100 years ago - November 2, 1918

A COWMAN died mysteriously while at Little Budbridge Farm.

William Henry Guy, 57, had been working out of sight of his colleagues, when a train driver shouted and pointed to where Mr Guy had been working.

His colleagues found him with a broken collar bone, two broken legs and terribly bruised all over. He died of exhaustion in the hospital.

***

Influenza was rife among young children at IW primary schools.

The Newport Elementary School was closed until further notice and village schools were following suit.

The county medical officer issued a request Sunday schools should also be closed and under 14s should not go to the cinemas.

75 years ago - November 6, 1943

A woman was killed in a tragic accident at the Merstone railway.

Maud Mary Thomas, 65, had walked in a rush to the station.

The driver of the train said he saw her enter the wicket gate to cross, so sounded his whistle and slowed the train, but Mrs Thomas was hit.

***

Sgt Findon, of Sandown, who had been at general headquarters in Cairo for four years, wrote home to tell of two views of the IW reproduced in the Egyptian Gazette.

The first was a charming picture of Winkle Street, Calbourne, and the second was a view of Carisbrooke Castle.

Sgt Findon said they were the first pictures of the IW published since he arrived in Egypt.

50 years ago - October 26, 1968

The Island received a fine mention at a national talk about the RNLI.

The speaker said the Bembridge and Yarmouth lifeboats were regarded as key boats and the Island could be proud of its record in connection with the RNLI.

During calls for less lifeboats and more helicopters, the IW argued the lifeboat was crucial to marine safety.

***

A coin from the time of Henry VIII was found by a Ventnor man.

Michael Tigg found the silver coin on Ventnor esplanade.

The coin was identified by the curator of Carisbrooke Castle Museum as a 1543 Henry VIII groat.

25 years ago - October 29, 1993

Ryde residents united in their opposition to 193 proposed homes on land off Rosemary Lane.

The group said they would involve the Local Government Ombudsman and Secretary of State for the Environment if Medina Council’s decision to back the scheme went ahead.

The controversy was fuelled by allegations the council had contracts regarding the land more than eight months before.

***

A call to make the IW a haven for the legalised smoking of cannabis was made by Sheridan Small, who said the IW would be as popular as Amsterdam.

The call was not supported by the Island community drug team. Mr Small said drug dealers would rather open shops and pay tax than pay low fines and have their names in the paper when in court.

10 years ago - October 31, 2008

The credit crunch hit the Island’s Earl Mountbatten Hospice, which announced it had to slash expenditure by £400,000 a year without affecting patient care.

Chief executive Graham Elderfield said the organisation faced tough decisions in economic turmoil.

He said he was developing proposals and staff would be consulted throughout the process.

***

Dozens of families were left devastated and hundreds of pounds out of pocket after the collapse of a Shanklin travel company.

The owner of the Island Travel Centre said he was gutted and left with absolutely nothing.

Two sisters had paid £1,700 to take their families to Disneyland Paris but had their hopes dashed.