Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

Regular readers will remember VB reporting on new Girls’ Only football clubs being set up across the Isle of Wight for 8-11 year olds.

The take up has been pretty successful and girls across the Island have been training hard over the last few months.

Week after week the young girls are taught the skills and tactics to take them onto the pitch and at the end of the month the Isle of Wight Sports Unit are holding a Girls Football Tournament.

For two hours the teams of 6-a-side will battle it out on the pitch at Medina Leisure Centre, practising the skills many have only been learning for a few weeks.

Image: Nine Matthews under CC BY 2.0

We got a tip off last night that Gurit would be laying people off today.

We’ve been waiting for a confirmation this morning and heard on IW Radio the sad news that 25 people have been given notice, although Gurit won’t officially comment.

We’re looking into this further.

Feel free to post comments if you know more or have been directly affected.

After nine years of problems with Undercliff Drive, proposals by the Isle of Wight Council for improving Ventnor’s road access have garnered a luke-warm response from residents.

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We’ve all seen or heard about the dramatic erosion of the coastline along the Military Road over recent months.

Having driven along recently, we’d also seen the barriers near Brook, but had no idea just how close the road has become to the cliff edge.

This shot (larger version below) taken by Ian Boyd at the weekend, really shows just how serious the situation is becoming.

At this section in Brook, the road is just 4m from the recent landslide.

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Regular readers will have been following the news of the IW Convoy to Gaza over Christmas. Rachel from IW Friends of Palestine tells us more below. You can hear Peter and Zuber’s stories later in the month at Quay Arts. Ed

Over Christmas two vehicles from the Isle of Wight and Solent area joined the Viva Palestina convoy to Gaza.

The trip took over a month because of delays caused by the Egyptian government, it’s thought under pressure from Israel and the USA.

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There are just two more days to take advantage of the Grand Rotary Sale in Shanklin.

The annual event, which acts as a great fundraiser for the Rotary, takes place at Lower Hyde until 4pm on Friday, there are masses of items that may be useful to many: furniture, vinyl and DVDs, electricals, clothes, lighting, tools, electronics, paintings, mirrors, toys, you name it, they’ve probably got it in one form or another.

As always, the prices are very reasonable.

A big cheer to all involved, including those manning the stalls and those collecting and delivering the items for sale.

There was major crash on the Military Road at around midday today.

It’s been reported to us that it involved a car and motorbike, with two people badly hurt.

The road was closed as a result of the crash.

With heavy snow predicted by the Met Office for the Hampshire area tomorrow, Islanders may be concerned to hear that the Government has instructed the Isle of Wight Council to reduce its salt usage by up to 60%.

It’s part of a national rationing scheme introduced to counter the fact that demand has exceeded supply during the ‘cold snap’.

The Isle of Wight Council are not alone in the forced reduction, but the knock on effect is that roads which will receive salt have been prioritised and some identified to not be treated (listed below).

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Blimey, is that the time?

Christmas day has just flown by. Hope it’s been equally enjoyable for all of you.

Happiest of wishes to you all, our dear readers.

X

We know that our readers have strong views on public transport on the Island, but where do you all stand on the issue of taxi fares?

Starting this Friday, a three week 21 (working) day consultation period begins giving Islanders a chance to let the Isle of Wight Council know how they feel about proposed new pricing structure for taxi fares.

If you weren’t already aware of it, taxi fares on the Island are regulated with a preset minimum charge and the cost of a journey dependent upon mileage and time of day.

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X-Directory have got to be one of the busiest bands on the Island. They seem to be gigging every week and next is no exception.

The Falcon is one of their favourites places to play, and next week they promise to unleash some new material on their adoring fans.

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More Island words defined by the excellent series, Mr Caulkhead’s Isle of Wight colloquialism (background).

Riggish: Livestock that have a habit of escaping from their field.

Have a listen …
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It’s not something that we’ve ever watched ourselves, but TV addicts may be interested to hear that the BBC2 antiques series, Flog It! will be coming to the Isle of Wight next month.

Apparently it’s a very popular programme with an audience of 2 million viewers each weekday, so we’re sure that there’ll be plenty of Flog It! fans out there on the Wight who’ll be rummaging through their attics upon hearing the news.

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Coming up later this week, Thursday to be precise, Quay Arts will be screening local film-maker, David George’s five shorts about artists on the Isle of Wight.

We’re really looking forward to seeing all of the films, but in particular Derek Barran’s.

We’ve had the pleasure of spending time with Derek over the last couple of years and he’s a fascinating and engaging chap, so we imagine that the short film about his work will be just as interesting.

You might recognise Derek from the podcast we did with him when Totland Pier, which he owns went to auction last year.

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There are still a handful of places left on the free animation workshop taking place this Saturday at Quay Arts.

As part of the Minghella Movie Marathon, this free workshop for 5-10 year olds, is being sponsored by the British Film Institute (BFI) of which Anthony Minghella was a leading light and Chairman.

There are two sessions, from from 10am and other from midday. If you want your little darling to take part, get in touch with Quay Arts asap on 822490.

X-DIRECTORY play classic anthems from PUNK and the NEW WAVE era. AND they play from the heart.

The setlist features some of the best tracks of the times. So if you’re a fan of Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Jam, The Ruts, The Damned, The Undertones then you know where you should be.

Venue: The Railway Inn, 68 St Johns Road, Ryde

Fellow Island Blogger Janice Heppenstall at ‘Postcards from Wildwood’ has a great shot from the recent floods.

Taken in Lake yesterday afternoon, we’re sure you’ll agree that the park bench sitting on the green near the cliff path looks like it sitting in a lake.

Janice started her blog just last month and aims to use it as a tool to help her focus on developing digital photography as well as IT skills at the same time.

She is also hoping to make new friends in the blogging community, so why not pop over to her blog and leave a comment.

Image: © Postcards from the Wildwood

Google has was broken in a major way. (UPDATE it’s fixed now, phew)

If you search for anything on Google search, the warning message “This Site May Harm Your Computer” appears underneath each of the results.

This may be down to every server on the Internet becoming infected – highly unlikely – Or Google and its security messaging having a major melt down – far more plausible.

The upshot is that if you click on any of the Web search results, you are taken to a screen warning you not to go to the site. The result? Non-technical users won’t be able to get to the sites that they want.

Thanks to Daniel Harris for alerted us to this, just before we saw a flood of comment appearing on Twitter. It will be worth watching the hashtag #googlemayharm to watch the growth on knowledge on this.

If you haven’t heard the news already, The Prodigy have been confirmed as headliners for Friday night at the Isle of Wight Festival 2009.

Previously confirmed (back in December) for the Friday line up were Basement Jaxx and we hear that joining them in the Friday festivities will be Pendulum (who did a blinding spot at Bestival last year) and The Ting Tings.

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Thanks to the team behind the Monarch Paddle Steamer for sending through details about their plans for the coming year. Read on to hear more about their appeal for volunteers. Ed

The Isle of Wight’s very own paddle steamer, the ‘Monarch’, is currently nearing the end of a massive two year restoration and improvement project to enable her to enter full time service this coming spring.

The 2008 season saw her transport the High Sheriff, Alan Titchmarsh, to the Walking Festival Launch, an historic meeting with Waverley on the Solent (the first time two paddle steamers met there since the 1960’s) and a successful part time passenger service which allowed hundreds of visitors the chance to view the magnificent engine and machinery that makes her tick.

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We’re big fans of Guy Browning, so great to see him reference the Isle of Wight in his latest book, Maps of My Life.

In a review of the book by Jonathan Sale for The Independent, we’re exposed to the creative mind of Guy’s mother ….

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Congratulations to ‘IW Health Walks’ which we hear has just been awarded accreditation.

The scheme which encourages a healthier lifestyle by walking, offers a number of walks around the Island for beginners as well as advanced walkers.

During the walks basic monitoring information is collected, helping to meet criteria for the “Walking the way to Health” accreditation

The accreditation brings with it national recognition of the work taking place on the Island, as well as being part of the nationally evaluated scheme.

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This Island is bursting at the seams with creative types and none more so than the writers.

Island born writer Emily Bullock, UEA Creative Writing MA, has recently joined a scheme run by the Arts Council-backed website youwriteon.com which, in association with Legend Press, offers writers the chance to make their books available for purchase in mainstream bookstores.

Among them will be ‘The Separate Principle’ by Emily Bullock, the haunting, war-time story of Lillian, Freddie and Leonard, three characters confined to a tuberculosis hospital in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

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Following on from Part One yesterday, read on to complete the penultimate chapter of David Yates’ serialisation. Ed

At the TV Centre, the final piece of the espionage jigsaw puzzle was put in place, as the national TV link-up was changed to go via satellite around the globe.

In homes all over the world, TV sets flickered, and then re-focused on the developing scene at the long sandy beach in Spain. At that moment, Margarita’s live commentary from the ‘eye-in-the-sky’ commenced.

“Good day, viewers around the world. Welcome to the sunny south of Spain, where we are about to bring you a live programme you’ll never forget.”

In the Television Studio, the phone started ringing, as angry callers tried to question what was going on. Nobody answered the calls. All non-involved staff had been held captive by a team of men in dark balaclavas and blackened faces. Up in the sky, the birds began their final approaches.

“Okay chaps,” Roger called to the rest of his Flying Rats Squadron, “This is it. Here we go. Don’t release your bombs until you see the whites of their eyes.”

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According to reports in several of the papers this week, it looks as though an Island born beauty is possibly about to become the new face for fashion house, Burberry.

Pictured second from the right, Eden Clarke, who was discovered last year at the Isle of Wight Festival, also shared the front cover of Vogue last month with new Model of the Year Jourdan Dunn

The Burberry Spring 2009 campaign was shot by the world class photographer, Mario Testino.

Read it in the Evening Standard