Ventnor Heritage Centre

"To make the past present, to bring the distant near . . . to call up our ancestors before us with all their peculiarities of language, manners, and garb, to show us over their houses, to seat us at their tables, to rummage their old-fashioned ward-robes, to explain the uses of their ponderous furniture . . . " Thomas Babington Macaulay describing what the study of history can do (written in 1828)

Ventnor Heritage Centre Monthly Meetings |
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Ventnor Heritage Centre Monthly Meetings

The speakers cover a wide range of topics and focus on the history of Ventnor, surrounding area and the Isle of Wight. Meetings are very well attended and are held at the Masonic Hall in Grove Road, Ventnor, starting at 7.30 pm.  Entry is free to members of the Society,  visitors are very welcome, entrance is £2.00

Upcoming Meetings for 2019:

25th January              Robin McInnes                       The Most Painted Place – Bonchurch

22nd February           Susan Weeks                          At Home With the Spartali Family

29th March                 Annual General Meeting        Followed by Filmshow

26th April                    Richard Downing                    Ventnor Breweries

31st May                     Film: ‘Ventnor – No Finer Place’ (please note change from previously published talk)

28th June                    John Medland                        The Island in the Domesday Book

26th July                     Donna Needham                    Around the Island in 115(ish) Churches

27th September          Brian Greening                       Island Life 100 Years Ago

25th October                Andy Butler                           Title to be confirmed

29th November            Mark Earp                              Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our past guest speakers for sharing their time and knowledge with us.

A Society Meeting

Exhibitions, stories, images . . .

Wheelers Bay

Wheelers Bay was originally called Hudsons Bay and its local name was Tatey Bay. The name changed when Charles and Thomas Wheeler came to the bay in 1842. There was much competition between the Wheelers and the Spencers of Ventnor vying with each other to secure business. In 1868 the Wheelers helped to demolish Devonshire Terrace before it was relocated further back from the cliff edge and in 1885 a John Wheeler lived at High Port. The Wheelers helped to supply Niton when the village was cut off by snow in 1881 and Wheeler Bros ferried pilots to and from vessels in the Channel. Wheelers Bay Road was earlier named Gas House Hill, dating from the time when the Gas Works were built on the site, and coal and other merchandise were unloaded there. Records show fresh herrings selling 13 for one shilling in the early 1900s. Local children were discouraged from bathing at Ventnor, and sent round to Wheelers Bay to use the beach there; modern sea defence work has filled in the beach area.

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