Yelfs

The main street leading from the sea front up into Ryde is full of relics of past grandeur. Including, for example, an old-style shopping arcade and quite a lot of old-style shop windows, elaborate steel framed affairs with large areas of glass, quite common when I was a child, quite rare now. I say steel framed, but I am not really sure about that at all. Certainly metal, usually a dark green-brown in colour and takes a polish.

Also a branch of Hurst's, the fine, old-style hardware store with branches dotted across the island. A place which sells, for example, lots of different sized key rings, plain rings that is, without expensive & tawdry nick-nacks attached to them. All kinds of interesting hinges, including the surface mounted hinges used to attach garage doors to their frames sixty years ago, and what Tradefix Direct now call 'heavy hot spelter galvanised reversible hinges'. The nearest thing to it that we have at home being Robert Dyas.

Among the relics we also have Yelfs Hotel, said to be one of the oldest on the island, with an extensive bar and restaurant area on the ground floor. Small apartments which we might investigate on another occasion tucked away somewhere upstairs.

We took an entirely satisfactory lunch in the conservatory which had been tacked on, in what had been the yard out the back, including the elaborate dessert illustrated. I contented myself with the amber nectar to its left. We puzzled about exactly what sort of function was booked into the conservatory for 1430, with my punt being that it was a retirement do - but I did not think to ask reception for the right answer.

Full of lunch, we decided against walking back along the pier to the station at the end, fine views and ancient station notwithstanding, settling for a train which, as it happened, was just about ready for the off at the station on the esplanade.

PS: I should say that we were rather impressed by the efforts which have been made to smarten Ryde up. The place looks a lot better than it did a few years ago.

Reference 1: http://www.yelfshotel.com/.

Reference 2: https://hurst-iw.co.uk/.