Southampton, the Isle of Wight, Stonehenge

 With all the sights seen and pictures taken it was time to head east towards Southampton and the Isle of Wight

The race helmet of my motorcycle hero Mike Hailwood

Mike's Honda race bike.

It’s not far in terms of miles from Cornwall to Southampton and we took our time. We stopped in Beaulieu at the National Motor Museum. There were lots of very old cars there and many motorcycles. The cars that were built for the TV show Top Gear were on display in their own area, They even had the Reliant Robin that was supposed to have been launched into space and the caravan that James May converted to a balloon for one show.

The Reliant Robin "Space Shuttle" from Top Gear

We had several nice pub stops along the way with excellent food and good beer. We probably had the nicest 3 pub stops in a row between here and the Isle of Wight.

Drop dead gorgeous thatched pub we stayed at.

Barbara’s list of must do’s for this part of the trip have been Cornwall and the Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight ferry from Southampton

The Island itself lies almost in the center of the south coast of England and is reached by short ferry rides from several ports. As a result of our trip to Llangollen we were on a Facebook conversation among the family and Corrine kindly let us use one of her vouchers for the ferry which knocked $60 off the fare.

The ferry went from Southampton and dropped us in Cowes, which is the main town on the island and seemingly the center for all the world’s sail boats! Major ocean races start in Cowes and “Cowes Week” is a huge festival of sailing with people coming from around the world to attend.

The Classic British Sailboat race off Cowes,

Just outside of the town is a place called “Osbourne House” which is far from a house, as it was Queen Victoria’s favorite retreat for over 40 years.

Queen Victoria liked her comforts

Its now a National Trust property. National Trust manage Manor Houses, Castles and Stately Home all around the country. They were usually obtained when the original owners died and the punishing death duties in UK left the family with no choice but to donate the property to the government to settle the taxes.

The Indian themed dining room.

After Prince Albert died Victoria stopped going there and eventually it was taken over by the National Trust who maintain both the building and the contents and keep it open to the public for a fee.

We decided to drive around the island in a clockwise direction and stopped at a Camping and Caravanning Club site to fill and empty our tanks, shower etc. The site description was “Gently sloping with views of the sea”.

Whoever wrote that must have been a real estate sales person! The slight slope was a steep slope and in two directions. As we drove in there were motor homes and caravans at all kinds of wired angles trying to find a way of getting level. Even with out leveling blocks we were still too steep to use the fridge! As for the view of the sea you would need to be about 400 feet in the air to see it!

Antique rail carriages

And an antique engine to pull them

A side trip had us riding a steam train at Haven Street, a treat we have been promising ourselves for some time now, it was very pleasant and they had a good museum and workshop tour too.

Some deep restoration going on

We moved on after 2 nights and enjoyed the coast road along the south side of the island on the way to Yarmouth on the South West corner.

On the extreme west corner is a famous rock formation and lighthouse called “The Needles”. It was a tourist trap but we found a bus to save us the long walk out to the edge of the cliffs, which we appreciated!

One side of the headland and the Needles

For such a beautiful place it was amazingly enough the site of rocket testing in the 1960’s and Britain’s Black Knight guided missile engines were tested while tethered to big concrete test stands. Who ever came up with placing them in such an idyllic place??

Chalk ridges form the Needles with the famous lighthouse at the end.

This area of cliffs is famous for its multi coloured sands.
The little white dot at the top on the right is our motorhome

In Yarmouth we found a parking area on the coast where we could overnight for just $2!! The views were spectacular and we could walk into the old town harbor area in just 5 minutes. One of our favourites now!

Just a public parking lot but what a view

The old part of Yarmouth

Narrow streets

We had our last nights in Cowes at a great pub stop with friendly pub owners and great food. We got chatting to one of the locals and the time flew by.

Another pub stop

They had a folk music event in the beer garden.
That's our motorhome at the back on the left.

A bus took us right into the center of Cowes and we walked thru the shopping areas to the Esplanade on the harbor. The amount of yachts was amazing and some were HUGE. There were boats from Norway, Holland, Germany and the crowds were out in force.

Sailboats everywhere

Someone explained that the “Classic British” sailboat race was happening that day and the Fasnet Ocean race which goes from Cowes to the Fasnet Rock off South West tip of Ireland and back was starting at the weekend.

Ferry back to Portsmouth

Then were back on the ferry and off to see my cousins Liz and Helen in Portsmouth. We stayed at my late Aunt Sheila’s house for a couple of nights and took the cousins out for dinner.

I have wanted to see the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport so we took a cab down to the Portsmouth waterfront and took the chance to go up their local landmark, a sail like tower called the Spinnaker. Great views over the city and the harbour spoiled only by a drizzling rain which soaked us as we walked about a mile to the Submarine Museum.

I have worked on 3 different submarines in my career and so the interest is there. The Museum was well laid out and although it seemed small from the outside it took a long time to see everything. First we toured a WW2 submarine which is now hauled out of the water, the cramped spaces where up to 80 people lived and worked took some negotiating, and there was no crew on board!

HMS Alliance WW2 submarine

Very compact diving station.

They also had the Royal Navy’s first submarine there the “Holland” and a type X midget submarine of the type that attacked the Tirpitz in a Norwegian fiord in WW2.

UK's first submarine HMS Holland

Barbara’s next must see was Stonehenge which is only about 50 miles from Portsmouth so we had a side trip to the D Day museum on our way out of town.

View from the top of the Spinnaker Tower

Looking straight down thru the glass floor

Portsmouth and the surrounding area was the center of all the naval activity for D Day and the months after. All the landing craft loaded here and the escort forces gathered to shepherd them across the Normandy.

The museum was really good with lots of displays of artifacts and memorabilia. It kind of haunted me that my Dad had been here loading his tank on an LCT (Landing Craft Tank). In his photographs was a shot from a landing craft with white cliffs in the background. As far as I knew there were no such chalk cliffs in Normandy so it puzzled me. When we were on the Isle of Wight there were the chalk cliffs! A puzzled solved.

Stonehenge

The standing stones

At Stonehenge we spent the morning wandering around the site. You can no longer walk into the ring of stones but it’s still an impressive place.

Usual view at Stonehenge!

We now realized that all the “Must Do’s” for our trip had been done! I think we both felt kind of deflated, for 2 summers we have had things to do and places to visit. Now the “No Plan Kids” had no plan!!

Is this the end of the Dynamic Duo?

Will the World spin off its axis?

Tune in next time to find out!!