100 Years Ago - March 8, 1913
THREE young men from Newport were charged by police for playing football in the street.
A police constable was walking down Drill Hall Road in plain clothes when he saw the three youngsters kicking a small ball back and forth by the junction. The three, who were members of a Bible class, were released with a caution.
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A fire spread through a house in Newport after the chimney caught fire.
The occupants of the house were away at the time and the fire was discovered by neighbours. When neighbours broke the door open, they found the kitchen to be well alight and started throwing buckets of water at the fire, before the fire brigade took over.
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The handmade silver cup that was presented to Cowes Football Club to mark the opening of its new ground was displayed in the shop window of an old Cowes footballer.
The display in the shop on the High Street drew a lot of attention and the cup was to be presented as the prize of the Westwood Challenge.
75 Years Ago - March 12, 1938
More than 600 people, who wanted to cross The Solent between Ryde and Portsmouth, were left marooned after a dense fog settled.
Around 400 of the passengers spent the night stranded in Portsmouth, while 200 waited on the pier-head at Ryde.
About 100 of the stuck Island passengers sought overnight accommodation in Ryde, while the rest bedded down in railway carriages.
The fog lifted the following morning, only to descend again as soon as the boat berthed at the pier-head causing many more hours of delay.
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A family had a lucky escape from serious injury in a car crash between Calbourne and Carisbrooke.
Two parents and their young daughter were going to Newport market when a cow ran out into the road.
While trying to avoid it, the driver swerved the car too far and it struck the bank, forcing the door open and throwing the family out of the car and onto the road. The car carried on moving before flipping over onto its roof.
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Four Bembridge schoolboys were summonsed to a juvenile court for breaking 14 panes of glass at the Ryde Gaslight Company.
Three of the boys admitted breaking one window each, while the fourth denied it.The court heard the three boys were from supportive families but the fourth was known to be 'mischievous’. They were warned of the danger of stone throwing and fined.
50 Years Ago - March 9, 1963
Members of Cowes Golf Club and residents living nearby rescued equipment and stores when fire broke out at the clubhouse in Baring Road.
The building, which was used mainly at weekends, was unoccupied at the time and was badly damaged in the fire. The blaze started in the ladies’ locker room and destroyed half of the building.
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This day marked the centenary of the Island Lifeboat Board and the 75th anniversary of its blackest day in history. The loss of three rescuers of the stricken crew and passengers of the Sirenia served as a sobering reminder during the celebrations that, with the 1,600 lives saved, came human sacrifice.
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Owing to thick fog which closed off Portsmouth Harbour, no ferries ran between Portsmouth and the pier at Ryde all evening and night. The Portsmouth boat spent the night unusually at the pier to be ready for the service back to the mainland first thing. The early morning mail boat did not make the crossing.
25 Years Ago - March 11, 1988
A fleet of ambulances ferried 20 workers from NFI Electronics Ltd factory on the Dodnor Industrial Estate, Newport, to hospital after fumes from a fire caused nausea among staff.
The staff, mostly women, from the printed circuit board assembly plant were taken to the Royal IW County Hospital in Ryde.
Eighteen were released after treatment for smoke inhalation and the other two were transferred to St Mary’s for observations.
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The Island’s elusive 'big cat’ was sighted again, this time at Quarr Abbey.
A visitor from West Sussex was on a walking holiday to the Island and, while walking along a footpath from Fishbourne to Binstead, claims he saw the cat in a field outside the abbey.
He said it was stalking two ducks and looked like a leopard, was much bigger than an ordinary cat and had its tail stuck up in the air.
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Mobile home tenants at Medina Park, Whippingham, set up a fund for a couple with a young son who lost virtually everything they owned in a chip pan fire.
The fire quickly enveloped the kitchen and filled the mobile home with choking smoke. They escaped as the fire spread quickly through their home.
The 300 other residents said they felt desperately sorry for the young family and wanted to help.
10 Years Ago - March 7, 2003
Ambitious plans for Medina Yachting Village, which were put forward by millionaire Peter Harrison’s family trust, looked set to sink, unless a government agency came to the rescue.
The shock news that investigations had revealed the two planning options for the £70 million development on the waterfront site by J. S. White’s, both which included 300 town houses and marine industries, were not viable was broken to Cowes Town Council.
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Youngsters and staff at a Totland playgroup were left heartbroken by the theft of their pet rabbit.
Maisie, a full-grown beige angora was snatched from her hutch on a Sunday night.
It was the second such theft. Maisie’s father, Harvey, was also taken weeks before and two other rabbits were released by the intruders.
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Who was the pink pig pincher?
Percy, a pink stone pig with a feeding trough, was purloined from his clifftop home in Lake, leaving behind two bereft pink sows and their piglets.
His owners, George Bowles and Gil Pearson, were used to him trotting off — he was a stolen a few months before but turned up in a hedge.