"To Collect, Record and preserve the rich heritage and history of Ventnor and surrounding villages, and share it with local and wider communities"
Members of Ventnor & District Local History Society receive newsletters through the year. Past newsletters are available here.
You can join the Society at the Heritage Centre, or by coming along to one of our monthly meetings, or by post or bank transfer (please email us for details if you wish to use bank transfer). Please make cheques payable to Ventnor & District Local History Society.
Ventnor once had two railway stations. And for something like 100 years, trains were the primary means by which visitors arrived in the town. The main line came in via a long tunnel under St. Boniface Down. It linked the resort with Ryde and the towns along the east side of the Island. The second line came from Newport and Merstone, terminating at a station behind Steephill Castle. The photograph here is of a Beyer Peacock 2-4-0 tank loco on the turntable at Ventnor’s main station circa 1910.