A look back at former Isle of Wight County Press editor Walter Sibbick

He joined the paper in 1902 as an office boy, rising to editor in 1945 before retiring in 1960.

During that time, he wrote literally thousands of articles for his weekly column An Islander’s Notes, penned under the pseudonym Vectensis.

For 50 years his ‘Notes’ covered every aspect of Island life and local history ranging from folklore to local characters.

His readers loved the column and contributed many fascinating stories and anecdotes of their own.

As a body of work it is probably one of the best sources of Island history and rural life. Here is a second helping.

In the distance are the Quay Arts buildings. The ancient warehouses on the left were all demolished in the early seventies to make way for a council car park. (Image: Brian Greening Collection/County Press.)

The subject of his column of December 23, 1922, was local dialect: “The headmaster of Yarmouth School, Mr J. Furmage, gave amusing instances of strange English used by local schoolboys.

“He said the expression ‘I ain't got nar one’ was frequently used, and one of two boys chasing a dog was heard to shout ‘Ketch hold of his bloomun tail’.

“He also instanced a Wellow boy, who finding that the young birds had departed from a nest, exclaimed, ‘They’m flew’.”

Sibbick always had an eye for the quirky.

August 22, 1931: “A London newspaper states that on playing a record of the voice of Alfred Lord Tennyson taken 50 years ago at the British Museum, the only sounds obtainable were a repetition of ‘Oojee boojee’.

He also had an eye for a joke.

November 14, 1936: “It was one of those new jerry-built houses, and the new occupants were entertaining some friends in it for the first time.

“Suddenly one of the guests sat up and listened.

This 1961 photo shows the junction of South Street and Upper St James Street (or ‘Nodehill’ as readers of a certain age know it) just before it was all swept away to make room for a new bus station. (Image: Reg Davies/ County Press.)

“You're not troubled by mice are you?

“No, replied her hostess. That's the people next door eating celery."

Vectensis was the source of thousands of historical tit-bits.

September 4, 1943: “I have been shown two old IW race cards for eight races over two days on ‘the new course at Whippingham’ in August 1842.

“This explains the naming of the straight piece of road where the East Cowes road branches from the Newport-Ryde road as the Racecourse.”

Time for a war-time joke.

December 25, 1943: “A recent issue of Punch contained a cartoon of an elderly woman coming downstairs from an upper floor, saying to a younger woman below: I must go back for my teeth. The junior lady replies: The Germans are throwing bombs, not sandwiches.”

Readers were the source of many of Sibbick’s articles.

This is Scarrots Lane in 1974, rundown and unloved. Since then the lane has been subject to a makeover and is now home to thriving businesses and shops, but alas, no NHS dentist. (Image: Alan Stroud/ County Press.)

December 29, 1951: “A reader has sent me a copy of the Star newspaper, dated August 21, 1794.

“It contains an account of an execution which took place at Parkhurst Forest, an unpleasant reminder of times when death sentences were carried out on the Island.

“The men executed were two soldiers, stationed at Parkhurst, who were convicted of burglary in the house of Benjamin Calcott, of Northwood, and of ill-treating him and his wife.

“They were taken from the condemned cell at 8 o'clock that morning reaching the fatal tree in Parkhurst Forest about noon, and after demeaning themselves in penitence for an hour they were launched into eternity before a most numerous body of spectators, it being more than 60 years since a similar scene was exhibited.”

Arthur Williams was a well-known local character, the self-styled ‘Mayor of Gatcombe’, who had a wealth of local knowledge which he frequently shared with Vectensis.

June 21, 1952: “With reference to my story last week about thirsty harvest workers, Arthur Williams writes that he believes the last man to brew real farmhouse beer in the Island was Henry Orchard of Chale.

“He says he had some there in 1906 and ‘it was jolly good stuff’.

“He also mentions that Mr A. Henton of Loverstone Farm, Chillerton, can remember helping to brew farmhouse beer.

“It was kept in a large tub in the courtyard which had four taps at different levels – No. 1 was called ‘Admiral’, No. 2 ‘Knock me down’, No. 3 ‘Six o'clock’, and No. 4 ‘What the little pigs wrassel for’.

“The first was for dealers who called, to get them into good humour for a deal. All callers helped themselves, even tramps.”

Finally, in his column of July 12, 1969, Sibbick reported: “The IW Tourist Board received a letter from a Ringwood lady stating that during a motor-coach tour the driver stopped on a hill between Shanklin and Ventnor and demonstrated the amazing fact that on releasing the brake the vehicle slowly ran backwards up the hill, claiming that the phenomenon was due to ‘magnetic attraction in the downs!’

"Is it a fact or were we being fooled? she asks. Well, not exactly fooled.

“It was a well-known local joke on the part of the driver.

“There is a stretch above Luccombe which, owing to the conformation of the roadside land, gives the optical illusion of an ascent when it is, in fact, a descent.”