Isle of Wight Heritage

East Cowes' Saunders-Roe (SARO) was involved in the design and construction of parts for the revolutionary Skeeter helicopter. There are few technological innovations of the 20th century in which the Isle of Wight has not been involved. In the previous...

Victory over Japan was announced in a broadcast by Prime Minister Clement Attlee at midnight on 14th August 1945. The following day (15th August) is commemorated as VJ Day - which marked a 2-day holiday to celebrate the end of...

Ventnor hit the national headlines on 14th August 1925 - 100 years ago today - when it was reported that the South Wight town had been hit by a flying ant invasion. The roads and pavements of the High Street,...

Newport’s Petty Officer Kenneth Charles Frank Barton was among more than 1,400 men killed when HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. For the first time, his story is being highlighted... Kenneth was born on...

Island Echo examines some of the less salubrious drinking establishments of the Isle of Wight's County Town during the reign of Queen Victoria. "Newport is on fire with the flames of licentiousness and lust" - so stated an 1859 pamphlet...

The multiplex cinema at Coppins Bridge in Newport first opened its doors on 4th August 2000 - 25 years ago today. The new multiplex boasted 12 screens, 1,850 seats and the latest Dolby surround sound. When Cineworld opened, it was...

The frigate HMS Arethusa was the last ship to be delivered and completed by the J. Samuel White shipyard before its closure in 1965. When she was launched on 5th November 1963, she left behind empty slipways that would never...

The Carnegie Free Library was opened by Lord Alverstone - then the Lord Chief Justice of England - on 29th July 1905. Money for the library was donated by Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish businessman who had migrated to the US...

The Hare and Hounds - the thatched pub located at the end of the Downs Road next to Robin Hill - is most closely associated with a notorious murder over 300 years ago. Michal Morey was a woodcutter executed for...

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II landed at Newport Quay for a 2-day visit to the Isle of Wight on 26th July 1965. The Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh were conveyed from the Royal Yacht Britannia moored at...