The Needles The Needles The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise about 30m out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmost Civil Parish of the Isle of Wight. The Needles Lighthouse stands at the outer, western end of the formation. Built in 1859, it has been automated since 1994. The waters and adjoining seabed form part of the Needles Marine Conservation Zone and the Needles along with the shore and heath above are part of the Headon Warren and
Alum Bay services from Alum Bay. There are two summer only services, namely the Needles Tour, and the Island Coaster service. The Needles Tour is on an open top bus. On a map of the area produced around 1590, the bay is named Whytfylde Chine. It is possible that Alum Bay was once fed by a Chine by this name, which has long since eroded away. Alum Bay sand includes extremely pure white silica, which was once extracted for glass and pottery manufacture. Guglielmo Marconi moved to Alum Bay in 1897 to experiment with radio. He installed a 40-metre radio antenna outside