Isle of Wight - in the Past (Part 3)

A look back at the days of steam and railway journeys to and around the Isle of Wight. Edited from old archive footage.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• ise
• of
• wight
• rail
• railways
• ferry
• old
• days

[humorlinks]

I was there. I took the steam train from Ryde to Ventnor almost every summer holiday. I used to enjoy standing on the platform at Ventnor and waiting for the train to come out through the tunnel. Magic it was. What a loss to the tourism industry when they destroyed it all. How could they be so short-sighted? Seeing this video is a complete nostalgia trip. I remember it all so well and so vividly, but to see it in video is splendid. Thank you very very much.

[stucrabb]

Thanks so much - I am so glad you enjoyed it!!

[4758697]

@stevedn1 Sorry to hear about the long delays in the bus transportation ....... that's 6 mph and why would they deliberately miss the ferry arrival and departure times. I looked at the satellite images of the Isle and I'm afraid there's not a hope in hell restoring the Ventnor terminal at the end of the tunnel.

Sure do enjoy your videos of the Isle. One interesting fact re the Isle, I have been cross referencing the video slides with Google Earth street view; I like the "old" views. Regards.

[stevedn1]

@4758697 You need to understand why railways were axed by Marples and Beeching - Tory Transport Minister Ernest Marples (1959-64) owned half of the shares in the company that built the M1 Motorway. Blaming it all on the unions is deeply misguided, especially as Jimmy Knapp fought the Beeching closures. The Ryde to Ventnor line was a vital lifeline. A 12 mile bus journey from Ryde to Ventnor can take 2 hours. For years, buses have been deliberately times to miss ferries and trains.

[douglas1249]

Is that the 60's?

[4758697]

If the unions didn't demand so much back then, the lines would still be operating.

They brought BR to its knees. Nobody else to blame but unions and greed !

[JimTLonW6]

Oh well done, you've some shots of the ferries too, also lost (unless the Ryde people are able to do something very remarkable with the sad remains of this ship)

Great shots of the railway, truly a loss to the Isle of Wight.

[toady224]

I've only just found your videos, they bring back so many memories of growing up on the island. Truly fantastic, thanks for posting. Mark.

[60103Henry]

Great Video, 5 Stars!

[Lost00track]

Great video, a joy to watch

[JimTLonW6]

Very nice and nostalgic; it's a shame too that none of the Solent paddlers survived either; 'Ryde' sat in an inlet deteriorating for years, but was then cut up, an unforgiveable loss!

[haytor]

Wonderful scenes again,such a shame the steam hauled trains were replaced by those awful underground trains,looking at people struggeling to get their suitcases out at the station shows an real retrograde step by someone somewhere,an real missed opportunity to keep something of real value,not to mention better suited for the job, too bad.