The village of St Helens lies in a coastal position on high ground, on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, between Bembridge and Seaview. St Helens is a traditional English village, with the village green at the centre of village life, providing cricket and football pitches, a children’s playground and superb views right across Bembridge Harbour and Culver Down. The village also offers superb restaurants, pub, newsagent, Post Office and grocery store. A short walk takes you to The Duver, an NT area of shingle and sand, and once the site of a Royal links golf course. The beach here is very family friendly, with sand and shingle, perfect for making sandcastles and collecting seashells as well as crabbing off the Bembridge Harbour Causeway. There is the popular Baywatch Café, with all the amenities you need for the perfect day at the beach, and stunning views of the Solent and St Helens Fort. The fort was built to protect Portsmouth from a French invasion between 1867 and 1880, and at the lowest tide of the summer, there is a mass walk of up to 2000 people from the beach out to the fort and back again, with driftwood fires and barbecues.