1. Got a bad case of consumption? You’ve come to the right place! Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, Ventnor was THE place for the Victorian elite to catch some rays, take the waters and hopefully recover from that nasty TB. There were several sanitoriums and a huge Chest Hospital where the Botanic Gardens now is.
2. In fact, The Isle of Wight Railway at one time ran a non-stop train from Ryde to Ventnor which was nicknamed ‘The Invalid Express’ specifically to rush consumptive patients to their treatment at Ventnor.
3. Karma karma karma chameleon…Okay, we don’t have chameleons, but we do have the largest British colony of common wall lizards! YES. WE WIN! Try and spot one during fringe!
4.Ventnor gets around, there are also Ventnors in Australia and New Jersey! But we were the first. And the best, obviously…
5. Up The Downs! At 787 ft (240m) above sea level, St Boniface Down is home to Old English feral goats, the Adonis Blue Butterfly, Buzzards, Ravens and fairies…Okay, I made that last bit up. Or did I?
6. Karl Marx liked to holiday here. This pleases me.
7. Above the town is a geological fault known as the Graben, which marks the top of the series of landslips on which Ventnor is built. This fault moves regularly. But don’t worry, we haven’t fallen into the sea yet!
8. Three miles off the coast of Ventnor is a deep narrow channel known as St. Catherine’s Deep. Lovecraftian eh?
9. On the Ventnor Town Crest is Hygeia, the mythical daughter of a doctor who was murdered by Zeus for basically being too good at his job and liked by everyone. Nice one Zeus. So she took over the family healing business, hence why the Victorians adopted her as Ventnor’s symbol.
10. Ventnor is great. It’s the best. I love it. And THAT’s a fact.
By Laura Clare Reid