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Fascinating video as always from you Jack.

Bet the Friday gang looked after you. Cutting back at Swanpond?

vivid memories of the May 1996 Railway Modeller magazine featuring a diorama of a potential new Ventnor station, a two-car platform next to a tunnel and squeezed in between two other properties

My GCSE Geography project was on this topic, specifically the feasibility of reinstating the Ventnor Rail link... Nothing much has changed in 30 years it seems.

Awesome

Thanks for this. I can now relive the moment. Except for the ear shattering roar just before they swept overhead. Probably just as well now I’m indoors!

Great research and nice to see the Island on a beautiful day.

Interesting walk, though occasionally rather wet. I've only travelled between Ryde and Cowes and Ryde to Ventnor, but I fondly remember the trains which hurried along these pretty routes. I did once spend a week at Whitwell Station, when it was two holiday lets. It's easy to see how difficult it was to build the line to Ventnor West.

In the days of 405 lines black and white TV, Chillerton Down used to broadcast ITV only to much of the South Coast. One day I drove up to the mast - it was manned during broadcasting hours - and asked the chief engineer if I could have a look around. It was fascinating. Thanks for the vid but please use a wind shield on the microphone to make the audio clearer on your next one.

Excellent video. It has inspired me to complete my own trek/scramble/fight aling the trackbed east of Wellow 😊 Thank you so much for posting, very timely

Fascinating bit of research; I know Newtown Creek, and the Hampstead trail, but the tramway is new to me. My guess is that, at that early a date, it could possibly have had stone sleeper blocks, which could then be reused as building material. That piece of rail you found looks pretty light, compared to standard gauge track, suggesting it came from a tramway or industrial line of some sort - but not, perhaps, the Hamstead line. We're unlikely to ever know, now.

Thanks for sharing. 💙🧶🌈🍓

Great video and such glorious weather to be out and filming. I'm wondering if the tracks and footpaths you were walking on were in fact the route used for the tramways? The area wasn't busy enough to need separate tramways so just upgrading and laying tracks on what was there already would make more sense and save a fortune on seperate trackbed construction. I also wonder how much railway/tramway there was at Shide Chalkpit as I remember seeing tracks there when we went there as kids - over 40 years ago now...

Fascinating Jack; I have walked Hamstead several times and never heard of a Tramway

Great video and script! Thanks😊

I use to ride the Cowes train with my gran when I was a nipper, I think it was 6d. Did you know that there was a special rule in the BR rule book to allow the train carriages to run back into the station on its own with out the engines connected? As space was tight, the engine would go in front first. Disembark all the passengers, push the empty carriage back out then disconnect then run to the adjacent track. The guard would use the breaks to let the carriages roll back. Once stationary the engine would back onto the train ready for the return trip. I remember going to medina wharf as a kid to watch my dad load coal onto the trucks when it came in.

It's really sad for the UK, how poorer countries are regularly building new railways from scratch, especially in urban areas, yet we struggle to reopen a railway on an existing trackbed with not much in the way. Just in the last 15 years, Sevilla, Malaga, Bilbao, Barcelona, Valencia and other Spanish cities have opened new underground lines and they've also built almost 4000km of nationwide high speed rail compared to the 110km HS1 and 230km HS2. Why dont we just outsource our transport planning to a country that's good at it?

Great video.

I accidentally came across your channel, just subbed!!👍👍👍

We need to persuade the Saudis that 'Railway Washing' is even more lucrative than 'Sports Washing'. The railway would be running through to Ventnor again before the decade was out!

Ask the IOW Tourist board, and the Chamber of Commerce, what would happen to Ventnor if the last remaining road also became impassable. Re-instating the railway would be top of the agenda pretty sharpish!

A poor documentary. More time is taken up apologising for the fact that it was made than to get down to the issue. You could condense this down to five minutes, with more impact.

The year is 1963. You could then see a little boy alighting the train from Ryde, together with his family of course, and walking the steep hills of Ventnor to stay in the vegetarian hotel. I have so many memories of this wonderful town, including all 10 of us piling into our mate's Triumph Herald and driving up the steep roads. Also climbing St. Boniface Down with my Dad, and swimming in the sea at the sandy beach. To think the railway now stops at Shanklin! Restore! Restore!

The year is 1963. You could then see a little boy alighting the train from Ryde, together with his family of course, and walking the steep hills of Ventnor to stay in the vegetarian hotel. I have so many memories of this wonderful town, including all 10 of us piling into our mate's Triumph Herald and driving up the steep roads. Also climbing St. Boniface Down with my Dad, and swimming in the sea at the sandy beach. To think the railway now stops at Shanklin! Restore! Restore!

I agree with you 100%, but unfortunately I'm short of the most important attribute: the position of influence. You would need to have powerful, dedicated and very persuasive people on board. Let's hope you can get them! Thank you for both videos and good luck!

The silly thing is - reinstatement would be quite cheap and easy! Wroxall station may be gone, but the expensive bit - the tunnel - is still there, as is the station site at Ventnor. I walked through that tunnel, a good few years ago, and it was in excellent condition then. Tell Southern Water to move over a bit. Politicians: think of the kudos in re-opening this very easy project at minimal cost. Go for it !

There is always some bombastic knob end that will say "on no it can't be done" or some over zealous twat sitting in an office expecting a brown envelope full of large domination bank notes before a decision can be made. Here in new Zealand it's some old geezer. A kumatua with a carved stick wailing some kind of prayer to some stone age god lifting stone age curse and a ",Tapu" lifting ceremony and to appease some kind weirdo creature called a taniwha. But my point is large sums of money change hands. Plus there is a piece of government red tape called the resources management act, which is just more bullshit and extra work for all concerned and just adds to the cost of the project. The tunnel at Ventor should have been turned into a railway reserve in order to keep it for future reopening of the line . So many abandoned rail routes should have been turned into a railway reserve for future reopening instead of other uses and incroachment of other industries cycle ways or turned into roads. As we are reminded" once it's gone it ain't coming back,"

Hi,enjoyed watching the video,my family visited the island which like one of visiting Ventor ,and other locations around the island, hoping railway line get back like travelling on trains

Extremely interesting. You make an excellent case. if only the "powers-that-be" would listen.

Road congestion is killing Britain and London should be examining its impact closely and actually do something about this situation. The narrow roads on the Isle of White clearly cannot handle the impact of increasing road traffic. The reinstatement of a direct rail link into Ventnor should be investigated, but the branch to Newport should also be practical in the same infrastructure project. I've always wanted to visit the Isle of White - ever since I found a c1842 Ordinance Survey map in 1981 among old drawings belonging to a long deceased relative in Melbourne, Australia. Finally saw it from the ferry in 2009, but still haven't stepped ashore!

Taking the precedent of the issue of the Dawlish seafront line, I don't think tha the government will provide funds for relief for Ventnor until after the town is *cut off* (because of a sudden panicked realisation of what is going on) and even then only in the most half-assed and incomplete ways. British transportation policyt has, ince the Beeching times, seemingly been decided mostly by optmism, hope and best-case scenario projections as they are cheaper in the short term (and no-one wants to think further than that).

Another brilliant video, that’s where I walked with a lovely friendly group of people at the festival 3 weeks ago. Beautiful walk we started at the Donkey sanctuary. It’s a great place to visit too.

Super Elenore, I love a good murder mystery. That’s a really spooky one too.

In 1980 i went on a Golden Rail holiday to Shanklin and we spent the whole week touring by bus and train - it was great with no car to worry about. All the services linked up very well.

As an East Midlander, we have the Ivanhoe line, and the Robin Hood line. Both lines closed by The Beeching Report as unviable. Both reopened and now profitable..

A new level crossing would not be permitted today. A bridge or tunnel, or the closure of the road, would be required.

Another Great Video as always Jack! Coombe Bottom is a Beautiful place nestled in between St Boniface down and Ventnor down, the Rifle range Circa 1860 was used to train the Isle of Wight Rifles and in 1915 Many of those Island soldiers left to fight at Galipoli and did not return.

Thank you so much for your interesting series on the lost railways of the island. As a frequent visitor to the IOW over the course of my almost 70 years, I have always loved the Ryde to Shanklin line and the heritage railway from Havenstreet. I’d often seen maps showing the 19th century railways crisscrossing the island and wondered about them. Your series has brought them back to life and I now plan to walk some of the old track beds you followed myself.

Great video Jack. Very informative and beautifully shot.

That is one of my favourite walks, but I do it as a round walk via the old railway line to Wroxall. I drove past you, a couple of weeks ago, on Great Preston Road - I was going to toot and wave until I realised you have no idea who I am! 🙄🤦🏻🤣

Sorry,we didn’t meet up at the walking festival the other week, Enjoyed myself immensely at the festival Jack. What a beautiful place Isle of Wight is simply stunning Will definitely be back at another Walkfest! Keep doing those fantastic videos. Maybe see you next year!.

As a Brit mainlander of 70yrs who Has seen the Error of Dr Beaching, but also the rise, of the DLR and Wolverhampton's Tram system, Mayhap a Light rail system, or a Tram system, would be better suited, to the Island

Thanks for sharing 💙🧶🌈🍓

I used to catch the tram up the pier when I was a kid to go fishing at the end. I didn't realise it was so long ago though. I was sixteen when it closed.

Another great video. I know both Shanklin and Ventnor very well and I've walked between them over St Boniface Down in the opposite direction to you. Thank you for posting.

Also famous for being where another music video was shot, half of Wet Leg's Chaise Longue video was filmed on the downs, and of personal interest where Ventnor Sloggers do Not-A-Park-Run most Saturdays... and personal significance, where I broke my wrist in 2022. 😂

Thoroughly enjoyed this series (and still have some of the earlier ones to watch). One thing I learned about 20 years ago, from a book titled "The Balerno Line, and the Caledonian in Edinburgh" was how significant the revenue from goods traffic was in the 19th century. That book had a number of copies of balance sheets from archives of the Caledonian Railway which clearly showed that the one goods train that plied the line each day made more money than all of the passenger trains added together (about a dozen a day in later years).

Very well created and narrated video

Brilliant, well done!

Ventor can’t have a rail line because it sits on the toe of an active landslide which can give way at any time.