Local footpaths connect the site with Brading Marshes, recently designated as a nature reserve by the RSPB. The reserve consists of 168 hectares of wet grassland, open water, reed bed and broadleaved woodland. The site is managed for wildfowl and breeding wading birds – including redshanks, lapwings and snipe, etc and should be of particular interest to professional and amateur birdwatchers alike. Bearded tits, marsh harriers and bitterns may also be spotted, along with pheasants and birds of prey.
Sandown Bay offers excellent beach fishing from the sandy foreshore. Sea anglers can try their skills at the nearby Nab Tower, although you will have to hire a boat, of course, or bring your own. The Centre provides plenty of boat trailer parking space on the private estate. Course fishing is also available at various locations on the Island.
The actual area of Yaverland itself is well known as a fossil hunting site, having been host to Uri Geller. The islands oldest sedimentary rocks can be seen in the cliffs along the south west coast and at Yaverland. For further information on fossils and dinosaurs contact the tourist information board or visit Dinosaur Island (Sandown) Dinosaur Farm (Atherfield bay) and walk the coastal path for spectacular views and to identify the different rocks.
The I.O.W. Zoo, along with it’s famous Tiger Sanctuary may also be found along this coastal road which continues through Sandown passing Browns Golf & Putting Course, Crazy Golf, various amusements both indoor and outdoor and eventually reaching Sandown Pier, which is the only entertainment pier still on the island. The pier was opened in 1879 and extended in 1895. West of the pier is Ferncliff Gardens and Battery Gardens which offer a scenic quiet enviroment. Sandown itself grew up in the victorian era from a small village and was assisted by the arrival of the IOW railway from Ryde to Shanklin in 1864. One of Sandowns most famous visitors was Lewis Carroll who stayed in Sandown whilst researching his book Alice in Wonderland.
Shanklin is a two mile walk away and can be reached by the south west route along the sea wall reventment or the higher route of the coastal path. Visit the Old Village with it’s thatched properties which is situated at the head of Shanklin Chine which is a natural sandstone gorge with pathways, bridges and steps between Chine Hollow in Shanklin Old
Village and the Esplanade.
The gorge being illuminated from mid May to mid September and the Chine was opened circa 1817. Also situated at Shanklin is the Cliff Lift which was built in 1956 and connects Shanklin with the Esplanade (beach), alternatively if you are of the energetic and fit regime ignore the lift and use Osbourne steps which as it states is a series of steps running down to the Esplanade.
Sandown Bay Holiday Centre is an ideal location from which to explore the island whether you travel by car, train, bus cycle or shank’s pony. Within Sandown & Shanklin you will find shops, cinema, theatre, indoor pool, leisure facilities and everything you would expect to find in a traditional seaside town and to complete our picture, Sandown has one of the highest sunshine records in England.
