Beyond Freshwater, the great white cliffs rise sheer from the English Channel. Here, the island narrows to a frail peninsula as the chalk ridge that stretches almost unbroken from its eastern extremity at Culver Cliff romps westwards over Tennyson Down to the Needles.

From his home at nearby Farringford, the Victorian poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, declared that the downland air was worth sixpence a pint. In today’s money the price would be rather higher, for this is magical stuff. To be truthful, stepping out onto the coastal path in the golden light of a summer’s evening is something like flying; your feet move easily over the close-cropped turf and, as you soar skywards on the westerly breeze, you can see almost forty miles from Swanage to St Catherine’s Point.

With its dramatic cliffs, wide-open river estuaries and rolling chalk downland, the Isle of Wight offers some of Britain’s most diverse countryside. Ringed by nearly 30 miles of ‘Heritage coasts’, over half the island is officially designated as being of outstanding natural beauty. Away from the bustling seaside resorts, you’ll find pretty lanes and thatched villages just waiting to welcome you – and, it’s said, there’s a pub for almost every square mile on the island!

Over 500 miles of carefully maintained footpaths make this the perfect destination for walkers. Here, walking is part of the culture. Eight waymarked leisure trails link the interior to the island’s 67-mile coast path, and the Isle of Wight Council was the first authority in England to meet the Government’s national rights of way target. No wonder that each May the Isle of Wight plays host to the UK’s largest walking festival.

Long before these modern invasions, the island was captured by Vespasian and absorbed into the Roman Empire in the middle of the first century. The Romans built villas like the ones at Brading and Newport. They called their new territory Vectis – a name that you’ll see every day on the side of Southern Vectis buses!

After the Romans left Britain some four hundred years later, their place was taken by the West Saxons. The islanders endured foreign raids throughout this turbulent period until, in 1066, the Norman Conquest heralded an era of political stability. King William’s military commander founded the castle at Carisbrooke, as well as a number of island churches including the distinctive All Saints at Newchurch.

Years later, in 1256, the church itself took a hand in the island’s development when the Bishop of Winchester established the port of Newtown. The town quickly grew prosperous and, for a time, it was the busiest port on the island; later, it fell victim to the old problem of foreign raids when the French destroyed it in 1377.

Further French incursions in the 16th century prompted Henry VIII to defend the island with a chain of forts such as the one at Yarmouth. History repeated itself in the Victorian era, and the government embarked on an extensive network of fortifications to protect Portsmouth’s naval base from the old enemy. Island defences like the patriotically named Fort Victoria and Fort Albert were built to support a string of forts on the mainland and at Spithead.

If the Isle of Wight has borne its share of foreign invasions, it has so far remained secure against a more insidious assault. The American grey squirrel was introduced to Britain in the 1870s and, by the mid-20th century, it had driven native red squirrels from most parts of the mainland. Today, the Isle of Wight is one of the few places in southern England where you can see this engaging creature in its natural habitat.

The island is also the last British stronghold of the attractive Glanville fritillary butterfly, and a small colony of reddish-buff moths near Newtown Harbour is the only native population of its kind anywhere in Britain. Low-lying estuaries and mudflats at Newtown, Yarmouth and along the Medina are great places for wildlife, and birdwatchers may see waterfowl such as little egret, curlew, redshank or black-tailed godwit.

In fact, the island is something of a naturalist’s paradise. The southern coastline contains over 20 miles of naturally developing soft cliffs, an internationally rare habitat that’s protected by European legislation. Often called the Dinosaur Coast, this crumbling coastline is rich in fossils, as well as rare insects and colourful plants like field cow-wheat, hoary stock and ivy broomrape.

You’ll witness the dramatic effects of this natural erosion on several of your walks, and it’s not surprising that coastal protection is a thorny issue on an island that has been changing its shape since prehistoric times. Realigning the coastal path may be relatively straightforward, but regular landslips also threaten sections of the Military Road between Niton and Freshwater.

Attractions like Isle of Wight Pearl stand close to the retreating cliffs, and the gardens at Blackgang Chine are now much smaller than when they were first laid out in the 1840s. In contrast, your inland walks will bring you to historic buildings like Appuldurcombe House, Bembridge windmill and Newtown town hall that have been saved from collapse through the ravages of time. The Isle of Wight steam railway is another success story, with three times as much track as it had in 1990!

With so much to see, you may be wondering where to start. If you’re already on the island, you’ll probably want to begin with a nearby walk – but don’t forget that with up to 350 ferry crossings a day, the Isle of Wight makes a great day out from the mainland. Three of the walks in this book start close to the main ferry terminals, and there are also good public transport links to the rest of the island.

So lace up your boots and dig out the maps – you don’t want to miss the boat!

© David Foster 2010

what readers say ...

"This little book is an absolute gem ... We love the Isle of Wight AND we love this book!"
Jill
Amazon reviewer