100 Years Ago - February 5, 1910
ILLUSTRATIONS of the Island were published in a French magazine ahead of a visit by a party from Normandy.
The La Revue Pisarde et Normande featured illustrations of Ryde Pier, Carisbrooke Castle, Blackgang and Quarr Abbey and claimed the Island was the Madeira of the British Isles.
The mayor of Newport invited the party, who had also visited Brighton and Portsmouth, to lunch at the Guildhall.
-----
Cowes opened its Opera Week with a host of events aimed at raising money for Island charities.
Organised as a winter event to entertain residents, Opera Week featured a series of performances by the amateur dramatic society.
Charities included the Frank James Hospital and the East Cowes and Whippingham Nursing Fund.
-----
Sandown Football Club complained to the IW FA in protest at a kit clash during its cup match with Cowes.
The club was unhappy both teams had to play in similar strips and claimed Cowes’s first two goals were conceded as a result of a misunderstanding with opposition players.
75 Years Ago - February 9, 1935
Quick action by police resulted in the capture of two thieves from London, who fled to the IW in an aeroplane.
Just two hours after learning the men had left Croydon by air, police tracked them down in a Newport hotel.
The men, both employees of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, Greenwich, stole £50 from the company.
-----
Island towns were voted the sunniest spots in Britain during 1934.
The Met Office published its official weather records, which revealed Sandown and Ventnor were the two sunniest towns, each recording more than 1,956 hours of sunshine.
Totland Bay had the second highest level of sunshine with 1,889 hours, followed in third place by Bexhill, Sussex, with 1,853 hours.
The lowest was Fort Augustus, Scotland, with 853 hours.
-----
Ryde Vectis Boating Club announced a turnaround in fortunes at its AGM.
The club had been threatened with closure but with membership numbers up to more than 100, it was predicted the club would go from strength to strength.
50 Years Ago - February 6, 1960
A public appeal was launched to raise funds for a chapel at Whitecroft Hospital.
Dr Gordon Brown said £6,000 was needed to build a 200-seat chapel, which he believed would help with the treatment of patients.
Other additional facilities planned for the hospital included a hair salon and a garden.
-----
Despite fears it would have to be abandoned due to a lack of interest, Cowes Carnival would go ahead.
Poor attendance at two previous meetings of the Cowes Carnival Committee led to suggestions the town had become bored with the annual event.
But the committee said if the carnival was cancelled, it would not be fair on the hundreds of children who had looked forward to taking part.
-----
Supporters of East Cowes Vics Football Club were helping to make it one of the best equipped clubs on the Island.
A cheque for £100 was presented to the club by supporters and it followed ongoing donations, which enabled the club to buy floodlights, a new team strip and refurbish the clubhouse.
25 Years Ago - February 8, 1985
Undeterred by a last-minute hitch preventing a deal going through for a 350-seat catamaran, Sealink was set to order an even larger passenger vessel.
The ferry operator confirmed it was considering two separate proposals for 500-seat catamarans, to be used for a high-speed service from Ryde Pier to Portsmouth Harbour.
It was expected the service would be in place by September.
-----
A lack of interest was blamed for the cancellation of Freshwater and Totland’s carnival and regatta.
Freshwater and Totland carnival committee said the retirement of long-serving members made it impossible for the events to go ahead, particularly as no-one had come forward offering to help.
It was hoped a carnival could be held in 1986, if sufficient support was in place.
-----
Island police were poised to provide more officers on the beat as part of a new community initiative.
Officers would be given specific responsibilities for certain areas, in a bid to improve relations with the public and cut crime.
A pilot scheme was set to be launched after the minors’ strike in the Nottinghamshire coalfields.
10 Years Ago - February 4, 2000
Supermarket giant Somerfield confirmed 120 jobs at its Ryde store were safe.
Somerfield said the £6.5 million store, less than two years old, was not one of 11 stores set to be sold to Waitrose.
However, there was still uncertainty around 130 jobs at the Newport store, which was still up for sale.
-----
Devastated Sandown High School students lost vital coursework after computers were stolen.
The school offered a £100 reward in an effort to track down the culprits but many students studying A-levels and GNVQs had to re-do crucial parts of their work.
The total haul of stolen goods was estimated at £3,000.
-----
The IW Healthcare NHS Trust denied a ward at St Mary’s Hospital was closed because of a cockroach infestation.
Patients were moved out of the Brighstone Ward to allow pest control experts to move-in but trust chief Graham Elderfield said it was part of a routine exercise.