St Helens railway station (Isle of Wight)

St Helen's with its 232-foot-long (71 m) single platform^[1] was the only intermediate stop on the 2+3⁄4-mile (4.4 km) branch line that connected Brading to the coast at Bembridge.^[2]

A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of lines around The Isle of Wight.

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 (equivalent to £257,500 in 2023)^[7] in four years.^[8] It was reported that he had been spending about £5 (equivalent to £400 in 2023)^[7] per week on drink, and made presents of joints of beef to various villagers, spending over £400 (equivalent to £34,300 in 2023)^[7] at one butchers shop in twelve months.

• William Weeks from 1882^[9] (formerly station master at Wroxall)
• George Wetherick ca. 1897 ca. 1910
• Thomas George Weeks until 1931
• Charles Willcocks ca. 1935

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Brading		British Railways Southern Region Isle of Wight Railway (Brading Harbour Improvement and Railway Company) : Brading to Bembridge line		Bembridge

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain