Shh... I know where the fairies live
Well, if I'm going to be taking part in this years Fic Exchange then I really had better start hanging out more over here and posting entries again.
Last month we took a trip to the Isle of Wight (a small island off the South of England), it really is a beautiful place and well worth a visit, lots to see and do. There were quite a few places that made an impression (be warned, I may post those here too) but none more than a visit to Shanklin Chine, I don't think I've ever been to a more magical place before in my life. The top of the Chine (meaning gorge) starts in the heart of the very pretty Shanklin Old Village, looking down through it, it literally looks like someone has cut a cake-slice out of the side of the cliff face, it then stretches right down to the seafront.
The promotion for the place had some quotes from famous visitors and I figured if it's good enough for them it's more than good enough for me:
Jane Austen writing in June 1813 said, “we hired a Sociable and drove round... Shanklin Chine, lovely.” Keats, too, found inspiration for some of his greatest poetry while staying at Shanklin in 1819. “The wondrous Chine here is a very great lion; I wish I had as many guineas as there have been spyglasses in it.”
We got there around 8.30pm (it's open until 10pm), we purposefully chose an evening visit as they illuminate the woodland, walkways and waterfalls creating the most magical world. Though it doesn't show in the photos, the air was thick with really heavy mist from the sea, which only added to the 'other worldly' feel. It sounds strange but the moment you walked through the gate you felt like you were somewhere else, the air seemed different, heavy, like it had weight to it, it was so still, so quiet. (Yes, I know the logical reason probably had something to do with its sheltered location, the air couldn't really circulate around, sound couldn't reach it and the water in the air must have played its part too). But if a fairy had fluttered by, a goblin crossed my path or Jareth, King of the Goblins whispered something in my ear (he does that sometimes, he was quite rude about Sleeping Beauty's pink castle in Disneyland Paris earlier this year!) it wouldn't have surprised me in the least.
If there really are such places where the veil between worlds is thinner... I found one.
Not quite a goblin, more like a pixie.
Any trolls under there?
Some of the walkways through the chine.
Shanklin Old Village, with mist from the sea, the Chine was just after the wall on the left.