So
769 St Mary, Brading
770 St Mildred, Whippingham
Queen Victoria worshipped here when she was living at Osborne House.
St Mildred's meeter and greeter. He was in the church when I arrived.
And on to Osborne House, Queen Victoria's country retreat which opens at 10am!
Model fort for Queen Victoria's children.
The deckhouse of a former Royal Yacht and Queen Victoria's changing room for the beach.
The Swiss Cottage
Let us first start by saying the house is a masterpiece of Victorian kitsch and is a must visit historic house. The main Italian garden is small but attractive and the walled garden is ok. Alas the house was PACKED with people. Too many coach parties, it really needed time tickets because you really couldn't appreciate it.
It was now 1pm and I needed a sarnie and a drink. If you think I'm paying £4.90 for a Prawn and Crayfish sandwich and £1.85 for a bottle of pepsi you don't know me that well.
Off I went and the nearby petrol station had the same bottle for £1.30. COME ON!!
So refreshed I headed to Newtown. Of course the National Trust's Old Town Hall was closed on.... Tuesday. Still we have a photo.
I went for a stroll on the Newtown National Nature Reserve woodland walk. I saw nothing unusual but there was no one around just birdsong and butterflies! LOVELY!!
My advice was that Brighstone was a nice village and it was. It also seems to be one you could live in. Small Museum, pub, shop, newsagent, post office, library, surgery. Honestly everything you need really. The car park promised a traditional tea room next to the church. When i got there my heart sank as it looked to have been taken over and was new and trendy with the name SEVEN. But your blogger must admit his error as they did a very reasonable afternoon tea and the homemade jam and cream sponge/cake was very yummy.
When I left this morning it was by the main tourist route from Shanklin to Ryde and it was not "my sort of thing". When I came back it was the West side of the island which is less built up and tends to have smaller settlements which are much more attractive. Feels a bit like Dorset or rural suffolk.
3 comments:
You've nearly done me in with this lot. It's funny you should be talking about Queen Victoria as this weekend is a holiday weekend here in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday. Anyway, on to other things. Well, my dear, that big angel in the garden has me knocked out. How fabulous! I'm going from the bottom up now...that row of headstones, that's marvelous. The winged creature in the flower bed..well, I mean it's just too much. How wonderful! And imagine, you even got a picture of stocks..did you not?? There's just too much to comment on. The cat is a darling and no doubt was saying a few prayers in the church, lol. It's all great stuff Pete. I'm very impressed.
More great photos, Pete. Shame Osborne House was so hectic.Glad you enjoyed Brighstone and Newtown. Church at Brading looks really interesting. Looking forward to reading tomorrow's exploits.
Caroline
Wow - some more wonderful pics and views. The nature reserve sounds idyllic. Seems extraordinarily busy for Osborne House which is a shame.
I like the sound of Brightstone though; not somewhere I visited.
The ship's prow head looks a tadge out of place on the corner of the building... lovely!
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