CATCH-cast
Mark Explores the history of Travel on The Isle of Wight
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Episodes
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CATCH-cast 43: Transport Treasury (Robin Fell)
Friday, 20 February 2026
What would you do with half a million train photos? That was the task facing Robin Fell who set up the UK's largest privately owned archive of transport images. Find out how he did it on today's CATCH-cast.
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CATCHcast 42: Bus Map Rise & Demise (John Davies)
Friday, 13 February 2026
You may use them then discard them, but bus maps are well designed pieces of cartography and have become collectors items for John Davies. He also loves old Soviet Military Maps too!
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CATCH-cast: Marconi's Needles Signal Anniversary (Steve Cownley)
Friday, 6 February 2026
125 years ago this year, Marconi sent the first radio signal over the horizon from The Needles to The Lizard (Cornwall). Isle of Wight Radio Society chair explains why it was a pivotal moment and the joys of being a radio ham.
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21: CATCH cast 41: Life After Cars (Sarah & Doug)
Friday, 30 January 2026
With 40,000 killed on American roads every year and 22-lane highways still being built...how can they be weened off automobiles? Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon believe there is a Life After Cars and are inspired by some European lessons.
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CATCH-cast 40: Rail Books & Trainspotting (Julian Holland)
Friday, 23 January 2026
One of the UK's most prolific authors on railway books, Julian Holland, talks about his early trainspotting, background in design, Isle of Wight's closed railways and how met Jimi Hendrix!
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CATCH-Cast 39 - Trains on TV with Tim Dunn
Friday, 16 January 2026
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CATCH-cast 38 David Lawrence (Designing Public Spaces)
Friday, 9 January 2026
Motorway Service Stations, Holiday Camps, Railway Station Platforms and Buildings, the Underground...these are spaces we take for granted - but as David Lawrence reveals they have all be carefully designed. Hear from a Doctor who knows...and one with a mercurial Pirate past too!
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CATCH-cast 37: Daniel Wright (Beauty Of Transport)
Friday, 2 January 2026
Can public transport be beautiful? Daniel Wright runs a whole website claiming it certainly can! From architecture to typefaces, posters to tickets...the charm and good design of our buses, stations, trains, ferries and airports is under the microscope here and at Daniel's excellent blog: thebeautyoftransport.com
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CATCH-cast REPLAY 4: Mobile Phones
Friday, 26 December 2025
How the mobile phone evolved, including the role played by Hollywood's Hedy Lamarr during WW2! Islander Roger Wilkins explains his role in their development.
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CATCH-cast 36: 20thCenturyPosters (David Bownes)
Friday, 19 December 2025
From war and transport to sports and concerts, 20th Century posters have become collectors items. Do you have one rolled up in the loft? Former museum curator and collector David Bownes explains why 20thCentury Posters are all the rage!
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CATCH-cast 35: Richard Marks (Industry Past)
Friday, 5 December 2025
From British Rail Engineering to steam tramways...Richard Marks is an expert on our industrial past. He also explains how football was crucial to WW1.
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CATCH-cast 34: Andrew Mead (Making Stations Arty)
Friday, 28 November 2025
Who makes a station look more like an art gallery? And why? Today's guest is one of the Worlds most prominent commissioners of art in metro stations, Andrew Mead.
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CATCH-cast 33: Transit Map Symposium Hong Kong
Friday, 21 November 2025
Ever wondered what it takes to design a map of a transport system? A gathering of map and way finding designers got together in Hong Kong to discuss their works - and Mark Ovenden was there to speak to them!
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25: CATCH-cast REPLAY 1: Maps Vs Diagrams (Lloyd & Booth)
Friday, 31 October 2025
The most popular CATCH-cast podcast replayed: how America's biggest subway was mapped. With Cameron Booth and Peter Lloyd, NYC Subway map experts.
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18: CATCH-cast 32: Reading On Trains (Andrew Martin)
Friday, 24 October 2025
How one of the Britain’s most prolific writers on railway subjects…kicked off an exciting Substack about Reading On Trains. Also: his new book The Moquette Mystery which brings its protagonist to the Isle of Wight.
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18: CATCH-cast 32: Reading On Trains (Andrew Martin)
Friday, 24 October 2025
How one of the Britain’s most prolific writers on railway subjects…kicked off an exciting Substack about Reading On Trains. Also: his new book The Moquette Mystery which brings its protagonist to the Isle of Wight.
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1: CATCH-cast 31: Designing Metro Maps (Abe Dein)
Thursday, 16 October 2025
Ever fancied the idea of redesigning a transport map for a city? Football fan, Francophile, film-loving cartographer Abraham Dein...did just that! Find out how here on the CATCH cast!
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CATCH-cast 30: Damien Saunder (Maps On Vinyl)
Friday, 10 October 2025
Cartographer Damien Saunder has collected 100s of album covers...with maps on them! His research shows 1 in every 500 covers has some kind of cartographic image and he discuss his new book Maps On Vinyl and how music and mapping has been his passions since childhood.
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CATCH-cast 29: Ben Schneider (Transit & Cities)
Friday, 3 October 2025
Most American urban areas are difficult to navigate without a car. Benjamin Schneider considers the state of the North American built environment in his new book The Unfinished Metropolis. And he joins us from New York City to explain how things can improve.
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CATCH-cast 28: John Scott Morgan (Railway Books)
Friday, 26 September 2025
For the Railway200 celebrations we ask: do you have a book in you? Author turned publisher John Scott Morgan has almost 40 titles to his name, and guides us through the railway book research, production and commissioning.
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CATCH-cast 27: Untold Railway Stories
Friday, 19 September 2025
Ten writers (including Vectis Radio presenter Mark Ovenden) contributed to this new compendium. CATCH-cast interviews two of the authors, Jack Curtis (Carbonjacked.com) and Felicity Spector (C4 News). Jack went 6000km by train from London to Baku, Felicity tells of how Ukraine repairs its railways and stays punctual!
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CATCH-cast 26: Roger Wilkins (Mobile Phones)
Friday, 12 September 2025
Ever wondered how that marvellous mobile works? Island resident Roger Wilkins was involved in much of the early development of them. Find out how it was achieved. (Image courtesy of the Mobile Phone Museum on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mobphonemuseum/)
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CATCH-cast 25: Simon Turner (Rail Auctions)
Friday, 5 September 2025
Roy from Coronation Street and Pete Waterman are both collectors of 'Railwayana' - vintage relics of bygone train travel. Auctioneer Simon Turner (www.gwra.co.uk) explains what these old items can be worth, and how the process works. Photo by Jack Boskett.
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CATCH-cast 24: Paul Bradley (Model Railways)
Friday, 29 August 2025
It's one of the UKs most popular pastimes, but what the heck goes in to building your own model railway? Paul Bradley of the IOW N-Gauge Society explains.
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CATCH-cast 23: Ben Goodwin (Railway200 Greatest Gathering)
Friday, 22 August 2025
How did a record-breaking 140 trains get gathered to celebrate Railway200? Ben Goodwin of Alstom in Derby pulled it off and explains his love of trains, what the Gathering celebrated and why they are the future. (Image credits: Nick Robinson/Kieran Marshall/Ian Castledine).
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CATCH-cast 22: Susie Pearl (McCartney, MTV & Me)
Friday, 15 August 2025
Former advisor to the stars, from Madonna, McCartney and Michael Jackson, near death experiencer, brain cancer-survivor and TM meditation instructor Susie Pearl tells the inspiring story of her life, her work and her creativity. Find out more about her inspired journey here: www.susiepearl.com , Instagram: "susiepearlx", or on the members website: www.sprialpath.online This is a show that will truly move you!
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CATCH-cast 21: Kelvin Currie (Secret Phone Exchange)
Friday, 8 August 2025
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CATCH cast 20 Dave Pearce
Friday, 1 August 2025
The King of Trance Anthems, DJ Dave Pearce, gives us an exclusive interview ahead of his opening of the Cowes Week festivities. He tells of his early start in music and broadcasting, including pirate radio, the first BBC hip-hop show, his first hearing and playing of house and rave music and his love of trance and dance anthems. This is our first in depth Cultural Heroes interview and it's worth every minute.
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CATCH-cast 19: Niall Devitt (Nationalising London's Transport)
Friday, 25 July 2025
In 1933 the capital's private operators of Tubes, Trams and Buses were brought together under the London Passenger Transport Board. Historian Niall Devitt explains how this was a quasi-nationalised body to simplify ticketing and improve investment leading to a heyday of good design and improved mobility.
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CATCH-cast 18: Bob Wealthy (Plane Restoration)
Friday, 18 July 2025
An incredible restoration of a Britten-Norman Islander plane by a dedicated team now based at the IOW Military Heritage Museum. They won National Transport Trust's 2023 Preservationist of the Year award and the entire project is detailed in their 180 page book: "Saving Charlie November".
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THE EVENTS DIARY
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IW Story FestivalThe Isle of Wight Story Festival is back for 2026 with a terrific line-up of storytelling, children's authors, hands on activities, performances, music, poetry,
at Quay Arts -
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Anne-Marie Bowler from GravityAnne-Marie Bowler from gravity is coming in to talk about the can you hear his project?
at Vectis Radio Studio
