- Christmas comes early in Shanklin -
A five day break in Shanklin has been booked with Stephen's trusty coach favourites Daish's, starting on Thursday 5th November. Unbeknownst to us, we're now into the 'Turkey & Tinsel' season where operators theme holidays around the yuletide festivities, hence our driver upon being picked up at Wolverhampton's Faulkand Street is dressed in an advent calendar shirt with a Santa hat. The journey down to the South Coast goes relatively smoothly, allowing for an incursion through the heart of Winchester, and we make our Red Funnel ferry crossing at Southampton on time. The worst traffic is actually encountered on the Isle of Wight itself, road closures and school hometimes creating a clog-up around Newport. Nevertheless, we reach Shanklin at about quarter past five, saying hello to various Father Christmas figures.
- Shanklin Theatre -
After our 'Christmas Eve' evening meal - involving vegetable soup, liver, and spotted dick (but not all on the same plate I hasten to add) - Mr B and I venture out into the Shanklin night. Our main task is to find our way around, see where the bus stops and other amenities are, getting an initial flavour of what has long been a noted seaside resort town. Key features include the Shanklin Theatre (reopened in 1934 after a serious fire nine years earlier), several seafront pleasure facilities (crazy golf, family amusement arcades), Shanklin Chine (a famous natural gorge), and the Old Village as populated by pretty thatched cottages. The latter locality hosts two interesting drinking establishments: the Crab is run by Greene King and has a fishpond for much Beardsmore entertainment, whereas King Harry's Bar is a musty hotel space serving up cask ales beneath a snug ceiling plastered with pumpclips - very much a Paul pub this one!
- Island Flyer at Ryde -
Onto 'Christmas Day then, otherwise known as Friday 6th November in the real world, and after more Shanklin seafront shuffles - including a hike up Hope Hill - we catch the number 3 link to Ryde. The Isle of Wight has a robust bus service (even on Sundays) with all routes operated by Southern Vectis and mostly radiating out of Newport as the island's central hub. After journeying up via Lake, Sandown, Brading and St John's Hill, we hop off at the Ryde Esplanade terminus where Stephen spots that the Island Flyer hovercraft is ready to depart from its nearby beach landing point. It's quite a sight to see the craft power up, its cushion inflating to the whirr of engines before it whizzes off across the waves. The journey over to Portsmouth takes roughly ten minutes hence it can be a handy for mainland commuters.
- Ryde Pier Head Station -
Ryde's intriguing transport operations don't merely end there. The town serves as the northern terminus of the Island Lane railway branch, the only mainline survivor of what used to be an extensive network (there is a preserved steam railway too). When I came to the Isle of Wight as a kid, I seem to remember redeployed London Underground carriages running along the pier, although the rolling stock has since been upgraded. Nothing is actually operating right now however because of essential maintenance works out of the holiday period. We therefore amble up to Ryde Pier Head station instead, the gangway having three parallel sections for cars, trains and pedestrian users. It isn't the prettiest of piers but I find it fascinating.
- Spooky Stephen at Sandown -
My childhood Ryde recollections also vaguely extend to visiting the local Wetherspoons (S. Fowler & Co, a former drapers and hardware store) so we happily repeat that for restorative pints of purple peril and Titanic's Black Ice respectively. I rather like the building's decorative charms but it gets completely upstaged by our other two calling points. The Smuggler's Cat effectively is a loving homage to all things Isle of Wight, a treasure trove of antiques, railway maps, cinema seats and local brews (Goddard's Fuggle De Dum gladly wetting my whistle here), before Sandown's Castle Inn amazes us with displays of spooky adornments ranging from dangling skeletons and interred ghouls to suits of armour and exposed entrails. With all that going on, the beer still proves top notch thanks to a cracking pint of Ale of Wight.
- Newport Minster -
The challenge of representing 'Boxing Day' falls to Saturday 7th November, which we've set aside for Conquering Cowes. We sally forth on the number 3 again but this time covering the other half of the service via Ventnor, Wroxall and the incredibly quaint Godshill. Newport gets only the briefest of visits, albeit long enough to eye up landmarks such as the Minster Church in St Thomas's Square, then we're onto another bus in the form of the 5. This route passes the Medina Leisure Centre and Osborne House (Queen Victoria's favoured Isle of Wight retreat) to reach East Cowes, setting down outside a Waitrose Supermarket with its tiled depictions of pleasure craft, helicopters and Union Jack-clad shipyard berths.
- East Cowes Terminal -
When I last visited the Isle of Wight with my family roughly 25 years ago, we stayed at the Waverley Park caravan site in East Cowes so this - along with Ryde - is the part of the island which seems the most familiar to me. Stephen and I take a gentle stroll via Albany Road to cover some of the Esplanade; seeing the static caravans rising up the hill towards a distant clubhouse certainly brings back a few memories! Likewise the Red Funnel ferry terminal where our timings are spot on for seeing 'Red Eagle' being systematically unloaded - it's an impressively choreographed procedure, getting everybody safely off before welcoming the next batch of Solent-crossers on board. A relaxed pint in the traditional Ship & Castle adds further East Cowes endeavour with hints of the quayside close at hand.
- Waiting for the Floating Bridge -
East Cowes is separated from its more glamorous Cowes counterpart by the mouth of the River Medina although there is an exciting Floating Bridge to connect the two sides. A single fare of £1 for foot passengers allows us to sample this chain ferry experience, with tug boat 'Tectis' nuzzled up close to keep our craft on course. Cowes meanwhile is famous for its royal yachting connections, hosting the socialite swirl of its world-renowned Cowes Week regatta every August. It's a moneyed place in some respects with the amount of boat clubs dotted about, but otherwise seems relatively ordinary on a chilly November afternoon. Two prime pubs catch our collective eye here: the Painters Arms promises sports screens although the Wrexham v Wolves game isn't showing, and we almost find ourselves becoming inadvertent extras during filming for a music video! Shooters Hill meanwhile is home to the reigning Isle of Wight CAMRA Pub of the Year, the Ale House micropub. We partake of a leisurely tipple sitting upstairs, accompanied by an antique Pittis estate agents For Sale board.
- Yachts at Small Hope Beach -
Using a slab of poetic licence about the usual yuletide flow of things, Sunday 8th November becomes 'New Year's Eve' for Turkey & Tinsel purposes although Stephen and I don't need to work off any overindulgences. A sunkissed stroll along Small Hope Beach - just north of the main Shanklin promenade - has us admiring a series of multicoloured beach huts while the local sailing club are lining up their various steeds along the sands. After pausing to pay our Remembrance Sunday respects amidst road closures by Shanklin Cenotaph, we board that number 3 bus once more for the twenty minute trundle into Ventnor. There's some superb scenery to be enjoyed around Luccombe and Bonchurch - where some of the cliff paths are fenced off due to the risk of landslips - before the bus tightly twists its way down the hill near Holy Trinity Church. I would not want to be a bus driver trying to navigate these steep bends!
- Cascade Gardens, Ventnor -
Ventnor is predominantly a Victorian seaside town with a whiff of elegance about it, although - as with most equivalent places - it requires regular fresh investment to keep looking its best. Pier Street precedes the sweeping arc of the Cascade Gardens, nestled under the watchful gaze of the art deco Winter Gardens building. We take a wander along a short breakwater for snippets of a small working harbour, then continue along the Esplanade to reach the rather eccentric Spyglass Inn. A strong pirate theme is instantly apparent here, augmented inside through a range of nautical devices at seemingly every turn. Our attendance coincides with their resident musician playing the piano in his smart pinstripe blazer. Tunes such as 'Misty', 'Close to You' and 'Sleepy Shores' really hit the mark for easy listening nostalgia.
- VPA in the Volunteer -
The Spyglass Inn was great but my favourite Ventnor pub discovery has to be the Volunteer, a throwback free house on Victoria Street. Run by an old school publican wearing a tie, the beer is exceptional (VPA standing for Ventnor Premium Ale as brewed by Yates) and the setting is almost a time capsule of sporting trophies and gentle titillation. I'm particularly enthralled by a Rings board - I don't remember seeing one of those in the wild before! - while the regulars have been treated to plates of sandwiches, possibly as part of the Remembrance activities. Our final evening in Shanklin is spent back at King Harry's Bar where a smiling cartoon sketch of King Charles beams down upon our table, we knew Nick was with us really. All that remains is our Monday morning ferry connection - sitting on the outer deck to see Southampton in the Solent haze - and the long coach ride jaunt back up to the West Midlands. Cheers!
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