Ventnor Blog

We weren’t able to make it over the water this morning, but TV star and lover of all things wild and furry, Chris Packham was on location in Southampton ready and willing to help launch Red Squirrel Week which kicks off tomorrow.

Red Funnel have got involved with the Red Squirrel Trust and The Wight Squirrel Project in support of Red Squirrel Week 2008 which we’re told aims to promote awareness of the plight of this rare indigenous species.

As you can see from the photo, dear Chris was joined by a huge and rather fluffy red squirrel this morning at the Red Funnel terminal.

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The Isle of Wight featured in the National Broadsheets again last weekend, with the Troll Trail scoring high on the list of great cycle paths.

The Troll Trail from Shide to Merstone came in at fifth place out of cycle routes around the UK featured in The Telegraph.

Island 2000 and Gift to Nature have been involved in developing the Troll Trail - here’s what they have to say about the work

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You have just two days (by end of tomorrow) left to cast your vote in the RSPB Nature of Farming Award.

From the hundreds of entries, making it on the shortlist of four, is Michael Poland from Wroxall Cross Farm.

One of the reasons that Michael has been selected, is due to the development of a grazing regime which allows species such as Dartford warbler and nightjar to flourish.

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Rev Graham Morris from St Catherine’s Church, Ventnor attended the Town Council Planning meeting tonight to inform the TC on future plans for the renovation of the church tower and surrounding churchyard.

He started by quashing the rumours that had been circulating throughout town (we hadn’t heard this one) that the tower was going to be demolished. Rev. Morris assured the meeting that this was far from the case. The current scaffolding and apron surrounding the tower had been constructed for safety purposes, following an incident whereby a very large piece of masonry had fallen from the tower missing a member of the church by inches.

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With all quiet on the public front over the last few months as far as Ventbag has been concerned, we were pleased to receive this update over the weekend below from the Ventbag team. Ed

Ventbag is the project name for Ventnor becoming the first town on the Island to be Plastic Carrier Bag Free.

This unpaid volunteer project is supported both by Ventnor Town Council and the Isle of Wight Council.

As we set an original (tough target) of achieving this in September this year, we thought it would be a good idea to give everyone an update on progress.

The biggest challenge we faced was looking at the production of an alternative bag for Ventnor. This was planned to be an organic fair trade sourced cotton bag.

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We’ve been meaning to catch up with the guys from Rapanui for ages now and managed to grab some time with them last week.

With our trusty audio recorder in hand, we popped over to Rapanui HQ in Lake to find out just what’s so special about this Isle of Wight clothing company that’s been running for the last two years.

We have to say that we were mightily impressed with Rob and Mart Drake-Knight, not only with their can do attitude, but they seem to have thoroughly researched their chosen subject.

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The Square to Square Charity Cycle Challenge 2008 starts tomorrow.

The challenge will see a team of Isle of Wight Firefighters cycling 1,400 miles each over 14 days from St Thomas’ Square, Newport, Isle of Wight, Great Britain to St Peter’s Square, Vatican, Italy.

The Square to Square Charity Cycle Challenge 2008 Appeal is raising money for the diagnosis, treatment and care of Isle of Wight cancer and leukaemia patients.

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As we reported on Monday, twenty or so local residents gathered opposite the Hazelhurst property in Freshwater to show their objection to the Ombudsman, as he made a site visit.

After waiting for some time for the architect to turn up, the Ombudsman came and spoke to the residents to advise that he would be carrying out a site visit. He stated that he had read all objections to the application and would be taking those into account.

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Don’t forget the Saving Our Heritage seminar takes place tonight at Quay Arts.

Only a few weeks after the Planning Committee condemned the last Georgian Worker’s cottages to demolition, we reckon this’ll be an interesting event and wonder if members of the Planning Committee will be attending.

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Good to read in the Portsmouth News today that according to wildlife film-maker Sir David Attenborough, Hampshire (and that includes the Isle of Wight) is set to become a potential butterfly paradise.

It’s all part of a plan to rebuild the butterfly populations and put a stop to the decline of Britain’s butterflies. As well as Hampshire, there are another 19 areas in the country which will be doing the same

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More great improvements take place around Ventnor, as the Salisbury Gardens cliff path is completed. Thanks for Mark alerting us to photos of the completed work on the Ventnor 2008 Flickr Stream. We look forward to trying them out over the next few days.

It’s that time of year again when several gardens in Bonchurch will open to the public.

If you fancy a good nose around someone else’s pansies, then head over to Bonchurch on either Saturday or Sunday between 2-5pm.

There are usually around 11 gardens open and you can buy a programme from either the Post Office (that quaint little one opposite the pond) or from St Boniface Church where you can also stop for a cream tea - open between 2.30pm and 5.30pm.

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When VentnorBlog broke the story of the Cheverton Down Wind Farm re-starting, we didn’t think that the application would be moving that fast, but today we heard from Cornwall Light & Power (CLP).

Today they’ve submitted a scoping request to the Isle of Wight Council for three new wind turbines at Cheverton Down in Shorwell.

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Here’s a bit more background, this time a video, on Couthy Butts and the confusing case where the planning has requested the demolition of the building.

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If you didn’t see the article in last week’s County Press regarding the ongoing saga of Hazelhurst in Freshwater, check it out before reading on. It features a response from the architect for the project, Roy Holt. What follows is a response from Freshwater resident, Tony Robson, to the architect. Ed

With reference to County press article on Page 3, 27 June, 2008.

So Mr Holt is unhappy about the rights conveyed by the Hazelhurst Covenants. And so he should be. But where does he get the suggestion that the residents might resort to vandalism. It is not us who are planning to demolish a fine historic building and build a block of flats. Now surely that is cultural vandalism to say the least. (more…)

If you’ve been down Hambrough Road recently you might’ve noticed the lovely new railings alongside the public gardens there.

We heard some time ago from Matthew Chatfield, Head of Parks and Countryside that the old railings were due to be replaced.

If our memories serve us correctly, he told us that standard railings were due to be ordered for the job.

However, after he attended the excellent talk by Sue Clifford from Common Ground at the Quay Arts in January, he made sure that something more fitting for the Victorian surroundings would be ordered. (more…)

It was with great dismay that we heard on Tuesday evening that the Planning Committee refused the application for conversion and continued use of cottages as shepherd’s accommodation at Couthy Butts, Downcourt Farm, Godshill. As our readers will be aware, these are the last remaining examples of Georgian workers cottage on the Wight and now the planning officers have their wish, it is likely that the owners will be required to demolish the 200 years+ buildings.

As we were unable to attend the committee meeting, we’re grateful to Professor Russell from the CPRE for allowing us to publish his report below. If you don’t have time to read through all the details, skip to the Councillor’s Discussion at the bottom for the guts. Ed

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Whilst we were roaming around the recent Isle of Wight Festival we were drawn to a tent bearing the name ‘Give Bees a Chance’.

We’d heard that a couple of Bees were asking for a second chance that weekend, so we made our way into the tent to chat with the lovely Sam from Gift to Nature to find out more. (more…)

The fate of the last remaining Georgian workers cottages on the Wight will be decided next Tuesday at the Planning Committee.

We’re astonished that the planning officer has recommended refusal to retain the cottages and convert into them shepherd’s accommodation.

For those not familiar with the case you can read some background posted by one of the owners over on the forum.

To see the application and plans take a look at the Council Planning Web site, and to read the officer’s recommendation to the Planning Committee check the Council Web site.

Great news reaches us this week that Ventnor Beach has once again been awarded Blue Flag Status!

This is fabulous news, not only for visitors to our lovely beach, but it should have a great knock-on effect for the whole town.

There has been a huge amount of effort put into winning the award, so everyone involved should be heartily congratulated! (more…)

Two exciting Blue Flag educational initiatives are about to be launched in Ventnor. It’s all part of the drive for Ventnor to gain Blue Flag status (we’ll be able to give you more news on that soon).

The Ventnor Partnership (which is a sub-set of the Ventnor Town Council) has joined forces with the Isle Wight Council’s Coastal Visitors Centre (CVC) to devise two valuable surveys, that will not only help discover how the beaches are used and can be improved, but will be a great educational tool for any children or young people who get involved.

It is hoped that residents, visitors and schools will help complete the surveys, one of which is on Beach Use and other on Rock Pool Habitat.
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Anyone interested in the history and renovation of Freshwater Court, don’t forget that the Jarman family will be giving a talk tonight on that very subject.

As part of The Farringford Tennyson Literary and Arts Society meeting, Chris and Hilary will talk you through the trials and tribulations of taking on the renovation of this impressive house. (more…)

This Thursday, the Isle of Wight Coastal Visitors Centre in Ventnor are inviting families along to the Rockpool Ramble.

The rocky shore of Ventnor’s Coastline is home to a fascinating array of creatures adapted to live in this hostile environment.

Hunt for crabs under rocks, prawns in pools and blennys hiding in the seaweed.

To book your place on a rockpool adventure please telephone the Coastal Centre on

01983 855 400 or e-mail coastal.centre(at)iow.gov.uk.

Image: G-Hat

Many thanks to Chris Jarman for sending through details of a talk taking place next Thursday that we’re sure will be of interest to many of our readers.

The Farringford Tennyson Literary and Arts Society meeting, held at Farringford (Freshwater) plays host to the Jarman family, who will be presenting on the subject of renovation of Freshwater Court.

Anyone who went along to the Wessex Cancer Trust Spring Fete last weekend, will agree that Freshwater Court is an impressive building with beautiful grounds.

But it wasn’t like this when the Jarmans took it on several years ago. They have lovingly renovated the property with traditional materials and methods. (more…)

In the final part of the interview with Freshwater resident Chris Jarman, amongst others things, the subject of development and how this works with communities across the Island is discussed.

As we stated previously, even though the Real World Trust have since pulled out of Weston Manor, we still felt it was important to publish these interviews which took place back in January, as they raise many contradictions and discrepancies.
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