100 years ago

February 1, 1919

ISLAND teachers were still battling for an increase in their salaries and a uniform scale throughout the IW.

Teachers called for the government to take over the payment of salaries due to the grave disparity and the feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction.

It had been agreed in Ryde that a man’s pay could rise by £60 from £150 to £210 and a woman’s by £40 from £130 to £170 and things were now running more smoothly in that district.

***

The Freshwater community campaigned to their parish council to get a war memorial in the town.

Chairman, Mr J. Carpenter, agreed and said Freshwater had been hit hard by the loss of many promising young men.

He suggested a cottage hospital or a nursing home should be developed as a lasting memorial.

75 years ago

January 29, 1944

Two convicts of Camp Hill Prison, Thomas Appleby and Stanley Haycock, ran away when being marched back to the prison.

Their liberty did not last long. Haycock was captured posing as a foreign seaman while Appleby was found asleep in a military lorry parked in a camp.

Both were taken to police stations and escorted back to prison.

***

In the ‘Greetings from West Africa’ broadcast, Mrs Phillips, of Newport, heard a message from her husband, Sgt Major Alfred Phillips.

He said he was in the best of health. His seven-year-old son was the most thrilled member of the household to hear his dad on the wireless.

50 years ago

February 1, 1969

The Earl Mountbatten — governor of the Island — visited the IW.

He paid a visit to the Royal IW School of Nursing, where he met with members of the nursing staff.

He also presented replacement medals of the Boer War to 84-year-old Mr D. Smith and visited local exhibitions.

***

An officer at Camp Hill Prison discovered a fire in the garden

Two crews from Newport and one from Cowes attended the scene in the early hours of the morning.

A shed and number of mattresses and other prison staples were lost to the blaze. It was thought prisoners were not involved.

25 years ago

February 4, 1994

Two Island women were assured of five-figure compensation payments for being sacked from the Royal Navy for getting pregnant.

They both lost their jobs as Wrens due to Ministry of Defence rules which banned women in the service from having children.

But the rules broke the Sexual Discrimination Act and the pair hoped to get between £30,000 and £75,000.

***

Gale force winds of up to 60mph brought down trees, disrupted ferry services and caused structural damage to a Shanklin hotel.

Bricks crashed onto a bedroom at the Malton House Hotel when a gable end blew down.

No-one was hurt but 1,400 residents across South Wight were left without electricity.

10 years ago

January 23, 2009

An IW police officer was commended for his bravery after he saved a child from a shed blaze.

Sgt Terry Clarkson was honoured by the Hampshire and IW chief constable.

He had been off-duty when he spotted smoke coming from a garden shed in Ventnor, ran to the scene and pulled a young boy out.

***

As the credit crunch bit, the IW Council cut the cost of school meals.

Prices were to be set at 2007 levels and frozen until 2010, while more Island ingredients were set to be sourced to boost the economy and cut food miles.

Meal prices lowered by 10p to £1.70.