Isle of Wight Heritage

That'll Be the Day - a film shot on location on the Isle of Wight starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Billy Fury - premiered in London 50 years ago today (12th April 1973). The film tells the...

As part of our Isle of Wight Railways series, Island Echo examines the various plans put forward at the turn of the 20th century to connect the Isle of Wight to the mainland through a railway tunnel. The 1st proposal...

John Winthrop 4 ships – the Arbella, the Talbot, The Jewel and the Ambrose – left Yarmouth on 8th April 1630 on a famous voyage, carrying Puritan emigrants bound for America. The fleet – led by John Winthrop – consisted...

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the worst air raid experienced by the historic Isle of Wight County Town of Newport during World War II. On the morning of Wednesday 7th April 1943, 8 Messerschmitt 109s skimmed over Sandown Bay...

Richard King, a former manager of the Capital and Counties Bank in Ventnor - who had absconded the previous November - was apprehended in Argentina in 1879. At the time of King's disappearance, it was thought he had gone to...

This week we return to the Isle of Wight Piers series and in this 3rd edition, Island Echo examines the long and varied history of Totland Pier, which was once fashionable before falling into disrepair. In the mid-19th century, Totland...

2 shafts were sunk at Whitecliff Bay near Bembridge in 1873 in an attempt to test the viability of coal mining on the Isle of Wight.  The Hampshire Advertiser reported that the 1st shaft had to be abandoned due to...

For 64 years, from 1889 to 1953, Ningwood railway station was 1 of the transport hubs for the sparse rural population of West Wight. But now it is a private house and it's up for sale... The Freshwater, Yarmouth, and...

A local co-operative, which joined forces with the Isle of Wight Society in 1969, is celebrating its 150th anniversary today (Friday). Southern Co-op, originally named Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society, was first formed on 24th March 1873 and is one...

The 1st ever Isle of Wight Challenge Cup Final at Church Litten ended in tragedy on 22nd March 1899. In the dying minutes of the final between Ryde and Sandown - in front of a crowd of 1,500 - Ryde...