Tuesday was another wet day. I spent much of the day sorting out a list of things which need sorting out on the van and ordered all the parts I need.
Maintenance list – September 2022 – Caravan Ramblings
In the evening we ate at the “Royal China” restaurant in Sandown. The place was very busy and there was an enthusiastic core of repeat visitors. The food and service was in fact excellent.
Wednesday we drove to Appuldurcombe House, which is an English Heritage property but is in a state of disrepair and free to visit.
This English Baroque country house was the home of the Worsley family and actually started life as a priory in AD 1100 before becoming a convent.
The large Tudor mansion was bequeathed in 1690 to Sir Robert Worsley, 3rd Baronet who began planning a replacement. The house building was started in 1702 and the architect was John James. Alas, Sir Robert died in 1747 and he never saw the house fully completed.
The house was greatly extended by his great-nephew Sir Richard Worsley, the 7th Baronet of Appuldurcombe and Capability Brown was commissioned in 1779 to design the ornamental grounds at the same time as the extensions.
Presently, the house is now mainly a shell although the front section has been re-roofed and glazed and a small part of the interior recreated. The house has become well-known as one of the supposedly most haunted places on the Island.
Bembridge Winmdmill is only open to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. We headed over to Bembridge on Thursday lunchtime, via the Island bus service!
The windmill is the last one remaining on the Island and whilst it is “run-up” every year or so, it isn’t working in so far as processing flour from grain. All four floors of the windmill are open to the public via some fairly tight staircases. Bembridge Windmill was built in the early 1700s when Bembridge was almost an island in its own right, cut off from the rest of the Isle of Wight.
Much of the machinery remaining in the mill is typical of the early 1700s.
The earliest positive date was found during restoration work when the steps between the first and second floor were replaced. Those steps had previously been reversed so that the runner against the wall had once been the outer runner, along which the inscription “E BEKER 1746 A C” had been carved. Other inscriptions have been found, one which could be 1701, but is not clear enough to give positive dating.
After a coffee in the village of Bembridge we headed to Shanklin and the Chine. It’s fairly pricey to enter the gorge but the ticket lasts a whole 7 days so we visited again later in the week after dark where there is a nice light show. After our first visit we had a reservation at the pub located at the bottom of the Chine – The Fisherman’s cottage. It’s a lovely setting but the place was lacking a warm and cosy atmosphere. We found better places to eat in the Old Village (more later!).
The weather has improved significantly over the last few days. The deluge of rain has stopped and the ground is starting to dry out. Days are sunny but there is now the chill of Autumn in the evenings and overnight.
Saturday we headed over to Carisbrooke Castle – another English Heritage monument. We’d already spent £40 to visit Osborne house and the castle was another £20. We were able to get an annual membership for £103 and I was refunded for the Osborne House visit. Just need to remember to cancel the Direct Debit! Plus we avoided the £3 parking charge.
The site of Carisbrooke castle may have been occupied in pre-Roman times as a ruined wall suggests that there was a building there in late Roman times. From 1100 the castle remained in the possession of Richard de Redvers family and over the next two centuries his descendants improved the castle with stone walls, towers and a keep. In 1293 the castle was sold to Edward I and from then on its governance was entrusted to wardens as representatives of the crown.
Charles I was imprisoned here for fourteen months before his execution in 1649 and afterwards his two youngest children were confined to the castle. From 1896 to 1944 it was the home of Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria, as Governor of the Isle of Wight before becoming under the control of English Heritage.
In the evening we headed back to Shanklin for dinner at the Village Inn. This had been recommended by a lady we were chatting to on the IOW Steam Railway. This was everything the Fisherman’s Cottage wasn’t. A warm cosy bustling atmosphere; great beer and good food and a lovely table by the window. Only minor criticism was that the Chilli-con-carne was listed as being seriously fiery. It wasn’t. Other than that we had a great evening before heading through Shanklin Chine one last time – on this occasion after dark.
It’s now Sunday morning and we have Sunday lunch booked at the Pointer Inn in Newchurch. Then the final remnants of packing-up before we head off back to the mainland. The Queens funeral has meant we will spend Monday night at Charmouth as we don’t fancy moving the caravan around the tight streets of our East Devon coastal town on a Bank Holiday Monday