Glass is Class at Alum Bay
It is a fascinating work of art, and one that thousands of visitors stand and marvel at each year. Working in searing heat at the Alum Bay Glass studio, on the Needles Park site, Colin Green (left) and his team produce magnificent, eye-catching items that are now being snapped up worldwide. Alum Bay Glass was founded in 1972, and Colin, 45, has been working for the company since 1987, following in a family tradition that was started by five of his uncles who were all in the glass industry. One of the uncles, Jack Green was a renowned scientific glass maker, who later did more artistic...
Read MoreA Reflection on the Year as High Sheriff
It has proved a thoroughly enjoyable, but hectic 12 months for Susie Sheldon who began her term as High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight in April last year. Susie has averaged about one engagement every day, but insists she would not have missed a minute of it, and the whole experience has made her further appreciate just how much ‘behind the scenes’ voluntary work takes place on the Island. In this exclusive Island Life interview, she tells of some of the highlights of the past 12 months. Susie said: “The year has been hugely enjoyable and truly amazing because of the number of...
Read MoreAmazing Escape in the Blitz
As Ursula Thompson walks among the thousands of plants and shrubs she carefully nurtures at her Island Garden Centre near Newchurch, she sometimes pauses to reflect on how lucky she is just to be there. Mrs. Thompson’s life has been quite remarkable, yet it so nearly ended even before it began. And again when she was a babe in arms she went desperately close to being one on the many innocent victims of the atrocities of the Second World War. But this is no ordinary story of a family who dodged the bombs and shells that fell around them time after time. Mrs. Thompson, her parents, two...
Read MoreCattle and Horses Keeping Michael Young at Heart
In the second of this two-part special on Michael Poland, Island Life talks to the successful Island businessman about two of the greatest passions in his life – cattle and horses. On the large acreage of conservation land near Wroxall where he and his wife Carolyn have their Island home, magnificent Highland cattle graze freely, and Michael likes nothing more than to be out there with them, calling to each one by name. “Both here and at our home in Oban, Scotland I have the freedom to walk out of the door and walk amongst my cattle. I love that and it is important to me,” he said....
Read MoreMark’s Busy Life Set to Turn Full Circle
Life is about to turn full circle for Mark Southwell, a former Island Customs Officer who is now operations manager for Cowes RNLI. While helping patrol the waters around the Island, Mark was based for many years at the Custom House, adjacent to the Island Sailing Club in The Parade, Cowes, and was directly involved in some of the biggest ‘drug busts’ this country has ever seen. Now by a quirk of fate he will soon be returning to the building where he spent so much of his time between 1982 and 2005, as it will shortly become the new headquarters for the town’s RNLI, following a highly...
Read MoreIsland Sailor Shirley Knows what it’s Like to have Golden Touch
The long-awaited 2012 Olympics are fast approaching, and for hundreds of aspiring competitors the pressure is beginning to mount. Inevitably the spotlight will fall very much on the British team, who will be competing on home territory for the first time since the last Games were held here in 1948. One person who knows what it is like to prepare for the Olympics, and emerge victorious, is Island sailor Shirley Robertson, OBE. Shirley not only competed in four Olympics, but re-wrote the history books by becoming the first British woman to strike gold at consecutive Games – Sydney in 2000...
Read MoreEmily Takes on New Role at Royal
The highly talented Emily Harris has returned to the Island to take over the role of head pastry chef at the Royal Hotel, Ventnor. Although still only 25, Emily (pictured left) gained a wealth of experience during her five years on the mainland where she worked alongside and prepared some of her delicacies for many of the world’s most renowned chefs, and even Royalty. Now she has decided to demonstrate her skills back on the Island where she first arrived from Ipswich with her parents some 17 years ago. Emily attended Ryde High School, but left at 16, and within a week found employment as...
Read MoreStephanie Slater: The Amazing Story of Kidnap Victim who Beat the Odds
It will be 20 years in January since Stephanie Slater was the victim of one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. Stephanie was a 25-year-old estate agent going about her work in the Birmingham suburb of Great Barr when she was viciously attacked by a man she was showing around a house. She was held at knife point, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and bundled into the reclined passenger’s seat of his car, before being tied down and driven to Newark in Nottinghamshire where she was held prisoner for eight days in the most appalling circumstances. The prospective house buyer gave his name as Bob...
Read MoreMichael Puts his Success Down to Good Fortune – and the Odd Risk!
Michael Poland feels he has been blessed with good fortune through the many facets of his active and highly interesting life. But it takes more than just the occasional slice of good luck to achieve what he has managed to achieve. He has seized the moment, taken the occasional risk, and used his vast knowledge to lead a life that has embraced insurance, farming, conservation and highly successful ventures into the worlds of horseracing and cattle breeding. He and his wife Carolyn enjoy the trappings of a magnificent farm house surrounded by a large acreage of conservation land near Wroxall, a...
Read MoreAaron’s Magical Mystery Tour
Aaron Isted often disappears off the Island for a while, but that is not one of his many tricks! Aaron has built a reputation as an excellent magician and illusionist, and as such has been invited to display his talents not just nationwide, but as far away as the United States. The 23 year-old from Ventnor captivates audiences wherever he goes, and has graduated from just working his magic at small functions and gatherings to performing high profile stunts that have left onlookers gasping in disbelief. Aaron has recently returned from his second visit to the US, and Island Life caught up with...
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