Wight three

Up bright and early for breakfast. Bread from a factory but better than average for a hotel and the conveyor belt style public access toaster was fine. Cooked parts of breakfast fine. Let down by their tea which had a very odd flavour. We failed to work out whether this was due to the sort of tea bag used or the fact that one made it oneself from a thermos full of hot water.

Tide mark

Another fine morning, so a walk along beach and esplanade to Puckpool was clearly indicated. With the first item of interest being the tidemark made of small shells. The first time I recall seeing such a thing. The second item being some more celandines, rather smaller than those we had seen at Shanklin the day before.

Tribute

Into the café at Puckpool Park, once a battery defending the approaches to Portsmouth Harbour from the perfidious French (under the command of the second Napoleon). Tea good, rock cake made with wholemeal flour. Acceptable, but I think I prefer the white flour version. The café was very dog friendly and appeared to function as a pensioners' drop in centre. A bit like a working men's club or a neighbourhood pub of old.

While the plaque on a neighbouring wall was testimony both to civic pride getting on for a hundred years ago and to the zoom capability of the pictures taken by my telephone. A plaque which starts off: 'This old fortress, formerly known as Puckpool Battery was purchased by the St. Helens Urban District Council and formally opened for the use of the public at Puckpool Park on June 20th. 1929'. Signed etc.

Ballroom

Swimming at Warners

The lodge

Next to the park we had a long derelict holiday camp, once called Harcourt Sands, with the lodge above being an older building on the corner of the site, perhaps something left over from whatever preceded the holiday camp. Clearly marked as St. Clare Lodge at the top of the first plan at reference 2. The story, which I have taken from flickr at reference 3seems to be:

'Warners Puckpool Holiday Camp, Isle of Wight

Puckpool and St Clare were two seperate Warners camps situated side-by-side on the Isle of Wight.

Puckpool was built first (in the 1930s) on land that was previously the estate of Puckpool House (the house still survives today). The camp was requisitioned during the war and became known as HMS Medina. It was taken over by Warners in the late 1940s. In 1972 the camp featured in the cult movie 'That'll Be The Day' starring Ringo Starr and David Essex.

St Clare was added afterwards (late 1940s/early 1950s) and was also constructed in the former grounds of a large manor house, in this case St Clare Castle (it wasn't a real castle but a 19th century manor house with castle-type features. The house was demolished in 1960).

Warner's merged the two camps together in the 1980s and renamed the site Harcourt Sands. It was later sold to Haven then to Renowned Holidays. The camp eventually closed in 2006 and plans have been announced to clear the site and replace it with housing'.

While the snap of what was once the ballroom of Atherfield Holiday Camp on the south of the island was taken from reference 1, where a number of other pictures of the same sort are to be found. Another camp from the glory days of the 1930's, a time when the Isle of Wight generally was probably in better shape from a holiday revenue point of view than it is now.

On into the back of Ryde where there were plenty of once grand houses, rather reminding us of Brighton.

Competitive porching

With the house above being one of several to have caught a competitive porching bug, perhaps from some enterprising builder.

Development opportunity

With quite a lot of grand houses in and around Vernon Square, presumably named for the same chap who gave his name to that famous stone frigate, HMS Vernon, now, I think, a housing estate. The place where I once saw our last battleship, HMS Vanguard tied up, on its way to the breakers. Including the development opportunity in Melville Street, snapped above.

'Vectis Hall, was built in 1812 and was originally the first free school in Ryde, according to Historic England. In the Ryde Conservation Appraisal of 2011, it was listed as "a building of considerable historic interest", albeit already empty and semi-derelict by then. The building had been used in the past for dances and events but various local bids to stop the hall's owners' from leaving it to rot had floundered, despite the actions of local pressure groups and compulsory repairs notices from the council'. 

We took lunch at the place which StreetView calls 'The Koffee Bar', also in Melville Street. Consisting of a rather unusual macaroni cheese, served with a chunk of baguette and tea. Tea much better than that at the hotel. Macaroni cheese unusually wet, rather swimming in a thin yellow sauce, but tasting much better than it looked. Bread useful for mopping up the sauce. We were amused by a sign saying 'gluten free not served here'. 

Then to the bookshop opposite the Catholic Church, previously noticed. A shop which was very crowded with a very mixed stock of books, but from which we always manage to get something or other. In this case a book from the Soviet Union that was, previously noticed. 

Carholic Church

Then into the Catholic Church. A decent and dignified space, despite the sometimes lurid decorations.

Back to our hotel for a siesta, before dining at Michelangelo's for the second time. A round of thin pizza bread topped with some cheese, possibly mozzarella. Ravioli. I was going to insist on the lemon tart mentioned last time, but they had sold out, so a sort of chocolate tart instead, served with ice cream - which for once was needed, as it would have been a little dry without. Pecorino to drink, yet again. Marsala for pudding wine. Red Label back at the hotel - with my managing to leave my raincoat in the bar, the second time I had left it somewhere in the hotel in three days.

All in all, a fine restaurant. Long may it live!

Reference 1: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2279507/chilling-images-reveal-rotting-remains-of-abandoned-isle-of-wight-holiday-camp/.

Reference 2: https://onthewight.com/planning-development-details-harcourt-sands-released/.

Reference 3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/trainsandstuff/15408769299.

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