Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

It’s amazing to hear that the annual Speed Dating Walk, which is part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, is now in its fifth year.

The previous walks have been hugely successful in bringing together like minded people and have even resulted in three marriages as well as long lasting friendships.

This year the walk starts from the Fisherman’s Cottage on Shanklin Esplanade at the foot of Shanklin Chine.

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During the late 70s and early 80s Blondie ruled. The punk-inspired tunes, lead by the delectable Debbie Harry ended up on a disco route.

The band are special guests at the Festival on the Saturday night.

If you can’t quite wait until June to see Debbie Harry, we hear that there’s a Barbie, Ladies of the 80s doll of Ms Harry coming out in December this year.

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It was a shame to hear this afternoon that Ordnance Survey, the previous headline sponsor of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival will not be sponsoring next year’s event.

The two week festival has grown to be hugely successful, last year pulling in a whopping 22,500 participants from across the UK.

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News reaches us this afternoon that several Island businesses, as well as the Isle of Wight Council, were successful in picking up prestigious awards last week at the Tourism ExSEllence Awards.

The awards recognise excellence in tourism across the South East over the last 18 months. There are several categories including Best Tourism Experience, Access For All, Caravan/Holiday Park of the Year, as well as Tourism event of the year for which the Isle of Wight Walking Festival picked up a Silver Award.

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Talking of the Walking Festival, the weather forecast is good for Sunday so if you fancy a walk, why not choose one from the many being hosted by the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out details of the many walks taking place on Friday 23rd October or Saturday 24th.

Dinosaur Walk
Time: 00:00 – Location:
Brighstone or Brook

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This weekend sees the Autumn part of Isle of Wight Walking Festival. One such walk about Darwin is being lead by Rowan Adams. Ed

In the summer of 1858 Charles Darwin and his family came to stay on the Isle of Wight. They were recovering from the funeral of their youngest baby, the third of the Darwin children to die young.

Darwin had had another shock – he wasn’t the only person to have thought of the survival of the fittest.

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The second leg of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival will be upon us again at the end of next month.

Check out details of the many walks taking place on Friday 23rd October and read on for details of walks on Saturday 24th.

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The 2009 Isle of Wight Walking Festival continues next month with three days of walks planned for around the Island.

We’ll be bringing you details of walks on each of the days, so keep an eye on VB and check the What’s On diary nearer the time.

The festival is in it’s 11th year now and still attracts huge participation from not only the mainland but also the Island.

Why not check out some of the walks planned for the furst day of the October leg of the festival.

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The last day of the festival tomorrow brings several interesting walks.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Sunday 24th May 2009
Dinosaur Walk
Time: 00:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

Yar River Relay
Time: 09:00 – Location: Front of White Lion

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Only a couple more days to take in one of the walks organised by the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Saturday 23rd May 2009
Dinosaur Walk
Time: 02:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

Family Treasure Hunt – East Cowes
Time: 09:00 – Location: East Cowes Library

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If you’re planning what to do tomorrow, check out these walks. A great way to end the week.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Friday 22nd May 2009
Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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Yet more walks planned for this week – we wonder whether Alan Partridge will be doing the Knowing Me Knowing You Walk.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Thursday 21st May 2009
Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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There are plenty more walks happening on Wednesday if you’ve not had a chance to take part yet.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Wednesday 20th May
Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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If you’ve managed to recover from Walk the Wight and fancy treading out again this week, why not check out some of the walks on offer tomorrow?

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Tuesday 19th May
Kharybdis’ Passage (Goddess of the Tides)
Time: 08:30 – Location: Bonchurch Pottery

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Many walkers will be taking a rest on Monday, but for those who are keen to keep going, there are plenty of walks taking place as part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Monday 18th May 2009
Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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As well as the annual Walk the Wight events taking place on Sunday, there are plenty of other walks planned as part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Sunday 17th May 2009
Newtown Nightingale and Bird Song Walk
Time: 05:00 – Location: Newtown Old Town Hall car park

Walk The Wight
Time: 06:30 – Location: 6.30am Bembridge, 9.30am Carisbrooke, 9.30am Sandown

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There are walks for all the family this weekend as part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Saturday 16th May 2009
Dinosaur Walk
Time: 02:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

Darwin Celebration: The Origin in Sandown Bay 1
Time: 09:00 – Location: Outside the seaside entrance to Ocean Hotel, Esplanade

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The Isle of Wight Walking Festival has 16 walks planned for this Friday.

Check out the list and link below for full details.

Friday 15th May 2009
Family Treasure Hunt – East Cowes
Time: 09:00 – Location: East Cowes Library

Dinosaur Walk
Time: 09:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

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There will be a bumper number of walks as part of the The Isle of Wight Walking Festival this Thursday – 21 to be precise. Have a look and see if any take your fancy for tomorrow.

Thursday 14th May 2009
Dinosaur Walk
Time: 02:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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Wandering around RiverFest on Saturday, we bumped into Ian Boyd of Island2000.

He’d been up darn early that morning leading the first event of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, which started at 5am that morning and finished at 7:20am.

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Lots more interesting walks tomorrow for the ever-popular The Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Check out the list below and follow the link at the bottom for more information.

Dinosaur Walk
Time: 02:00 – Location: Brighstone or Brook

Family Treasure Hunt – Shanklin
Time: 09:00 – Location: Shanklin Library

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The Isle of Wight Walking Festival is now in full swing and if you haven’t taken part in a walk yet, don’t worry there are plenty to choose from every day over the next couple of weeks.

If you fancy a walk tomorrow there are a whopping 19 to choose from, all of varying lengths and difficulty, so there should be something for everyone.

Take your pick from the list below and follow the link at the bottom for full details of each walk.

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Well-known Island magician and illusionist Aaron Isted will be performing a daring stunt at 8pm tonight on Newport Quay.

The illusion, called The Great Escape, sounds hard to achieve.

Aaron will put on a straight jacket, be placed inside a box, which will in turn, be hoisted up by a crane that’s capable of rising 50m (about 150 feet in old money).

A timer will be limiting the amount of time Aaron has to escape before it’s the box with Aaron inside will be automatically released plunging to the floor, smashing on impact.

Get this. He tells us that he hasn’t practised it yet!

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Many people will know that George Hibberd, chairman of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, is due to retire later in the year.

But did you know that he has taken part and completed in every Walk the Wight since 1993?

This year, at the beginning of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, George is preparing himself for his 17th Walk the Wight by taking part in the Firewalk event.

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Come on lads, you’re in the minority at the moment for one of the most popular walks taking place during the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.

Registration for women on the “Speed Dating Walk” has now closed and the organiser are desperate for more men to register.

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