Yes, we know it’s called Alum Bay – but why is it? And what is alum?
Well, luckily the Oxford English Dictionary can explain that bit.
It tells us “Alum is known by the formula Kal (SO4 )2·12(H2O). It is an astringent compound and a hydrated double sulphate of aluminium and potassium.”
Well maybe it is but it’s not as simple as that.
In days gone by alum was highly sought after. It fixed dyes in materials, it was used as a glue in paper making and the tanning trade used it to make leather supple.
The problem was that it was in short supply and had to be imported, so a local supply came in very handy.
Worsley’s History of the Isle of Wight, published in 1781, says, "Alum Bay derives its name from the alum found there."
Well, that’s where the whole thing falls apart - there’s no evidence that alum has ever been found there.
The fact is, and whisper this quietly, Alum Bay is a trade descriptions nightmare because it’s safe to say Alum Bay is Alum Less - and it might always have been.
A licence was granted to a Flemish businessman in the 17th century to mine alum there and it is known that he and his family did actually move to the Island but there is no evidence that he ever found any.
What Alum Bay does have though, is sand – the famous coloured sand.
Worsley wrote, “The cliffs are beautifully variegated with a diversity of colours of sands of different hues. The white sand is used at London and Bristol in the composition of the finer sorts of glass and porcelain.”
In those days it was stored in the sandhouse which still stands today, next to the Yarmouth road bridge.
As to the coloured sand, tourists no longer risk life and limb gathering it because scrambling over the cliffs is strictly forbidden.
The Needles Pleasure Park, owner of the cliffs, get their supplies of sand the natural way these days by the simple act of waiting for winter cliff falls.
The coloured sands may once have played a big part in the fortunes of Alum Bay but they weren’t the only attraction – Alum Bay once had a pier.
Piers were all the rage from the 1870s onwards and the Island had more than ten of them at one point (pedants note: some towns had more than one pier)!
Alum Bay got its first one, a wooden affair, in 1869 and it was such a success that it was replaced by a metal one in 1887.
Paddle-steamers from across the south then began calling at the pier and trippers in their thousands would make their way to the tea-shop halfway up the chine.
After tea and cakes it was over to the cliff edge to gather some coloured sands which they could then take down to the sand hut on the beach where they could buy glass ornaments to put their sand in.
The outbreak of war in 1914 marked the beginning of the end for the pier.
The steamers no longer called and the trade never picked up when the war finished.
The end came very quickly - the last steamer called in 1920 and by 1925 the pier had been declared unsafe and was closed to the public.
It lingered on for a few more years until nature stepped in to put it out of its misery in February 1928.
“Alum Bay Pier Wrecked” said the County Press headline, “The pier at Alum Bay, which has been allowed to get into a bad state of disrepair during the last few years was almost completely destroyed in the gale on Thursday.
"At about midday the central portion gave way under the strain of the wind and heavy seas, and was swept on the beach.
"The heavy storms of late had weakened the piling, and the pier suddenly sagged in the middle during a particularly strong gust of wind and, with a roar, both piling and decking were torn away and quickly disappeared in the raging seas.
"Until about four years ago it was regularly used in the summer by pleasure steamers landing trippers to see the famous coloured sand cliffs, but since that time it has been considered unsafe, and steamers have not called.”
And that was that.
Today there is barely a trace of the pier, or the chine which has long since eroded but on a positive note, these days there is no more scrabbling down the cliffs to reach the beach.
For those who don’t mind heights, it can be reached by a leisurely ride on the chairlift.
This year, the chairlift celebrated its 50th birthday.
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