View source for Alum Bay

{{short description|Bay in the Isle of Wight}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
[[File:Alum Bay and The Needles, IW, UK.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A view of [[the Needles]] from Alum Bay cliffs, with the Alum Bay chair lift in the foreground.]]
'''Alum Bay''' is a [[bay]] near the westernmost point of the [[Isle of Wight]], England, within close sight of [[the Needles]] rock formation. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theneedles.co.uk/pages/alum-bay|title=Alum Bay|website=www.theneedles.co.uk|access-date=2017-01-05}}</ref> The waters and adjoining seabed form part of the Needles [[Marine Conservation Zone]] and the shore and heath above are part of the Headon Warren and West High Down [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UKMCZ0040&SiteName=the%20needles&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=|title=The Needles MCZ|website=Natural England|access-date=2017-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000546.pdf|title=Headon Warren and West High Down SSSI|date=1984|website=Natural England|access-date=2017-12-07}}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:Alum Bay monocline.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|The cliffs of Alum Bay, showing the steeply-dipping multi-coloured sands above the white Chalk, with shallower dips towards the northern end]]

Alum Bay is the location of a classic sequence of upper [[Paleocene]] and [[Eocene]] beds of soft sands and clays, separated by an [[unconformity]] from the underlying [[Cretaceous]] [[Chalk Formation]] that forms the adjoining headland of West High Down. Due to geological folding of the [[Alpine orogeny]], the strata in the main section of the bay are near vertical, with younger rocks with progressively lower [[dip and strike|dips]] to the west.<ref name="Hopson">{{cite journal | url=http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/15996/1/Hopson_IoW_Geo_History_PGEOLA-D-11-00048R1.pdf | title=The geological history of the Isle of Wight: an overview of the 'diamond in Britain's geological crown' | author=Hopson P. | journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association | year=2011 | volume=122 | issue=5 | pages=745–763 | doi=10.1016/j.pgeola.2011.09.007}}</ref> The sands are coloured due to oxidised iron compounds formed under different conditions.<ref>West, I.M. and Helsby, R. 2007. [http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Alum-Bay.htm Alum Bay: Geology of the Isle of Wight]. Internet site: www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Alum-Bay.htm. School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton University, UK. Version: 6 February 2007, retrieved 3 August 2008</ref>

Alum Bay [[Chine]] begins as a small wooded valley descending eastward from the junction of the B3322 and the road to Headon Hall. It soon broadens into the clay ravine through which the path and chairlift from Needles Park descend to the beach.

==Tourism==
[[File:Amusement park, Alum Bay, IW, UK.jpg|thumb|left|The amusement park at Alum Bay]]
On the clifftop there is an amusement park with fairground rides, souvenir shops and a cafe.  During the summer season a [[chair lift]] takes tourists to and from the pebble beach below.  Alternatively, a footpath leads to the beach via Alum Bay Chine. From the beach boat trips frequently leave to tour the Needles.

==Alum Bay sands==
[[File:Alum Bay, IW, UK.jpg|thumb|The coloured sands at Alum Bay]]
A traditional product of Alum Bay, and a fixture of Isle of Wight tourist shops, was the creation of ornaments using the coloured sands layered in vials and jars.<ref name=brettell>''Handbook to the Isle of Wight'', Thomas Brettell, John Mitchell, 1844 [https://books.google.com/books?id=MBIHAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Alum+Bay%22+ornaments&pg=PA109 Google Books, retrieved 3 August 2008]</ref> The sands were also used for [[sand painting]] pictures,<ref>''The Other British Isles: A Journey Through the Offshore Islands of Britain'', Christopher Somerville, Grafton, 1990, {{ISBN|0-246-13317-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=NAB6AAAAIAAJ&q=%22sand+pictures%22 Google Books, retrieved 3 August 2008]</ref> a popular craft in Victorian times known as [[marmotinto]].

In the past, visitors to the bay could climb the foot of the cliffs and dig out the sand themselves. The removal of minerals from the site is now prohibited by law under provisions laid out in notices attached to the Headon Warren and West High Down SSSI designation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Consent/1000546.pdf|title=Operations likely to damage the special interest: Headon Warren and West High Down SSSI|website=Natural England|access-date=2017-12-07}}</ref>

The Needles Park has a facility where people could make bottles of sand, using sand gathered from the frequent rockfalls. In the past it was possible to buy Alum Bay coloured sand by mail order and make one's own sand pictures and bottles at home.<ref>[http://www.theneedles.co.uk/sand_shop.php Sand Shop] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807165800/http://www.theneedles.co.uk/sand_shop.php |date=7 August 2008 }}, Needles Park website</ref>

==Transport==
[[Southern Vectis]] run bus services from Alum Bay, including two summer-only [[open top bus|open top]] services – the Needles Breezer and the Island Coaster.<ref name="Toogood 2018">{{cite news |last1=Toogood |first1=Darren |title=NEEDLES BREEZER AND ISLAND COASTER RATED IN TOP 10 MOST SCENIC BUS ROUTES |url=https://www.islandecho.co.uk/needles-breezer-and-island-coaster-rated-in-top-10-most-scenic-bus-routes/ |access-date=28 May 2021 |work=Island Echo |date=28 May 2018}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Marconi monument, Alum Bay, IW, UK.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Monument to [[Guglielmo Marconi]]]]
On a map of the area produced around 1590, the bay is named Whytfylde Chine.<ref>[http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.hewitt/iwias/alum.htm The Alum in Alum Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515004750/http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.hewitt/iwias/alum.htm |date=15 May 2008 }}, Isle of Wight Industrial Archaeology Society report</ref> It is possible that Alum Bay was once fed by a Chine by this name, which has long since eroded away.

Alum Bay sand includes extremely pure white silica, which was once extracted for glass and pottery manufacture.<ref name=brettell/>

[[Guglielmo Marconi]] moved to Alum Bay in 1897 to experiment with radio. He installed a 40-metre radio antenna outside the Needles Hotel in Alum Bay. Initially establishing communication with ships offshore, by early 1898 he had successfully communicated with stations at Madeira House, [[Bournemouth]] and the [[Haven Hotel]], [[Poole]] 20 miles away.<ref>''Marconi My Beloved'', Maria Cristina Marconi, Branden Books, 2002, {{ISBN|0-937832-39-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=wfSABTyeiV4C&dq=%22Alum+Bay%22+Marconi&pg=PA315 Google Books, retrieved 3 August 2008]</ref><ref>''My Father, Marconi'', Degan Marconi, Guernica Editions, 1996, {{ISBN|1-55071-044-3}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtYy9TLrbA0C&dq=Poole+Marconi&pg=PA52 Google Books, retrieved 3 August 2008]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Whitecliff Bay]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.theneedles.co.uk/ Needles Park official website]
*''[https://books.google.com/books?id=03wYAAAAYAAJ  Grimkie]'', Jacob Abbott, Sheldon, 1860 - novel with description of Alumn Bay ornaments and sand pictures.

{{Crossings navbox
|structure = Around the [[Bay]]s
|place = [[Isle of Wight]]
|bridge = Alum Bay
|bridge signs =
|upstream text = East
|upstream = [[Totland Bay]]
|upstream signs =
|downstream text = South
|downstream = [[Scratchell's Bay]]
|downstream signs = 
}}

{{Isle of Wight}}
{{Settlements on the Isle of Wight}}
{{Chines on the Isle of Wight}}

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[[Category:Geology of the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Bays of the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Chines of the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight]]