Cowes

Cowes is a seaport town on the Isle of Wight, an island due south of the major southern English port of Southampton. It is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank. The town is therefore sometimes referred to as West Cowes, especially where distinction is needed such as at the ferry termini. Leland's nineteenth century verses, described the towns poetically as "The two great Cowes that in loud thunder roar, This on the eastern, that the western shore". The two towns are linked by a chain ferry. The combined population was 19,919 in the 1991 census, a figure that is easily doubled during the regatta in early August (see below).

Quotes and jokes

The name of the town has led to many jests and puns over the years. Here are some examples, which, perhaps it need not be said, are best read out loud to be fully appreciated.

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• "I used to introduce my act by saying things like "Hello, London", or wherever else I was performing. Then I got into terrible trouble when I played a Ladies' Night in Cowes..."
       - attributed to Bernard Manning
• Q: What's brown and smelly and comes out of Cowes? A: The Isle of Wight ferry.