The town grew from a small fishing hamlet in the nineteenth century between the two villages of Bonchurch to the east and St Lawrence to the west. Whereas each of those villages was a parish in its own right, the area now occupied by Ventnor was divided between the two larger parishes of Godshill and Newchurch to the north. Charles Dickens lived nearby for some time. However, it was with the coming of the Isle of Wight Railway in 1866 that the town became both a tourist and a health resort. The fresh Channel air and warm climate were considered to be very beneficial to the sufferers of tuberculosis. Several sanatoriums were established in Ventnor for those suffering from the disease. The Isle of Wight Railway at one time ran a non-stop train from Ryde to Ventnor which was named 'The Invalid Express' specifically to rush consumptive patients to their treatment at Ventnor. One train famously completed the journey in a little over twenty minutes.The town reached its zenith in the inter-war period of the nineteen-thirties with regular steam packets operating between Southsea and the town's pier. The sandy beach was ideal for bathing, and is still popular today, although it is somewhat smaller than comparable tourist beaches at nearby Sandown and Shanklin.
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