Vectis bus not for disabled?

My wife is disabled, but has a very independent mind. Sometimes she likes to go places on her own, just to realise she is free to go wherever she wants to go.
But I always have to warn her that this is not a fact. She loves to travel, for instance by train and bus. That is already a challenge in itself, but I really had to tell her it is impossible to take the bus, line 8, from our home and travel to Newport directly.

This is the nearest bus stop, Seaview Lane. It's a few paving tiles big, a little space created in the middle of the shrubs. Two people can stand on it. The kerb is not lowered at all. No way a wheelchair can get up there.

The next busstop you can get to when you walk a bit further. It's called Nettlestone Manor. It's just a pole on top of a wall. The busy road is running next to it, no pavement at all. People actually get on the bus in the nearby bend in the road. There is an entrance to farmland over there. The pavement on the other side of the road is not lowered anywhere. The road is quite busy, being the main road between Ryde and Bembridge.

There is a next bus stop a bit further away, in front of the Isle of Wight Distillery. There is even a footpath, already out of reach for wheelchair users, but a barrier blocks it securely for them. We were once told this was to prevent horses, motorcycles and mopeds to get onto it. We explained to a councillor that this blocks wheelchair users to use a public path. It did not lead to any change.

So there is no option than to go to opposite direction, into Seaview. Above is the nearest bus stop, on Steyne Road, a walk/ride of 20 minutes. As you can see, there is no place where the kerb has been lowered to allow a wheelchair user to get on the pavement and get to the bus stop. I would say it's quite a jump with a wheelchair.
The distance from our house is no good of course. I can tell that I would be half way to Newport by car in the time it takes to get here.

A bit further from this bus stop, I can see the next one on Steyne Road. It would take no more than a few minutes to get there from this bus stop where I stood taking the picture. It has a lowered kerb, but I would say that the distance is obviously too far from our house.

Maybe you would think our situation is exceptional. It's not, I can assure you. It's obvious that the main thought while positioning bus stops is not that they should be available for everybody.
That is remarkable, I always thought that public transport should be for all.
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Creative with dog shit

As a cat owner I miss out on a thing some dog owners seem to enjoy a lot.
It's the possibility to be creative with the shit of your dog. Like putting a flag on it.

The most boring thing is to just pick it up, put it in shit bag and throw it away.
There is already a little variety possible: put the bag somewhere or just throw it on the pavement.

I think the most difficult one is to create a slalom circuit. Probably nice for people in wheelchairs or mobility scooters to use. It requires a bit of thinking where you let your dog squat to do it's thing.
Another thing is to create a sliding circuit: spread the shit out so people can slide on it.

There are endless ways of getting rid of the shit bag. Putting it in a bin is far too simple. Why not hanging it on a nice spot, so everybody can admire your handy work?
Just look around and you'll see there are loads of nice spots to hang it.

If you are really into creating, how about the last picture I put on over here?
I'm not the most creative person, so I'm certain other people can make nicer arrangements, could make art.

Maybe we should start a competition: who is the most creative person with this material?

Enjoy!
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Winter Gardens and the lost Royal Victoria Pier in Ventnor

Today we paid a visit to the reopened Ventnor Winter Gardens. We were looking forward to this because my wife and I both love a bit of history, especially from our island.
Soon came the disappointment: there was no way of visiting the upper floors. Nothing is done to make it accessible for disabled people.

We made our mood noticed to the Events Manager of the venue and she was very understanding, took her time to give us a personal lecture about the art deco building and it's history.
She also told us a lot about the pier that once was here: the Royal Victoria Pier. I found some pictures on the net: it must have been a remarkable thing.

The Winter Gardens itself had been a venue where the biggest names in pop and jazz history have performed. We have been given a list of the bands that once played here:
Moody Blues, Pretty Things, The Who, Zombies, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, The Tremeloes, Mr.Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber and also forgotten bands like The Scapegoats, Nashville Teens, Heinz and the Wild Ones.

For some time the band in residence was Davy Jones and The Lower Third. It was the new band of Davy Jones, before that he was accompanied by the Manish Boys, but started with the King Bees.
The picture shows the band posing in an arty way, certainly instigated by Davy Jones himself.
A few months after this, he changed his name into David Bowie and went solo.

For some time in the early 80s the Winter Gardens had a skating rink, constructed of plastic and according to our lecturer not very well to skate on. It later became useful as the practicing room for a young musician, Mark King and his band. Later they became world famous as Level 42.

The pier burned down in 1987, after years of discussion the remains were removed in 1993. The Winter Gardens went through some troubled years. Was even sold for £1 in a very deplorable state.
But now it's restored in it's full glory. In it's restaurant you can have nice drinks and food.
Check the website: https://theventnorwintergardens.com/
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Future?

It's 15 October 2021. 

Theresa May is managing the Brexit as well as possible and maybe that is why the Conservatives have won the elections last year. She remained as the Prime Minister but reshuffled her cabinet a bit.

There is a constant flow of pensioners coming back from European countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece. The visas and permits to stay in these countries have expired and so they are forced to come back to the UK, often they have to sell property for a lot less than what the price normally would be.

There are already 600.000 of them and there are expectations that more than a million will follow. It has caused a housing problem. The Labour shadow cabinet has suggested that second homes and holiday houses should be used to solve this. The Tories have rejected this immediately, so the repatriates are forced to stay with relatives and friends.

A few weeks ago we received a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Amber Rudd that I should prepare myself to be removed from the country for the obvious reason that I am a European foreigner. Of course we made use of the possibility to oppose to this. I received a reaction on this that my case was being handled but that it would not have the effect for me to not send me to a Return Centre when my time was due. It would be possible that the decision had to be made while I was being prepared for being forced out of the UK.

We talked about this with relatives and neighbours, but nobody really knew what could be done against it. A neighbour said this all was impossible, it was so very not British. I reminded him of some history: concentration camps were an invention by the British during the Boer wars. They had been very efficient, I added cynically, one third of the inmates died. He tried to assure me things would not be like that nowadays.

A Pick Up Truck drove up to the front of our house this morning. In the back I could see the pharmacist and her family (Chinese), the cook of the cafe where we sometimes ate (American) and two women from the staff of the hotel in the village, who probably were Polish or Bulgarian or such. They all looked a bit cold sitting there unprotected.

Two men came to our door, their hair very short like military. They were wearing civilian clothes but had armbands on saying Assistant Police. They told me to get on the truck.
I asked them if I could pack some things first at which they reacted quite irritated. I had a three week period already to pack, they said but they agreed anyway. While I was busy doing this, one of the men was ordering me to hurry, "they didn't have all day".

My wife pleaded with the other man, saying I was her husband and her carer. He reacted that there were plenty of Englishmen who could do this too.
I had my things packed and I could quickly kiss her goodbye.
At the door she asked the men where they would bring me; they told her it would be the Deportation Centre of Colchester.

"But how do I get there to visit him?"
"You don't!"
They pushed me on the back of the Pick Up and I sat down next to the pharmacist on a blanket. My suitcase was thrown in after me and the men went in the car and hastily drove away. I fell over and before I could wave at my wife we were out of the street.
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Autumn on the Isle of Wight

The summer season definitely is over. The population of our village is now back to 20% of what it was in the summer. The holiday houses and summer houses are empty,  there are almost no cars on the street and the water of the Solent contains hardly any sailboats anymore.

We go to the pharmacy to get our yearly flu jab and coming out of it, we see an old lady wearing sunglasses and walking with a stick. We get into a talk with her about mobility scooters. She does not dare to go to far anymore, her eyesight is slowly disappearing. But she still likes to use it in the village. She is 91 and we admire her courage; we know quite a lot of people 20 years or more younger who don't dare to use a scooter.

The conversation gets to the post office. After it has been taken from us months ago it has been decided that we get a new post office situated in the pharmacy. We are very happy with that.
It was sad enough to see in the last years lots of good things taken from the village. Not only did we lose the post office, but also the lovely wildlife centre, the swimming pool, two restaurants, two pubs and the frequency of the visits of the library on wheels has been halved, just like the evening bus services. The nearest police station now is situated in Newport, not exactly in walking distance. Only the two churches remained and these are of no interest to us.

The three of us decide that the return of the post office is a good thing, especially for the elderly who often get their pension from it. The old lady tells us she should get on with things, get her flu jab.
"Bye, bye, I might run into you later", she says. "Oops, I don't mean that literally. Would not want to hurt you with my scooter." Laughing out loud she walks into the pharmacy.

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Tourist on our own Isle of Wight, 23 August 2016

Today we made a lovely walk from Ventnor to Bonchurch on the Sea Wall. It was almost like we were on a different planet compared to being in Sandown the other day.

If you go into Ventnor, you get into the beach area with loads of little cafes and shops, even an art gallery. Nothing tacky, even the people on the beach looked different.

But our main goal was the walk to Bonchurch.

All the parking spots were taken, but the people must have all gone to Ventnor itself. The walk was amazing, great for people with wheelchairs or mobility scooters too. And very quiet. We hardly saw anyone. We spoke with an elderly couple about the weather and mobility scooters and they walked on; in Bonchurch we saw them again for a few seconds. For the rest: peace and quiet.

                                          Must have been the best day this summer

The sky was completely without clouds, never saw this before this year. A sea without sailing boats or other vessels is a very rare view too for us.

Plaque on the Memorial

Memorial

View on Ventnor

A lovely path

Not just white cliffs in Dover

The rock is very brittle

Next year gone?

The white cliffs look wonderful, but the rock is very brittle. Pieces of the land fall down and this can make things dangerous. Not just for trees that eventually will fall down. We saw a plaque to commemorate the death of a 19 year old boy from Ventnor who got killed on this lovely path.

                                          Bonchurch, pottery

In the pottery my wife saw a lovely clock. It would have been cruel not to have bought it for her.

It looks lovely on our wall.

A silvery sea

Walking back the sea almost looked like it was made of silver, the sunlight striking over it in an amazing way.

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Tourist on our own Isle of Wight, 22 August 2016

Today we did what was  planned for months: visiting the seaside town of Sandown.
From Seaview where we live it's only something like 20 minutes, but it is like you land in a different world.

                                      
                                          The pier of Sandown

                                          View from the pier of Sandown

                                          View from the other side of the pier

                                     

We walked along the shore to the pier. On the pier it's quite a puzzle how you can get to the open air again. You have to walk through noisy arcades and Greasy Spoon-type cafetarias. In a wheelchair or mobility scooter the puzzle is even worse.

                                     
                                         Fun on the pier

Outside you can't help but get shocked by the rude boards where you can make pictures of your children or yourself. I really thought humour like this was not done in these days.
Looking past them you can enjoy the view. The Isle of Wight is lovely.

                                     
                                         Humour from a long time ago


                                     
                                         Humour from a long time ago

Along the road named Culver Parade are traces of a great past. In the good old days the hotels in Sandown must have been packed with guests. It is very sad to see the state of these - once majestic - buildings.

                                          A closed hotel

                                          Another closed hotel

                                          The closed Grand Hotel

It's better to look at the other side, the beach. At least when that is possible. Quite a big part of the beach is taken by cafes. A good thing that this is not the case everywhere. People still have fun on the beach with their children. The sea was a bit choppy, but that often makes the fun bigger for children. It's always nice to play with and in the waves.
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