Old England is fighting for survival. Even songbirds are leaving. The bucolic countryside, the green and pleasant land of the ëNew Jerusalemí is in fact an urban forest of rolling sprawling suburbs with occasional fields interspersed between various motorways.

.Now, close your eyes and picture a land of country lanes and thatched cottages. On the Isle of Wight itís possible to stand shoulder to shoulder and see in the distance a green and pleasant patchwork of fields and the organized randomness of a Victorian Park.

An island little known to overseas visitors itís fondly regarded in England as a sailing mecca (Cowes Week), celebrated for itís Royal gardens (Osborne House) or the notoriety of Parkhurst Prison that houses infamous criminals.

As a University student working a number of summers there as a bus conductor, waiter and ice cream salesman, serving holidaymakers from the bleak industrial towns of Leeds or Newcastle, returning after so many years had me wondering what to expect. Happily my concerns faded as I circled the island.

The 400 year-old gingerbread cottages remain untouched, their storybook looks suggesting Rupert the Bear, Winnie the Pooh and Hobbits might be home.

The Island Trust has not allowed high-rise developments, fast food outlets or freeways to spoil the ambiance. Blessed with fields of yellow flaxseed, red poppies, green grasslands, manicured gardens, ancient hedgerows and grazing wildlife, the countryside is a mosaic of color interspersed by historic sites like The Needles and Freshwater Bay.

In Newport, the island capital, the Farmers Market has occurred on the same spot for at least 1000 years. Shoppers with a liking for whimsy, dress like the rest of England but cheaper. They want the same things but theyíre clearly poorer or more frugal than city folk.

In a local pub, the Dairymanís Daughter, the beer-bacon-butty get-together of round-faced-ruralists propped up the bar like a cast of characters from Coronation Street. ëA Hereford on a rope beats a Potbelly any day,î said Bert slapping his hand on the bar ending a long discussion centering around pigs the favorite meat in England since Celtic times. Led to slaughter through feast or famine, feeding urban progress, each breed was carefully forged from forced copulations over hundreds of generations.

Farmer Evans, maker of sausages and bacon, proudly proclaims his pigs are happy as I buy another round so I can continue listening to their lovely burr. ëThanks nipperí they say, hoisting another fine local ale.

The Priory Bay Hotel, on the Bembridge-Ryde road on the north-east corner of the island, built by Medieval monks, Tudor farmers and Georgian gentry, is an old 13th century monastery, a medley of buildings sympathetically restored to maintain tranquil interiors and peaceful landscapes.

It has itís own resident ghost; a young woman and her dog, well known to the staff and seen by guests on occasions. In the morning when I was checking out, an eight-year-old girl, not knowing or having any prior history, asked the name of the dog that licked her hand while she was half-asleep!

Ivy-dappled country churchyards dotted throughout the island appear attractive as final resting places. At a Sunday morning family service in a 14th Century church in Ventnor, dubbed Englandís Madeiraí by the Victorians, the warm welcome from the Vicar and parishioners made me want to move to the parish. After purchasing the ubiquitous Sunday newspapers I enjoyed lunch at a beachside restaurant overlooking the English Channel. (Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, seven different vegetables and apple crumble, coffee ñ about $18.)

The island countryside is the raw material that fuels urban imagination. The countryside inspires -the city consumes. The Isle of Wight is a jewel of flowers, butterflies, virgin woods, windmills and watermills, quiet coves and 100kís of beaches that stretches summer, endlessly.

The Isle of Wight is a very special place, left behind, untouched.

Getting There:

Take a train from Waterloo Station, London to Portsmouth (1 hour). Itís a short walk to the ferry and just 45 mins to Ryde and the Garden Isle.

Isle of Wight: Known as the Garden Isle this jewel is sited in the English Channel and accessible by ferry from Portsmouth, Southampton and Limington.

The Priory Bay Hotel, a Country House Hotel by the magnificent Priory Bay. Sailing, shooting, fishing, riding and gliding are available nearby. The Hotel offers Low, Mid and High Season rates.