Tuesday 6 July 2010

1447 Return to the Isle of Wight

It is becoming difficult to switch back to my feelings of only four days ago when I decided to visit Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight for the first time since the early 1950's. After the amazing experience of 20 20 finals day I did not fancy joining the tens of thousands rushing to the Naval dockyard to see the twenty vessels, including visits on board ships, and considered that it would be quieter going in the opposite direction. I pondered what to do over breakfast of two croissants with marmalade, grapefruit segments, orange fruit juice and two cups of coffee, leaving a “pan-au-chocolat” for later, which was just as well because as the wrapped tin foiled sandwiches had to go and I did not fancy the bananas or pears, there was just one container of prepared salad mixture for the day, together with one flask of hot coffee and one of ice cold water. I hoped I would have sufficient to keep me going on my travels and my practice of eating as I felt I needed to rather than according to conventional times.

Following the previous night's route into Havant I saw a sign to railway station before reaching the town centre and found a large car park where for I could park all day for £1.50. This proved to be the first of several occasions when strangers asked fro information and I was able to pass what I had just learnt on. The individual commented out aloud ask a visitor of you want an answer. The train fare was something like £3.60 return and for this day only the train stopped at the next station because of the navy days, before going to Frat ton Park the home of Portsmouth Football club, the central Portsmouth and Southsea before Portsmouth Harbour. It is only a short walk from the platform to the entrance of the Fast cat Ferry service every 30 minutes taking 20 minutes with five minutes for passengers to alight and five for them get on board. Because of my age I was entitled to seat by the exit and there was just time to acclimatise to this new environment before reaching the end of the pier at Ryde and my first memory realization. Memory has blocked out unnecessary information for half a decade. It was only on arrival that I remembered the length of the pier and that only first timers or people like me walked into the town and bus station with everyone else being picked up by friends or taxis or taking the island train which goes some six miles from the pier to Shanklin. This is made up of carriages from the London underground (Tube) system. After finding the male toilet I was prepared for the interesting walk take care when two vehicles passed by in opposite directions and the other first time visitors who stopped to admire the view. I watched the train depart and wondered if I was making the right decision given that the morning was progressing and I longed for coffee and the pan-au-chocolat. Sadly I watched, unknowingly, the first bus travelling in the desired direction, a single Decker, leaving the small bus station at the end of the pier, and to wait for sometime before the next, a double Decker, arrived, unloaded, and reloaded but was then immediately away, through the town into the countryside. At the ferry office I had picked up a copy of Wight Life which contained a double page spread map of the Island, providing a calendar of events. I am going to leave to another day reference to my interest in the island arising from relayed information related to "child care" issues as none of that information has been independent verified although it does provide a potentially challenging perspective on island life away from that presented to the tourists, see however what is happening now re Jersey and the "child care" revelations emerging The island which is just under 150 square miles with under 60 miles of coastline has a resident population of around 140000 with an imbalance of elders who are attracted by the climate and living abroad where British is the main language unlike parts of London and other major cities and towns and an a for a major part of the year as they go to further education on the mainland many meeting their future partners establishing their occupations and first homes away. The residents, especially those of generations will have mixed views about the extent to which the island is given over to long and short stay tourism. At the ferry station I acquired two excellent guides to the island for free and both contained a map. The first is magazine style island which begins with a calendar of main events plus and second list all notified events at the time of publication, called Wight life and the other a pocket guide. Later I also obtained a tourist map book and all three provided information to the extent that I immediately wished to make a longer stay. Traditionally the Island is known for its Cowes Week sailing regatta, when all the posh hotels are taken by the country and London smart set of the day. I have a poster of the first Rock festival now established in June and there is a second music festival, the bestival, There is the food "Garlic festival with 300 stalls and 20000 visitors and an international sporting event with 500 competition, with action sports in the air, land and water as well as art and live music, On the day of my visit I quickly discovered that Girl Aloud were appearing the former summer residence of Queen Victoria Osborn House. There is also great access to the Island with several crossing points for vehicles and pedestrian/cycle travellers, some 400 a day which is over 15 an hour. My route from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde, with the vehicle ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, From Southampton there is a passenger Catamaran to West Cowes and vehicular to East Cowes. From Southsea there is foot passengers to Ryde, vehicle Lymington to Yarmouth and passenger from Keyhaven to Yarmouth. There is also a chain ferry between East and West Cowes.I did a coach tour or two wishing that we were able to go in our own time. There is the needles areas where for many year I had a souvenir container of different coloured sands and several Chines small gorges or ravines but the various wildlife and adventure parks, the historic sites, river and steam engine trips are all post 1940 developments.I alighted from the bus at Sandown which I remembered well with its street of shops parallel to the road beach where wooden ladder take you down to the beach unless you go to northern area where there is no road and direct beach access. I believe the first time we stayed at Bembridge which then had a country village atmosphere but no beach so we had to take the bus to Sandown. I also remembered the pier which looked the sane externally. It follows the traditional organisation of arcade amusements designed to separate you from your cash, then a place to have an all day breakfast or fish and chips, or dunkin donuts, then an open walking area with a few seats, then a couple of rides and then a precarious area for fisherman. It is not a long pier which is why is has survived whereas that at Shanklin became derelict and was destroyed altogether in a storm. There are still the canopied high back deck chairs which I eventually persuaded the aunties as doing so was considered superior to lying out on the sand. It was time to move on to Shanklin where I had forgotten that the town is some distance from the sea front, missing the town stop at the small bus station and then deciding to get off at the Old Village, making key way back and have a look at the theatre where I was unable to remember if we were able to afford a visit or if in deed there were summer shows.. I bought the map booklet in order to work out where I was, sitting at a bench by a church and then made my way down the steep hill to the sea front at the most southern end of the bay where there is a miniature golf course which I always wanted to play but was not very good at and where there were public toilets. There used to a great long pier here but it became derelict and then was destroyed in a storm. I vaguely remembered that was a lift to the cliff top but was not in operation when we visited and the present one was built around1955, has two lifts and costs 60 p for pensioners one way. My memory is that we went to the children's parade although whether this was at Sandown where it take places to day or at Shanklin I cannot remember. I am certain that one year we did go to Shanklin rather than Sandown for the illuminations. On my way back I found a bus stop just before the town bus station where I missed one again and though I did not have long to wait thinking that the time table applied to the stop. There I met a grandmother who was waiting for her son in law to take her his home so she would baby sit while the parents and older children went to see Girls aloud. One of the daughters was to be Princess in the parade. I did not recognise much about Shanklin on explore much although I was tempted by one restaurant hotel offering a dressed crab salad and another which offered steak on a slate like hot slab with vegetables served on a second plinth. The journey back was not enjoyable, first a half an hour weight for the bus. Then although I arrived in time for the 6,15 ferry it was cancelled for operational reasons so there was a great queue and scrum for the 6.45 which set off five mins late which was crucial because although I made my way directly to the station and along the platform past the five coach train, it pulled out before the stated time, When I challenged the station attendant he first lied and then admitted that the off was signalled some thirty seconds before departure time and that he worked for the railways and had nothing to do with the ferry service which sums up just what is wrong with the private enterprise system. As it happens I had a choice of train with those going to Waterloo and Victoria also calling at Havant as well as the departing train along the coast to Brighton but for some, including one family off the ferry there was an hour's wait. Back at the motel I enjoyed a made up evening meal of packet soup, packet pasta, Danish and fruit, water and coffee. It had been a very short visit back into childhood and at the point I was not certain when or if I would return, despite remembering that we had stayed at the third resort Ventnor. I was also experiencing personal discomfort with what I hoped was a mild heat rash in an intimate area of the body but nothing affected the sense of having recaptured part of my childhood.

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