Around 3,000 people have now joined the We Grew Up on the Isle of Wight Facebook page, which was launched last month.

The sea plays an important part in the lives of people living on the island and this week we have loved looking at your old pictures of Isle of Wight ferries and hovercrafts, family beach trips, boating events and all things sea-related.

Scroll through our gallery of pictures above to see more...

We loved seeing Liz Cosgrove's picture of the Sealink ferry Brading (main image), which served on the Portsmouth to Ryde route from 1948 to 1986.

Brading was one of three ships which served on the route during this period - the other two were Southsea, also launched in 1948, and Shanklin, which entered service in 1951.

Brading and Southsea outlasted their newer sister and the duo were replaced in 1986 by new catamaran-type ferries, Our Lady Pamela and Our Lady Patricia.

John Cole also posted a lovely picture of one of the Seaspeed hovercrafts, which operated between Southampton and Cowes from 1966 until 1976, when the company transferred its cross-Solent routes to Hovertravel.

Isle of Wight County Press:

One of the Southampton to Cowes hovercrafts in the late 1960s. Picture: John Cole.

We also loved Alex Tunnicliffe's picture of her dad, John Galt, and his brother carrying a rigid inflatable hull boat they had designed down the slipway next to what is now Cowes RNLI in the early 1970s. The Galt family ran Galt Glass Laminates in Prospect Road, Cowes, at the time.

Isle of Wight County Press:

John Galt (front) and his brother with one of the boats they designed in the early 1970s. Picture: Alex Tunnicliffe.

Finally, we all have our favourite beaches and most of them have a beach shop, where we might go for an ice-cream or to buy a bucket and spade, a crabbing net or paper flags for our sandcastle.

We loved Susan Genereux's picture of Eve's Beach Shop, which she remembers from her family's seaside trips to Gurnard march in the late 1950s. Gurnard Marsh certainly looked a lot less developed then - though it is still an interesting and little-known place to visit.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Eve's Beach Shop at Gurnard Marsh in the 1950s. Picture: Susan Genereux.

We would love to see more of your beach and boating pictures, so please join the We Grew Up on the Isle of Wight Facebook page and tell us about your memories!

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