The Isle of Wight

My grandparents lived in East Cowes at first, but after WWII they moved to "Ivy Cottage", New Road, Wootton Bridge. The cottage is shown on the earliest Ordnance Survey maps, so it is at least 200 years old. These photos were taken in August, 1999.

The cottage is approached most easily along a track that leads up from the bridge, behind the "Sloop Inn". At the top of the track you turn left into the leafy lane that goes into the back garden. It still has the goldfish pond, but the chicken run is gone. The garden is mature and very abundant, with fruit trees and many bushes and plants.

To the right of the top of the track is the gate into the field that leads down to the creek. My grandfather had a small boat down there that he used for fishing. There were water voles on the slopes and crabs on the beach of the creek.

My grandparents are buried at St. Edmund's Church, Wootton Bridge, parts of which, including a Norman Arch, originate from around 1087.