Culture of the Isle of Wight Isle of Wight has an active branch of the Pagan Federation (many of whom style themselves as "Druids" and of inmates in Parkhurst Prison, paganism makes up the third most popular religion (according to the Isle of Wight County Press. The Isle of Wight was the last area of English paganism until 686CE when, according to Bede, Cædwalla of Wessex conquered the island, killing its inhabitants and installing Christians in their place. A "sheela-na-gig" is preserved in the gateway to Holy Cross Church in Binstead. Historically several women were alleged to be witches (such as the nineteenth-century Bembridge woman Molly
Railways on the Isle of Wight recently home to a mushroom farm, while the one from Ventnor to Wroxall is now used to collect and transport Ventnor's water supply. From 2004 Ventnor and St Lawrence were served by the Ventnor Rail Link bus from Shanklin, although this was withdrawn in 2010. Newport railway station was completely demolished in 1971 to make way for an upgrade of the A3054 road. Most of the network has been turned into "rail trail" cyclepaths, and notably the island's section of National Cycle Route 23 was constructed mainly on the former Sandown-Newport-Cowes line of the Isle of Wight Central Railway. However,