Am wondering whether out of those of us, now in or approaching our "twilight years", who were born sufficiently long ago to have known British Railways steam in regular service; and that before its very "last knockings" -- anyone other than myself, has the regret of not having witnessed first-hand: the scene on the Isle of Wight as it was up to early 1966 -- i.e., the Ryde -- Ventnor and Ryde -- Cowes lines, both active with class 02 0-4-4T's?
I can envisage people in that age-bracket who were born in parts of the country far distant from the south coast, simply not having been in a position to get to the IOW in that era. I (born 1948) don't have that justification: it would have been perfectly feasible for me in the last year of "Ventnor and Cowes", to reach the place "under my own steam" -- as it would have needed to be, with the Island not having been a holiday venue for our family; I lived not actually in the south-east, but not wildly far away. However, for what seemed to me at the time, sufficient and sense-making reasons (and with many competing rail attractions) -- I did not feel sufficiently keen about that scene, to make the effort. My first visit to the IOW was in November 1966, in the final weeks of steam, just Ryde to Shanklin: and that only through the prompting of a recently-made enthusiast friend -- without which I would have thought, "it's the miserable last dregs: not worth it"; and not gone even then. That was in fact, a depressing experience -- but woke me up to what a marvel at that late date, the "02" scene had been; and caused me to wish that I had gone there a year-plus earlier, and to wonder what had possessed me to lack sufficient interest to do so.
This has been for the past half-century-plus, one of my bitterest regrets as regards "misses" of mine on the British pre-1968 steam scene: the more so with its having been as described, "self-inflicted". From a misery-loves-company position, as it were: I'd be interested to know whether anyone else of a similar "vintage", might be similarly situated; be it through the thing's just not having been possible -- or like myself, from apathy which now in hindsight, feels amazingly foolish.
I can envisage people in that age-bracket who were born in parts of the country far distant from the south coast, simply not having been in a position to get to the IOW in that era. I (born 1948) don't have that justification: it would have been perfectly feasible for me in the last year of "Ventnor and Cowes", to reach the place "under my own steam" -- as it would have needed to be, with the Island not having been a holiday venue for our family; I lived not actually in the south-east, but not wildly far away. However, for what seemed to me at the time, sufficient and sense-making reasons (and with many competing rail attractions) -- I did not feel sufficiently keen about that scene, to make the effort. My first visit to the IOW was in November 1966, in the final weeks of steam, just Ryde to Shanklin: and that only through the prompting of a recently-made enthusiast friend -- without which I would have thought, "it's the miserable last dregs: not worth it"; and not gone even then. That was in fact, a depressing experience -- but woke me up to what a marvel at that late date, the "02" scene had been; and caused me to wish that I had gone there a year-plus earlier, and to wonder what had possessed me to lack sufficient interest to do so.
This has been for the past half-century-plus, one of my bitterest regrets as regards "misses" of mine on the British pre-1968 steam scene: the more so with its having been as described, "self-inflicted". From a misery-loves-company position, as it were: I'd be interested to know whether anyone else of a similar "vintage", might be similarly situated; be it through the thing's just not having been possible -- or like myself, from apathy which now in hindsight, feels amazingly foolish.
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