Bembridge

Bembridge, the U.K.’s largest village, sits on the Eastern tip of the Island facing down the English Channel. Its a quaint spot with a small village centre with a few local shops and a choice of eateries. It’s a great spot to spend a day, however getting to other locations from here can take a while so it’s not always the best choice of locations for a base. For photographers the main interest will focus around the beach and the harbour, it is possible to walk between the two but to make the best of the light it might be more advisable to drive.

Getting there:

The two main locations are easily accessible, for the beach with the lifeboat station drive into Bembridge along the main road from Brading, which becomes the B3395 at a small mini roundabout. Follow the B3395 until a second mini roundabout is reached, go straight across at this roundabout (taking care as visibility of the other approaching roads is poor) and continue until a sharp left hand bend in the road. On this bend there is a right turn onto Forelands Road. Follow this until the Lifeboat station comes into view. There is a pay and display car park to the right of the lifeboat station. It can get very busy during a nice summers day but arrive in time for Sunrise and you will have no issue with parking.

Once you have finished at the beach, retrace your path along Forelands Road and follow signs for Ryde. This will take you alongside Bembridge Harbour. There are parking spots by the Beach Cafe or lay-bys along the harbour road. Take care not to park in one of the private spots belonging to the Houseboats that are moored along the harbour edge.

What to Shoot:

At the Beach there is one main subject and this draws both Island and visiting photographers on a regular basis, the Lifeboat Station is a striking building and sits at the end of a long pier. This pier is required due to the ledges and rocks that sit under the water at the edge of the beach. If your visit coincides with low tide the ledges and rocks are all revealed and make interesting options for foreground interest. Visiting at High tide can make compositions more difficult as the water can be right up to the sea wall.

Heading down the slipway the most popular viewpoints are to turn right and use the various ledges and pools on the beach as foreground with the lifeboat station as the main subject. Here you will have the sun rising behind the lifeboat station, it is possible to position yourself so the sun appears under the pier and you can use the pillars of the pier to create impressive sunstars. Turning left and walking under the pier can also reward with interesting compositions using the edge of Bembridge Ledge as a leading line to the Lifeboat Station. This side has the added advantage of the sunrise being behind you so you get lovely light on the Lifeboat station. This side of the beach can also work quite well for a summer sunset as the sun will be setting to your right hand side as you face towards the pier.

It is possible to find other subjects be walking along the beach, to the right of the lifeboat station, towards the top of the beach before the entrance to Bembridge harbour there are nice wooden groynes that can form a nice subject for a photo, along with some trees that can be in the water at spring high tides.

At the Harbour the main interest is of course the Boats that are moored in the Harbour, for that reason it is a location at its best between March and October as over winter most of the boats are moved out for dry storage. Its really a case of finding a spot on the shoreline that offers a nice composition of the moored boats and shooting away. At sunrise the sun will be rising over the entrance to the Harbour and at sunset it will be setting behind you over the Island. On a still morning it is often possible to get mist sitting on the surface of the water which can help with creating separation between the boats and the harbour buildings beyond.

Other Options:

Whilst parked by the Harbour it is also possible to enter the Bembridge Lagoons area which sit behind the harbour before you get to Brading Marshes. There is a path that can be accessed at either end of the harbour road. In addition Bembridge Windmill can be reached by taking Mill Road, the first exit on the mini roundabout as you enter the village from Brading. There is a small parking area in a lay-by on the road. The Windmill is owned by the National Trust but it is possible to photograph the mill without having to enter the site. Take the public footpath on the right just before reaching the windmill and follow the fence line round the outside of the National Trust site and you can photograph the windmill with the rising sun coming up behind the trees to the right of the mill.