Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England, opposite Southampton. Popularized from Victorian times as a holiday resort, it is known for its areas of natural beauty and as home to the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, a town that hosts a world famous annual regatta. Colloquially, it is known as "The Island" by its residents and it possesses a rich history including its own brief status as a vassal kingdom in the fifteenth century, home to poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and Queen Victoria's much loved summer residence and final home Osborne House. Its maritime history encompasses boat building and sail making through to the manufacture of flying boats and the world's first hovercraft. It is home to the Isle of Wight Festival which in 1970 was one of the largest Rock music events ever held with estimates reaching 600,000 attendees, overtaking the record set at Woodstock a year earlier. The island is also one of the richest fossil locations for dinosaurs in Europe. In 686AD, it became the last part of the United Kingdom to convert to Christianity - almost a century after the rest of the mainland.

Industry and agriculture

The largest industry on the Isle of Wight is tourism, but the Island has a strong agricultural heritage, including sheep, dairy farming and arable crops. Traditional agricultural commodities are more difficult to market off the Island because of transport costs, but Island farmers have managed to successfully exploit some specialist markets. The high price of these products overcomes the transport costs. One of the most successful agricultural sectors at present is crops grown undercover, particularly salad crops including tomatoes and cucumbers. The Isle of Wight has a longer growing season than much of Britain, 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 http://www.english-wine.co.uk/. Lavender is also grown for its oil http://www.lavender.co.uk/.

Related Topics:
Britain - Garlic - Newchurch - France - Garlic Festival - Vineyard - Sandown - Lavender

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The making of sailcloth, boats and other connected maritime industry has long been associated with the island, although 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 latterly when manufacturing focus changed known as, Westland Aircraft. Prior to its purchase by Westland, it was the independent Saunders-Roe. It remains one of the most notable historical 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.

Related Topics:
GKN - British Hovercraft Corporation - Westland Aircraft - Saunders-Roe - Flying boats - Hovercraft

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Island (Bembridge) is the home of Britten-Norman, manufacturers of the world famous Islander and Trilander aircraft.

Related Topics:
Britten-Norman - Islander - Trilander

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
Sailing - Regatta - Cowes Week - Admiral's Cup - Commodores' Cup

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2005, Northern Petroleum began exploratory drilling for oil with its Sandhills-2 borehole at Porchfield.

Related Topics:
2005 - Northern Petroleum - Oil

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tourism and heritage

The heritage of the Island is a major asset which has for many years kept its economy going. Holidays focussed 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 UK domestic market due to the increased affordability of air travel to alternative destinations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tourism is still the largest industry on the Island, As well as more traditional tourist attractions, the island is often host to walking 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 Britain and an annual walking festival has attracted considerable interest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Transport and communications

There are three ferry companies which operate routes between the mainland and the Island:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Red Funnel - operates a car and passenger service between Southampton and East Cowes. A high speed passenger only services operates 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", 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A sign used to greet visitors to the Island disembarking from the car ferry at Fishbourne, stating 'Island roads are different, please drive carefully'. 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A majority of Island telephone exchanges are broadband enabled. In addition to the almost universal British Telecom coverage, some urban areas are covered by cable lines.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Isle of Wight County Press http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ is the major local newspaper, published weekly each Friday or the last working day before a public holiday falls on that day. There is also a local radio station, Isle of Wight Radio http://www.iwradio.co.uk, broadcasting on 107 and 102 FM (also available over the internet), and a regional television station which broadcasts from the Island, Solent TV http://www.solent.tv.

Related Topics:
Isle of Wight County Press - Isle of Wight Radio - Solent TV

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~