Discover the history of Ryde and its people at the underground Museum of Ryde. Then, explore the world-famous Donald McGill “Saucy Seaside” Postcard Museum. Browse hundreds of items, thousands of pictures, and loads of saucy postcards.

Search the museum's photo archives of over 10,000 pictures of Ryde and district from the 1860s to today.

The Commercial Room houses a large collection of bottles, flagons and other items from local breweries, chemists and dairies. Browse information and photos from the last 150 years of shopping in Ryde, and see items including a clockwork spit jack, medical bits, servants’ bells, shop signage, and old posters.

See education as it used to be in the School Room! View old school photos, and a video showing holiday cine films from last century. Opposite, discover the history of Ryde Pier (the first pier in the country) and its growth, with later tram and train piers. Alongside, see details of many of the early local photographers, one of whom had Queen Victoria and her family amongst his clients.

In the Flight Path, learn about the long-gone Ryde Airport and the still-operating locally-built Hovercraft; a film shows its development.

The Rotunda area contains the Military Rooms, featuring items from the Isle of Wight Rifles and both World Wars, as well as the remains of two WWII USAF P41-D Mustangs that crashed in The Solent. Also on show are the early beginnings of the Isle of Wight Festival, memories of Oscar-winning film director Anthony Minghella, and 140 years of Ryde Carnival.

The Household Room displays old everyday objects (some still used by visitors!), Police and Fire Brigade items, and the ‘Great Fires of Ryde’ video.

The Tony Packer Room houses our unique Ice Well (built to hold ice brought from Norway and North America) and a recently-uncovered bread oven, as well as various artefacts from St Thomas’s Church, and our archive of local interest files, maps and charts.

In the Transport and Sport Room, see details of the first buses on the island and other local transport, read about the various sportsmen and women from Ryde, and view items and pictures from the long-gone hospitals in the area.

And also …

Have a laugh in the Donald McGill ‘Saucy Seaside’ Postcard Museum. This privately-owned exhibition, which opened nearby in 2010, moved to the Museum of Ryde in 2014.

It’s the world’s largest collection of Donald McGill items, and celebrates the best-known postcard artist of all time. McGill, who was born in 1875 and trained as a draughtsman, turned to drawing comic pictures in 1904, and up to 1962 produced more than 12,000 designs, many with Benny Hill-type humour.

Some of the cards were deemed to be obscene in various trials in the 1950s, and 3,000 were destroyed in Ryde alone. Be amazed at just what was so shocking only 70 years ago, then buy, and send, reprints of those cards.

You could easily spend hours here exploring everything! Keep your ticket for free returns within a fortnight.