Characters from the Island’s past will be brought to life this weekend!
Real-life characters from the Island’s past will be brought to life on stations across the Island Line rail network this weekend (Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September) as part of a living history project from local arts for wellbeing charity Independent Arts.
If you visit Ryde Pier Head, Ryde St Johns, Sandown and Shanklin stations this weekend, you may see actors portray incidents in the lives of Peggy and Doris, holidaying on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s, Mr Tarrant the Greengrocer, Florence, a lady’s companion and the post-war Stationmaster
The stories were gathered as part of a community project which ran in the summer of 2021, supported by artists Jess Ong and Lauren Fry. Project manager at Independent Arts, Hannah Griffiths says: “We invited those who have travelled, worked and lived on and beside the Island Line to share their stories and reminiscences of the Islands Railway. From holidays in the Island’s heyday to family stories of days gone by, we have gathered some really interesting and amusing tales.
“We’ll be sharing the stories using local actors who will be popping up from times gone by on stations this weekend. All props and costumes have been created by attendees at our Creative Café and Art Club, so it’s been a really wide-ranging project involving all age groups. We’re really looking forward to sharing this with the Island community.”
The project, Save My Seat, has been funded by South Western Railway as part of their Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
