Isle of Wight Holiday Diary #7 - Rain, Cider & Cheese at Haven Street

Hi there everyone 😀

We are back on the Isle of Wight for today's post. It's Sunday, day 9, and we were hit with the first bad weather day of our holiday ...

Day 9 Sunday
The forecast was grim ... rain ... all day ... and it looked like it wasn't far off the mark ...
We decided it was time for a 'cottage day'. We'd been out and about every day so far so were looking forward to just generally chilling out in Bramble with a bit of reading, a bit of crochet and maybe a film ...
Early afternoon the rain seemed to ease up and we decided that we'd take a bit of a ride out. It was the Isle of Wight weekend and there was a Cider & Cheese Festival on at the Haven Street steam railway station. It was a place that we'd never been to and was on the list for a visit so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.
We were soon parked up and in just in time to see an engine in and getting ready for the off ...
We found a good spot to hang around to watch whilst she finished taking on water and loading up ...

She was soon on her way ...

... and we just about had time to walk to the cider and cheese marquee before the rain came back with a vengeance. Well ... there was only one thing for it ...
... cider and cheese it was ...

Fortunately the rain didn't last too long so, filled with cider and cheese, we were soon back outside and exploring the station, which was a real treat ...

 

It was then time to take a wander through the gift shop and the heart of the engineers' yard ...

... to The Train Story ...
We had absolutely no idea what to expect inside but before heading in we explored the old railway carriage which had been converted into a small holiday hut, which was very reminiscent of Martin's childhood holiday accommodation which had been very similar ...
Inside was a real throwback to a bygone age ...


Moving inside of the main building we found it was most definitely more than just a storage shed, aiming to tell the story of the historic Island Railway through the years, with four interactive display areas.

There is so much to see ...

... and it is very interactive with access available to all of the carriages, which gave a real reminder of just how beautiful they used to be ... even in third class ...

There is also a good display of the restoration work that has taken place on the site with a very good example of 'before and after' ...

It was time to retrace our steps back through the engineers' yard ...

... and head back to Bramble Cottage ...

All in all we really enjoyed our visit to the station and were so glad that we'd decided to head out. It was perfect for an afternoon wander and great there is plenty to see inside if the weather is not so brilliant and we loved The Train Story.

We would definitely recommend that you make a visit if you get the chance.

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