Isle of Wight Heritage

On this day in 1901, representatives of Isle of Wight cricket clubs met with the intention of forming an Isle of Wight Cricket Club at the invitation of Mr H.C. Damant of Cowes. The proposal was enthusiastically agreed and a...

In the first of our new series, Made on the Isle of Wight, we look at the story of 3 ill-fated airship gondolas made in the Sam Saunders yard in East Cowes. The 1st effective air raids in Britain were...

Albert William Ketèlbey – who was 1 of the most celebrated British composers of the 20th century – died on this day in Cowes in 1959. Albert Ketèlbey was born in Birmingham in 1875. He competed for a scholarship at Trinity College of...

Rev Greenshield (Image: Carisbrooke Castle museum) Edgar William Tyler Greenshield - who devoted his life to evangelising the Eskimos - was born on this day in 1877. Edgar grew up in St John's Place in Newport close to the church...

In 1881, dangerous prisoner Giles Hutchings was apprehended near Newport after being at large for 2 years - incarcerated in the police station he helped build. In November 1876, policeman Nathaniel Cox was killed by 4 poachers in the West...

This Halloween Island Echo looks at the history of Betty Haunt Lane and legends associated with 1 of the Isle of Wight’s oldest pubs that is situated nearby. The Blacksmith’s Arms - at the junction of Betty Haunt Lane and...

Princess Beatrice in 1868 On this day in 1944, Princess Beatrice - the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Governor of the Isle of Wight - died at Bantridge Park, Sussex, at the age of 87. As the last of...

St Lawrence Radar Station in 1945 Island Echo examines the rumours of a German raid on the radar station at St Lawrence in 1943 in which prisoners and valuable equipment were taken - or so it's claimed. It was the...

Island Echo examines the strange tale of Maurice Holbrook, who inexplicably murdered a child at Barrack Field Parkhurst in a case that shocked and horrified the Isle of Wight over a century ago. On 26th August 1898, the gaunt figure...

35 years ago, on the night of 15th/16th October 1987, Islanders awoke to a scene of devastation after a once in every 200-year storm event struck the coast, sending Shanklin Pier crashing into the sea. Do you remember the Great...