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Our Community St James's is located on the Isle of Wight, the largest island off the coast of England. It is separated from the mainland by the Solent, a narrow strip of sea famous for it's yachting. Situated off the south coast, it enjoys some of the best weather in Britain. Ryde Ryde is a town with a population of approximately 30,000 people, which is situated on the north-eastern edge of the island. It, along with Cowes, is the main 'gateway' to the mainland, being served by two ferry and one hovercraft routes.  The earliest record of Ryde is about 1300 AD when it is recorded as a small
fishing village. A small farming community was also established at the top
of the hill and these two communities were eventually joined by a road in
the late eighteenth century called Union Street. Ryde was officially
recognised as a town in 1829.Ryde became a popular tourist destination from the early 19th century when the pier was built to receive visitors from the mainland. Like most of the Island resorts it flourished particularly with the arrival of Queen Victoria at Osbourne house in cowes which triggered an explosion of building and a steep rise in population. Ryde is still a busy tourist resort boasting a very large sandy beach with an esplanade along which can be found various tourist attractions. Ryde is now the second largest town on the Isle of Wight, the largest being the county town of Newport. Significant housing development in recent years has seen the boundaries of Ryde extended to the nearby areas of Binstead, Haylands, Swanmore and Elmfield. More housing devlopment is planned over the next few years.  Ryde has a mixture of people from a variety of income brackets. There are
many families of working age as well as a sizable community of retired
people.Employment in the area is dominated by the tourist industry, retail, construction and the public sector with relatively few manufacturing and business jobs. Unemployment is a real problem in the area particularly outside of the tourist season and Ryde has some significant social problems.
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 Why not come in and see us next Sunday? Service details can be found here.  We love to see visitors at any time of the year. Why not join us this Sunday? Our Find Us page will show you where we are. |
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Copyright © 2012 St James's Church, 4 Market
Street, Ryde Isle Of Wight
(IOW) PO33 2NG. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||