The two railways, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Wight Central, divide the ground between them, the former running from Ventnor to Ryde, with a branch to Bembridge, and the other, which is much the larger, covering the rest of the ground. By their peculiar position they are enabled to give certain kinds of tickets which could not be offered except on a small island. Of such are the "go-where-you-please" weekly tickets, limited only by time, and not by distance. These enable one, for the sum of about a pound, to travel first-class in any direction, and over the same lines, as often as one likes for a week; while each railway also offers cheaper tickets for its own lines exclusively, and the lower classes are correspondingly cheaper.
In this general survey we have not so far touched upon one aspect of the island which in the minds of some people looms so large as altogether to eclipse all others, and that is its attractions as a health resort.
The fortune of Ventnor was made by the celebrated physician, Dr. James Clark (1780-1870), who pronounced it to be the English Madeira. From a little fishing hamlet it grew prodigiously fast into a fashionable watering-place, with good shops and fine buildings. Numerous sanatoria for consumptives, ranging downwards from the Royal National Hospital, show the opinion of its climate held by medical men in our own day.
The town, which stands on the side of a steep incline, is extremely picturesque, and some of the streets seem absolutely to tumble downwards. The different levels, however much they may add to its beauty from an artist's point of view, are, however, a little trying to the large number of invalids who come to Ventnor. Bathing, golf, tennis, and all the usual recreations are found in abundance, and the number of coaches starting for different excursions on a summer's day are legion. Shanklin differs from Ventnor in having houses above and below the cliff, instead of being planted on its side--a feat here rendered impossible by the precipitous nature of the cliffs. The two parts are connected with a lift, which does not in itself add to the beauties of the landscape, and there are also, of course, zigzag paths and graded roads, and the famous chine already referred to, by which one can reach the higher level from the lower. Shanklin faces eastward, and is "round the corner" from Ventnor, which makes it not quite so warm in summer.