Following her work experience with On The Wight in the summer, journalism student Rosie Saban, returns for our 2012 recap. Ed
There was a jubilant start to June as the ‘Diamond Isle’ readied itself to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, complete with street parties, re enactments, and flaming beacons.
The Boss proved that he could still dance in the dark with the best of them as he wowed crowds at the Isle of Wight Festival, along with other big names including Pearl Jam, Jessie J and Labyrinth.
Stuck in the mud
Unfortunately much of the festival was marred for many festival goers and Island residents as muddy fields resulted in vehicles getting stuck and massive traffic jams preventing car ferry sailings as those aboard could not move due to congestion. As with all seemingly disastrous occurrences, heroes soon emerged in the form of Vectis 4×4 Response voluntary rescuers, who managed to rescue a massive 358 cars from the murky grounds in just under five hours.
Treading the boards
Ventnor Youth Centre presented a Musical Theatre Variety show with a difference as six months of hard work culminated in the “Wonders of the West End”.
A massive drugs seizure off the coast of the Isle of Wight saw £20 million of Cocaine hauled from a yacht that had departed from the Caribbean.
New charity Ability Dogs 4 Young People was set up to help young disabled Islanders gain independence by providing canine assistance.
Digging deep
A 100 million year old giant oyster was discovered in the Solent’s murky depths, people waited with bated breath to discover if the aged mollusc contained a pearl to match its enormous exterior.
Letting off steam for one and a half centuries, the IW Steam Railway celebrated their 150th birthday.
Once again showing the Island’s prowess on the water, Johnny Fryer amped up the skill to take home first place at the 2012 UK Surfing Championships, for the second time.
The council released the information that as part of the Highways PFI Contract, which is the largest engineering project ever undertaken on the Island, scholarships were be made available for four Islanders undertaking civil engineering degrees.
Image: Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
