Bembridge Fort

Bembridge Fort is an unrestored hexagonal Victorian fort on the highest point of Bembridge Down at the eastern tip of the Isle of Wight, built in the 1860s on Lord Palmerston's orders to guard the Portsmouth dockyards against Napoleon III; the French never came, so the forts were dubbed Palmerston's Follies, though this one served in both World Wars. It is now in the care of the Bembridge Fort Trust and may be closed for up to 18 months for works, with group tours by arrangement, so check before travelling; reviewers describe a tumbledown, take-it-as-you-find-it place brought alive by knowledgeable guides. The downs around it are open dawn to dusk, with six free car parks, First World War gun emplacements, a pub and views over Sandown Bay and the Solent from chalk cliffs on the same ridge as the Needles. Three Trust trails start on the downs, from the 1.8-mile, wheelchair-friendly Fine Fortifications trail to the 5.6-mile Bembridge and Culver Downs circuit past the island's only windmill. Dogs are welcome across the downs on a short lead around livestock and under close control elsewhere. Expect steep grass slopes and steps at the fort and slippery paths when wet.