Foreland or Forelands, and the adjacent Foreland Fields ( 50°40′57″N1°04′36″W / 50.68250°N 1.07667°W ), is the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight, part of the village of Bembridge. [1] It is located about 6.5 miles due south of the city of Portsmouth on the British mainland, separated by the eastern reaches of the Solent. It is characterised by a pub called the Crab and Lobster Inn and various beach huts plus a beach cafe and a coast guard lookout. In the sea are the reefs of Bembridge Ledge which is rich in edible crabs, lobsters and spider crabs and shoals of mackerel. In the Crab & Lobster Inn are photographs of the many shipwrecks, which included the submarine HMS Alliance, now a museum ship at Gosport [2] and the First World War troopship the S.S. Mehndi carrying troops from South Africa, with great loss of life. [3]
Foreland Fields includes Bembridge ledge, an area formerly popular with shipwrecks and smuggling, but also for crab and lobster fishing; there is a Coastguard Station. The channel through the interior of the Bembridge Ledges is known as "Dickie Dawes Gut" after a notorious local smuggler (and father of the courtesan Sophie Dawes) due to his feat of escaping the excise men by superior local navigational knowledge. There was a pillbox built in the Second World War, now subsumed in the sea defences. [4] The beach is sandy with stones which contain Cretaceous fossils. [5] The cliffs also feature Horsetails ferns.
Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of 21,374 inhabitants.
Shanklin is a seaside resort and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake and Sandown. The sandy beach, its Old Village and a wooded ravine, Shanklin Chine, are its main attractions. The esplanade along the beach is occupied by hotels and restaurants for the most part, and is one of the most tourist-oriented parts of the town. The other is the Old Village, at the top of Shanklin Chine. Together with Lake and Sandown to the north, Shanklin forms a built up area of 21,374 inhabitants (2011).
Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge is the largest village in England. Bembridge is home to many of the Island's wealthiest residents. The population had reduced to 3,688 at the 2011 Census.
The naval Battle of the Solent took place on 18 and 19 July 1545 during the Italian Wars between the fleets of Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, in the Solent, between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The engagement was inconclusive, and is most notable for the sinking of the English carrack, Mary Rose.
Arreton is a village and civil parish in the central eastern part of the Isle of Wight, England. It is about 3 miles south east of Newport.
St Helens is a village and civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight.
The Hepialoidea are the superfamily of "ghost moths" and "swift moths".
Atherfield is a rural location in the south west of the Isle of Wight, UK. It includes the small settlements of Atherfield Green and Little Atherfield, as well as several farms, and is set in largely open farmland. To the south west it is bounded by the cliffs of Chale Bay and Brighstone Bay, which are divided by Atherfield Point. The south-eastern part of Brighstone Bay is also sometimes known as Atherfield Bay, and was the site of a former holiday camp, now demolished.
Bembridge School And Cliffs SSSI is a 12.58 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, notified in 1999.
The Archaeology Discover Centre was a museum located in Fort Victoria on the Isle of Wight, England.
Puckaster is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, England. Puckaster is on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, south of Niton, between St. Catherine's Point and Binnel.
Bembridge was the terminus of the 2+3⁄4-mile branch line that connected it to the main line at Brading. On holiday Saturdays the sector table revolved continuously because the station area was too small to contain points.
The Isle of Wight Coastal Path is a circular long-distance footpath of 70 miles (113 km) around the Isle of Wight, UK. It follows public footpaths and minor lanes, with some sections along roads.
Whitecliff Bay and Bembridge Ledges is a 131.6-hectare (325-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest that lies around the coastline of the easternmost part of the Isle of Wight from the Bembridge harbour entrance in the north around Foreland to Whitecliff Bay to the south. The site was notified in 1955 for both its biological and geological features.
Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges is a 488.5 hectare Site of special scientific interest which stretches from Brading along the Yar valley between Bembridge and St Helens, Isle of Wight through to the sea at Priory Bay on the north east coast of the Isle of Wight. It encompasses the Brading Marshes RSPB reserve, Bembridge harbour and the inter tidal sand, mud flats and rocky ledges exposed off the coast at low water, including the land around St Helens Fort which is not attached to the mainland. It is the second largest SSSI on the Isle of Wight. The site was notified in 1951 for both its biological and geological features.
Whitecliff Bay is a sandy bay near Foreland which is the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, about two miles south-west of Bembridge and just to the north of Culver Down. The bay has a shoreline of around three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) and has a popular sandy shingle beach which is over half a mile long. It is a tourist site with three holiday parks in the vicinity of the bay; it has two cafes though minimal facilities. Access is limited and only possible down two steeply sloping concrete tracks.
Brighstone Bay is a bay on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the south and west of the village of Brighstone from which it takes its name. It faces south west towards the English Channel, its shoreline is 7 km in length and is gently curving. It stretches from Sudmoor Point in the north west to Artherfield Point in the south east.
Puckpool is a small coastal settlement on the outskirts of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. The area is best known for Puckpool Park, a park with an 18-hole putting green, 12 hole mini golf and two tennis courts. Puckpool Battery is located within the boundaries of the park; this is an old Palmerston Fort built in 1865.
Back of the Wight is an area on the Isle of Wight in England. The area has a distinct historical and social background, and is geographically isolated by the chalk hills, immediately to the North, as well as poor public transport infrastructure. Primarily agricultural, the Back of the Wight is made up of small villages spread out along the coast, including Brighstone, Shorwell and Mottistone.
Atherfield Ledge is a rocky outcrop extending from the coast of the Back of the Wight, Isle of Wight. This is a famous shipwreck location. Along with Brook Ledge and Brighstone Ledge it is one of the area's main shipping hazards.