Alverstone, it is fair to say, is not terribly famous.

It once had a railway station, it once had a mill, and it is undeniably a very pretty village - but that’s about it, really.

As for the mill, that closed just after the end of the First World War when imported cheap grain from Canada started to be ground in a huge mill on the quayside at Southampton docks.

Pre-war, there were nearly 30 working mills on the Isle of Wight but Solent Mills, as it was known, had halved that number by 1920, Alverstone being among the casualties.

Isle of Wight County Press: Following closure, the mill reinvented itself as Alverstone Tea Gardens where rowing boats could be hired for an excursion on the old mill pond, in places. The couple in the boat, perilously close to the railway line, are Alan Stroud’s parents in the early 1940s.Following closure, the mill reinvented itself as Alverstone Tea Gardens where rowing boats could be hired for an excursion on the old mill pond, in places. The couple in the boat, perilously close to the railway line, are Alan Stroud’s parents in the early 1940s. (Image: Alan Stroud/County Press)

As for the railway, the line from Newport to Sandown opened in 1875, went bankrupt before it opened and never made a penny first nor last.

As the local media correctly predicted in 1878: "That the people of Horringford might wish to visit the people of Blackwater was reasonable and proper to suppose, but the railway company could not really expect them to do it often enough to make the line pay.”

The line closed in 1956, the County Press reporting: “For the last 81 years travellers have been held up at the seven level crossings on the Newport-Sandown railway line, but after tomorrow evening, these hold-ups will be a thing of the past with the final closing of the gates at Pan, Shide, Blackwater, Merstone, Horringford, Newchurch and Alverstone tomorrow.”

Isle of Wight County Press: The water meadows at Alverstone during the recent floods. Water was allowed to flood the fields during winter to stop frosts reaching the grass. This gave an early crop of grass in the spring.The water meadows at Alverstone during the recent floods. Water was allowed to flood the fields during winter to stop frosts reaching the grass. This gave an early crop of grass in the spring. (Image: Sue Stroud)

In April 1959, Jennifer Lale, 14, a pupil in Form 4B at Fairway County School, Sandown, wrote a letter to the County Press from her home, Anzac Farm, in Alverstone, detailing the virtues, or otherwise, of her village.

Her letter is a witty masterpiece and appears here virtually in its entirety.

It reads: “Alverstone is just a small village, roughly about three to four miles from Sandown if you were to go by the small bus, but if you walk along the tattered railway line you would take about 20 minutes and the distance is just over one mile.

Isle of Wight County Press: In the Alverstone Mead bird hide at the end of Burnt House Lane, your patience and silence can often be rewarded by the thrill of red squirrels eating from your hand.In the Alverstone Mead bird hide at the end of Burnt House Lane, your patience and silence can often be rewarded by the thrill of red squirrels eating from your hand. (Image: Alan Stroud)

“In 1954, rumours spread that the train would be taken away and that the station would be closed down.

“This has proved true, and we are now greatly honoured by a small coach which the bus company call a bus.

“The bus service is dreadful, we have eight buses a day, and we have no buses at all on Sundays, so instead of going out we have to stay at home and watch the television.

“There was once the old mill, but it is no longer used now.

“By the mill runs the River Yar. This is one good point of which we are very proud of.

“Although it is now falling away and the water wheel is old, dilapidated, and green with age, we still get a lot of people to see it in the summer (when we get any).

“On the river are boats which the public can hire and enjoy perhaps an hour’s boating or more.

“We are known as a farming village, although there are only seven farms round about and there are only 23 houses, of which two are empty. We have the huge population of 73.

“In the summer, the Alverstone Tea Gardens are open but even they close at about 7 o’clock.

“The people of Alverstone are no people for drinking beer and so there is no pub.

“The nearest one is either a nice walk to Lake, to the Stag Inn, or a walk to Newchurch to the pub there.

“On Thursday nights there was once a club for the young ones, but that has been closed down as there were not enough people that went.

“We had great fun and played different games, including table tennis and darts, while the male of the youth played billiards and snooker, while others danced modern “rock” and “old-time” dancing.

“Every Tuesday night there is a whist drive at 7.30, and the old folk turn up from as far away as Ryde, Shanklin, and Lake.

“There was once a post office at Alverstone but that has been taken away, although we still have a letterbox.

“By now you may think we are not very modern and that we walk about holding candles, but we have electricity and also, we have three road lights, two of which are in working order.

“The houses in Alverstone are mainly old, and from the outside they all look it, but inside most of them have been redecorated.

“The weekends at home are rather fun; there is a gang of us who go about together.

“If it rains, we troop into one of our houses and play a game of cards or do something to keep us out of mischief.

“We have one market gardener in the village who is kept very busy as he has to supply some flowers for the whole of the village folk.

“The oldest resident is Mrs Plumbley, who is 87.

“Here I will end, and if you want to know any more you must come to Alverstone and see for yourselves what a quiet place it is, but at the same time see how friendly we all are.”