Silchester

Roman Bignor

The Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a large Island in the English Channel famous for having a wonderful coast line and some amazing wildlife. For these reasons I call it the Paradise Island. If you are a nature love, ghost hunter or photographer, there could hardly be a more stunning location to visit, especially on a warm spring day in early May.

The Isle of Wight has survived many of the depredations of modern farming that have swept Southern England since the Second World War. Because of this it has retained a character all of its own. Here there are still rare species of butterfly that have vanished from the mainland. These include the beautiful Lady Glanville Fritillary butterfly which flies in a few places on the south coast in sheltered chines. Here it can be the commonest species of butterfly, flying as it does in small mixed communities of blues and skippers.On the Highest hills (called "downs") on the Island there are small colonies of internationally rare species such as the magnificent Adonis blue and its wonderful close relative, the chalk-hill blue. Both these species live on the south side of the largest downs and are remarkable for being extremely local. They have a close association with ants and where the ant vanishes so does the butterfly.

The Isle of Wight has a reputation common in many parts of England for being haunted. Appuldurcombe House near Wroxall is famed for its ghosts, notably one of a wailing child which is said to haunt the ruins of the once great house. However, the only wailing cry I have heard there is that of the barn owl, another bird that has virtually vanished from the mainland but which remains common on the island. Its call among the trees at dusk is very reminiscent of a crying child and can be quite eerie. The bird itself is ghost like, drifting on white wings silently through the trees. Perhaps this is the origin of the legend of one of the ghosts in the ruins but does it also explain the phantom coach and horses that are also said to be seen there….?

For me there can hardly be a better place to sit on the cliffs and watch peregrine falcons and ravens riding the thermals while small coppers and grizzled skipper butterflies seek nectar in the meadows of yellow trefoil and vetch. Perhaps this is the closest I will get to paradise……