A step back in time

Portsmouth, HMS Victory, Nelsons boat from Trafalger

Portsmouth

The train to Shanklin

Quaint Shanklin the town where we are staying

Our beach, down a steep flight of stairs
on the side of a cliff.
There are fossils to be found

Today we are off on an adventure south to the Isle of Wight. With a copy of The Lady and a cup of tea we arrive in Portsmouth very quickly.  The sea air is bracing and the train drops us right at the harbour.

We have made it to where the first fleet left from!

Time to explore one of the many fine exhibits, we start with the Mary Rose. A Tudor warship that Henry VIII built 500 years ago It was sunk in the Solent, the stretch of water between Portsmouth and the Isle of White during a battle with the French. After years of searching it was finally rediscovered in 1971 and eventual raised. The museum only recently opened is amazing a time capsule of Tudor times with all kinds of equipment, from shoes to an early compasss. Fascinating.

The ferry is due for our destination. It is very fast, sailing boats galore are out on the Solvent, the wind is blowing its quite good up here on the top deck. We have arrived at a rickety old wharf that looks miles out into the sea and its time to get off. Now we are expected to get on a train that looks about 100 years old to get to our final destination Shanklin. No where to buy tickets, instead there is a quaint conductor with a ticket machine and money bag on board. The train rattles, rocks and shakes it way down the wharf and onto Shanklin. This is all very surreal what kind of place has Jane taken me to?

We arrive at the end of the line now we have to find a taxi to get to base camp. Its blowing a gale and no taxis are to be seen, eventually we make it to our final destination, it’s a big old house, right on a cliff edge. I think we have walked into a Victorian novel.

Off into the town and beach we go to explore. Cod and chips for dinner rounds out another day of firsts.