Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 106

FOOD

Milestone for
Spyglass Inn

Neil and Stephanie Gibbs with their son-in-law Meg

106

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For the past 25 years the Spyglass Inn on
Ventnor Esplanade has been a popular haunt for
locals and tourists alike.
But what many of the customers are probably
blissfully unaware of is that while they are
enjoying their drink or meal, they are sitting
right above what used to be Victorian salt
water baths, and several are still fully intact and
nestling just under the floorboards.
Much has changed since those salt water
bath days, and it was in 1987 that Neil and
Stephanie Gibbs took something of a gamble by
deciding to buy a building that had fallen badly
into disrepair, and had been all but gutted by
fire. But they were undeterred, and even though
they initially had no plans to turn it into a pub,
the following year the doors of the Spyglass
were opened, and it has been a rounding success
ever since.
There will be three days and nights of 25th
anniversary celebrations at the Spyglass in
March. So Island Life went along to meet Neil
and Stephanie – and some of their long serving
and loyal staff – to find out more about the
building’s history, and why they embarked on
such an adventure.
Neil recalled: “I was an antique dealer and
property restorer at the time, and when this
came up for sale it seemed a good idea at the
time. When we bought it the roof had been
burned off and there was a big hole in the sea
wall. All the stuff the fire brigade had thrown
out was along the sea front – it was a dreadful
state.”
At the time of the fire, the building was being