Isle of Wight Heritage

Crowds of holidaymakers lined the coasts of the Isle of Wight to witness a burning ship according to newspaper reports of 6th September1924. The 2,626 German steamship Bosphorus was sighted 2 miles off the Needles flying the signal: “I am...

50 years ago an inquest heard that warning signs and ropes at Alum Bay had been ignored leading to the death of 9-year-old Sandra Grant of Rainham. The Isle of Wight Mercury reported on 4th September 1974 that many adults...

Island Echo examines the 4 current licensed premises in Yarmouth - the settlement with the highest density of pubs per person in the whole of the Isle of Wight. The population of Yarmouth (according to the 2011 census) is just...

Albany Prison inmate Jim Gilbert left incarceration on the Isle of Wight to collect £8,000 (£73,000 in today's values) on 30th August 1974. However, the money Jim Gilbert collected was not the ill-gotten gains of crime, but rather money he...

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, great uncle of King Charles III and Governor of the Isle of Wight, was murdered by the IRA on this day 45 years ago - 27th August 1979. Irish Republican killer Thomas McMahon...

Britain's most feared prisoner, serial killer Robert Maudsley - aka Hannibal the Cannibal - has twice been behind bars on the Isle of Wight. The killer-of-4 is said to hold the world record for years spent in solitary confinement: 46...

In this week's edition of Isle of Wight pubs, Island Echo examines some of Shanklin's historic inns, a few of which date back to the time when the seaside resort was no more than a small village. Up until the...

In this weeks edition of Parkhurst Prisoners, Island Echo looks at the remarkable career of Brynley Fussell, who briefly became the world's most famous pilot. The story of Bryn Fussell stealing a plane from Bembridge Aerodrome has already been told...

The late Duke of Edinburgh A £4.7million coastal protection scheme for the Seaview Duver frontage, between Oakhill Road and Springvale, was officially opened by the late Duke of Edinburgh on this day 20 years ago - 10th August 2004. Constructed...

Island Echo examines the numerous watering holes of the once bustling Brading, past and present. Brading gives the impression of being a small, sleepy, landlocked town. But at one time - up until the end of the 17th century -...