December 17th 2021 and I left my lovely flat in Ryde Isle of Wight and moved to Bembridge , just a few miles up the road by bus. I had lived there five years but needed to leave due to stairs and steps which I could not manage anymore due to dodgy knees. ….So a new move to Bembridge in April 2022 to a cottage with no stairs or steps and 5 minutes walk to the beach was beckoning.
It is now February 2026 and I’m now well and truly settled with no reason to move.. I have a small cottage which is great for my needs with a lovely outlook , lots of wildlife I can see from my windows and good neighbours.
After living in Ryde , Bembridge is totally different . Ryde is buzzing with all age groups and nationalities , with the lovely shops and cafes from the top of the high street to the bottom of union street ending with Ryde Esplanade and the gateway to the mainland …Trains that go along the pier to the catamaran. There is also the hovercraft invented by Sir Christopher Cockerell in 1955 that made its debut across the English Channel in 1959 that will take you to mainland England in about 10 minutes and the catamaran which takes about 30 minutes if you are a foot passenger . The car ferries don’t go from Ryde they go from Cowes and Fishbourne and take about an hour.
Bembridge is very different ,it is more community ,it has a village hall and the cloisters which are the hub of the village where most activities stem from . It has a butchers, greengrocers , chemist , library and various gift shops .
So where has Bembridge led me ? Im planning to stay in Bembridge for the rest of my life so I need to embrace it … nearly five years on from moving from Ryde to Bembridge , I am well and truly settled with lots of friends found through various groups I belong too. In all my 70 plus years I would never consider joining anything but now living here I feel as I have arrived.It took me a while as I thought I was going to have difficulty making new friends but I was wrong.
First of all there is the Bembridge Belles WI..The Wi is one of the groups I thought would not be for me as I expected it to be making jams ,Jerusalem the hymn and to be honest boring ..But nothing could be more from the truth. The members are mostly of ladies who just need contact with others .
The activities are great with trips out to theatres , lunches, gardens and various other places of interest .I also joined a book club who meet once a month with a new book to discuss and enjoy….or not some are a bit of a flop.
Because of my dodgy knees I also go to exercise classes run by Penny Dove that are run in the village especially for people with balance problems or mobility problems . These are held at the village scout hut.
Hopefully future pages here will be of my favourite places on my side of the island and nature around me that gives me pleasure .
There is no need for anyone to be lonely , taking that first step to joining a group or activity is the hardest bit.
The pictures above are pictures taken by me on the beach which is 10 minutes walk from my home. It is not a beach for sunbathing more for walking with or without a dog and for children to paddle and search under rocks for crabs and creatures. Lot of swimmers in all weathers ..
- Back to the Beach
- Bees in abundance
- Gulls & more gulls
- Looking up and around
- Love Lane
- Pop's wood nature reserve
- Red Squirrels on the Isle of Wight
- Sandown Isle of Wight
- Sunflowers & their beauty.
- Sunrise in Bembridge
- Walking the beach
- Walking to dulcie beach
- Whitecliff Bay
- wildlife from my patio
- Wildlife from my window
beach Beaches Bembridge birding birds Blackbird dinosaur dinosaurs Dunnock fossils garden birds gardening gulls health hiking isle of wight nature paleontology photography red squirrel robin roman villa x Isle of Wight x science sea glass sunrise travel walking Whitecliff Bay wildlife
Moving on to Bembridge 