The Pub Was On A Bus Route
For their recent Isle of Wight visit, the fbbs chose a gaff as close as possible to the bus station for ease of travel throughout the weekend. It took the old man a while to remember that, once upon a time, The Wheatsheaf (on St Thomas' Square) was passed by multiple Southern Vectis bus services.
Iy is hard to believe it now as The Square, complete with its eponymous Minster Church, is happily a haven for pedestrians.
The pub roof is bottom left!
But look at an old photograph and you might spot the original road.
Thus it was that buses from the north and west ran via the High Street ...
... turning right into St Thomas' Square.
Seen from the other end ....jpg)
... the pub is far left. Exiting the square the buses turned left on to Pyle Street ...
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... which seems too narrow for buses these days; but they were only Lodekkas then!
And the pavements were much thinner.
Time to look at a map.
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The old bus station was where a new block of shops was built. The original had stands parallel to the road and bus parking backing on to Souh Street.
The new bus station is now behind those shops and, of course, much smaller with barely adequate layover parking.
Such is progress.
The old bus station had a very nice caff serving proper meals to the public and operating as a staff canteen from the opposite end. Now all you get is a small privately operated establishment in one of the pre-existing premises.
fbb did not have the opportunity to check whether the bites really were tasty!
Before the old new bus station was built in South Street, buses left from stands in St James Square ...
... which now has a buses only lane to get the green beauties coming from north and west quickly to the new bus station..jpg)
St James' Square also once doubled up as the weekly cattle market!
Later the cattle market moved to a site on Church Litten and South Street near the replacement bus station ...
... which is now Morrisons store!.jpg)
Things do change but, to be fair, fbb first visited he Isle of Wight in 1958!
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Tomorrow the fbbs complete the Island weekend and find their way home. Will it be as straightforward as the outward run?
It was Monday 25th November!
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"NOT the Advent Calendar", but ...
The
CHRIST -mas
Criss-muss
Confusion
Critique 5
The Advent Calendar!
The first Advent calendars, like many of our great British Criss-muss traditions, began in Germany in the very early 1900s.
What was then known as a Weinachtens Kalender (CHRISTmas Calenedar), and looked something like the above example, was published by Gerhard Lang. It began as a simple poster and later manufacturers added little doors behind the illustrations of children's fun activities.
Behind the doors was, not chocolate, but Bible verses, aiming to help children prepare hearts, minds and souls for CHRISTmas; which did not start until midnight on CHRISTmas Eve.
It is, of course, possible to obtain Christian Advent Calendars today ...
... and these usually have a CHRISTmas picture on the front of the door ... 
... but often a sweetie inside. The best ones still have a Bible verse in addition to the sugar hit
But there is more to Advent than Calendars, CHRISTmas and Chocolate.
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Next Homeward Bound blog : Friday 6th December
I had to smile at your comment "... which seems too narrow for buses these days; but they were only Lodekkas then!" as the point of Lodekkas (on which I have ridden on the island) was that they were lower, not narrower! (I do realise, of course, that buses have got wider over the years - as have cars. Gone are the days of 7'6" wide RTs!).
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