Normandy, St Mary’s. Courtesy of Melvin Roberts.
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The Strand, St Mary’s. Courtesy of George Kershaw.
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Porthcressa, St Mary’s. Courtesy of George Kershaw.
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School, Bryher. Courtesy of Richard Pearce.
The front page of ?The Cornishman? newspaper was recently devoted to a picture of Scilly and the headline “Scilly gets that sinking feeling”. A pun, somewhat in bad taste as the content of the article is largely devoted to the prediction that large parts of Scilly will be underwater as soon as within the next century. The article, written by Joyce Channon the Chief reporter for the newspaper, reflects on the findings of a recent gathering of scientists and meteorologists in Cornwall, in which predictions were made that the climate in the south west of England would be similar to that of Southern France and the Mediterranean in as few as fifty years time. In the article, BBC whether man Bill Giles, states that large parts of low lying areas could be underwater soon due to the melting of polar ice caps. Areas such as Hugh Town and Palace Row would be example of areas that are only a few feet above sea level at high tide at the moment and would be almost certainly affected if the predictions come true. Locals have greeted the news with cautious optimism and have taken the news with a pinch of salt as it traditional here. “The value of my house would go up,” said a local on St. Marys “It would be right on the sea front if what is predicted comes true!” Others have taken the issue more seriously and said, “It?s really quite scary once you think about it, most of the kids in the school today will live to sea this happen”. The implications are drastic and frighteningly fast approaching. The mass of industry producing greenhouse gasses inflicted on the atmosphere is only now starting to take real effect and the period of furious climate change is likely to be far quicker than any ever witnessed in human history. The need for action must be heeded soon if any precaution is to be taken before it is too late.
The St Martin?s family, the Mortons, new gig, the ?Dauntless? has been banned from racing alongside the other gigs in the Wednesday and Friday night races. Local gig experts went over to St Martin?s to check out the new ?gig?, and found that it did not meet specifications and regulations required in the competative world of gig racing. The family built their own gig over the winter of 2000-2001, and are disappionted in the fact that they have been banned from the Friday night races, and the World Championships.
Two Young People have been selected to represent the Isles of Scilly in the national initiative, the U.K. Youth Parliament, which is due to sit biannually. It was decided that two representatives would be needed due to the diversity of situations between mainland and island education. Charlie Bennett from Bryher has been selected for the candidate from the Islands; she is currently in year 10 in the Isles of Scilly Secondary School on St. Marys. Charlie took part in an election where three candidates stood and each had to make a speech on why the job should go to them, during an assembly. Rosimund Taylor, also from Bryher, has been selected to represent the views of Islanders currently partaking in Further and Higher Education on the mainland. Rosi is currently studying at Adams School on the mainland and faces the difficult task of representing all the views from the large number of colleges occupied by students from the Islands. Rosimund won the postal ballot election, for which there was only two candidates. The first sitting of the UKYP was on the 24th of February 2001.
The Duchy of Cornwall has recently made it clear that any future development on the Islands would be particularly well accepted if it were ?environmentally friendly?. This statement has provoked the imaginations of some into action and Bio-pods are being seriously looked at as a sustainable form of accommodation. It is likely that any such Bio-pod would be similar to those found on the island of Tarransay, the scene for the BBC?s Castaway 2000 series. This has come at a time when many Islanders had voiced concerns over the increasing demand for accommodation for young Scillonians. The Duke of Cornwall himself, HRH Prince Charles is an infamously avid supported of environmentally friendly living and it is thought that the Duchy in Scilly are following this same line.
It is rumoured that the ?Galatea? gig, St Martin?s Gig Club?s newest addition is to make it?s way to the islands on the 12 February 2001. The gig was built by Ralph Bird, completed in early February. On the 10th they moved the gig out of the building sheds to make way for the Newquay?s ?Dove?, which is due in for repairs. The gig is resting overnight in Hayle before, hopefully, it will be taken on Monday night?s ?Gry? if all goes well. The gig cost ?9,500 to build, it took Ralph Bird four months, and will be launched on 11 March, 2001.
The 8 February 2001?s Cornishman announced that Mike Hicks would be retiring from the Steamship Company?s head office. In place of Mr Hicks, John Banfield will be taking over. Objective One money has been made available from the European Union and the Steamship Company is intending to put in a bid for a grant for a new ship. They renovated the ?Scillonian III? in the winter of 1998, but see the opportunity to buy a newer, nicer ship. It is guessed they will ask for a grant of ?15 mn, in addition to ?5 mn put up by the Steamship Company so that they can buy a new ship. The new ships name is suggested to be “Scillonian IV”. Along with both of these changes, they are changing the structure of the head offices, keeping the Cheif Executive on the mainland. It is unknown whether the restructuring of the offices lead to Mr Hicks? retirement, or as a result of. Nothing is entirely sure at this time.
Work has recently been completed on the renewal of a long forgotten gig shed on St. Agnes. Islanders and members of the gig club have just finished putting a roof on the building which is situated just up the road from the Turks Head. It became clear that a new gig shed was needed to house the local gig, the ?Shah? after a recent re-fit was carried out during the summer of 1999. Until now, the Shah had been kept alongside the waiting room during the summer months and in a shed at Cove-Vean during the winter, it has not yet decided whether or not the Shah will return to Cove-Vean in the winter but the new shed is undoubtedly going to be extremely useful for protecting the Shah against the elements during the Gig racing season in the summer. The position of the proposed new shed was paramount to it?s success, it was to be built near the top of the Quay until it became clear that this was not in favour with the planning committee. I was suggested that there had been a previous gig shed on the hillside next to the Turks Head but it had become overgrown and neglected, many islanders didn?t even remember this. After some excavation, the foundations of the old building were found and a planning application was submitted, this time it was reacted to more favourably as it was seen as restoration. Islanders showed their community spirit and all chipped in to help out in any way they could, donating granite or trying their hand at building. The new shed is visible from boats coming into St. Agnes Quay, and does not look out of place in it?s renewed state…
The only retailers that exclusively sells electrical equipment in the Isles of Scilly is set to close with very little notice. ?Banfields? which is owned by Roger Banfield and situated opposite the museum in Church street, St. Mary?s announced a week prior to it?s closure that the store would stop selling goods. Many Islanders feel that this is bad for the Islands, especially St. Marys, as the shop sold a wide variety of appliances and there is no replacement for it. Banfields shop has been listed for sale for over a year now, and it has become apparent that when a buyer was not found, the proprietors found that the only option left was to shut the shop down. It is so far unclear what will happen to the shop, but it is likely that when a buyer is found it will either go back to selling electrical goods or be converted into a living area, the position would make the property worth a lot.
An event of rare drama took place on St. Agnes recently when the Islands coastguard force was called into action to deal with a grounded boat. A local woman, Mandy Pearce who while out walking the dog at around 2:30 on the afternoon of Thursday the 8th of February, spotted what appeared to be a small fibreglass boat moving slowly across Per Conger bay on the North side of the Sand Bar, raised the alarm. Mrs Pearce ran to the nearest telephone and dialled 999 for the coastguard, who were scrambled immediately. Meanwhile, Mandy?s husband Adrian Pearce, a flower farmer from St. Agnes, raced to the scene to assess the situation. When he arrived he found that a small ?Orkney? boat was hitting the rocks under the cliffs of Lousy bank. Adrian described the boat as “around 16 to 17 foot long” and “greeny blue in colour”. Mr Pearce climbed around to the boat, having to scramble around via the Sand Bar, to see what could be done while the coastguards were on their way. The Boat, later found to belong to Roger Smith of St. Marys the former music teacher for the Isles of Scilly Secondary School, was hitting the rocky shoreline bow first. This meant that as the heavy seas hit the flat stern of the boat, water was coming in and the boat was rapidly filling up. The fact that the boat was hitting bow on, rather than stern on, did however prevent damage to the engines which were thought to be one Honda 30 hp Four stroke, and a separate reserve engine. Adrian did what he could, but it became clear that more people were needed in order for the boat to be hauled out of the water and therefore prevent further damage. The coastguards arrived some time later and they quickly set about the salvage operation. Ricky Legg jumped into the water and managed to push the boat out and bring it back in Stern first so that a towrope could be attached. With help from salvers on the rocks and a tractor up on the cliff top, the boat was hauled ashore. When the boat was high up on the shore, well above the incoming tide, the boat was bailed out and the two engines were taken off, to prevent further damage.