Two surfers found themselves in trouble this afternoon. They had been surfing the Golden Ball and found themselves caught in the tide and were swept away in heavy seas. Two of their fellow surfers raised the alarm when they didn?t return.
Rescue 193 was called to the scene along with St Marys lifeboat. Before they could get there Cyclone answered the request for assistance, exclaiming that they could be there in 5 minutes from New Grimsby. Star of Life (the new medical launch) asked if they should go too, there was a little confusion from Falmouth coastguard thinking they had heard St Ives Lifeboat but Star of Life set out. Before the lifeboat or anyone else got there, Cyclone had rescued the surfers and returned them, safe and well, to Old Grimsby.

The RNAS Culdrose callout to a yacht earlier today resulted in two helicopter crewmen being landed on the yacht. Due to conditions on scene the crew nor the yachtsman could not be air lifted to safety and had to be taken to St Marys by lifeboat. I hope that none of them are too green.

Six hours after the lifeboat was called out they returned to St Marys, probably cold, wet and tired but safe.

Passengers on the Scillonian had a traumatic trip today when the journey took nearly seven hours to arrive on the islands.

The boat was taking 188 people to the islands but due to bad weather it could not dock by the quay. The 150 daytrippers had 45 minutes on St Mary?s before the boat turned back to Penzance.

It is believes that several families were suffering from sea sickness but according to the Tourist Information Centre most people braved the journey back.

Scilly is experiencing bad weather conditions at the moment with force 7 gales and rough seas.

The Lifeboat and RNAS Culdrose have been called to a boat just off Bishop Rock.

The Lifeboat was launched at 1520 to the singlehanded yaughtsman who was suffering from back and neck injuries.

The RNAS Culdrose helicopter is now at the scene. Scilly is currently experiencing force 7 gales with rough seas.

Falmouth Coastguard are waiting for a report as to whether the man can be air lifted from the boat.

The RSPB is asking Westcountry residents to help the declining bird population in the south west.

Scillonians are being asked to supplement the bird?s diets with seeds, cheese, bacon rind and even live worms.

Tony Whitehead, south-west community education officer for the RSPB, told Scilly News ?Winter can be a struggle for many of the nation?s birds so a little food, water and shelter can go a long way to keep them healthy.?

Two of the species on their ?Concern List? are regular inhabitants of the islands, the house sparrow and starlings. House sparrow numbers have halved in the last 30 years while starlings have felt a knock on effect with a 66% decrease.

Scilly has a healthy bird population due to the milder winters but the RSPB believe that islanders should not become complacent.

See www.rspb.org.uk

The islands fire brigade were sent to a small fire on St Mary?s yesterday.

Two crews were called out to a gorse blaze up at Bants Carn on St Mary?s.

The fire was extinguished quickly.

Residents of the Isles of Scilly will hear Concorde?s somic boom for the last time today.

Concorde took off from New York for the final flight to London, this morning, ending over thirty years of supersonic travel.

The plane, is carrying 100 celebrities to mark its retirement.

A traffic warden who was sent to St Mary?s to crack down on illegal parkers did not manage to issue a single ticket.

Dave Robinson was sent to St Mary?s which only has 9 miles of road but news of his arrival had spread and islanders had prepared themselves.

Neville Gardner, chief technical officer at the Council of the Isles of Scilly, said Mr Robinson?s visit would help to retain the island?s slower pace of life.

“The police felt it was appropriate that the traffic warden be brought across to reinforce the message that the rules apply on the Isles of Scilly the same as everywhere else,” he said.

Usually tickets are issued by one of the three police officers on the main island. Traffic has become a problem on St Mary?s as more islanders buy cars. With limited parking areas islanders are forced to park on yellow lines.

For more information see www.bbc.co.uk/news

Travellers to the island can breathe a sigh of relief as the helicopter service has been saved by a new EU directive, which may have threatened its future.

The directive, which was aimed at budget airlines, was to make individual companies pay compensation to travellers for cancelled flights. Visitors could claim up to ?200 in compensation if their flight were cancelled within the control of the operator. This surpassed the cost of the flight to the islands. Therefore this threatened the viability of British International Helicopter Service.

A large bronze age settlement has been found on Tresco. The find, which was found between Tresco Primary School and St Nicholas?s Church, was discovered by builders.

The site is thought to be part of an early Bronze Age village (1,000 BC). Two round houses and a grave were uncovered when earth-moving for the new cricket pitch was started. The remains have been charted and will be covered over tomorrow. This is unless substantial funds arise which will pay for an extensive excavation.

This is an exciting find for the islands but is not one of a kind. The Isles of Scilly have over one thousand archaeological sites covering a time span of ten thousand years. One of the most well known sites of interest is Bants Carn on St Mary?s. The site was excavated in 1900 and various examples of cremated human bone and pottery fragments were discovered some dating between 3000 and 2500 BC.