As they say time and tide wait for no man, due to the excitement of the Olympic Games, it was little wonder, many people missed a window of opportunity to take part in the annual (unofficial) Isle of Wight Fort Walk 2012.
Bembridge resident and IWDIG photographer John Sparrow, who has been on the Walk many times, saw one of his photographs feature within the pages of Coast Magazine in 2012.
Two Page Feature In Coast Magazine.
Coast Magazine wanted to run a 2 page feature on the Island Fort Walk and followed an image trail from local website Island Pulse. View more images from Isle of Wight Photo Agency click here
For at least half a century, a growing throng of people have marked the lowest tide of summer by trekking through the shallows from Ducie Beach, off Bembridge, to St Helens Fort, one of Palmerston’s Follies built in 1879, about a mile away.
The exact date of the walk is revealed to only a few and health and safety concerns ignored, but hundreds turn up to take thier chances crossing a stretch of sea with notoriously strong currents.
Top Tips from John on the Fort Walk:
If you go steadily you can keep pace with the outgoing tide and only get your feet a little bit wet, he advises until you reach the short section where you wade, sometimes up to your knees. Time is short for this epic excursion; walkers have about and hour and a half before the tide surges back in and the fort returns to its normal solitary status.
- Following a former walk John’s photographs along with others were published on Island Pulse. Read more here
- Coast Magazine followed the image trail and his photograph was subsequently licenced for use in July 2012 with permission through the Isle of Wight Photo Agency.
