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Shanklin
Shanklin maps
Historic maps of Shanklin and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Shanklin maps
Shanklin area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Shanklin and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Shanklin
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Shanklin.
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Lower Hyde Farm in 1966
I too stayed at Lower Hyde Farm on many occasions as a child and remember arriving on the day of the 19966 World Cup final. We listened to the match on another passenger's transistor radio, standing in the guards's van on the Ryde to Shanklin train. In those days it was still a steamer before the tube trains arrived. Usually, when we arrived at Shanklin locals would be out with sack barrows offering to take your baggage to your guest house/cravan site etc. Like you I returned as an adult on a trip and couldn't recognise the site although the chine and the beach were pretty much as was.
Lower Hyde Farm
I can remember staying in a caravan at Lower Hyde farm, we used to go there lots when I was a kid in the 1960s. I can still remember staying there when England won the World Cup, not that it meant a lot to me then! I remember mum sending dad over to the clubhouse to watch the match... Coming from East London it really felt like we were in the country, it was lovely. I took my own kids back to this site about 15 years ago, it was unrecognisable to me (and my mum) it had been taken over by some large 'Haven' type Company... We used to have some lovely holidays in Shanklin. We also stayed at Fawleys guest house in Hope rRoad, didn't enjoy that as much as the caravan though. Mum did as it meant no cooking for a fortnight:)
Isle of Wight memories
Summer Holidays
Many of my childhood summer holidays were spent at Sandown. We usually stayed at Mrs. Woodnutt's hotel in Carter Street. Mr. Woodnutt hired out the deck chairs on Sandown Beach. He also kept ferrets and I was allowed to go and help him look after them. One of our family's favourite places was the miniature golf course pictured. It was called Brown's as was the canoe lake next door. Browns made the most delicious ice cream, very welcome after following the grown-ups around the pitch and putt course. Oh the joy when I was deemed old enough to have a putter, ball and score card of my own!
Sandown Youth Hostel
It was 1969 and I had just come down from Manchester and was staying once more in my family home in Hatch End. My parents suggested that I took my younger brother away for a break following his "O" Levels so we set off for a youth hostelling trip to the Isle of Wight.
A ferry crossing from Portsmouth was followed by a ride on the "new" trains on the island. In fact these were former London Transport tubes so it was something of a surreal experience to rattle through the island's countryside in a blue painted tube carriage! We decided to stay in Sandown that August and had a great time enjoying the sunny weather on the beach and also walking around exploring for three or four days. I have not returned to the island since 1969 but still remember what a lovely time we had so I hope to return before too long. Maybe next time I shall be taking my granddaughter Anna... Read more
Family Holidays in The 1950s
I was born in 1942 and brought up in Walthamstow in NE London. We were a working class family and Dad always managed to provide us with 2 weeks' holiday somewhere. How we came to holiday in Wroxall is still a bit of a mystery. Neither Mum nor Dad had ever been to the Isle of Wight before. In August 1952 we had the first of three annual fortnights holidays on the Island. The first year,1952, we stayed in a different lodging each week. I expect the accommodation was found in 'Daltons Weekly'. The first week we stayed at a Guest House called 'Tintern' which was an old detached Victorian house with rooms both on the ground and first floors let out as guest rooms. The house was located on St John's Road, Wroxall It was run by a Mrs Abbott, assisted to some extent by her husband Mr Abbott. No one of knew their Christian names. I recall that there were four guest rooms in total, with one being a... Read more
Grandmother's Abode
At the bottom of the hill on the right I believe that tall building belonged to the local bakers. The low building next to it - this side of the bakers - is a thatched cottage where my grandmother lived. My mother grew up here. The cottage housed around 3/4 families but it has now been made into one home. Over the years the thatched cottage has also been a restaurant. I visited my grandparents many times at this cottage.
The Londoner Rickt@pdq.net
I wonder if any one remembers the cockney kid Fred, who moved into "The Elms" back in 55 at the wonderful age of 15, went to school in Sandown for almost a year until graduation, ended up with the Royal Mail until I eventually returned to London went on to Manchester and then the rest of the world in the oil business.
Had lots of fun back then with the skiffle group at the teenagers hangout, I forget the night but remember the fun times. Always wondered what happened to Ruth Groves, she left for London before me and I lost contact. Anyway, it was also facinating to a city kid to grow thing like toms, cukes, peas, etc. etc. I enjoyed it so much that to this day I have a veg. garden. Oh by the way, I live in Texas now and enjoy all year growing weather with maybe three or four light frosts a year. Contact me for a chat if you remember me.
