Isle of Wight Holiday - Of Roman Villas, Aeroplanes and Windmills (Day 5)

-- More adventures on the Isle of Wight in August --

Day 5 dawned clear and sunny (again) with the promise of being a bit of a scorcher. We prepared to leave the house for another glorious day on our bikes. While wheeling my bike from the living room to the front door, I noticed the front brake block rubbing on the wheel.... turns out my little clipless moment had buckled the wheel! (As well as damaging the rear mech - something I didn't discover until a few days later when I really needed that 34x36 gear!)

Thankfully, Adam was able to re-true the wheel. The alternative would have been to take the bike to a bike shop by car.

We set off through Shanklin and Lake, where we turned off and picked up part of the Round the Isle route as far as Brading. Our destination: the Roman Villa.

The modern visitor centre houses the excavation of the eastern one of the two main buildings in the villa complex.

I didn't really have my "museum head" on so didn't study everything carefully, so unfortunately now I can't tell you much about the details of the villa! It was beautiful and fascinating, though. I highly recommend a visit.

Outside, one of the outbuildings contains the "engine" for the underfloor heating.

And the well that served the entire compound has been identified and is well protected. Even from the likes of curious Englishmen!

Recently a garden has been planted in what was the centre of the compound. All the trees, flowers, shrubs and herbs are species that would have been known to the Roman inhabitants and would likely have been in their own gardens.

After leaving the villa, we headed towards Bembridge, stopping for lunch at the Propeller Inn alongside the airfield.

From the airfield, we could see the Bembridge Windmill up on the hill - our next destination!

This is the only surviving windmill on the Isle of Wight and is now in the hands of the National Trust.

Inside is an incredible "museum" of what the mill would have been like when it was in operation.

a scale model

We cycled around through Bembridge and along the waterfront there -- sadly didn't take any photos. We thought we'd take an off-road route coming in to Brading from the north -- it was all rutted gravel farm roads! Quite bumpy on road bikes. From Brading we stayed on the main roads to Shanklin train station where we picked up the Sunshine Trail to Wroxhall. Most of this was on a disused railway line -- really quiet and peaceful.

We spotted this mural on the end of a terrace in Newport Road, Upper Ventnor. 

Our route home came out on the overcliffs above Ventnor.

Our 26-mile route for the day looked like this: 

Adam and I then went out for a nice Italian meal in an historic inn, a short walk down the hill from our house. 

We went back there the next morning to take better photos in the daylight!

And so another wonderful day on the Isle of Wight came to an end.