My coast: Brian May

'I love the Isle of Wight; it is a fabulous place. It feels peaceful and a bit more contemplative; how England used to be. I first came to the island with my parents when I was three years old and we stayed in Sandown.

‘Most recently, I went on a special pilgrimage with my wife, Anita [Dobson], and we drove down from London and came over on the ferry. We stayed at The George in Yarmouth, and explored the south of the island. First we started off in West Wight, because I wanted to see The Needles, but it was pouring with rain. So I looked over to the east, and it looked sunny, so I said, ‘Let’s go over there,’ and then we were in sunshine all day. ‘We stopped off in Ventnor for lunch. We had fish and chips on the Esplanade at the Beach Hut Diner, where the lady was so nice, I sent her an album. We visited the beautiful church in Godshill, and marvelled that no one seems to lock their doors. Then it was on to Sandown for Mr Whippy ice creams.

‘The next day we had a fantastic time at the Dimbola Photographic Museum in Freshwater, to open my exhibition – A Village Lost and Found – which features rare and exceptional daguerreotypes [the fi rst successfully produced type of photograph] of the village of Hinton Waldrist in Oxfordshire by the Victorian photographer T R Williams. The ladies in the tearoom were very kind and baked a chocolate cake for my birthday, and I gave a short talk. Stereo photography is a passion. If you compare it with seeing a film about life in the 1850s, you would see an actor give an interpretation of what life was like. Now, when you view the stereo image, you are looking at real people. I spent years restoring the images; so they could be seen and appreciated by people in the 21st century.’

Buy the book of 'A Village Lost and Found' by Brian May and Elena Vidal (Frances Lincoln, £35) from Allaboutyou's online bookshop. For more on Brian, go to www.brianmay.com.