The green tidal mudflats are noisy with gulls and lapwings as the ferry sails towards Yarmouth. Far out on sparkling water, a white sail stands out against misty downs. The Victorian poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson regularly tramped over those chalky hills, declaring “the air is worth ‘sixpence a pint’”. There is no need to drive for a holiday on the Isle of Wight. Regular ferries connect with mainland trains and the island has a good network of buses.
I am travelling as a foot passenger on the 40-minute Wightlink ferry from Lymington Pier, where the train arrives along an embankment with yachts, plovers and redshanks outside the window. Once on the island, the Summer Links bus service, running from April to late September, stops at the entrance to Tapnell Farm, where I’m staying for a couple of nights in a well-equipped cabin with a hot tub that looks out towards Tennyson Down.
