‘It’s unlikely that big lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer’
The infamous quote by Health Secretary Matt Hancock may have upset the airline industry, but staycation destinations are looking forward to a boost, nowhere more so than the epicentre of UK Sailing . . . the Isle of Wight.
There’s something tantalising about the Isle of Wight. Seen from the coasts of Dorset or Hampshire it can look by turns misty and remote or vividly near, its chalk cliffs toothy white in the sun.
Once you actually arrive it feels like a distilled drop of Englishness (cue eye-roll from the islanders): cliffs and downs, suburbs and country, native orchids and floral exotics, some of the best beaches in the UK, beach huts, sailing clubs, surfers, walkers and fish, sometimes with chips.
Whatever your thing, the Isle of Wight probably has a beach for it – and it’s always a treat to watch unwary visitors slowly retreating up their chosen patch as the day goes on, squeezed into a strip of foreshore narrowed by the Solent’s famous double tides.
Sophie Campbell
