Alum Bay

Hatherwood Battery (map reference SZ308857) is a battery located to the east of Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion. It was sited to cross fire with the nearby Needles Battery Originally designed to mount six 68 Pounder guns, construction of the battery began in 1865. Before it was completed it was decided to mount seven guns in three groups. This comprised two 9-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns on each flank and three 7-inch Rifled Breech Loading (RBL) guns in the centre. The battery was complete by 1869. There was no accommodation at the battery for the soldiers who would man it. Instead these men were billetted at nearby Golden Hill Fort. In 1903 the battery was officially disarmed. Today not much is left of the battery as it has been left to decay, with some parts falling off the cliff due to erosion.

Headon Warren and West High Down is a 276.3-hectare (683-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located at the westernmost end of the Isle of Wight. The SSSI encompasses Headon Warren, a heather clad down to the north, the chalk downs of West High Down and Tennyson Down to the south, and the Needles, The Needles Batteries and Alum Bay to the west.The site was notified in 1951 by the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), for both its biological and geological features, and that designation is now maintained by Natural England as successor body to the NCC. Most of the land within the SSSI is owned and managed by the National Trust.

Totland Bay is a bay on the west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies one-quarter of an mile (0.4 km) to the west of the village of Totland from which it takes its name. It faces north west and has a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) shoreline, which has a beach, concrete seawall, groynes and 450-foot-long (140 m) Victorian pier. It stretches from Warden Point in the north to Hatherwood Point in the south-west. The seabed is a mixture of mud and sand, clear of many underwater outcrops, this makes it a popular anchorage point for vessels. The beach is predominantly shingle. Since 2001 the quality of the beach has been high enough for it to be awarded the Seaside Award Flag. In the summer, litter and seaweed are removed each day, with the latter being composted by local farmers. Currently, the pier is being refurbished to re-open the cafe which was there before. The bay is best viewed from Headon Warren or anywhere along the concrete seawall. The Isle of Wight Coastal Path runs along the seawall from Warden Point to Widdick Chine. Weston Academy, which closed in 2015 is located in the bay area.

Widdick Chine is a geological feature on the west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It is west of the village of Totland. It is a steep coastal gully, which is overgrown with vegetation. The water that used to flow down the slope has been redirected through a pipe which takes it to beach level to reduce its effect on erosion to the cliff. A set of steps have been constructed down the chine to provide access from Totland to the beach of Totland Bay. The Chine pipe drains water from the northern slopes of Tennyson Down. The Isle of Wight Coastal Path passes up the steps of the chine. At the bottom of the chine is the old Totland lifeboat house.

Christ Church, Totland is a parish church in the Church of England located in Totland, Isle of Wight.

Lacey's Farm Quarry (grid reference SZ323862) is a 1,300 square metre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the town of Freshwater, Isle of Wight, notified in 1993.

Tennyson Down is a hill at the west end of the Isle of Wight just south of Totland. Tennyson Down is a grassy, whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises to 482 ft/147m above sea level. Tennyson Down is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who lived at nearby Farringford House for nearly 40 years. The poet used to walk on the down almost every day, saying that the air was worth 'sixpence a pint'.

Colwell Bay (grid reference SZ323873) is a bay in the west of the Isle of Wight. It is located between the towns of Totland and Yarmouth. The bay's northernmost point is Cliff's End (Fort Albert) the closest point of the Island to the British mainland, with Hurst Castle lying at the end of a long peninsula just 1500 metres (a little less than a mile) to the northwest. The southernmost point is Warden Point. Colwell Bay has a popular beach, with two miles of sand and shingle, and facilities including cafes, shops and equipment hire outlets. An area of 13.56 hectares has been notified as a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notification originally taking place in 1959. The site is significant for its Eocene geology and maritime vegetated soft cliff habitat.It is the location of three chines: Colwell Chine, Brambles Chine and Linstone Chine. Colwell Bay is on the A3054 road and near the western end of the A3055 road. Public transport to the area is provided by Southern Vectis route 7 and the Needles Tour.

High Down is a chalk down making up the western extent of the ridge that crosses the Isle of Wight, England, and overlooking The Needles rock stacks. It includes Tennyson Down. The Needles Batteries and the Rocket Launching site are located on the Down It is here where the Black Knight and Black Arrow rockets were tested before being shipped to Woomera in Australia. The entire site is now owned by the National Trust, although it is bordered by The Needles - Landmark Attraction at Alum Bay, which is owned by an independent company. The Rocket Testing site is free to enter, although the Old Battery requires a modest fee.

Warden Point Battery is a battery on the Isle of Wight begun in 1862, that was originally armed with 7-inch and 9-inch rifled muzzle loaders on barbette mountings. It was built in the 1890s for 9.2-inch breech loader guns. In use until 1936, and in World War II as a command post and searchlight battery. The battery was a regular polygon with central caponier on the landward side, and flanking caponiers at the North and South corners. The central caponier and North -East loopholed wall remain. The site spent a considerable number of years after the second world war as a holiday camp. Following the closure of that, the housing estate was started. Unconfirmed information from the builders on a visit to the site suggests that some of the historic features will be retained. These include the main wall and entrance arch to the battery and some of the concrete emplacements. The latter will be built over, but protected so that they can be "re-discovered" if and when the newer buildings are demolished. At time of writing, the building work has been suspended.It is now a Grade II Listed Building.

Medina was a non-metropolitan district with the status of a borough on the Isle of Wight in England from 1974 to 1995. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the municipal boroughs of Newport and Ryde along with the urban district of Cowes. It was one of two districts on the Island formed in 1974 - the other was South Wight. "Medina" was an older name for Newport which has been preserved in the River Medina. Following a review by the Local Government Commission for England, the borough was abolished on 1 April 1995, when a single Isle of Wight Council replaced the Isle of Wight County Council and the island's two district councils.

Totland is a village, civil parish and electoral ward on the Isle of Wight. Besides the village of Totland, the civil parish comprises the western tip of the Isle of Wight, and includes The Needles, Tennyson Down and the hamlet of Middleton. The village of Totland lies on the Western peninsula where the Western Yar almost cuts through along with Alum Bay and Freshwater. It lies on the coast at Colwell Bay, which is the closest part of the island to the British mainland.