I’LL be honest. If you had asked me about ancient relics on the Isle Of Wight,
I would have pointed you towards the nearest tea room full of coach party
visitors.
Bad jokes aside, there is, of course, the likes of Osborne House, The Needles
and Carisbrooke Castle too.
I would never have thought to mention dinosaurs.
But, in fact, the Isle Of Wight has recently been named as the dinosaur
capital of the UK by the Natural History Museum.
The island is like a fossilised version of Jurassic Park and as the chalk and
sandstone cliffs erode on to the beaches below, they reveal secrets — such
as 125million-year-old dino bones.
I fancy myself as a bit of an Indiana Jones-style archaeologist, so I signed
up for a two-hour fossil walk at Dinosaur Isle in Sandown.
The Isle Of Wight is such an important site for prehistoric discoveries that
Dinosaur Isle is a purpose-built interactive museum, which is well worth a
visit itself.
The fossil walk costs just £5 for adults and £3.70 for kids and proved to be
extremely good value for money.
The highlight was discovering — and standing in — an iguanodon footprint made
some 115million years ago as it sauntered along a riverbank.
The rest of my group, who ranged from five to 45, were hooked as expert Steve
told us to keep an eye out for bones that had been preserved in the rock.
It was not as daft as it first sounded, for a local fossil hunter recently
unearthed the most complete iguanodon skeleton ever found.
I have been coming to the Isle Of Wight for the past 25 years for school
holidays, music festivals and scooter rallies.
But this was the first time I had taken my family on the short crossing over
the Solent — and my 18-month-old son Teddy loved it.
Having a toddler can sometimes limit your choice of accommodation because you
don’t want to be cooped up in a room when the child goes to bed at 7pm.
But fortunately, we stayed at the Niton Barns — wonderfully renovated milking
sheds from the 16th Century.
We stayed in the Yarborough barn, which features many traditional aspects such
as exposed beams but all the mod-cons, including flatscreen TVs and free
wi-fi.
The self-catering accommodation had plenty of space — an en-suite double and
en-suite with two single beds, plus a kitchen and living room.
The barn itself is situated in the quaint village of Niton, on the south of
the island, which consists of a post office, tearoom, hairdressers, pharmacy
and well-stocked local shop.
The nearby White Mouse Inn, a five-minute drive to Chale, ticked all the boxes
when it came to good food.
We also ate at the Crab & Lobster pub in Bembridge, which served a decent
Sunday lunch for less than £10.
While I took part in the fossil walk, my wife Hayley took Teddy to the nearby
Isle Of Wight Zoo, but this got the thumbs-down.
As did the tired-looking Butterfly & Fountain World in Wootton which, at
£7.50 per adult, did not offer much value for money.
We, and especially Teddy, had a better time on the beach at Brook Bay, which
was a beautiful place to see the sun set.
And it was on the beach that I remembered just why I love the Isle Of Wight
so much — it is a place to have fun, no matter how old you are.
Go: Isle Of Wight
GETTING THERE: Wightlink Ferries operate from Portsmouth and Lymington.
See .
STAYING THERE: We stayed in Yarborough Barn at Niton Barns. Three
nights’ self-catering is from £506 for four sharing, including
return Wightlink ferry. See .
OUT & ABOUT: Wight World offer ferry travel and a day out for four
at Dinosaur Isle from £47. Call 01983 404 344 or see .