Isle of Wight ferry services War four of the SW&BRCSPS paddle steamers were commandeered by the Royal Navy as minesweepers leaving only two behind. The PS "Duchess of Richmond" was lost to a mine in the Mediterranean Sea. On 1 January 1923 the SW&BRCSPS was taken over by Southern Railway which had been created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act 1921. Isle of Wight ferry services There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red
Downend, Isle of Wight hanged on the island and his body displayed in a gibbet opposite the Hair and Hounds pub. His ghost is still said to walk the street with an axe on his shoulder and in place of a face is a grinning skull. Downend, Isle of Wight Downend is a settlement on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the location of the Robin Hill adventure park. According to the Post Office the population of the settlement at the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Arreton. The hamlet lies to the north of