Earlier in the year, Jack Singleton and his partner Eleanor, launched a new YouTube series called Wight Wanderer.
The idea was to walk every disused railway line on the Isle of Wight over the Spring and Summer, and, as you’ll see from many episodes on their YouTube channel, whilst walking the routes, aimed to visit every single railway station.
The final railway they walked was Newport, Godshill and St Lawrence line, also known as the Ventnor West Branch.
Jack explains,
“It was the last railway to be built on the Island in 1897, but also closed before any of the others – because of low traffic – in 1952.
“In the last episode of series, we explain why this railway was such an odd concept, as it ran from the small village of Merstone to a town which already had a station and therefor it was a complete failure.”
Jack added,
“It was though, extremely beautiful compared to other lines, and had a railway tunnel (now abandoned) which we were able to explore in the video.”
If you have an account on YouTube, Like and Subscribe to their channel.
Private land – potentially dangerous
That stretch of the line at St Lawrence/ Whitwell is privately owned and not in any way open to public access.
The owner of the land got in touch with News OnTheWight – after we published details of the Wight Wanderers’ YouTube series – advising that both the old railway line and tunnel are potentially dangerous and pose a potential risk of injury to anyone accessing them.
They urge others to avoid illegally accessing the railway line/tunnel and putting themselves in danger.
Article edit
6pm 7th Nov 2023 – Details about danger of entering tunnels etc added
