Trip

We decided that the weather was nice enough for a day trip and thought that a visit to Shanklin would be a nice way to spend Saturday. When we looked at the train times we realised that if we left pretty quickly we could catch the train at St John’s Road so we walked up to the station and across the bridge.  On the Island Line,  some sections are single tracked and other double tracked, and I find it easy to assume that we should board the train on the platform that we arrive at.  This time we had to remember to cross the tracks.

The train was busy with a group of people across from the mainland attending some kind of rugby event. The guard said, “it’s a bit rowdy in that carriage” and suggested we joined the back one, which we did. She was lovely and very chatty during the later stage of the journey when all the tickets on board had been checked.

At Shanklin we stopped at a gift store where there were plenty or ornaments and gifts. We came away with a blue glass ornament to be added to the sea-themed bookshelf. We also stopped off at a delicatessen and bought some dinner.  I had initially asked what time they closed so we could come back but the staff offered to keep the food for us if we bought it now and, so, we bought some sausage rolls, falafel and cheese and said we’d be back before 4pm.

 We walked towards Shanklin Chine - which is closed but seemed to be preparing for the new season as we watched people working on the site. There are some new dinosaur eggs on the hillside which might be part of some new attraction. And then we walked to The Fisherman’s cottage pub.

In all our visits to the area we’ve never been to The Fisherman’s Cottage. It’s nestled a the base of Shanklin Chine on the beach. I’m not sure it’s been open for the season too long but we had a glass of wine looking out at the water. It’s very tranquil. As we sat we decided to extend the stay by ordering some some battered squid as a lunchtime snack and enjoy the sunshine.  As the lunch time progressed more and more people came to sit outside by the sea and, the time we left, the outside seating was quite busy. I am not sure about the couple who had put plastic bags over their shoes. It seemed a bit unnecessary.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the promenade alongside Shanklin beach and then on to Sandown and along the cliff path back to Shanklin to collect our deli produce. 

The train back was much quieter than the incoming train and we spent the rest of the evening making dinner from the bits we had bought.