A long-standing walking tour that explores a former colony of Russian writers, revolutionaries and dissidents in Ventnor has soared in popularity this season.
‘Ventnor: Cradle of the Russian Revolution’ made its debut at the Ventnor Fringe Festival in 2021, with 3 sold-out walks.
Another 2 followed later in the year and were once again oversubscribed. With an undoubted trend in enthusiasm noted, partners extended the number of walks on offer in 2022, with newfound support from the Isle of Wight Walking Festival. Once again, all walks sold out immediately and incurred lengthy waiting lists. In total, 9 walks have taken place so far.
Participants in the guided tours have eagerly followed in the footsteps of the likes of Alexander Herzen, Ivan Turgenev, and Karl Marx, all of whom occupied residences in the seaside town, cultivating a laboratory abroad within which to explore and debate more liberal viewpoints. Historians have alleged that it was Turgenev, author of the highly acclaimed novel Fathers and Sons, who said that Ventnor should be annexed to Russia.
An established collaboration between Stephan Roman CMG, author of Isle and Empires: Romanov Russia, Britain and the Isle of Wight, and the Ventnor Heritage Centre, the rise in demand for the tours has reacted, in part, to the international crisis of the past year.
Roman, who recently released a new paperback edition of his bestselling book, including a foreword titled ‘Vladimir Putin and the return of Imperial Russia’, notes:
‘’Discovering Ventnor’s Russian radical heritage is an important reminder that there have always been generations of Russians willing to resist autocracy and imperialism. These exiles found sanctuary and security both in Britain and the Isle of Wight. At a time when Russia once again extends a threatening shadow over Eastern and central Europe, it is encouraging to learn about the extraordinary stories of these Russian radicals and why Ventnor played such an important part in their lives. The Ventnor walks provide an exciting opportunity to discover a fascinating period in Anglo-Russian relations, one that is being repeated today as more and more Russians flee their homeland in search of the freedoms and liberties denied them by Putin’s regime.’’
Lesley Telford, Trustee of the Ventnor Heritage Centre, who has actively supported the guided walks from conception to delivery, added:
‘’This joint project with the Centre has proved magnetic to both visitors and local residents, with all the walks oversubscribed. As Stephan tells the story of the Russian Dissidents who visited us in the summers of the last century, we reimagine Ventnor at that time – standing between lush literary Bonchurch and the gothic cliffs of Blackgang, with the atmosphere of a frontier town, growing rapidly from a fishing village to a Victorian health resort with elegant hotels and boarding houses.”
Further walks are being planned for 2023, once again in partnership with the Ventnor Fringe Festival in July and the Isle of Wight Walking Festival in May and October.
Imo, I think many Russians are fleeing their homeland not because their freedom and liberties are limited by Putin, but because they don’t want to fight in a war.
Would be the same here if conscription was necessary. Watch and see how many non-indigenous recent arrivals ‘suddenly’ then decided to not be British and find religion or mental health reasons to avoid having their casual, easy state funded lifestyle ended by having to go to war to fight for the country who provides a better life for them all.
Marx was German not russian