It’s not far off a year since the History Society unveiled a blue plaque outside the honeymoon residence of Edward Elgar in Alexandra Gardens.
This coming Sunday the Elgar Society are inviting the public to join them in a walk following in the footsteps of Edward Elgar along the Landslip from Shanklin to Ventnor.
They will be finishing at the honeymoon residence at 2pm for refreshments and the launch of a new book, ‘This Charming Island’, about Edward and Alice Elgar’s honeymoon in that house in 1889.
According to the Elgar Society
The book is profusely illustrated with period photographs and facsimiles of Elgar’s letters and diaries of the time.
The Elgars stayed at Shanklin before moving to Ventnor, and went fishing, walking, as well as taking a horse-drawn coach to Freshwater.
The honeymoon was the beginning of a partnership that made Elgar a great composer, as his wife Alice gave up all her ambitions to be a writer to concentrate on supporting and encouraging her husband.
The Elgars never returned to the Isle of Wight but Alice remembered the honeymoon all her life.
Readers are welcome to join the walk which departs from Shanklin Railway Station at 12.15 or to go along to the launch at 3 Alexandra Gardens between 2-3pm.
