Fort Victoria is one of those places that makes a great day out. It is, like most of the places I've been reviewing lately, on the Isle of Wight, and I have visited several times over the years. The most recent visit was 2005, however I think I can remember enough to be able to write this review!
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Advantages: A variety of attractions, something for all Disadvantages: Individual entrance prices to each attraction soon build up
Fort Victoria is one of those places that makes a great day out. It is, like most of the places I've been reviewing lately, on the Isle of Wight, and I have visited several times over the years. The most recent visit was 2005, however I think I can remember enough to be able to write this review!
**About Fort Victoria & Location**
Fort Victoria Country Park, to give it its proper name, is located on the western side ... ...sea at the back of Fort Victoria, you can look across the Solent to Hurst Castle, and it looks incredibly close. The actual Fort was built in the 1850s, and was a single tier battery. It was later used as a submarine mining centre, and a training area for the military. The barracks were demolished in 1969, but the parts of the fort that are sea-facing were not, and it is in these that the attractions are located.
Fort Victoria is one of those places that makes a great day out. It is, like most of the places I've been reviewing lately, on the Isle of Wight, and I have visited several times over the years. The most recent visit was 2005, however I think I can remember enough to be able to write this review!
**About Fort Victoria & Location**
Fort Victoria Country Park, to give it its proper name, is located on the western side of the Isle of Wight, in Yarmouth. It's located right at the point where the Island is closest to the mainland, and if you stand out near the sea at the back of Fort Victoria, you can look across the Solent to Hurst Castle, and it looks incredibly close. The actual Fort was built in the 1850s, and was a single tier battery. It was later used as a submarine mining centre, and a training area for the military. The barracks were demolished in 1969, but the parts of the fort that are sea-facing were not, and it is in these that the attractions are located.
Fort Victoria is the largest and most popular country park on the Isle of Wight, however if you visit simply for the indoor attractions, you may not realise just how big it is.
**The Attractions**
Fort Victoria is home to several indoor attractions, making it a great place to visit on a rainy day. I'll go through and review each of these attractions one by one.
*The Island Planetarium*: This is an incredibly interesting attraction, and one that will definitely be loved by children and adults alike. Like all of the attractions at Fort Victoria, it is located within two rooms of the sea-facing parts of the fort. The planetarium is made up of three small interconnected rooms, the first being the shop and ticket office. The planetarium needs to be booked in advance, as the 'shows' are on a time schedule. However, you're usually able to get your tickets on the day - but make sure that it's one of the first things you do, as the planetarium area is quite small and fills up quickly.
The shop sells a range of Space themed gifts, as well as Fort Victoria and Isle of Wight merchandise. Once you've paid for your 'show' you will be given a coloured ticket and you must retain these for entry to the show. The second room contains several points of interest, including scale-models, information about planets and space, a computer to explore a Space themed program and more. You can pass into this area for a look around before you go into the show itself.
The show is the real attraction here: a small, domed room with seats similar to those you will find in the cinema. The room is quite small, and so can feel relatively cramped and claustrophobic. Upon entering, you hand in your ticket, take your seat and sit back to wait for the show to begin. The seats recline quite far back, as the aim of the show is that you watch the domed ceiling. The show is conducted in the darkness, and is carried out by a host speaker. You're taken on a journey through the planets, and through space, all of which is played out on the domed-screen above you. It's really very interesting, and very relaxing to watch the shapes of the stars forming above you whilst thematic music is played. The talk is also very informative, and you're likely to learn something you don't already know. As far as I remember, the show lasts for around twenty minutes.
The talk is conducted in a way that it is interesting to children and adults, so this should be suitable for young children, though perhaps the very small would find it slightly boring.
The prices and opening times for the planetarium are as follows:
Show & Exhibition Adult - £4.00 Children(5-15) - £2.00 Concession - £3.50 Family (2A+2C) - £11.00
Open daily during school holidays with shows running every hour either on the half our or the hour between 10:30 & 4:30. During school term shows and access to the exhibition depend on school bookings.
*Marine Aquarium*: Adjacent to the planetarium is the aquarium. Like the planetarium, the aquarium is split into an exhibition that covers several of the rooms of the fort. The aquarium begins with a shop and ticket office, again with underwater themed gifts, as well as those for Fort Victoria and the Isle of Wight. From there, you walk through the rooms with tanks containing fishes and sea-creatures of all kinds on either side. The rooms are quite small, and this attraction does get busy, so expect the journey through the aquarium to be quite slow moving.
There are placards throughout explaining what creatures are contained within the tanks, and there are the occasional 'special exhibitions'. For example, I remember visiting shortly after Finding Nemo was released, and they had a tank with several Clown Fish and Tang Fish, which proved very popular. There's not too much more to say about the aquarium, as it is simply as it says: an aquarium. It does make an interesting visit, however, and children are sure to be fascinated by some of the unusual looking fish.
*Underwater Archaeology Centre*: This is a fascinating exhibition, with a lot to look at and do. Located in a room of the Fort, the centre focuses its attractions on those ships that have been wrecked on the Solent, and the work of maritime archaeologists working on and around the Island's seas. This is the attraction that I have the vaguest memory of, however I can remember that there was a lot to read and see, as well as several activity areas for children, including some computers. There were also videos explaining about some of the different shipwrecks around the Island.
There are several displays of recovered artifacts, which is interesting, and unlike many places some of these are not confined behind glass cases. I would say that this is perhaps more of a specialised-interest area, and it may not be an attraction for everybody. Definitely worth having a look around though.
Prices and opening times:
Open daily 11am-3pm
* Adults £ 2.20 * Children £ 1.10 * Senior/ Student £ 1.80 * Family £ 6.00 * Additional Child £ 0.75 * Free entry to Friends of the HWTMA
Registered disabled half price
25% discount for groups of 10 or more
School visits £0.50 per pupil (min 10) One adult per 5 children free
Children’s activity days every Wednesday 11am – 3pm throughout the summer holidays.
*Model Railway*: I confess that I have never gone to this particular attraction, as model railways are not my thing. However, having read various websites, it seems that the Fort Victoria model railway was built with the aim of being among the top three in the world. It has a German setting, and is fully computer controlled. There are over 400 models and buildings on the site. The model railway is not really of interest to me, but it might delight children and be something that railway enthusiasts will enjoy.
Prices and opening times:
Open Easter to the end of October: From 10.00, last admissions at 4.30
Adults £4.00 Children & over 60's £3.00 Family (2ad. 2ch) £12.00
*Seashore and Woodland*: Again, this is not an aspect of Fort Victoria that I have ever really looked into, mainly because we tend to reserve our visits to the park for the rainy days, due to the indoor nature of the attractions. The park occupies 20 hectares of woodland, and there are several walks through the woodland areas along the coast.
The top of the fort is accessible as well, so you can walk along it and get great views out into the solent. There are quite a few steps to climb, however. You can also walk along the shore and the beach, however bathing is not recommended on this part of the Island, as the water can get quite choppy and there are rocky areas.
**Facilities**
There's a cafe on site, again situated in one part of the old fort. The cafe is medium sized, and can get quite busy at lunchtimes. They serve cakes, drinks and ice creams as well as a small choice of meals. The food is really, really nice - or at least it was when we last went! The prices are quite reasonable - the usual for this type of place. There's also an outdoor seating area, backing out onto a large-ish field with views over the Solent.
There are toilets on site, but if I remember rightly these weren't particularly nice, and queues built up as there were only a few cubicles. It wasn't a matter of cleanliness, but of creepiness. I remember the toilets having quite a lot of spiders and spider webs - and as someone who hates the eight-legged creatures, this was quite an ordeal!
The park has a large car park, which I believe is free to park in.
**Other Info**
Fort Victoria Near Yarmouth Isle of Wight Po41 ORR England
Fort Victoria is a perfect rainy-day visit. The indoor attractions are really interesting, and I'm sure the woodland and shore walks are great if you visit in the sunshine. Prices are quite reasonable, though if you intend to go into every attraction, the prices might build up. The views across the Solent aren't exaggerated - they are great, however don't count on being able to use the beach as somewhere to swim.
Advantages: Fun filled day for all the family, both enjoyable and educational Disadvantages: Could be costly...each attraction individually priced
...no surprise when I say Fort Victoria Country Park is one of my favourite spots on the Isle of Wight. Infact I make it a regular port of call whenever I'm over there. It doesn't take too long via Wight link ferry and is one of the most interesting, historic, relaxing and educational sites I have ever come across.
Fort Victoria was built in the 1850's just west of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight with the purpose of protecting the Solent against any ... ...left today.
Although the fort is steeped in history it also occupies a large quantity of woodlands, a landslip on the north west coast of the island and it houses numerous attractions for all ages and tastes.
~Planetarium~
The planetarium is just one of a number of exciting attractions to take advantage of while you are here. In some ways it's similar to London's offering with a man-made universe projected up onto a dome ceiling. It's a truly ...
K1r5ty21 30.08.2008
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