Ventnor Blog

Many thanks to Dr Lucy Rogers from the Vectis Astronomical Society who sent through this report of the Isle of Wight Star Party that was held recently. Simon went along on the Friday night and saw Saturn for the first time. We also joined the group on the Sunday at the new Battery - report and podcast to follow next week. Ed

About forty five astronomers travelled from as far as Devon and Cambridge to take advantage of the island’s dark skies at the Isle of Wight Star Party.
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Thanks to Malcolm who got in touch to let us know about the Niton and District Camera Club who are holding their next meeting on the 27th March in the Niton Village Hall at 7.30.

Malcolm tells us that visitors always welcome, so if you have an interest in photography or would like to learn more why not give it a go?

He also tells us that this is an open competition night, so take along your prints and slides and you could be going home a winner?

[Image courtesy of Jeremy Rowe Vintage Photography]

If you’re a budding photographer and would like to meet like-minded people to share ideas, experiences and knowledge, then don’t forget that on Wednesday nights in Newport, a new photographic group meet up to do just that.
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Many thanks to forum user Saints for alerting us to a new photographic group which meets weekly in Newport.

They have just over twenty attendees of all different ages and abilities and Saints tells us that they pride themselves on having an open forum where everyone can exchange ideas and knowledge in an informal way.
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Completing the series of four exhibitors at VentnorBlog Presents … is Island photographer, Julian Winslow.

Born, living and working on the Wight, Julian is a passionate freelance photographer, and you’re sure to have seen his work around the Island in exhibitions and for many of the Island publications.
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Richard Cattle is a bit of an expect when it comes to UFOs, but he also loves photography and last week sent through some of his recent shots, that he thought we might like to share with our readers.

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While the evenings are dark and there are only cookery and home relocation programmes on the telly, this is the time to get crafty. The Macnaughton Howe Arts and Craft Festival is on 15th and 16th May at the Ventnor Winter Gardens.

So impress us all with a piece of home made art or craft.

If you are an amateur, living in the Ventnor area, this is your festival. (more…)

As usual, there’s another great exhibition just started over at Dimbola Lodge.

Titled To the Lighthouse (And Back), it’s a collection of monochrome images by Steven Burrows which were used to help launch the arts charity - Mental Fight Club.

It features images of Lundy Island taken during a stay on the Island in February 2004.
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Whilst one half of VB was getting blissed out over in Bonchurch at the TM Retreat this weekend (review to follow soon), this is what was going on in Ventnor.

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Don’t forget that local lass Annie Leonard’s photographic exhibition finishes this Sunday.

Titled, ‘Look me up, Look me down’, the exhibition of 35 prints, is being held upstairs at Dimbola Lodge.

We popped along last week and were highly impressed with the quality of the work, especially as Annie is just 14 years old. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this young talent and are sure that she’ll go far.

Steve, who runs the excellent Isle of Wight Historic Postcards website wrote to us today asking for help to identify the location of the steps in this postcard.

We’re pretty sure the photo is of the steps that lead up to The Pitts from Bonchurch Village Road, starting by the public toilets.

Having been up and down them a few times now, from memory we think there are 102 steps in total.

They do look slightly different in this postcard, but it was taken a long time ago.

If you believe they are from another location in Bonchurch, do let us know and we’ll pass the info onto Steve.

His website is well worth a look by the way. He has a great collection of historic postcards from all over the Island.

News reaches us this week that as part of her Arts Award, 14 year old Ventnor lass, Annie Leonard, 14, has an exhibition of her photographic work at Dimbola Lodge in Freshwater Bay starting tomorrow.

As part of her challenge Annie has planned and produced a series of images inspired by her main influences, being street culture, 60’s imagery, her friends and the world around.

Annie’s work over the past few weeks has resulted in this exhibition, ‘Look me up, Look me down’ consisting of 35 images, which have been printed by ‘Island Printers’ in East Street, Ryde. Following the exhibition Annie hopes to develop her photographic skills and continue to pursue photography in higher education.
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If you haven’t been to Dimbola Lodge recently, we’d recommend that you pop along at some point in the next two weeks.

On show at the moment is a great exhibition of photos taken by Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is of course, none other than Lewis Carroll.

Although better known for his photographs of children, the exhibition illustrates the variety of his collection, which is vast.

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These courses are brilliant and well worth looking at if you have some spare time or fancy learning a new skill. They are a great way to meet new people and at only £3, excellent value. Places are filling up fast. Ed

Neighbourhood Learning in Ventnor is a project delivered by the Arts Unit in partnership with The Adult and Community Learning Service which brings a series of arts based courses for adults to Ventnor.

A new series of courses (full details below) are about to start, so please come and join in – have fun, meet people and learn new skills. The courses are becoming increasingly popular and places are limited, so you do need to phone to book a place: 823826
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The message is clear but unfortunately, there are far too many people who don’t listen.

This is the poster you’ll begin to start seeing around the Island, in the media and elsewhere.

As the ’season to be merry’ looms (for some it has already started) it’s a message we should all take note of.

The guy in the poster, Andy, volunteered to take part in the campaign after a serious motorcycle accident in 2004.

Patrick Eden (a member of the VentnorBlog Flickr Group) took the shot and we have to say it is pretty striking and hopefully get the message across.

Don’t forget that the Alfredo Basile portrait exhibition of workers harvesting in the foothills of Mount Etna will be finishing this coming Saturday.

The exhibition has received great praise from those I’ve spoken to about it and seems well worth popping up to The Rope Store Gallery at Quay Arts for.

Alfredo Basile is an Italian photographer who is passionate about his land and traditions and this clearly shines through in his photography.

As we’ve just posted to the VB Photo group on Flickr, don’t forget, there’s only a week left to get your entries in for the IOW Photographer Of The Year 2007 competition.

Entries have to be in by 18 October, but don’t wait until the day before, as there’s a registration process to go through that can take up to 72 hours, so best act now to avoid disappointment.

Image courtesy of iwpoy

This Thursday night, Quay Arts invite you to “Come along, have a drink, and let’s talk photography!”

The Rope Store Gallery and Café Wall Gallery are both carrying photographic exhibitions at the moment, so this open night is a great opportunity to pop along and meet others interested in photography.

The Rope Store Gallery is currently exhibiting work by Alfredo Basile, an Italian photographer who is passionate about his land and traditions. This exhibition is a sympathetic portrait of workers harvesting in the foothills of the volcano, Mount Etna, Sicily. Having been up Mount Etna, we can safely say that it is an extraordinary landscape and look forward to seeing the photos.
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There are only two weeks left until the closing date of the IOW Photographer of the Year competition.

Yes folks, entries need to be in by 18th October for this years comp, the theme of which is ‘lifestyles’.

You’ll need to register before entering the comp and I’d suggest checking out the IWPOY website for full details.

In summary, the images you submit need to have been taken on the Island and reflect Island people, places, events, leisure or work activities.
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If you’re going to be in Newport tonight, pop into Joe’s on the High Street and take a gander at a new exhibition.

The theme of the photographic exhibition which runs for a month is Island portraits, showing portraits of some of the Island’s most well known people.

We’ll pop along when we have time and bring you back a review.

Last week, two of our readers were made very happy when they discovered that after a little bit of creative work, they’d won a ticket to Bestival 2007.

One of the winners, Mike Osborne from up north in Porchfield, has been kind enough to share his experience of Bestival with us and here’s what he had to say.

I arrived on site early evening, and excitedly went off to find my pre-pitched tent (cheers Tim) and experience the warm fuzzy feeling that only standing at the top of the Bestival, looking out with beer in hand, across a sea of equally happy people can bring.

After getting lost in the campsite looking for said tent we cracked open another beer and relaxed. This was it. The beginnings of three days of letting go and having a damn good time.

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If you missed the last posting about ICANDI, take note, because the ICANDI team are about to take this brilliant night out on tour.

They’ll be heading north to The Venue at Ryde Theatre and with the bigger space will be able to offer an even better night out than previously.

There’ll be four live bands, Pink Pussycat DJs, a visual art show from some of the most talented artists on the Island, the icandi text screen, icandi paint rally, punters gallery and vinyl collectors shop (tHat Shop, Cowes).

Tickets are only a fiver (what a bargain) and available from Ryde Theatre on 568099 10am-4pm.

Thanks very much to VentnorBlog reader, Lin, for sending in her pics from last weeks Shanklin Carnival.

Looks like there were some excellent costumes taking part and I expect you’ll be able to see many of them again in the other carnivals around the Island over the holidays - including the Ventnor Carnival which takes place Wednesday (15th) next week. Not forgetting the illuminated carnival which finishes off the week of events on Saturday night (19th).
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Very many thanks to VentnorBlog reader, Alister, who sent through the following email …..

“Thought I would inform you of this interesting set of photos I found on a search from flickr of the Flowersbrook site down near Steephill Cove. Some really unique and interesting pictures of local history that you could share with your site’s visitors.”

After taking a look at the photos, we have to agree they are quite lovely. They belong to Flickr member Eric IW.

I thought they might bring back some old memories for a few of our more mature readers. Grab yourselves five minutes and sit back and watch the slideshow. They really are a wonderful set of photos.

Well done to Ventnor based artist/photographer, Abi MacRobert for recently passing her fine art degree with first class honours.

We were invited over to Portsmouth Uni last month to Abi’s end of year show and were really impressed with her work.

She’s been a member of the VentnorBlog Flickr group for some time, so we are aware of her talents, but it really did them justice to see her prints on large scale hanging in a great exhibition space.

Abi clearly had lots of fun creating her final project. She appears in all the images, montaging and manipulating afterwards to create the excellent study of animals in the home. In her own words ….
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