From John Stephens, Sandown:

The picture in the County Press (12-03-21) of the two boys fishing at Alverstone brought back happy memories for me.

In the 1950s I was a teenager and used to cycle across the fields from Shanklin to Alverstone with my cousin Alan Holbrook and spend a day fishing by the river or, if funds allowed, hire a rowing boat to go as far as the iron railway bridge.

Again, if our pocket-money was sufficient, we’d treat ourselves to travelling there by train. We used to fish for roach and dace.

I remember the tree on the left-hand side of the picture which was visited by many birds.

Sometimes we’d watch baby eels coming up onto the wet timbers on the sluice gates to bask in the sun. The pinnacle of the day was to visit the little cafe there and buy a cream-soda with a dollop of ice-cream thrown in — heaven!

Memories of a bygone age sadly lost.

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