Compton in the South West of the island and Sandown in the South East. Now you can understand why the island is often Knick-named "The Dinosaur Isle"
Fancy a Can of Beer?
The Mew-Langtons brewery in Newport, Isle of Wight, is where the beer can originated in the late 1800's. With the Isle of Wight home to over 10,000 troops at one time the Mews brewery was perfectly located for supplying the army's needs and it's river location also meant it was easy to load barrels on to barges and down the river to Cowes. Fragile bottles were replaced with screw top cans to supply the troops in Pale Ale (IPA). It was designed so that the beer would still be drinkable when it arrived in India!
WildLife You Won't See Every Day
Whilst squirrels around the UK may irritate and annoy on the isle of Wight they are treated as VIP's. That is because the Isle of Wight is the ONLY place in the UK where the red squirrel is still flourishing - no grey squirrels have been seen yet! The more aggressive grey squirrels are thought to have driven the nicer natured red squirrels from their mainland homes. The solent being thought to form a protective barrier for them on the Isle of Wight. The island also accommodates the dormouse, rare bats and it's own unique butterfly – the Glanville Fritillary.
Separated from the Mainland
2-4 miles of solent separate this holiday island from the mainland – but not always. The island was separated when waters rose 8000 years ago in the last ice age, to the north of the Island to dramatically widen what was the River Solent.
The First Radio Transmission
After many experiements at his parents villa in Italy Guglielmo Marconi decided his system for wireless telegraphy had commercial prospects and offered it to the Italian Post Office who declined to test it. After this refusal Marconi moved to London and gave demonstrations there. Wanting to prove he could transmit messages acorss a wide stretch of water he installed a 40 metre mast at the Needles as a transmitting station and a receiving station in Poole 30 kilometres away. The weather was so bad that often marconi's equipemtn was knee deep in water. However transmissions were recorded proving it durable even in such adverse conditions.
Ice Cream and Movies – a perfect combination..
Who doesn't love an ice cream whilst at the movies?
Well the Isle of Wight is home to Minghella Ice Cream where ice cream dreams are said to come true...So delicious and tasty even the Italians want it! Winners of many awards too.
If the name Minghella sounds familiar to you then you thoughts are probably taking you to the Oscar winning movie The English Patient of which the late Anthony Minghella, son of the ice cream maker, was most famous for.
Did the Earth Move?
The way of measuring the power of an earthquake was made possible by John Milne who was popularly known as the father of seismology. Resident on the Isle of Wight he set up the worlds first centre of seismology and was responsible for inventing the horizontal pendulum seismograph
Who's There...?
Do not think that you are hearing things or seeing things .The Isle of Wight is said to be the most haunted island in the world and is often referred to as the "Ghost Island"attracting ghost hunters from right across the world. It seems the island is populated with thousands of ghosts, spirits, poltergeists who appear as almost anything! Including smugglers, monks, ladies, soldiers, Romans and royalty!
And the reason for all this paranormal activity? Well it is said to be the large number of ley lines that run beneath the island
Ready for a Visit Yet?
Oh, and just one final bonus point for you that you may not have known, the Isle of Wight is a regular holder of the sunshine record in the country having an almost sub tropical climate!