Merstone

I was up to make poached eggs.  At some point, not long after we bought the flat on the Isle of Wight, we were buying a few things for the kitchen. I didn’t - and still don’t - want to pack it with unused utensils and gadgets.  One thing I did buy was a microwave egg poacher. We have only used it a couple of times. It seems to me that it is one of those things that needs practice to get used to the precise timings to get a decent egg out of it. Today, it was not great, but it was better than previous attempts. 

In the afternoon to Newport on the No. 9.  A few things to buy from B&M and Poundland.  In the latter I ended up buying a hoodie for £10 because I like the colour. I wonder how long it will last? This is my reminder that I bought it today.

A stop to buy a coffee followed and then a walk along the old Sandown-Newport railway line (it closed in the mid-50s). It’s such a beautiful walk. We stopped at the - almost - mid point (Merstone) where the platform and a canopy is preserved to show where the railway once ran.  All around you can see how the landscape was driven by the railways: a few trees planted along an old line near the platform mean the tops are are at eye level on the platform and a line of pine trees planted to act as a windbreak for customers on the platform. Fascinating urban architecture and it’s such a shame that Newport isn’t connected to the railway.

I checked the bus app to discover the next bus was in two minutes. So our timing was great and we headed back to Newport with a plan to complete the other leg of the walk at some point. In Morrisons to tonight’s dinner (veg burgers and bottle of red) and another bus back to Ryde.