Previous | Next :: Pier into the Night : Ryde Pier : Isle of Wight UK | July 28, 2009, 6:59 am

My arrival for the first time at this pier ..... to meet a passenger off the ferry..... i was slightly rushing as ever...... so I started driving down this old wooden looking structure not even sure this where the passenger ferry comes to....... and Im thinking surely this is not permitted?....... Not something that generally concerns me if Im honest........ unless I am also thinking this pier surely cannot take the weight of cars....... cars will not be permitted here because the thing will collapse ......... but when I get to the far end over the water... i discover not only a small car park full of cars but a train station with a train at the platform to meet the arriving Fast Cat Ferry!

I love these old piers......... Yesterday I was blogging from a fantastic cafe at the end of the restored pier at Yarmouth........ Todays pic shot last night is of the grade 2 listed structure that goes into and over the sea at Ryde a small town the other end of the Isle of Wight. This is where the 'Fast Cats' come in ....... they are very fast hydroplaning Catamarans that connect to the trains running from London as they reach the coast in Portsmouth....... its a pretty cool service...... in theory you could live here and commute to London...... its got to be a slightly mad expensive thing to do........ but apparently people do it.

Cheers Jez XXXXXX (body double 23)