"I am just off out for a stroll, Ethel ". That was my
grandfather. That was his hobby and from my time as a baby
whenever we were on the Island [there is only one] I was part of
it. If my mother wanted a break from childminding, I was loaded
into the pram and away we would go.
My grandparents Harry and Ethel Saunders lived in one of the
bungalows, on St George's Lane, Shide on the way up to Newport
golf course, named after J. M. Barrie characters in Peter Pan, the
hero himself with Wendy next door, numbers 12 and 10 respectively.
On with the mac, cravat and trilby and away we would go. I
graduated, from pram to pushchair to Shanks' pony. If I was
exceptionally lucky, the first stage was by bus. From the inside
pocket of his coat he would draw out his folded and well-thumbed
copy of the Southern Vectis timetable, always purchased on the
first day of issue and consult routes 9 from Ventnor irregular and
always single deck, 17 from Ventnor every hour like the 12 and 22
from Shanklin and finally the 14 from Sandown. I suspect that he
did not really need to look but it was part of the fun. We would
leave at about the same time the bus was timed to leave Blackwater
corner, it always struck me that we were cutting it fine, but we
never missed one, we were always there at the Barley Mow stop well
before the bus was visible down the Blackwater Road. There were
two fare structures one for the winter and one for the summer, so
what was a fivepenny ticket in the winter was sevenpence in the
summer. He would take out his purse count out the coppers, look at
the conductor, give him the money and say I am not buying the bus
you know. My mother if accompanying us would try and master the
art of invisibility.
There were the other frequent occasions when we walked into
Newport, as nothing was running at the right time. Then I suspect
that as a lad of around 10 or so, the pleasures were not so
obvious, it was not a long walk just over 10 minutes but it could
seem for ever.
Down the hill of the lane past Ratcliffe's cabbage field on the
right past the lodge at the bottom where Peter the old black and
white dog lived, sometimes he would follow us home on the return
journey to collect the bone from the weekend joint. To my granddad
he was never Peter but Scrooger. Over Pan Lane and onto the main
road. A peer over the bridge into the waters of the juvenile
Medina, over the old Shide level crossing. The railway was closed
but the gates lived on, as did the station initially as
Rarcliffe's storage yard. And then hard right by the Barley Mow
and onto Shide Path as far as the Shide stores. Then Medina Avenue
stretched out over the horizon and beyond, the bulk of the walk….
yet to come. Past Cypress and Avondale, past Hooper and Ashbys the
builders merchant, past the advertising hoarding by the exit for
Church Litten. the then home of Newport F.C. who were then a
fairly successful Hampshire League side. Past one exit for Gould,
Hibberd and Randall the distribution depot for fizzy drinks
throughout the island. Then onto Church Litten, and though a
little boy the park side was not for me. We always walked the
industrial side, me staring into each unit to admire the lorries,
especially the green and red of British Road Services with the AEC
recovery unit always parked at the rear. Then on past the Saturday
entrance for the football club and next the Tuesday market site.
In my childhood this thrived and it was a treat to walk around
the bustle. I never thought about or even considered the end
products but just looked at all the animals and imbibed the
smells. Firstly there were the small animal cages with the rabbits
and chickens I think, the sheep and the pig stalls and plenty of
cattle. I may even have seen some of the auction, and finally at
the bottom of the site were the cheapjacks, who later on had the
place to themselves, as the animal market perished.
If it is not market day then we will walk up past the new bus
station, although I am just old enough to recall when the buses
had stops in St Thomas' Square to look at the buses especially in
the summer when the older doubledeck Bristol KSs and KSWs were
brought out to meet the demands of a more frequent service. The
next treat was the possible purchase of the days main meal from
Barnetts the pork butchers, famed throughout Newport for the
quality of their homemade pies and the corresponding length of the
queue outside their shop. Never before and never since……
Then Woolworths in the days when they had an extensive series
of food counters, 6 tins of Tiny Tim for the cat and a perusal of
the loose biscuits bought by the quarter pound, direct from their
tins either malted milk or sports biscuits each with a different
sport design baked thereon. If I had some pocket money it was then
for the toy counter, where I can recall buying on one occasion a
large red plastic ship on wheels for 2/9d. Now for the cakes
Larbys was one such place, usual purchases a Coventry cake, and
half a dozen iced buns.
No doubt we went elsewhere but those were the places which
interested me. I would like to think that he enjoyed it as much as
I did since when his own children were growing up, he was away in
the Navy…China Station and the Mediterranean fleet… before the war
and he missed it, so he was catching up whilst I was growing up.