A very short stroll around the pretty village Whitwell looking for the red water pumps, known as 'Lions' or 'Red Boys'.
It's a fun way to keep the kids amused for an hour, before heading into the White Horse Inn for a pint and some tasty grub. It's the oldest pub on the Island.
The six red painted cast iron water pumps are Grade II listed and depict the name Glenfield and Co. They were installed in the late 1880s and paid for by residents of the parish and philanthropist, William Spindler of St Lawrence. His tomb lies in the southern corner of the church graveyard at Whitwell. The water was supplied by Mr Granville Ward from a spring on his land at Bierley. Spindler funded, among many things, the building of the roads from Whitwell to Ventnor and Whitwell to Niton.
The locations are as follows:
- By the White Well just off Ventnor Road at the southern end of the village
- In the wall outside the main church on Kemming Road
- 200-300 yards along Kemming Road, at the junction with an unmade track off to the left
- High Street, in the wall on the other side of the road to the White Horse's pub garden
- Nettlecombe Lane, by the old phonebox on the corner with High Street
- High Street, tucked into a hedge by the road towards the northern end of the village
The pub will be happy for you to use their carpark if you buy a pint or some food.
