By Mal Butler
The West Wight Heritage Centre is celebrating its third birthday with a special display entitled ‘Piers and Steamships’ to tie in with the annual arrival of the PS Waverley on the south coast and Yarmouth.
The centre, in Avenue Road, Freshwater, is the official home of the Freshwater & Totland Archive Group, made up of volunteers, formed in 2010 and originally based at the Freshwater Library.
The latest display covers information and images of the piers in the West Wight, and the steamships that used to – or still do – use them. Four piers are featured, Alum Bay, Totland Bay, Fort Victoria and Yarmouth. The Paddle Steamer (PS) Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. Since 1974 she has been owned by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, and is used for a variety of excursions and cruises. The Waverley is powered by steam and, when aboard, you can view the powerful triple-expansion steam engine in operation.
The centre continues to move forward with new projects for the next three years, including a new book about the history of Totland, covering the glory days of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
To continue this good work, the centre is looking for more volunteers in a variety of roles to help the move into the digital age by developing its web presence and digitising more than 12,000 documents and pictures. The Heritage Centre is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10am-noon, and Wednesdays, 1.00pm-3pm. If you can help email archiverescue@hotmail.co.uk
Isle of Wight Observer