AN ISLE of Wight author and former librarian has released a wonderful new book covering the Oral History of Bembridge.

Alan Robert Phillips’ latest offering, I’m Not Blessed Well Jokin’, comprises a collection of interviews with 15 villagers who, when recorded in the 1970s and 80s, were all in their 80s and 90s.

Their collective memories of Old Bembridge stretch back to the latter years of the 19th, and turn of the 20th century.

“Their quality, age and humour make them totally unique,” says Alan.

Isle of Wight County Press: A Bembridge farming scene in the 1920s.A Bembridge farming scene in the 1920s. (Image: Contributed.)

“Bembridge is often described as the largest village in England.

To read more about Alan's book, and pick up a copy, visit his website here. 

The book can also be bought at various Isle of Wight shops. 

“By the end of the 19th century, it had become very fashionable and was attracting large swathes of the aristocracy to move there.”

Isle of Wight County Press: Children outside Woodford's butchers shop.Children outside Woodford's butchers shop. (Image: Contributed.)

As well as detailing the interplay between local residents and the upper class, it covers topics including schooldays, characters, old village shops, fishing, farming, coastguards, smuggling, lifeboats, entertainment, pubs and piloting.

Together, they provide insights into the resilience of ordinary individuals in a rural village on the Isle of Wight in the Victorian and Edwardian period.

The volume is supplemented with old press reports and scrapbook entries.

Isle of Wight County Press: Yeats' Butchers shop, High Street, prior to 1850.Yeats' Butchers shop, High Street, prior to 1850. (Image: Contributed.)

Alan was born in Cardiff but moved frequently in his early years.

His father was in the army and Alan attended more than ten different schools during his formative years.

He was a Bembridge librarian for five years in the 1970s, having completed his traineeship in the old County Seely Library, based in Newport.

Isle of Wight County Press: Stanwell Farm, Hillway, circa 1880.Stanwell Farm, Hillway, circa 1880. (Image: Contributed.)

He was an early environmental campaigner on the Island in the 1980s, and has lifelong interests in folklore, myth, archaeology and religion – in particular the interrelationships between them.

Alan and his wife Renella lived in St Helens for 26 years before moving to Shorwell, and the wordsmith has now lived on the Isle of Wight for more than 50 years.

He is also the author of Cock and Bull Stories: Animals in Isle of Wight Folklore, Dialect and Cultural History.