Isle of Wight Heritage

The 1st ever scheduled train on the Isle of Wight left Cowes station on the morning of Monday 16th June 1862, taking about 10 minutes to reach the terminus in Newport. Before the coming of the railways, such roads that...

Clement Attlee On 25th February 1949 members of Clement Attlee’s Cabinet arrived on the Isle of Wight for what the press described as the ‘Hush Hush’ weekend. The purpose of the get together was to discuss plans for the June...

The bell of the SS Mendi At around 05:00 on 21st February 1917, a ship carrying 823 South Africans to the Western Front in France sank in thick fog 13 miles south of St Catherine’s Point. Only 267 of those...

L-R: Jon Britten and Desmond Norman in 1966 In this week's edition of Made on the Isle of Wight, Island Echo looks at the famous Islander aircraft, which, in 1974, became the best-selling British multi-engine commercial aircraft in history. Britten-Norman...

Lord Downes On 17th February 1851, Lord and Lady Downes were heading across the Solent on a steamer when they saw their Isle of Wight summer residence ‒ Binstead Lodge ‒ on fire. Ryde fire brigade were called to the...

Tom McCarthy Strikes are nothing new – on 14th February 1891, fiery trade union leader Tom McCarthy told a large crowd outside Newport Guildhall to expect the biggest strike ever known in England. McCarthy – who was representing the Dock,...

Newport railway stations in early 20th century In the 4th edition of our series on Isle of Wight railways, we look at Newport, which has a rich railway history, boasting of 5 railway stations – 3 in the very centre...

On this day 145 years ago, James Caffyn was hanged in the last ever public execution at Winchester prison.  James Caffyn was a 31-year-old illiterate dock labourer. Contemporary newspaper reports described him as 5ft 2 ½ins tall, with a sallow...

Edward Edwards' memorial in Niton churchyard Edward Edwards - a great pioneer of free libraries for all - died in his sleep in Niton at the age of 73 on this day in 1886. This champion of books came from...

In this edition of Made on the Isle of Wight we examine the giant Princess flying boat which was designed to carry over 100 passengers across the Atlantic in luxury. 3 Princesses were completed in the Columbine Yard in East...