| |
Coordinates: 50°35'51?N 1°12'30?W? / ?50.5976, -1.2084
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish[1] established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down (which, at 787 feet, is the highest point on the Isle of Wight), and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea. The higher part is referred to as Upper Ventnor (although officially it is Lowtherville); the lower part, where most of the amenities are located, being known as Ventnor. Ventnor can sometimes include the villages of St. Lawrence and on the other side of town the village of Bonchurch.
The sheltered location on the cliff of the island's south coast means the area experiences a microclimate with more sunny days than much of the British Isles, and fewer frosts. This has allowed many species of subtropical plant to be successfully planted and maintained. Ventnor Botanic Garden is particularly notable.
[edit] Geology
The geomorphology of the area in many ways defines the town. It varies greatly, with a significant area built on clay which suffers from serious landslip. The ground at Ventnor is notoriously unstable, and many buildings and amenities have been lost to subsidence or cliff-falls. There is a local expression: "We live near the sea and are getting nearer every day." This has led to considerable concern and study of the situation.[2][3][4][5] This is the subject of displays at the Isle of Wight Coastal Visitors Centre in Ventnor.[6]
At the top of the town is a geological fault known as the Graben, which marks the top of the series of landslips on which Ventnor is built. This fault moves regularly, and has been the cause of the destruction of numerous buildings over the years, serious cracking to the road which crosses it, and repeated disruption to the town's utilities, which are supplied by pipes and cables which have to pass over the fault.
Three miles (five kilometres) off the coast of Ventnor, the seabed forms a long parallel ridge and rises to within fifteen metres of the surface. The action of the sea rushing up the channel and being forced between the Island and this ridge, has carved out a narrow channel of extraordinary depth known as St. Catherine's Deep.
[edit] History
The town grew from a small fishing hamlet in the nineteenth century between the two villages of Bonchurch to the east (whose parish Ventnor is situated in) and St Lawrence to the West. Charles Dickens lived nearby for some time. However, it was with the coming of the Isle of Wight Railway in 1866 which saw the town become both a tourist and a health resort. The fresh English Channel air and warm climate was considered to be very beneficial to the sufferers of tuberculosis. Several sanatoriums were established in Ventnor for those suffering from the disease. The Isle of Wight Railway at one time ran a non-stop train from Ryde to Ventnor which was named 'The Invalid Express' specifically to rush consumptive patients to their treatment at Ventnor. One train famously completing the journey in a little over twenty minutes[citation needed]. There is no record of the effect this dash had on the already ill passengers. The town reached its zenith in the inter-war period of the nineteen-thirties with regular steam packets operating between Southsea and the town's pier. The sandy beach was ideal for bathing, and is still popular today, although it is much smaller than other comparable tourist beaches at nearby Sandown and Shanklin.
[edit] Transport
[edit] History of Railway
Ventnor railway station was the terminus of the Island Line railway from Ryde through Sandown and Shanklin, and it brought many visitors to the town. Ventnor West railway station was the terminus of the line from Cowes through Newport. Both stations suffered from being well away from the town centre, necessitating a road journey for travellers to get to their destination. Ventnor West station was closed early in the 1950s, long before the closures ordered by Dr Beeching. Ventnor was closed in 1966, ironically just before the surviving Ryde - Shanklin line was electrified. Thereafter the town suffered a period of economic decline, from which it has not fully recovered.
However, since 2004, a connecting Rail Link bus (Service 16), run by Wightbus, has run from St Lawrence and Ventnor to Shanklin, making through rail journeys to and from Ventnor easier.
[edit] Current bus services
As well as the rail link service mentioned above, Southern Vectis bus routes 3 and 6 serve the town, and operate to Newport, Sandown, Shanklin and St Lawrence and intermediate towns. Route 3 runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.[7]. There is also a local route, number 31, which connects Ventnor to Bonchurch Village and provides additional journeys to Wroxall. This is run by Wightbus.
Ventnor Cascade (August 2006)
Steephill Castle, Ventnor c1910. The castle was demolished in 1963
[edit] Ventnor Botanic Garden
Ventnor Botanic Garden is on the site of an old hospital and has a variety of tropical plants due to Ventnor's subtropical microclimate. A rainfall of 31 inches (790mm) per annum and a climate more akin to the Mediterranean seaboard enable a wide variety of plants considered too tender for much of mainland Britain to be grown. The garden includes areas of plants from different parts of the world, particularly Australia and New Zealand, but also including Japan and gardens with plants of a Mediterranean origin. There is a temperate house, and a visitor centre which was renovated in 2001.
[edit] Other places of interest
- Smaller Parks and Gardens: The town has a small park on the west side of town with a bandstand, aviary and stream. There is a garden crossed with a waterfall, built in the Victorian era of the town, around which winds the main path between the beach and the town. The waterfall is known as The Cascade. There is also a paddling-pool on the sea front esplanade. In the middle, rising out of the water is a model of the Isle of Wight which children can play on. The hills and inlets are physically modelled and the towns and roads (in red) are painted on. In the past, the Island's remaining railway line has also been shown (in black).
- VENTNOR Sign: There is a sign on the cliffs at La Falaise to the west of the beach which spells out the word VENTNOR in white concrete blocks, about four metres high and intended to provide a landmark visible from the sea. This replaced the chalk letters damaged in 1992. Since about the start of the current millennium, there have also been smaller metal capital letters spelling out the town's name. These are fixed to the seaward side of the Southern Water pumping station, itself sympathetically disguised as a bandstand and observation platform, next to the harbour.
- Antique and bric-a-brac stores: There are many of these in the main town shopping area, and these provide a tourist attraction in their own right.
- Ventnor Brewery: A brewery has been in Ventnor on the same location since the 1840s. Water from the local spring, which is called "St Boniface's Well" is used to make the beer.[8] The town was home to Burts Brewery, but it closed in the 1980s. After this, the site was empty for several years. The brewery was reopened as a microbrewery in 1996, called the "Ventnor Brewery" The Ventnor Brewery produces a number of cask ales, including the quite unusual Oyster Stout.
- RAF Ventnor High above the town exists the former site of RAF Ventnor, once an RAF radar monitoring station. Now used mainly for civilian communications antennae, the site provides views over the English Channel. However the site also contains an extensive bunker complex designed to be part of an early warning network and later converted for use as a shelter in case of a nuclear strike during the Cold War. The bunker, which was a variant on the P1 ROTOR design, has now been sealed and is generally thought to be inaccessible.
- Coastal Centre: On the Eastern cliff, the Isle of Wight Coastal Visitor's Centre provides access to information and resources on the Isle of Wight coastline.
[edit] Events
- Crab Fayre: Every year the town celebrates the town fair, based around the local crab harvest. It's now held at Ventnor County Middle School in Upper Ventnor. It was previously held at the Watcombe Bottom Rugby Ground and before that the cricket grounds next to Ventnor Botanic Garden, which many believe to have been the superior venue.
- Carnival: Traditional English town carnival. Carnival Floats, Marching Bands and Drinking.
- V-Fest: Previously called Celebrate Ventnor Day, this is an annual festival held toward the end of July. The main stage is usually on the seafront next to the harbour, and it has usually been a free event, with donations to various charities accepted. Previous headline acts have included Ventnor's own The Bees.
- Isle of Wight International Jazz Festival: The 3-day Isle of Wight Jazz Festival is every year during what is normally the Easter school holidays, and attracts top names from the genre. Headline acts from previous years include Sax Appeal, Humphrey Lyttleton and the Vortex Foundation Big Band. Entry to these big-name concerts is by pre-bought or (rarely) on-the-door sold tickets, but the many Fringe gigs are totally free, and take place in venues varying from hotels and cafés to churches and sports clubs. Various smaller Jazz gigs are held around the town throughout the year.
- Folk Festival: Still very much at the planning stages, this could be another annual event as successful as the Jazz Festival. The inaugural festival is planned to be in mid-September 2007.
[edit] Education
Schools in Ventnor include:
- Ventnor County Middle School
- St. Boniface Primary School
- St. Wilfred's Primary School
- St. Margaret's Primary School
- St. Catherine's School, a special school for students with speech and language difficulties.
[edit] Media references
[edit] Other places named Ventnor
[edit] References
- , English Parishes & Welsh Communities N&C 2004
- , Landslips on The Isle of Wight
- , West & South Isle of Wight, Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline.
- , LUCCOMBE - BLACKGANG ISLE OF WIGHT (UNITED KINGDOM), Robin G. McGiness, Isle of Wight Centre for Coastal Environment
- , Life on the Edge, Undercliff Matters, English Nature, Issue 2, September 2003.
- , Isle of Wight Coastal Visitors Centre
- , Bus services
- , St Boniface's Well (Ventnor), The Megalithic Portal.
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |
|