Ventnor

Ventnor is a largely Victorian seaside resort on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England. It lies underneath Boniface Down, and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea.

The town is split into Upper Ventnor and Lower Ventnor. Upper Ventnor being higher up on the hill, with a few shops. There is no gap in the town between Upper and Lower Ventnor.

Also connected to the east is the village of Bonchurch, and after that the Landslip - an wood which is slowly falling into the sea.

Most of Ventnor is slowly slipping on the clay on which it is built. There is a local expression: "We live near the sea and are getting nearer every day."

Ventnor website maintained by Ventnor Hoteliers' Assoc.: http://www.ventnor-iw.co.uk/

Table of contents

1 Places of Interest 1.1 Park 1.2 Botanical Gardens 1.3 The Cascade 1.4 Paddling Pool 1.5 Brewery 1.6 Captain Hockney's 1.7 Ventnor Sign 2 Events 2.8 Crab Fair 2.9 Smuggling Pagent 2.10 Carnival 2.11 Celebrate Ventnor Day 3 Schools 4 Trivia

Places of Interest

Park

A small park on the west side of town with a band stand, aviary and stream.

Botanical Gardens

The gardens is unusually large and well stocked. Commissioned by Queen Victoria. Part of the garden is built on the site what was once the Royal National Hospital for diseases of the chest and is said to be haunted. The garden also contains the Smuggling Museum.

The gardens also contain a quite large hot house. There is a story that there used to be peyote cactus in the hot house until some local youths stole it after watching the film Young Guns.

The Cascade

A garden crossed with a waterfall, built in the victorian era of the town. The main path and road from town to the beach wind around it.

Paddling Pool

A pool on the sea front esplanade. In the middle, rising out of the water is a model of the Isle of Wight which children can play on. The hills are physically modelled and roads and towns are painted on.

Brewery

The old Burts Brewery was empty for years, but reopened in 1996 as the Ventnor Brewery. One of the beers produced there is the quite unusual Oyster Stout.

External link: http://www.ventnorbrewery.co.uk/

Captain Hockney's

A large and rundown building in the center of town cells all kind of odd stock. It is run by an gentleman billing himself Captain Hockney.

Ventnor Sign

There is a sign on the cliffs to the west of the beach which spells out the word VENTNOR in white stone, about 4m high. The stones are bolted into the ground and a sign tells how it used to be chalk until it was vandelised by local youths. This may have been an incident in 1992 when it was changed to BENTNOB.

Events

Crab Fair

Every year the town celebrates the town fair, based around the local crab harvest. It's held in a field near the botanical gardens.

Smuggling Pagent

Week long event in which locals dress like smugglers and excise men.

Carnival

Traditional English town carnival. Carnival Floats, Marching Bands and Drinking.

Celebrate Ventnor Day

Strange but true. This day is also celebrated.

Schools

• St. Boniface Primary School
• Ventnor Middle School

Ventnor is also a seaside area found on the north side of the Phillip Island, which is off the southern coast of Australia. It was named after the English town mentioned above.