Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2014/January 2015 | Page 35

RYDE

A close-up
look at Ryde
By Peter White

I

t is generally regarded as the gateway
to the Isle of Wight, and as you cross
the Solent heading towards Ryde it is
easy to see why.
The water is alive with fast cats and
hovercrafts bringing tourists and
mainland workers alike to the Island,
with the twin church spires clearly
visible from the sea belonging to All
Saints' (the taller) and Holy Trinity
churches - maybe providing the
gateposts for the famous gateway.
Arriving by fast cat, the first port of
call is Ryde’s famous pier, opened in
1814, and the oldest seaside pier in
England. Until the pier was opened,
ferry passengers landing at low tide were
brought almost half a mile into the shore
by horse and cart. Thankfully no such
hassle these days!
The pier was designed by John Kent of
Southampton and its foundation stone
was laid on June 29, 1813, with the pier
opening on July 26, the following year.

The original timber structure was 527
metres long, but by 1833 it had been
extended to 681 metres. It is this preVictorian structure which has, with some
modifications, carried pedestrians and
vehicles ever since, and only recently
celebrated its 200th birthday.
A second 'tramway' pier was built next
to the first pier, opening on 29 August
1864,with horse-drawn trams taking
passengers from the pier head to the
esplanade. On 12 July 1880 a third pier
was opened in 1880, alongside the first
two, providing a direct steam railway link
to the pier-head. The railway line was
owned jointly by the London, Brighton
and South Coast Railway and London
and South Western Railway, as far as Ryde
St Johns Road, to connect with their ship
services to Portsmouth. However, trains
were run by the independent Isle of
Wight Railway and Isle of Wight Central
Railway, who owned the tracks beyond
St John's Road and operated through
services to Ventnor and Cowes via
Newport respectively.

In 1895 a concert pavilion was
constructed at the pier-head and over the
following 16 years the original wooden
piles were replaced by cast iron. And
it was at Ryde Pier that the Empress
Eugénie landed from Sir John Burgoyne's
yacht 'The Gazelle' after her flight
from Paris in 1870. The pier head was
remodelled in the 1930s using concrete,
and during the Second World War it was
used for military purposes.
The pier has seen its great times and
its not so great. At one point it fell into
disrepair and many feared it would
be demolished. More recently it was
closed to all vehicles for seven months
up to March 2011 for structural work
underneath the promenade pier. Work
to extend the structure of the Pier Head
to allow for additional car parking
continued during this period.
These days there is a strict speed limit for
vehicles on the pier, as well as a £1 charge,
but for anyone who has time to walk
along the famous wooden planks to catch
the Wightlink Fast Cat, it makes a very
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