Holiday on the Isle of Wight 2015
On Monday 30th of March at 9 am 31 members and friends of The Rochdale Pensioner’s Association left Rochdale Town Hall for a five day break on the Isle of Wight. They had a pleasant ride down with a lunch break at the Cathedral city of Winchester. They arrived at Portsmouth harbour in time for a smooth ferry crossing to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight arriving at The Carlton Hotel on the sea front at Sandown in time for the evening meal.
During their say at The Carlton Hotel they enjoyed both bingo and entertainment every evening. On Tuesday they enjoyed a coach ride to the capital, Newport, for the market day and that was followed with an afternoon visit to the town of Ventnor. Wednesday was a tour of the Island taking in some areas of outstanding natural beauty. This started with a visit to the old village of Shanklin with its thatched houses and gift shops. Lunch was taken at the Pottery Barn at Chessle with a chance to see the pottery process. From there the group travelled along the coastal road to Alum Bay with its famous view of The Needles. Many of the group took the opportunity to take a ride on the overhead cable car. On Thursday, the last full day of the visit, the group travelled to Ryde and spent time looking at the shops and seeing the hovercraft arriving in port. That was followed with a visit to Rosemary Vineyard with an opportunity to taste the local wines and see the wine making process. The final afternoon was a choice of spending a relaxing afternoon back at Sandown or visiting Queen Victoria’s holiday home of Osborne House. Osborne House was a popular selection and enjoyed by all.
Following breakfast on Friday the coach travelled to Portsmouth on the 12 noon ferry boat and the group arrived back home at Rochdale Town Hall at 7 pm The group thanked both the driver, Stuart, and Emily Bannister who worked hard in organising such a very pleasant short break on the Isle of Wight.