I could have taken the train to Sandown, but the combined travel tickets condemned me to the dreaded Vectis buses.
At least the hovercraft stomach churning was over in ten minutes. The bus was 30 minutes of hell. Good job they had those little USB sockets to recharge my phone, eh ?
I jumped off the bus (not literally) as soon as I saw Sandown pier. I like the way every passenger thanks the driver for making them feel sick.
Sandown is a, er, old-school resort, with one of the scruffiest High Streets outside Withernsea (a good comparator).
Just the odd bit of intrigue at Not Dead Yet, alongside the tat and takeaways.
The back streets housing the Castle are being dug up by a team attempting the world’s longest tea break.
Any doubt that it might be shut is erased by the tell-tale barking within.
In fact, at 11:33 I’m already Customer No. 7. They know how to live on Wight. Most pubs seem to be open all day, some from 10am.
By Wight law, all town pubs have to look like they’ve been moved brick-by-brick from South-East London in 1985.
But the Castle has added a sorcery theme, of sorts.
An argument between two dogs apart, it’s a peaceful pub, a bastion of male drinking and of BBBs.
I go for the Gales HSD, as it’s the strongest, and the strongest beers seem to survive the tortuous ferry crossing from Chiswick to Ryde best.
Mudgie would approve of the music; “Since You Been Gone” and some more Quo. But the HSD is a bit watery (NBSS 2.) and not a patch on the Bass he’s been drinking down in the Star.
“MAX ! Don’t get jealous. Not over HIM” shouts a bloke at his pooch, which is just about to start licking my feet as I spy the Bass tat and plan my escape.
An inauspicious start, and I now felt even worse. The bus approached, but I hit the hills.
retiredmartin 
Two Dartboards, a fantastic carpet, and a man resuscitating a dog. It all looks so me! Then the beer… Gotta say, so far you’re doing a very fine and noble task of erasing the IOW from my drinking schedule for next 30 years or so. Carry on, but do keep an eye out for Rings Boards where the Darts should be in Ventnor…
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I’m tempted to revisit the Spyglass in Ventnor, Mark.
There’s a good number of retired drinkers on Wight, though not enough to take beer quality above average.
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Never mind buses, your drinking future is assured……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQxD_DA31E
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Scott,
She looks fitter than me with no need of a mobility scooter.
Maybe it’s just that she’s not got a dog to take for a walk.
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She’ll need a dog to tow her once the battery charge is gone.
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Wasn’t it the late Keith Moon, who, banned from driving, used to go to his local on a lawnmower?
If only there has been these back then, maybe things would have turned out differently…
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I have this mental image of 97 mobility scooters at the bottom of a swimming pool.
Or the Holywood Vampires having scooter races down Sunset Boulevard.
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“The bus was 30 minutes of hell” makes me inkling not to take a bus pass when one is available to me two years from now. .
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I have survived bus journeys in the past. But I think when you drive a lot your body struggles as a passenger.
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The Isle of Wight is rather like the Isle of Man – not much else to do.
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You’re right in terms of “attractions”, but in terms of Proper Pubs and beer quality Man is leagues ahead. North beats South every time.
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Yes, Wight is too much like Bognor transplanted across the Solent.
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That comparison was so obvious I missed it!
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