The Coolidge examiner., 1935-07-26

IoHcs ana East Io"cs.
meadows where cabbages. carrots.
and broccoli grow. or sheep and cat
tie Craze.
Forests and Truck Farms.
FROM the thick forests OF the
northern island came the timbers OF
many an old mansion and cottage
of southern England. and today
their dining room tables are pro-
yided with vegetables by the Wleht's
truck gardens and rich milk from
Us herds of Guernseys. Anyone who
has eaten In English inns or on
English trains must wonder about
the source OF all the cabbage served
with potatoes at nearly every meal.
Wight can account FOR many tons
of II.
Soon the trees and farms give
way 20 vast cXpanses OF acres car
peted with heather, gorse. ferns.
and occasional lOw. wiud.blown
trees. The downs. with as many
sectional names as n London street.
are formed by chalk uplands which
stretch straight west and east
across the island, humping to some
200 feet az places. and thrustlng
fractured fragments into the sea
az the Needles on the west and
Culver CllG on the east. The pc
desirian who yields to the spell OF
their lonely paths gets an impress
sion % height much greater than
the altitude warrants. one can
climb across them In an hours walk
of their widest part.
The southern half OF Wight ls a
bowl" sagglng between the downs
and the seaside cliffs that look so
bleak 10 ship passengers as they
round the Island for southampton.
Barren they are. these corrugated
cliffs. but the islanders call them
their sun trap because they cut of
the fogs and temper the ocean
winds. The trees are not 80 many. but
the soil Is fertile. the climate mild
er. and the crop yield greater In
this sheltered saucer.
Most OF wights attraction for
visitors and It's wealth OF historic
associations - ranging from the
Roman occupation. through Jutish
immigration. Danish assault. French
attacks. and pirate ralds-cling 70
It's coast Eastward from sedate
cowes Is the up-nnd-coming resort
town OF Ryde. with It's lamp posts
that wear gariands OF flowers. its
tiny ,ramcars. and It's spIck prom
enade where. on cloudless days.
women knit as they garner sun tan.
Second only TO Cowes week Is
the regatta OF Ryde's Royal Vic
toria Yacht club. And pretty
touch Is a chIldren's regatta. held
nj their large boating lake. where
young mariners sail elaborate toy
craft and ride about In paddle
wheel boats propelled by handles.
5rading an Old Town.
An hours easy walk south OF Ryde
is Eye Kynge's Towne OF Bradlng."
where benches and bathing ma.
chimes. piers and yachts seem very
far away. Yet along Brading's high
and dry High street ships once
sailed under the caves OF the tim
bered buildings. and one might
pick from a score Of shlpmasters TO
take cargo Into the most
distant port Brading recalls the
days when towns were set far up
the islands measer rivers, or we'll
back In some arm OF the sea, as
protection against invasion or pl-
rate raids. Yet the inhabitants. ex-
pert in their knowledge OF tides and
treacherous channels. could put
out 10 salt water 20 fish or trade.
Long ago silt blocked Brading's har-
Dor. and now dIkes have thrust the
sea some two miles from its center.
Bradlng church. the oldest In the
island, Is mentioned In DOmesday
BOOK. In It's chapel Is buried Sir
John Oglander. who was garnering
HIS salty chronicles OF Wight while
the Pilgrims were struggling to sur
vlve at Plymouth and the early
Maryland settlers were putting forth
from Cowes to st. Mary's.
Preserved in a house near the
church are the village stocks. and
one may declpher from the Town
Book the offenses for which ciu-
zens were punished. Still TO be seen,
too, IS the large bull ring. souvenir
OF the days when bull-baiting was
a national pastime. The island
governor annually contributed five
guineas TO buy the bull, which, after
batting, was given to the poor.
East OF Brading, sheltered among
the cliffs, IS the lovely seaside vii
lage Of Bembridge, which the world
seems to have passed by. The town
lies along the embankment, ''the
only level mile on the island" which
has severed Brading Harbor from
its name town, and this situation
gives it the aspect Of Little Hol-
land"