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A Family Holiday on the Isle of Wight

Join the Waterhouse family on their colourful holiday to the Isle of Wight with views of Chale Bay, Newport and steam trains at Ryde Esplanade

Amateur film 1949 12 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Wessex Film and Sound Archive

Overview

This splendid colour home movie, made by Tom Waterhouse, features the family holiday to the Isle of Wight in the late 1940s - beginning at Chale and Chale Bay, where recent landslips along the cliffs can be seen. We also see a steam train arriving at Ryde Esplanade station and its westward journey to Newport. We see views of the island's capital, including the Minster, shops and street scenes before returning to the family garden where we see Master Waterhouse at play.

God's Providence House, which is seen in this film, is a Grade II listed building in Newport, Isle of Wight. During a rat-borne plague which ravaged the Island in the late sixteenth century, deaths occured at every other residence in the town apart from God's Providence House. The building therefore acquired its unique name as a result of its good fortune.