For the Australian city, see: Ryde, New South Wales.

Ryde is a seaside town and the largest urban area on the Isle of Wight with a population of approximately 26,000. It is situated on the north-east coast.

The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower Ryde in the nineteenth century. The influence of this era is still strongly visible in the town's central and sea facing architecture.

As a resort, the town is noted for its expansive sands that occur at low tide, making its pier necessary on the wide beach for a regular passenger service. Ryde Pier is a listed structure which is the fourth longest in the United Kingdom, and also the oldest. Only the hovercraft to Southsea is able to operate close to the main esplanade and railway station, with a separate station serving the sea end of the pier. The pier provides a passenger catamaran ferry service to Portsmouth.

An ice rink and a pavilion, converted to house a night club and bowling alley feature on the esplanade, the former being the home of the Isle of Wight's ice-hockey team, the "Wight Raiders".

Famous Connections

1. David Icke - is a Ryde resident
2. Sam Browne - the soldier after whom the belt was named, retired and lived the last years of his life in a house called Argosy on East Hill Road, Ryde
3. Philip Norman - the writer who attended Ryde School and has written about his childhood on the Island.
4. Karl Marx visited Ryde for health reasons in 1874
5. Michael Sheard - the actor who played Mr Bronson in Grange Hill and appeared in Star Wars, lives in Ryde.
6. Raymond Allen - the TV writer who attended Ryde Secondary Modern School and wrote the BBC series Some_Mothers_Do_'Ave_'Em.