St Helens railway station (Isle of Wight) explained

St Helen's with its 232adj=midNaNadj=mid single platform^[1] was the only intermediate stop on the NaNmiles branch line that connected Brading to the coast at Bembridge.^[2]

History

Opened in 1882, when the area was the Island's main port,^[3] it ran with ever-dwindling passengers until 1953.^[4] Pomeroy^[5] described the station thus:

An imposing structure with tall chimneys and elegant dormers, particularly pleasing to the eye.^[6]

Train Ferry

From 1885 to 1888 St Helens was the Isle of Wight end of a Freight only Train ferry Service. This connected the Isle of Wight Rail Network with Mainland Great Britain's network at Langston railway station, using the Former Firth of Tay Train Ferry TF Carrier.

Stationmasters

In 1931 the stationmaster, Thomas George Clayton Weeks was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for theft and forgery of receipts. He had created fictitious wage sheets for casual workers at the Southern Railway quay and robbed the company of around £3,000 in four years.^[7] It was reported that he had been spending about £5 per week on drink, and made presents of joints of beef to various villagers, spending over £400 at one butchers shop in twelve months.

• William Weeks from 1882^[8] (formerly station master at Wroxall)
• George Wetherick ca. 1897 ca. 1910
• Thomas George Weeks until 1931
• Charles Willcocks ca. 1935

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

External links

• St Helens on Subterranea Britannica

50.6936°N -1.1123°W

Notes and References

1. Book: Paye, Peter . Isle of Wight Railways remembered . Oxford . OPC . 1984 . 0-86093-212-5 .
2. Bennett,A "Southern Holiday Lines in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight": Cheltenham, Runpast 1994
3. Viv Hailes quoted in "Once upon a line (Vol 4) Britton,A": Oxford, OPC, 1994
4. Hay,P "Steaming Through the Isle Of Wight": Midhurst,Middleton, 1988
5. "Isle Of Wight Railways, Then and Now": Oxford,Past & Present Publishing, 1993,
6. A view Gammell(Southern Branch Lines": Oxford, OPC, 1997) concurs with One of the most attractive station conversions I have ever seen.
7. News: . Modern "Robin Hood". Joints of Beef for the Villagers . Hampshire Telegraph . England . 27 November 1831 . 26 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
8. News: . Wroxall . Isle of Wight Observer . England . 27 May 1882 . 25 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .