A Lady’s Opinion of Island Trippers in 1901

A LADY’S OPINION OF TRIPPERS.- The well known society paper The Lady, published last week a lady’s account of a visit to the Isle of Wight, and her experiences in crossing.

Ah! dear me (she writes) what a motley crowd was on that steamer. Trippers, the scourge of English watering places, galore, vulgarians whose only idea of happiness appears to consist in making a noise! Loud-voiced remarks in the vulgarest accents, snatches of music-hall songs, exclamations, hurried rushings to and fro, and bursts of meaningless laughter are their wont. I am all for the lower orders having a good time and enjoying themselves, but I do wish that it was possible for them to take their pleasures a little more calmly.

The passage over was spoilt for me, for I could not enjoy the beauty of the sunlit sea and sky, or the lovely island that we were approaching, packed as closely as herrings in a barrel upon a sunny seat, with no awning overhead to mitigate the power of the sun’s rays at midday, and a company of trippers all around. Their little children were falling over my feet, and throwing their newly-acquired buckets about and banging their spades against my flinching shins, uncontrolled by their cheerful parents, who liked to see the “little ‘uns” enjoying themselves.

Now, I don’t believe that I am prejudiced in contending that there is nothing half so offensive about the foreign tourists. And I have never made a steamer trip aboard- say, on the Rhine, or on the Swiss lakes, or about the Neapolitan coast- without finding sun-awnings and amply provided refreshments on board.

Source: Isle of Wight Observer 14 September 1901

Postcard Image of Isle of Wight Steamer: Ann Barrett Collection