Ventnor Blog

At last night’s Ventnor Town Council, Cllr Buster Bartlett asked his fellow councillors to consider adopting the following statement (see below) in relation to the future of the Undercliff Drive.

Cllr Brian Lucas seconded the proposal by Cllr Bartlett and added that he had helped on the proposal in order that discussions move forward. He felt that every time the subject of Undercliff Drive was raised at the TC, that past history was dragged up which didn’t help in deciding what would be best for the future of the road, residents and businesses affected.

Returned to an ‘A’ Road?
Cllr Rob Mew welcomed the proposal, but added that he felt the road should be returned to an ‘A’ class road should be opened up to heavy good vehicles, coaches and double decker buses.

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Good to see that the Council have stuck the sign up on the esplanade toilets, informing visitors of the planned refurb due to take place.

Hopefully this will stop the sort of comments that we’ve heard from visitors as they leave the shabby toilets. At least now, they know that next year when they return to Ventnor (of course), spanking brand new super loos will be waiting for them!

Don’t forget that tomorrow sees the next big Beach Clean takes place in Brighstone.

It’s not just about picking up rubbish either, as the Marine Conservation Society will record the data of what and how much is removed from the beach.

With yachts passing all day, what better place to view Round the Island?

If you want to take part in the beach clean, bring some gloves and meet in the reception are of Grange Farm at 10am.

Image courtesy of David Harrigan at Able Images

A lovely garden providing the setting for its delightful 18th century house, the Ventnor Botanic Garden Friends’ Society have been invited by Mr and Mrs Taylor to visit Friars Cottage, Church Lane, Northwood on Saturday morning, 5 July, from 10.30 a.m. until noon.

The garden is made up of different rooms with varying themes and plants.

There is a large pool room (handy if it rains) with a large raised deck outside that gives glimpses of the sea.

Coffee/tea and biscuits are included in the entry fee of £2.50.

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The lads from Rapanui have been back in touch to let us know about another beach clean planned for the end of the month.

It takes place on Saturday 28th June, which if you hadn’t realised is Round the Island Race day.

The clean up is happening on the beach near Brighstone and is being organised in collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society.

They organise beach cleans every quarter and the last clean up at Brihstone was particularly successful - over 100 sacks full of rubbish weighing half a ton (in total - not each) were removed from the beach! (more…)

The skies were blue, the sun was shining and there was a great turnout this afternoon for the official hoisting of the new Blue Flag for Ventnor.

Around 45 members of the public gathered beside the pumping station, as we awaited the arrival of Leader of the Council, David Pugh.

He gave a short speech, praising the efforts of everyone involved, particularly the Mayoress, Susan Scoccia, before presenting her with the Blue Flag.

The Mayoress went on to thank everyone involved in helping meet the criteria for the Blue Flag status. (more…)

Following on from the revelation on VentnorBlog that there’s a chance of some large-scale wind turbines on the Wight, we’ve been in touch with Cornwall Light & Power who own the site on Cheverton Down with the current wind turbine planning permission on it.

Katherine Doerr, Development Manager at Cornwall Light & Power told us the following, “Cornwall Light & Power has planning permission to build a small wind farm comprising three turbines at Cheverton Down.

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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…)

We bumped into David Pugh, leader of the IW Council, at the Big Green Picnic and grabbed an interview with him, covering quite a few different subjects, not surprisingly with a lot of discussion centering on green/eco issues.

Inevitably wind farms came up.

Wind Farms On The Island
The fact that the blades for wind turbines are produced on the Island by Vesta, but there are no wind farms on the Island is widely noted, and indeed got one of the strongest reactions from the audience at the Eco Island Conference.

An application to build one at Wellow was turned down at appeal about a year ago.
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Next Tuesday evening, Dr Robin McInnes OBE will presenting an illustrated lecture at the Ventnor Winter Gardens, entitled ‘Art, Architecture and the Island Landscape’.

In aid of the Ventnor Enhancement Fund, the lecture will describe the buildings of the Island, in the context of the landscape, from as far back as Norman times to the present day.

It kicks off at 6.30pm and the lecture is split into two parts (45 mins each) with a 30 minute break in the middle when you can stretch your legs, and enjoy the provided refreshments. (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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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

Great news for Ventnor beach.

Following it’s report of the state of beaches and water quality in the UK, there’s a big sigh of relief down here in Ventnor, as the Marine Conservation Society give it a recommendation.

This means that we have ‘highest water quality and good sewage treatment’.
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Many thanks to Rowan Adams for sending through some words and pics of the Ventnor Wild Food Walk which took place last week as part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival. Ed

Here’s a fuzzy picture of happy foragers on the second Ventnor Wild Food Walk on Friday 16 May 2008.

This walk was hgely popular and booked up well in advance, so if you fancy taking part in the next Wild Food Walk (October 2008) you be advised to book your place now.
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Jan Harper, of Wihtyar Tree Essences will be running free introductory sessions in Newport next week.

On Tuesday there will be four one hour sessions that you can go along to at either 10.30, 12.00, 1.30 and 3.00 being held at Merlins in Holyrood Street, Newport.

If you love tress and would like to learn more about healing energy from trees and the benefits they can bring, either turn up for one of the free talks or call Jan on 520205 for more info.

Tomorrow sees the launch of the very first RiverFest.

It takes place in Newport by the quayside and surrounding river area.

There are tons of activities taking place over the day including a six mile river walk, street theatre, stilt walkers and fire show (with the amazing Matt Splatt) and even a mini beast safari. (more…)

Many thanks to Rob Drake-Knight from Rapanui for sending through a report of the beach clean that took place last Saturday. As he mentions, these will be taking place quarterly and we’ve keep you informed of when the next is scheduled. Ed

The quarterly Rapanui beach detox took place on Saturday 26th April. We achieved our goal cleansing Grange Chine of it’s plastic burden!
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Don’t forget that tomorrow sees the Brighstone Beach Clean takes place.

Those willing to go down and help collect litter from the beach, should assemble at the Grange Farm reception at 10am.

The weather forecast is lovely for tomorrow, so why not do something to improve the environment you share and help make a difference. (more…)

This weekend the weather forecast is great where better to spend your time than at the Robin Hill Garden Show.

If you think this is something just for horticulturalists think again. There are an amazing number of activities taking place over the weekend, including the Requestival party planned for Saturday night.

VentnorBlog chum Guido Oakley will be performing a ‘carve off’ with fellow wood carvers, Paul Sivell (whose Green Man sculpture at Robin Hill is pictured), Tom Harvey, Ant Beetlestone and Erik Van Dam. It’s always brilliant to watch these wood carvers at work and TV celebrity Geoff Hughes will be judging their masterpieces at 3pm on Saturday.
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The lads from Rapanui got in touch today, to let us know about a beach clean planned for the end of the month.

It’s taking place on the beach near Brighstone and is being organised in collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society.

They organise beach cleans every quarter and normally work the Freshwater and Totland beaches, but this time are moving further around the coast.
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John Giddings is putting a positive spin on Lily Allen cancelling her appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival - and getting a mention of the Eco-Island initiative in there too.
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Back at the end of January we were invited up to Quay Arts to listen to a lecture which had been organised by the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership.

It was a fascinating evening, and we were very lucky to hear a lecture by Sue Clifford of Common Ground, which if you haven’t heard of before, is well worth finding out more about, by checking out their website.
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Tomorrow sees the Withyar Tree Essence workshop take place.

Jan Harper is inviting readers a special, one day workshop at Merlin’s, Holyrood St, Newport.
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This time of year thoughts turn to Mother’s Day — and if they’re not, you’re going to get your bottom spanked on Sunday — and the inevitable connection with Mother’s Day is flowers.

There’s a Web site called The Nag, whose mission is to help us all live more thoughtful lives, by providing gentle nags on an infrequent basis.
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Thanks to Matthew Chatfield for sending through results from the Annual Hedgelaying Competition that took place last Saturday.

According to the Isle of Wight Hedgerow Group website, this was the largest competition so far.
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