Photo: On the beach – faded charm of the Isle of Wight

Photo of Sandown Beach on the Isle of Wight. Taken on 21st March 2010 with Sony A200 and edited in Camerabag for Mac using Lolo, Instant and ColorCross filters with reprocessing.

I used to visit the Isle of Wight as a child but the faded look is sadly appropriate as a lot of the island felt like it was still stuck in the 1950's. On a sunny day at the end of March it was hard to find places – particularly in Sandown – open for business; shops were run down or empty, buildings in need of a coat of paint.

There is a vicious circle in the idea of a "tourist season" – act like there is one and it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The tourists won't come to visit if nowhere is open for business, and then you can't make the money and then you won't be left with a business to open. The places that were open (some parts of Shanklin, all of Godshill) illustrated that the business was there if the effort to attract it was made. There is after all a reason Cornwall and The Lake District do good business all year round…