A very delightful film on a perfect sunny day. We holidayed on the island when I was a child back in the 1970's and it's time I flew over for another visit. Looking forward to watching more of your content.
Thank you for your videos. So well presented and bring back great memories of my childhood holidays on the Island in the fifties. That was the time of the closure of many of the branch lines and them becoming walking routes through some of the most picturesque parts of the island. Sadly in recent years as you show in your videos much of this access has been taken away. If they had remained as footpaths and cycle ways and were well maintained, they would have provided a good tourist attraction and could even have been restored just as has been done at Haven Street. Look how successful that has been.
Hello and thank you for the kind words 🙂. Yes I agree it is a shame not move of it was preserved, we are walking the Freshwater line next which will envolve taking a few detours due to the trackbed being reclaimed in certain areas. It is a shame but is what it is. All the best 👍
Another great video. I've often wondered what St Helen's and Bembridge look like now. Glad to hear you ended the video with the mention of a pint. Sounds like a good reason to go there!
Thanks for the link, really interesting, thanks, I used to live in Bembridge and can just remember the disused station, 😊, you probably know there is a whole load of history up on culver down, that would be very interesting too, thanks again for the link and the great content. Nic. 😊.
Glad you enjoyed it. We have plenty more videos up on our channel and more on the way 🙂. The history of Culver down and Bembridge Fort is definately on the list 👍
The purpose of the branch line & the Spithead Hotel was to board packet boats to Cunarders out of Southampton which was not ever profitable. Bembridge Staion became a squash club but not anymore. Also when the land was sold by British Rail, the local MP Mark Woodnutt tipped off his business partner Selwyn with insider knowledge & Selwyn took over the harbour. Woodnutt lost his seat from a 20k majority. FUN FACT - in WW1 there was a seaplane base there called "The Nizam of Hyderbad's Own" It was dismantled & re-erected as "Summerland" amusemet arcade in Shanklin (I don't just make this shit up you knw)
I absolutely love your series of walkthroughs on the IOW train history. I’m an American, and never been there, but I love nostalgia as well as passenger/commuter trains. I have the IOW simulator on my XBox from Ryde to Shanklin. The IOW train history I find so fascinating and I’ve watched all I can find on RU-vid. Your take on its history is beautifully presented and refreshing. Well done and thank you!
Thank you so much for the kind words Mike, means a lot! We have some vids coming up that delve more into the history of the island so make sure you subscribe and you'll get a notification when they are out. All the very best 🙂🥾
Once again, an absolutely brilliant episode! This is a perfect example of how to present very rich content in a concise format, which easily allows one to follow along precisely and to understand how to replicate the experience. Usage of archival views to show past and present, so well done. Thank you! And you two are such a gorgeous, cheeky couple, love how you have fun with it!
The Isle of Wight may ideal to relay railway lines especially using the refurbished District Lines Trains in these days of eco concerns. There must be scope to reopen lines on the island to ease traffic congestion.
The counsil did a 'viability study' a couple years back to see if it was possible to reopen the line to Ventnor. A few months and a substantial amount of 'research' money later, they concluded that it wasn't 😑.