Ferries, beer and buses... oh, what a beautiful day | Rick Jackson

For the first time, I did the beer instead of driving the buses.

And it was the perfect day.

My mate Jimmy and I left on the 9.15am catamaran for Ryde, where we were invited onto the bridge by captain Vas and the crew.

Once at Ryde, we caught an immaculate open top bus from the 1950s, followed by a beautifully restored London Routemaster bus to Newport.

On the quay, it seemed like thousands of people were queuing for vintage buses to all corners of the island, to hop on and off sampling some wonderful ales in stunning country pubs.

As the heavens opened, spirits were far from dampened as another full bus took us, and other friends we met up with, to the small town of Yarmouth.

This is one of my favourite places on the island and with four pubs within close proximity, the perfect start to the day’s ale sampling.

Two hours later, we were off to Freshwater, home of the famous 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

A life-size bronze statue of the late, great Jimi Hendrix, who performed at the legendary event, stands proudly in the village.

Two pubs later, we were back on a bus heading for the village of Shalfleet and a pub which has won UK Pub of the Year several times, the New Inn.

By now, we were very merry, but with the travelling and waiting for buses, we never really got past a certain state.

We were happy, not drunk – perfect!

Back we went to Newport on another fine vintage bus before we headed back to Ryde and the chain that does ale superbly well – Wetherspoon’s.

It’s great that the real ale industry is thriving.

There is so much variety to it.

The beer and buses idea works so well, so I’m going to organise one here on the mainland.

Watch this space.

Those Bulgarian football ‘fans’ brought shame on the nation

I think Ian Wright hit the nail on the head after the shocking scenes when England beat Bulgaria 6-0 on Monday night.

It’s 2019, yet there are still people who find the monkey chant and the Nazi salute funny. These ‘fans’ shame Bulgaria, as the rest of the world will view the country as the inward, communist block state it once was.

I’m sure great footballers like Dimitar Berbatov and Hristo Stoichkov are ashamed. But those English players, no matter the colour of their skin, stood together as one.

They now have the power to walk off instead of stand for this abuse.

Bulgaria lost, football won. It is time to ban Bulgaria from international football.

I had Corgi Cars and now my kids have those pesky Pups

We all know how expensive it is to bring up children.

And in 2019 it’s more expensive than ever – thanks to Paw Patrol.

A brand new spin-off of the children’s animated show has hit the screens this month, Mighty Pups. Apparently they have superpowers thanks to being hit by a meteor.

And that means the kids want new outfits and a whole new raft of Mighty Pups’ figurines and toys.

All the old stuff is now out of date. I suppose I had Action Man, model trains, Corgi Cars and Transformers so I know how it was now for my folks.

But Paw Patrol has pushed the Jackson household to the brink of bankruptcy.