Winter Visit to Cowes

waiting at East Cowes to cross the Medina by chain ferry

Window shopping*

View from the end of the High Street

The Solent—sea and sky

Seagull and yacht

Crew, sail and clouds

*PS April 7th, 2026 She saw a lovely necklace in the window, but there was a sign to say the shop was closed for the time being. It wasn’t long before Christmas, so I sent a letter to the shop asking to buy it, paying by cheque in advance. She said she’d never done business like this before.  It’s surely polished malachite, which fetches high prices on Etsy, but she was getting rid of all her stock, and asked how much I was prepared to pay. Similar polished stones on Etsy would indicate we got it  very cheap indeed. A lovely Christmas present, treasured ever since.

23 thoughts on “Winter visit to Cowes”
Hayden
lovely photos, thanks for the tour! Especially loved the dawn moon and the photo from the throbbing ferry deck!… oh… and just seeing the name “Solent” in print…which for some reason always wafts me away in posey fantasies of far-flung journeys.
ZACL
You walked me down memory Lane, Vincent. Thank you. My visits to IOW including Cowes were good days out. My last vist, some years ago now, included a ride on the little underground (metro) train on the Island, which stays above ground for the duration of its runs to and fro.I do remember standing in some of the places you depicted. Nice shots.
jiturajgor
I like all photos posted here, but best is a ‘view from High street’.
Bob
I particularly like that dawn moon photo. I remember staying in Cowes c. 1973
Luciana
You´re such a great photographer, Vincent! Look at all you were able to capture. That seagull perspective is fantastic!Is my yacht like that one? ;-D
Rebb
Nice photos! I love the moon and trees, so Dawn Moon is a favorite. I also took a liking to the ferry photo.
BBC
I don’t travel much anymore other than my camping trips, mostly in this area. And if you care about the planet you wouldn’t travel so much ether.But if you are willing to turn your care off so you can go see something, carry on. I do most of my travels over the internut though.
Vincent
Lu, your yacht is less substantial, woven of moonbeams like a dream of Fernando Pessoa. As for the seagull, I didn’t even see it till I transferred the photos to computer. I took a series of shots of the red yacht. At one point the crew all waved, but I never thought to take a shot of that. We just waved back!Hayden, yes, Solent is somehow evocative, there’s magic in the name but I was blinded to that by its associations with that magical strait that I knew so well. And then there is the novel Wolf Solent by John Cowper Powys . . . Jitu, I think I know what you mean about the view from the end of the High Street. I think it illustrates another magical thing about the Solent. It’s part of the world’s system of oceans. The Titanic started its maiden and only voyage from here. But as this photo shows, it’s a piece of relatively calm water, only a mile wide.
Vincent
Bob. I wonder what the story is behind that? Was it before or after the time we first met in Wandsworth?
Vincent
Rebb, thanks. I’m wondering now which ferry photo: yacht and ferry or night photo from the ferry. You can hardly take a photo of the Solent without a ferry in it. They ply back and forth
ghetufool
i don’t know how you achieved those dark blue skies with your consumer digital camera. we need to have a polariser filter on our lenses to have a blue sky. your side of the world is worth visiting then. i loved the photos, seagull one is great. and i love the caption: sail and diesel. wow!
Rebb
Vincent,“Waiting at East Cowes to cross the Medina by chain ferry.” Something calming about it for me.
keiko amano
Vincent,It’s beautiful. Just gorgeous. The photos made me relax. I wish I were there.
Vincent
Me too, Keikuccia. We have decided to go and live there. We’ll be free to do so when K retires (in 5 or 10 years).
keiko amano
Vincent,At first, I liked the photo with the moon, but I looked at all of them again, and I like all of them equally even the last one which seem a bit blur. Is it because it was at night? What I like the most is the name, “Cowes.” It’s unique. I wonder what it means. It sounds like caw or cow.
Bob
It would have been afterwards. I met you around easter 1973. Incidentally I first went to the IOW when I was only about seven years old….my mother’s friends in Portsmouth had a big boat -and I was allowed to hold the tiller as we crossed the water….we returned the same day. I remember it clearly.
Rebb
That sounds lovely, Vincent—a journey in that chain ferry. I love how you imagine the captain wondering, “Where shall we go today?”
keiko amano
Vincent,This is a coincidence. One of the boat photos, I see “Red Funne” on her side. I know the word is incomplete, but “fune” means boat in Japanese.
ghetufool
is that window shopper Karleen?
Vincent
It is!
breathe as me
Vincent… i too have enjoyed the tour and your lovely photos… the magic of the modern time when we can all share glimpses into what we see in our own corner of the world is such an amazing gift that still just makes me feel awe every time… of all the stunning images though, my favorite photo is of Karleen it is lovely that you shared it …
Antoine
Your serie photographs is very superb.
mariana
Gorgeous set ! So many wonderful shots you got here !