Old Shanklin: Spa Resort of the Nobility (Paperback) by Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume

Description

Shanklin on the Isle of Wight was mainly associated with agriculture and fishing into the early 19th century until the poet John Keats wrote about it warmly enough that it was deemed worthy of visiting. Charles Darwin and others followed. Then the discovery of a health-giving chalybeate well ticked the spa town box, and development picked up with illumination by electric light in 1904. Arthur’s illustrated history is laid out in sections comprising the esplanade, the pier, the headland, Newnes’ Hydraulic Lift, the Queen Victoria Jubilee Clock, the town, Luccombe Village, the Chine and finally, transport. Plus an index, of course, as this is an Ord-Hume book.