At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
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A Railway Journey from Ryde Pier Head to Ventnor
The Isle of Wight's steam railways are seen in all their glory in this splendidly nostalgic film - a must for steam fans of all ages
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Overview
We start with the arrival of the MV Brading at Ryde's Pier Head. Passengers then transfer to the train waiting at the pier’s station. Setting off, we run past Ryde Esplanade and into open country. Stopping at Brading, we pause to look at a variety of railway features. Then we're off again, running past meadows with the Downs in the distance. At Wroxall, a few passengers board the train, before we soon pass through a tunnel which opens out at Ventnor Station - our journey’s end.
This wonderful film traces a journey by steam train from Ryde Pier Head station to Ventnor some time from the later 1950s to the early 1960s.Unfortunately, there are no details of the original film maker. The film contains images of Isle of Wight transport that have long disappeared. Firstly, the ferry arriving at the pier was, appropriately enough, the MV Brading. This small ferry operated between Portsmouth and Ryde from the early 1950s until its withdrawl in the early 1980s. The 14 mile route from Ryde to Ventnor was originally opened by the Isle of Wight Railway between 1864 and 1866, with a further extension to Ryde Pier Head opening in 1880.
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