Ventnor Blog

VentnorBlog fave, Dame Ellen MacArthur, has been up in the Smoke impressing the heck out of everyone she came across.

The write up in The Telegraph couldn’t have been more complementary in its praise.

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Following the announcement yesterday of the concert being held next week at Cowes Yacht Haven to celebrate the life of Anthony Minghella, we hear today that his sister, Jazz singer Edana Minghella, will also be making a special appearance at the concert. (more…)

A new facility that will provide support for families with children under the age of 5 is being officially opened on 1 May. (more…)

With news this morning on IW Radio News that Cowes Inshore Lifeboat will be taken over by the RNLI within the next couple of months, this fundraising story may be of interest.

We all remember the tragic events of last July when holiday-makers, Richard Perry and Heather Jayne Harris died during a tragic accident just off the Bembridge ledge.
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It’s a shame that The Guardian has to parade its level of ignorance of what the Isle of Wight is like these days, by publishing articles like Johnny Dee’s today.

Writing about the monarchy, clearly makes dear Johnny feel like he’s actually part of the royalty, as he adopts his best regal tone, opening a paragraph with, “One suspects.” He continues, “this was all the idea of some judicious aide tasked with finding the least exciting place on earth.”

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Last week Simon chatted with American writer and poet, Jack Tupac Pennington who had walked all the way from Ventnor to Cowes for the Eco Island Conference. Read Jack’s thoughts of the conference. As with all content contributed to the blog, the views expressed below, do not necessarily reflect those of VentnorBlog. Ed

First of all, I was even more exhausted when the conference finally ended not because the information available was not taken in, but because the business aspect of much of what was said was just that “words.”
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During the Eco Island conference on Wednesday we were lucky enough to catch up with Dame Ellen MacArthur for a chat.

Simon, as you can see from the photo, set sail (well drifted away from the jetty slightly) with Ellen and Dan (from Island 2000) on the Island 2000 Purple Kite.

Purple Kite Background
Just a quick bit of background on the Purple Kite first - the team at Island 2000 decided that they would do their bit for sustainable transport and set about building a boat to take them across to the conference at the Cowes Yacht Haven from their offices in East Cowes. (more…)

Professor Sir Ghillean T. Prance is Scientific Director for the Eden Project in Cornwall. His presentation to the Eco Island conference yesterday was fascinating and his insights into educating on sustainability were well received by the audience.

Sir Ghillean believes that Cornwall has much in common with the Isle of Wight, so hopefully we will be able to learn some lessons from their development at the Eden Project.
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Dr Lawrence started her presentation by stating how grateful she is to have been asked to be involved in this landmark conference and considers this to be a turning point for the island and the UK as a whole.

She believes that it’s all about “having the vision and carrying it through.”
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Ellen is one of those speakers who always seems to manage to infect the audience with her inspiring attitude to life.

Even though she spoke for just 10 minutes this morning at the Eco Island conference, we certainly came away inspired by her insight.
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Tomorrow sees the landmark Eco Island conference being held at the Yacht Haven in Cowes.

There is a great lineup of speakers confirmed for the day including …
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Originally a cricket pavillion, the Pavillion Cottage at Osborne House been converted by English Heritage to rentable holiday accommodation, becoming the most popular cottage in the English Heritage portfolio. So popular, The Times reports, that it’s booked up for the next two years.
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A HIGH-PROFILE conference with internationally-renowned speakers is being held to help the Isle of Wight become an energy-self-sufficient Eco-Island. (more…)

There has been much talk about the Isle of Wight becoming an Eco Island, with others following suit around the globe.

At the end of this month, a free event is being organised by the Isle of Wight Council on behalf of the Island Strategic Partnership.

The aim of the event is to ‘place the Island firmly on the international stage’.
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If you’re a fan of big bands, then this concert being put on by the Band of the Hampshire Constabulary to raise cash for the Wessex Cancer Trust on the Wight might be just the ticket for you.

It takes place at the end of April at the Cowes Yacht Haven venue and they are inviting the public to go along and enjoy a variety of music from all time classical greats, to big bands, to traditional marches and hits from West End shows.
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Yesterday saw the start of the Island Expo, the catering and hospitality exhibition taking places at Haven Events Centre, Cowes Yacht Haven.

Our favourite photographer Julian Winslow was shooting at the event and sent through this wonderful shot of Jose Graziosi from The George in Yarmouth, demonstrating his culinary skills to a captive audience.
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Today sees the launch of the Island Expo.

This looks to be an excellent event, which we hope to pop up to (time permitting) at some point over the next two days.
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Thanks to forum member Looby Loo for letting us know about this brilliant event that has been organised by a couple of Ventnor chaps.

Matt and Danny (maybe better known as Widget Productions) have organised a catering and hospitality trade exhibition taking place at the end of the month.
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Transition Island, the local branch of the national Community Action Network, will host a meeting in Cowes on Monday 18th February.

These meetings, held in different Island towns, allow local people to hear about the urgent challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change. Vav Simon, from the Transition Island Steering Group, said “Each town can have its own Steering Group to address local issues. Local people know best what is needed and how things can be developed with support from the neighbourhood”.

Held at Northwood House, Vav will outline the problems and some projects that other towns are starting.

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With news of the P1 Grand Prix of the Seas moving elsewhere this year, it reminded us that we still had one more podcast from last year’s event to publish.

Whilst getting very excited over the large engines being revved in the harbour, Simon caught up with Martin Lai who was part of the Sun Llik team and managed to pick up second place in the Round the Island Race in the Supersport class.

Martin has been racing in the national championships for five years, with 2007 being his second world championships.

As you can imagine, being sponsored by a beer company has it’s advantages when it comes to the after parties!

We look forward to seeing Martin again when we hope he returns for the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race in August

Click on the arrow to listen to the podcast

It’s not all bad news though, because despite the Grand Prix going elsewhere, it’s just been confirmed at the London Boat Show that the most famous endurance race in powerboating, the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes (CTC), will be returning to the Island this year.

The race will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend and as with the previous P1 Championships, will attract worldwide interest to the Island.
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Shock news has just arrived in our inbox that Cowes will not be hosting the Powerboat P1 Grand Prix this year.

It’s a great shame for Cowes and the Island as a whole, because events like this attract worldwide attention to the Island but it appears that there were many better alternative offers on the table and the management team had no choice but to take the Grand Prix of the Seas elsewhere.
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We notice on the Motor Boat and Yachting website, that this weekend sees a round the Island powerboat race.

The purpose of the race is to raise cash for a young lad who was seriously injured two years ago in a powerboating accident in Weymouth.

Ben Ridd’s boat collided with another during a race in Weymouth and resulted in him being in a coma for three and a half weeks. He’s made an amazing recovery, despite battling with partial paralysis and speech problems.
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THE CHAIN Ferry Service between Cowes and East Cowes will undergo essential maintenance on November 24. As a result, it will be out of service on that day.

A free launch service will be provided for foot passengers between Grid Iron pontoon at East Cowes and Thetis pontoon at West Cowes and vehicular traffic will have to divert through Newport. The IW Council apologises for any inconvenience.

Have your ever thought about what your fantasy house would look like? Have you even gone so far as to put pencil to paper?

Well, whether you have or not, why not take the opportunity to do so this weekend as part of The Big Draw.

The theme this time round, is ‘Fantasy Town’, and its inspiration comes from the great Victorian writer and visionary, John Ruskin. Apparently, his mission was not to teach people how to draw, but how to see.

This Saturday between 10am to 3pm, Island 2000 and Quay Arts invite you to “Come and draw the house you’d like to live in, and its inhabitants, real or imaginary, on the blue hoardings in East Cowes”.
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