A RECENT Southern Vectis Facebook post was shared on our We grew up on the Isle of Wight Facebook group — and it stirred up lots of memories and more than 280 likes from group members.

This is how Newport Bus Station used to look. The bus station opened in 1962 and this photo was take in the mid-1960s.

You can see the well-stocked Travel Shop and the corner section is still visible these days at the entrance to Next.

Many We grew up on the Isle of Wight members had fond memories of the bus station from their daily journeys to what was then Carisbrooke Grammar School, including Ann Mead, who said the above picture is exactly how she remembered it.

Isle of Wight County Press: Newport Bus Station under construction in 1961-2. Picture: Steve Berden.

Newport Bus Station under construction in 1961-2. Picture: Steve Berden.

Marilyn Scrivener said she remembered the bus station being built and she used to catch the bus in St James’s Square before the new station opened.

She added: “I used it every day and spent a lot of time in the cafe, or waiting under the orange skylights watching the people go by.”

Many people remember the orange skylights and also the wide range of little shops at the bus station.

Heather Wilson said: “My friend Edna, from Lake, had a shop there once and she loved being at the hub of comings and goings from all parts of the Island.

“She knew people across the Island which was very unusual in those days. I lived in Lake and Bembridge and by the time I left the Island, aged 22, I had only been to West Wight twice!

“When I went to the tech college from Bembridge, the second bus stopped in the bus station for a few minutes before going up Huunyhill. The excitement of seeing if anyone I knew was getting on the bus!

“The shops there were very smart. It was so sad to see it go downhill and become shabby.

“I knew a lot of the bus crews, as my parents had run The Tollgate cafe at Bembridge, which had been the canteen for the bus crews.

“I was able to catch up with several of them and often had a chat with the wonderful Wally Edwards who was an inspector by then.”

Hazel Longhurst Spire said her dad used to go on the bus from Sandown to Newport every day to work at the County Press.

Angela Holton recalled there was a jewellery shop there and others remembered a card shop, as well as a little fishmongers.

Carol Rowe added that her cousin, Julie Burgess, used to be the wages clerk there and lived at Wootton Bridge.

Diane Millmore recalled that the inspector of taxes offices were above the bus station and Dawn Henning and Clive Brooks were among the people who worked in those offices.

Like reading stories about the Isle of Wight in bygone days? Click here to visit our Looking Back section.