Green Getaways

Around half of the Isle of Wight is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and much of this lies in the scenic West Wight, little populated and boasting one of the Island’s great beauty spots, Newtown Estuary. Located on the remote Hamstead Heritage Coast, this national nature reserve is populated not by people but instead by an ever-changing colony of birds and by rare plants, making it a peaceful place for nature lovers.

And nature lovers are just some of the holidaymakers drawn to this ‘secret’ Wight, where stays in hideaway rural homes and cottages close to beauty spots like Newtown, Shalfleet and Calbourne are never far from the Island’s beaches.

Hamstead Farm Cottage
Among these is a real Green Getaway found where a woodland track emerges at the north coast to reveal panoramic views of the Solent and its boat life and of Newtown Creek and its birdlife. Hamstead Farm Cottage is available to rent but has always been part of Judy Cool’s family home on a 350-acre beef farm, surrounded by woodland and meadows, with clear views down to the sea.

“Originally there were three houses but we knocked them together to make a great family environment,” says Judy Cool. “Once the children grew up and left home, we decided to convert the cottage to provide a separate base for visiting friends and family and to offer to holidaymakers looking for a countryside escape.” And a countryside escape is exactly what they get – with lovely coastal and woodland walks on the doorstep.

Tuppence Cottage
Tuppence Cottage is another West Wight house with farming connections. Jill Cawood, the powerhouse behind Three Gates Farm and its RSPCA Freedom Food- accredited dairy herd, built this spacious modern cottage in the heart of Shalfleet, a couple of minutes’ walk from the highly-rated New Inn pub. From the upstairs rooms, views extend across wildflower meadows to Newtown Creek and there are attractive country walks in all directions, with picturesque Shalfleet Creek minutes away.

Coast & Country Holidays
In the West Wight village of Wellow, Steve and Jill Cowley of Coast and Country Holidays have chosen an eco-path by providing green holiday properties in green locations. Starting with built-from-scratch Orchard Lee, they created a geothermally-heated bungalow in the grounds of Lee Farm, their 16th century Grade II listed stone farmhouse, where visitors can also stay in Tudor Lee, a self-contained wing with its own conservatory.

Nearby, the Cowleys have completely renovated Eastern Lee, a 1930s bungalow now imaginatively redesigned as a spacious two storey eco-house laid out to suit a large family or friends holidaying together. “We call it our Jekyll & Hyde house because the front elevation is traditional red-brick, which fits perfectly with the village environment and the Village Institute next door. But, if you walk round to the back of the house, which looks across fields to the Downs, the painted weather-board exterior gives it a distinctly different New England feel.”