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
King's Quay, Isle of Wight King's Quay, Isle of Wight King's Quay is a place on the north east coast of the Isle of Wight, an island off the South Coast of England. It comprises the estuary of a stream called Palmer's Brook, situated between East Cowes and Wootton Creek, about north west of Wootton. It is said, probably apocryphally, to have been the place that King John fled to after signing Magna Carta, from which it derives its name. It is private land, part of the Barton Estate, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Ramsar site. It is rich in fossils,