Shanklin was developed as a seaside resort town on the Isle of Wight - a
location made popular when Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert chose
the island to build their holiday home, Osbourne House, at East Cowes in the
northeast corner of the island. In the decades that followed, Shanklin and
neighbouring Sandown stayed at the popular end of the UK holiday market. They
were blessed with long sandy beaches and famously the UK's sunshine record was
often held by Shanklin.... making it just a tad sunnier than anywhere else in
the UK.
I grew up here and in the years since I was a kid, Shanklin
has lost some of its grand villas (with many smaller houses occupying what were
once gardens with elegant cedars, monkey puzzle trees and other arboreal
specimen trees). Some of the key shops in the town have also gone, Woolworth's,
Barclay's Bank, Beardsales (the wonderful stationary shop), the Sports Shop (where
everyone went for their school uniforms and PE kits) but other have come to occupy
their places, including Poundland and two branches of the Co-op supermarket!
There are still many hotels and guesthouses, many
looking out from the cliff over Sandown Bay and the thatched end of town still
hosts the Crab Inn, handsome parkland and other pretty features.
Here are some images from a little stroll on Boxing
Day evening under a big but somewhat veiled moon.
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| Shanlin Beach at moonrise. |
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| A view of Hope Beach. |
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| The Crab Inn. |
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| The Chine Inn - sadly closed. |
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| The Streamer Inn on Shanklin seafront. |
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| Regent's Street - with Christmas lights! |
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