LOOKING BACK
EACH week we look back at Isle of Wight history and heritage, using the Isle of Wight County Press Archive.
For more, please see the Isle of Wight County Press newspaper, every Friday.
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Ten years ago: Councils and governments putting right the ills of society, stopping war and saving the planet from environmental disaster, were some of the hopes of IW schoolchildren for 2007.
A group of pupils from Somerton Middle School, Cowes, echoed some of the pressing issues most youngsters wished to see resolved.
Speaking of the war in Iraq, Shaun Riddick, 12, said: "It is diabolical and I hope it will get sorted out so no more lives are taken."

100 Years Ago - January 13, 1917

THE need for potato cultivation was among the most pressing issues.
Yarmouth Parish Council met to address the dire shortage of potatoes and how to increase yield.
Re-elected to the position of chairman was Lord Holmes, a man whose familiarity with growing potatoes was desperately needed during a time of famine.

75 Years Ago - January 17, 1942

A Wootton man was was decorated with the Meritorious Service Medal.
Mr William Gilley, of New Road, was bestowed the honour for his long and highly meritorious service.
The retiring Mr Gilley was already a decorated veteran of India.

50 Years Ago - January 7, 1967

For more than a century, steam trains made a significant contribution to the life and development of the Island.
That era came to an end, however, after the old trains were replaced with electric transport, over what little remained of the Island rail network at the time.

25 Years Ago - January 10, 1992

Apparently in an effort to corroborate claims the Island was among the most haunted places in the world, local psychic investigator Sara Williams claimed to have seen three ghosts at an unoccupied building on the outskirts of Brighstone.
Sara paid a visit to the building after two builders claimed to have heard footsteps and were troubled by a "cold and unpleasant atmosphere".

10 Years Ago - January 12, 2007

Coded letters written by King Charles I while imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle were finally decoded by Dr Sarah Poynting, of Keele University.
The letters, which were of a raunchy nature, were addressed to the stepdaughter of one of his courtiers.

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