The Isle of Wight

There were two reasons for our visit to the Isle of Wight.  When he was a child Mike and his family came here every year for their holidays, so for him this was a nostalgic trip.  For me, I just wanted to see Osborne House. Simples.
Along with Mikes sister and brother in law, we came across from Portsmouth on the car ferry, about a 45 minute trip.  Before heading to our accommodation for the week we made a detour to Quarr Abbey and spent some time wandering around not just the abbey but the attached farmlands and orchards.
A wing of Clatterford House at Carisbrooke has been our home for the last week - a large 5 bedroom place which has suited our needs perfectly and is situated very close to Carisbrooke Castle and a good walk to Newport, one of the major towns on the IoW. Clatterford House was, back in the 1700's, a farm, then a pub and a hotel before assuming it's current persona.
We spent many hours one day up at Carisbrooke Castle, initially to get out of the rain, then because we were fascinated with the castle and it's history.  Built in the 1100's it has a rich history and was for some time a major fortification against a threatened Spanish invasion.  Charles 1 when he was deposed from his kingship lived at the castle for some time as the guest of the Governor, then he became a prisoner and was subsequently shipped back to London for execution.
The castle is in a good state of repair, thanks to Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, who was Governor of the IoW and made the castle her sometime home.
Osborne House was just glorious.  We spent almost a whole day there.  The house itself is open inside to visit (no photos allowed).  As is expected it is very ornate as befits a queen and the times but at the same time it was the family home.  Albert's study was as he left it as was Victoria's bedroom. Interesting!!  The grounds though are magnificent,  Pathways leading through beautiful treed avenues, wildflowers growing in gay abandon.  At the bottom of the estate on the Solent there is a great cafe where we sat looking out towards Portsmouth and enjoyed watching the passing yachts. There is also a great walled garden where all sorts of fruit, vegetables and flowers are grown for use in the house.  All in all a top spot.
We have managed to get in a couple of good walks on the island in particular yesterdays long walk from Sandown to Bembridge, a walk which took us along the coast for about 5 miles.  It was a beautiful day for walking, in parts a little uphill - then of course we had to walk back.
Today it has been bucketing down so we headed over to Yarmouth the only part of the island we had not visited.  There we visited the castle, which was designed in the 1500's as one of Henry V111's defensive fortresses along England's shores and is the only remaining example of it's type.  It is a tiny castle, by castle standards, so the visit did not take long!!
We have sampled many of the great pubs on this island not just for the beer of course but also for the grub, needless to say we have had a great time.
Tomorrow we hop the car ferry back to Portsmouth and head back up to Epsom but not before stopping off near Chichester to catch up with our trivia team mate Annie.
On Monday we pick up our rental car and begin our 2 week discovery tour of the north of England, popping over into Scotland to visit my old mate Lindy.