Lake, Isle of Wight

Lake
Hampshire
Church of The Good Shepherd, Lake
Location
Island:	Isle of Wight
Grid reference:	SZ586836
Location:	50°38’60"N, 1°10’4"W
Data
Population:	5,117  (2011)
Post town:	Sandown
Postcode:	PO36
Dialling code:	01983
Local Government
Council:	Isle of Wight
Parliamentary constituency:	Isle of Wight

Lake is a large village on Sandown Bay, on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. It stands between Sandown and Shanklin, effectively a contiguous suburb of the former. To the west is the hamlet of Apse Heath.

Name

Lake appears to have its name from the Old English "lacu" for a body of water, referring to the creek that ran along, and has been artificially widened into what is now Scotchells Brook, which is between the Isle of Wight Airport, the Morrisons Superstore and the Spithead Industrial Park - the former "Temperatures" air conditioning factory.

Churches

• Church of England: Church of The Good Shepherd
• Methodist: Lake Methodist Church
• Jehovah's Witnesses: Kingdom Hall

About the village

There is a Primary School at Blackpan (Broadlea), and an academy (Sandownbay) at the bottom of the Fairway. There are several pubs including The Stag, plus The Porter Club (formerly Lake Working Men's Club).

Sandown Road, Lake

Local businesses include a range of local shops as well as an undertaker, a solicitor's office and accountant's office, a doctor's surgery and various professional services. The village has an Indian and Chinese Restaurant plus two Chinese takeaways, a kebab shop and Lake Fish Bar.

There were recently two pubs in the village - The Stag and the Manor House. The Manor House was closed and has since reopened as a Tesco Metro. However, another pub, "The Merrie Garden" has recently opened near the Morrison's store. The thatched building at Merrie Gardens dates from the 17th century and is the oldest surviving building in Lake. Alongside The Merrie Garden pub, a new Premier Inn has recently been built. It opened in late 2015.

Lake or 'Welcome Beach' is reached by a steep path down the sandstone cliffs to the Revetment, which contains two cafes (Hinks and Strollers), beach huts, a Sea Scout hut and inshore lifeboat.

The village war memorial has been relocated behind the Fairway Bus Shelter due to having been run down twice by carelessly driven lorries. A large public park called Los Altos starts at the boundary between Lake and Sandown. Another large park called Lake Cliff Gardens borders the cliffs that back onto the beach, and stretches between Lake and Shanklin.

Wildlife

Local wildlife includes Pipistrelle bats at Los Altos, kestrels along the Cliff Path and Common Toads which spawn in the disused reservoir behind the Mall. Sandown & Shanklin Golf Course is behind the High School and the Rugby Club in front. The wetlands of the River Yar are a site of special scientific interest supporting newts, voles and wildfowl.

Society

• Townswomens' Guild.
• Lions Club

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lake, Isle of Wight)

• Photographs of Lake
• Historical photographs of Lake from the Francis Frith collection
• Hilton Price's Nostalgic Lake