Lesley shares this latest news from the Ventnor & District Local History Society. Ed
Ventnor & District Local History Society has received £31,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, ‘Living History – Reviving Ventnor Heritage Centre’.
The Society and its Heritage Centre are run by volunteers from the local community, and this project will provide equipment to enable them to provide a better experience for visitors and to safeguard the Society’s collection of photographs, slides, videos and documents tracing the history of the area.
A new Website will be created to engage the public and raise interest and involvement in Ventnor’s heritage. The eighteen month project will start in February 2017.
Engaging with a new audience
Thanks to National Lottery players, the story of Ventnor’s past can be made available to a wider public than has previously been possible. Leigh Geddes, Chair of the Society, said
“The Heritage Centre is self financing, receiving no outside funding, so this generous National Lottery funding means that we can invest in technology and training with confidence.
“We can engage with a new audience – visitors who don’t know about the Heritage Centre and one-time residents who have moved away – as well as interesting a whole new generation in the fascination of their heritage.”
Fascinating history
Ventnor and its surrounding villages have a fascinating history.
The town grew from a tiny fishing hamlet in an area with a history of shipwreck and smuggling, to a booming Victorian resort attracting wealthy visitors from the continent, boasting an elegant pier for visiting steamers, and earning itself the nickname ‘Mayfair by the Sea’.
Steam trains brought holidaymakers in their thousands until the Second World War when the Isle of Wight became a restricted area – a prime target for enemy invasion.
Defending Britain
Ventnor played its own part in the defence of Britain during the war, with a ‘listening post’ on the downs and radar masts towering over the town, and the experiences of the service men and women who risked their lives there alongside the townsfolk continues to fascinate many of our visitors.
But times change – the radar towers went in the 1950s, both railway stations were closed by 1966, and the pier was finally demolished in 1992. Now a small coastal town with a vibrant cultural and community life, Ventnor continues to intrigue visitors as well as residents with its lost railways and its elegant balconied villas.
Commenting on the award, Jason Mack, Mayor of Ventnor and a Trustee of the Society, said:
“We are delighted to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund; this is a real opportunity for us to build on the work and enthusiasm of our volunteers and make the Heritage Centre a jewel in Ventnor’s crown.”
