ISLE OF WIGHT RAILWAYS: MERSTONE STATION – THE ARRETON VALLEY’S BUSY RURAL RAILWAY JUNCTION

The straggling, rural village of Merstone played a surprisingly significant role in Isle of Wight railway history despite the minuscule number of inhabitants living nearby. For just over half a century – between 1897 and 1952 – Merstone was the junction for the branch line for trains to Ventnor West, with trains stopping at Godshill, Whitwell, and St Lawrence before reaching its South Wight terminus. Merstone was also an important goods depot for the transport of agricultural produce from the fertile Arreton Valley – at one time 3 trains a day would carry sugar beet to Medina Wharf for processing in Selby in Yorkshire. Dairy products were also of significance, as the Isle of Wight was the main supplier of milk for the city of Portsmouth. The railway 1st came to Merstone on 1st February 1875. The branch line to Ventnor West was added in 1897. The station then became known as Merstone Junction until 1911. When first opened in 1875, the station had just 1 platform. With the opening of the branch line, the station was rebuilt with an island platform. The signal box included as many as 28 levers with 2 spare. The station was provided with a pedestrian subway, which was prone to flooding. There was a level crossing at Merstone Lane, operated by a wheel in the signal box. On the other side of Merstone Lane – where there is a modern bungalow today – there was a small goods siding. A small booking office was located within the station house.

One famous occupant of the signal box in Merstone was a pigeon called Bill, the pet of signalman Syd Dennett, who would travel to work with Bill perched on his shoulder or fluttering behind following his bicycle. Syd was in the habit of shutting Bill up in the brake van of the goods train with instructions for him to be released in Sandown to fly home. However, the bird soon realised it was less effort to take the train home from Sandown than to fly and simply waited for the next train back before hopping onto the roof of the driver’s cab. Merstone Railway Station has been the scene of several tragic and dramatic incidents and accidents during its 81 years of service. On 14th April 1888, a late goods train was dispatched from Newport to Sandown. Unfortunately, no information was passed down the line to the intermediate stations and consequently the Merstone Lane level crossing was closed. The train completely demolished the crossing gates. A further near fatal accident occurred on the level crossing in November 1929, when 18-year-old Marjorie Butchers was struck by the Sandown train. She was aided by the station master, and 2 doctors were called to the scene before she was taken to Ryde County Hospital. 5 years later – in March 1934 –  tragedy again struck at the Merstone Lane level crossing when 24-year-old mother-of-1 Mrs George Pearce was found unconscious after having been struck by the 08:40 train to Newport. It was surmised that the wife of an unemployed farm worker had been rushing to buy a ticket from the booking office and had failed to notice the approaching train. Mrs Pearce was rushed by ambulance to the Isle of Wight County Hospital in Ryde where her condition was described as ‘critical’. Further drama occurred in the environs of the station during the Second World War when a spitfire pilot was shot down just 200 yards from the station. The Polish pilot parachuted out but was promptly arrested by the Home Guard, who had assumed him to be German. There was a sudden death at Merstone in the Summer of 1946 when train driver Frederick George Ray, 56, from Nelson Road in Newport, stopped his train and collapsed in the arms of his fireman.

Merstone Railway Station finally closed on 6th February 1956 amid cheering and the shrill notes of top-hatted men sounding hunting horns. Over 100 people had bought tickets for the final eastbound trip at 19:40. So great was the demand that the ticket collector ran out of tickets. He claimed that no more than 10 people usually made the journey on a Sunday evening. On its last ever day, oil-lit Merstone Station was said to have presented a scene of bustle unparalleled in the line’s history. Little groups of people waved from gardens and the windows of houses while others flashed torches. Waiting cars, buses and motorcycles on the level crossing sounded their horns. 2 trains passed each other at Merstone – the only section of double track on the line. Passengers rushed to and fro on the platform, changing trains to make the return journey. Farmer T. E. Reynolds hurried over to the crew of the Sandown-bound train to hand them a large wreath bearing the tribute: “For good and faithful service.”

Much sympathy was extended to the railwaymen losing their employment or being forced to relocate to the mainland. The wife of 1 railway worker said:

“We moved here 20 years ago and made our home. Now, we shall have to move again when arrangements can be made.”

The guard of the Newport-bound train – Mr Symes – was to begin duties at Woking Station the following day. The driver of the last train to Sandown – William Vallender – had begun work on the Isle of Wight railways 55 years previously, in 1911. Happily, it is still possible to visit the former site of Merstone Railway Station, as it is managed by Gift to Nature, a project of the local charity Natural Enterprise. The site is now a wildflower meadow, picnic area and orchard. It lies on National Cycle Route 23: the Red Squirrel Trail.

In the next edition of Isle of Wight Railways, we shall examine a little-known station a couple of miles further down the Newport to Sandown line: Horringford.