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Archiver > ISLE-OF-WIGHT > 1999-03 > 0922033797


From: Barry Drinkle <>
Subject: Isle-of-Wight holiday 1912 #47
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 11:29:57 -0500


EXCURSIONS FROM FRESHWATER BAY.
IV. - TO THE TENNYSON CROSS, THE NEEDLES, AND
TOTLAND BAY OR ALUM BAY.
In the opinion of many this is, in suitable weather, the
finest of all the fine walks in the Island.
Take the road which turns up along the wall on the shore
side of the Freshwater Bay hotel. When the wall ends the
Redoubt will be seen on left, with its coastguard flagstaff
nearby. Continue to a wicket-gate on right which admits to
the footpath, and after a very short climb we are on "the
ridge of a noble down," formerly known as High Down, but
more often referred to now as Tennyson's Down.
(Note: Early in 1927 the late Lord Tennyson presented 155
acres of the Down around the cross to the National Trust,
in memory of his father, the Poet Laureate, who, in his late
years, walked on the Down almost every day.)
The Cross can be seen right ahead and directions are superflous.
It is as well, however, not to go too near the cliff-edge, as in
this exposed corner the wind often comes with sudden gusts
that might have awkward consequences. The view embraces at
least half the Island, from Cowes on the one hand to St.Catherine's
on the other, and a considerable portion of the opposite coast.
Totland Bay, with its red roofs and large hotel, and Hurst Castle,
with its long projecting beach, seem to lie at one's feet.
In the hollow a glimpse is had of Farringford House, long the
poet's residence.
The Tennyson Cross is of Cornish granite and nearly thirty-eight
feet high. The inscription on the east face runs:
"In memory of Alfred Lord Tennyson this cross is raised, A
Beacon to Sailors, By the people of Freshwater and other
Friends in England and America."
The monument was unveiled on July 8, 1897. On fair days and foul
Tennyson was accustomed to make a daily pilgrimage to this spot,
declaring that "the air on the Downs was worth sixpence a pint."
He would sit for hours gazing out to sea, his big, black, broad-
rimmed hat and his ample cloak wrapped about the tall, bent form,
making him a picturesque figure, familiar to everyone in the
vicinity of his beloved home.
Descent to Totland Bay. - Parties visiting Freshwater for
the day only are often somewhat pressed for time. The walk
outlined above, and the return to Freshwater Bay, can be done
quite comfortably in an hour, with time linger for the view.
If time allows, a continuation should certainly be made towards
Alum Bay and the Needles; those who have to return to Freshwater,
and yet wish to see more of this entrancing corner of the Wight,
should descend the northern face of the Down by the footpath
that will be seen near the Cross. It leads down to a large chalk
quarry, and after winding round conducts to a gate giving on to
a by-lane leading in a quarter of a mile to the Highdown Inn,
on the Alum Bay road. Here turn right for Freshwater Bay, or
the village, passing the grounds of Farringford, or continue
straight ahead (northward) and later turn by the Catholic Church
and then first right for Totland Bay.
Those who continue on the high ground westward of the Cross
will reach in half a mile the finely situated Golf Course of
the Needles Golf Club (eighteen holes) on the Needles Down,
400 feet above the sea, with superb views of the Island,
the Solent, and the opposite coast-line. Thanks to the chalk
subsoil and short grass, the course is never very wet in winter.
The hazards consist of gorse, ruts, and artificial bunkers.
The course has a length of 5,670 yards. There is a comfortable
club-house.
Continuing, one arrives at the Military Road, and crossing
it may go on towards the seaward extremity of the Down.
Further progress is presently barred by the omnipresent "W.D.,"
which, being interpreted, means War Department. The fort on the
outmost edge of the cliff, directly above the Needles, having
been found insecure, has been replaced by another more powerful
one farther back. We prefer the view of the Needles from near
the first-named fort to any other, although from above the
isolated chalk masses appear comparatively small. They are three
in number. Two pictures dating from the middle of the eighteenth
century exist in which is shown a fourth, a slender pinnacle
about 120 feet high, which fell in 1764, and which was probably
responsible for the name of the group. The famous Lighthouse
(80 feet above high-water mark) at the outermost point,
has a double-occulting light (eclipse two seconds, light two
seconds, eclipse two seconds, dark fourteen seconds), showing
white, red or green according to the point of the compass
from which the mariner views it. The light is visible 14 miles.
In foggy weather the horn sounds every fifteen seconds.
It is interesting to recall that here in November, 1897, the
first British Wireless Transmitting Station was erected by the
Marconi Company. On the sixth of the following month,
readable signals were exchanged with a steamer at sea at
ranges up to 18 miles, and in June, 1898, the first paid
Marconi-gram was sent from this station by Lord Kelvin.
Here also may appropriately be recorded the fact that this
south-west corner of the Island may be regarded as a fortress,
although many of the fortifications are now obsolete. Besides
the Freshwater redoubt and the fort mentioned, the end
of the chalk promontory is honeycombed with galleries,
whence quick-firing guns and searchlights command the
entrance to the Solent. And all along the coast to Yarmouth
is a succession of forts, with the disused Golden Hill Fort on
the higher ground behind Colwell Bay, while on the opposite
side of the mile-wide entrance to the Solent is Hurst Castle,
where modern batteries contribute their share to the defences.
TBC

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