Why The Isle of Wight Is England's Second Best County (Not 34th)

The Isle of Wight - the 34th best county in England, according to the Telegraph

The Telegraph recently published a guide to England’s best counties, based on a whole heap of available data. 

The Isle of Wight ranked a feeble 34th out of 48, roughly on a par with the West Midlands (not really a county in my mind, but let’s ignore that), Greater Manchester (also not really a county in my mind) and Buckinghamshire. The top five were Devon, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Cornwall and Somerset.

A mainland friend taunted me by pointing out the Isle of Wight’s lowly position and I spent a few minutes shaking my fist and sending him angry emojis.

​ The study took into account four things:

• ‘natural wonders’
• ‘history and culture’
• ‘luxuries’
• ‘peace and quiet’

The Telegraph gave points for things like forests, National Trust sites, coastlines, Michelin stars, golf courses and took points off for motorways and airports. To be fair, it was a comprehensive study and an enjoyable read.

Honestly though, I felt that the Isle of Wight should rank well on lots of the criteria and was baffled by the low ranking.

You could argue that the Isle of Wight has traditionally lagged behind on 'luxuries' but I think it has come a long way in recent years and has about a dozen hotels that I would consider ‘posh’ as well as half a dozen restaurants that get mentioned in the Michelin Guide (although no Michelin stars). 

It certainly ranks well on beaches, as there are 20+ within half an hour of the middle of the Island. There's an abundance of history and there are no motorways or large airports. There is some stunning scenery (best viewed from a bench) and hundreds of miles of footpaths, as well as some really lovely family attractions.

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England's 34th Best County? why does it rank so low?

After a few minutes of fist shaking, I figured out a problem with the comparison.

The study didn’t take size into account at all.

Another tiny county – Rutland – gained a similarly poor score despite also being a very nice place. Huge great counties like Lincolnshire ranked ahead of the Isle of Wight, but that’s not surprising considering it covers nearly 7000 square kilometres compared the Isle of Wight’s 380 square kilometres. In other words, Lincolnshire is 18 times larger than the Isle of Wight.

Despite being an 18th of the size, the Isle of Wight got a similar score to Lincolnshire for 'Natural Wonders' - which I think is pretty impressive.

The methodology for the Telegraph's study says that they decided ‘not to award scores on a per capita or per square mile basis’ because ‘Compared to the nations of the world, the English counties are relatively small and uniform in size’.

The Telegraph briefly acknowledged that the Isle of Wight was punching above its weight, but I can’t help but feel that the Isle of Wight and Rutland got a raw deal in this comparison. North Yorkshire is 22 times the size of the Isle of Wight! It's the equivalent of arranging a race between a leopard and a tabby cat with three legs.

My fist began to shake even more wildly.

​Mrs Guru tried to calm me with a cup of decaf Earl Grey and a slice of shortbread, but even that didn't do the trick.

It was time for some number crunching to prove my point.

Priory Bay - one of many lovely beaches in England's 34th best county

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So how would the Isle of Wight rank if we took size into account?

I did a fairly basic calculation of figuring out the area of each county and creating a score of points per square kilometre, based on The Telegraph's scoring system.

It's hard to get a definitive number for some counties due to boundary changes, so I'm going to admit that there may be some small errors (please politely point them out in the comments if you see any).

Here are the results:

As you can see, the Isle of Wight ranks fourth out of 48. I personally would exclude both London and Bristol as they are densely populated cities and not really comparable.

That would place the Isle of Wight as the second best county in England, once size is taken into account.

The Isle of Wight is a whisker behind another small county (Rutland) and is leaps ahead of Cornwall, Devon, Cumbria and other places that ranked highly in The Telegraph's study.

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Northumberland are now in the bottom five - rather than being ahead of the Isle of Wight.

Honestly, I still think it’s an imperfect set of figures and isn’t particularly helpful for planning where to go on holiday. Cumbria languishes near the bottom despite being home to the stunningly beautiful Lake District. The West Midlands (Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry etc.) ranks ahead of Cornwall, Dorset and Devon. I enjoyed my school trip to Coventry Cathedral in 1996...but I don't think much of your beaches.

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But isn't the Isle of Wight a bit too small?

What an outrageous thing to say!

Personally, I think the Isle of Wight is just about the right sort of size, particularly for a holiday.

I have long felt that the Isle of Wight is best promoted as England in miniature. During a week’s holiday you can get a taste for England’s varied coastline and landscapes without huge drives every day.

Growing up in Carisbrooke, we could drive 15 minutes to a surfing beach (Compton Bay), 25 minutes to a Blackpool style beach (Shanklin), 10 minutes to a world famous yacht haven (Cowes), 10 minutes to the isolated nature reserve at Newtown or 25 minutes to wide open beaches that feel like Norfolk or Lincolnshire's coast (Appley). A world-class castle was on the doorstep (Carisbrooke Castle), whilst Queen Victoria's stately home was 10 minutes drive. 

The Isle of Wight’s ability to cram a lot in should be seen as a positive for visitors, rather than a negative. Yes, Cornwall has got more natural wonders but some of them are literally two hours drive apart – even without getting stuck behind a tractor.

On the Isle of Wight you can see dozens of natural wonders in a driving tour that takes a couple of hours. 

Right then, has anyone got the phone number for The Telegraph?

The Isle of Wight has a bit of everything - including a massive great castle in Carisbrooke

Freshwater Bay in the West Wight