Isle of Wight: Afternoon Cream Tea

This Friday just gone saw myself and my good lady head over to the Isle of Wight for a day trip. Having spent three years looking at the island from my desk we finally got round to making the excursion. Not really knowing what to expect we set off on the Fastcat passenger ferry with a ticket that gave us free reign of the island's railway system. A few tips from my colleagues pointed us toward the Shanklin and the old village. It was after a glorious walk along the coast from Sandown and a bit of a climb we came to the lovely old village itself. Traditional thatched cottages line the winding roads and a host of traditional pubs and tea rooms to visit.

We came to rest at the Pencil cottage, who were runner up in last year's Cream Tea awards and immediately ordered two deluxe cream teas. It is worth noting that we've both been enjoying cream teas recently, but the efforts purchased from the supermarket pale in comparison to the mountainous scones that arrived at our table. The scones, homemade every day in the tea room bakery, were truly something to behold, each one at least the size of two scones and amazingly light and delicious - perfect with the lashing of clotted cream and homemade strawberry conserve.

The village really capped off an amazing day, the island really is a great escape from all the usual 'brands' and franchises that seem to be part and parcel of modern living - and very much I hope it stays that way.A walk was needed afterwards in order to rebuild up our appetite for our planned for dinner...