In This Month`s Edition

newsletter
May | 2014
Contents
In This Month’s Edition...
new boatman joins association
watery tourist attraction for Bryher
Something fIshy happening on ST Martin’s
plan to tackle Hugh Town parking
‘best ever’ world pilot gig championships
7
14
19
27
Scilly Life
2
Scilly 999
9
Scilly Time Off
12
Scilly Politics
22
Scilly Sport
30
Lottery News
32
Maggie’s Moan
35
Images of Scilly
36
30
The View From The Studio
S
“... I just hope that 2015
will be a bit quieter on
St Mary’s…”
Radio Scilly
t Mary’s is currently facing one
of those dilemmas that all tourist destinations come across at some
point. It’s the balance between building for the islands’ future, while not
disturbing the visitors who are so
valuable for our economy.
We’re in the midst of a massive
building project that’s seeing the
runway getting vital resurfacing work
and, while the huge and expensive
kit is over here, the roads around St
Mary’s resurfaced. At the same time,
the Porthloo Boat Park is having a
complete upgrade, including a new
slipway and hard standing. And building the new managed office facilities
at Porthmellon will be underway
soon too.
It’s absolutely vital work. Without
a working runway the islands tourist economy will die. And the severe
storms this winter have left out
roads in a perilous state. But some
visitors have contacted Radio Scilly
to ask why it has to be done during
the tourist season. “We come here
for peace and quiet,” they say. Some
have said this is the third year of visiting while major building work has
been taking place. Ominously, some
have said it will be the last.
Much of the work is being funded
by European grants and the deadline
for completing it is the end of this
year. Delays and hiccups in planning
by the Council and Duchy means
the work has had to take place over
the summer months, however much
they’ve tried to avoid it.
At the end of the day, Scilly is a living, breathing community. We have to
build for our future, however painful
that may be for our loyal visitors who
come year after year. Just remember,
the off-islands of Bryher, Tresco, St
Martin’s and St Agnes remain some
of the most peaceful places in the
country where you can still often
grab a whole beach to yourself!
I just hope that 2015 will be a bit
quieter on St Mary’s…
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newsletter
May | 2014
scilly
LIFE
Route Subsidy ‘Will Deter Airlines’
A
subsidy on Scilly’s sea route could
deter new airlines from starting
services here. That’s the warning given
by Council Officer Diana Mompoloki
at last month’s Transport Users Forum,
attended by over 70 islanders.
Diana said a winter boat service
could make Scilly air routes less lucrative to new operators. Last Spring the
Council hired aviation experts Parsons
Brinckerhoff to find additional airlines
to serve Scilly. Operators from Scotland and other UK islands were identified but no companies wanted to proceed then. But Diana told the meeting
that companies were now in contact
with the Council. The thing that they
are “most scared of is that we’ll get
subsidy,” she said. Council Chief Executive Theo Leisjer said they couldn’t
reveal who they are, for commercial
confidentiality reasons.
Mr Leisjer went on to explain that
it would be “impossible” to get a government subsidy to operate transport
services to Scilly, because of the high
level of service currently offered by
the Steamship Company. Diana told attendees how so-called Public Service
Obligations, or PSO’s work. It isn’t a
subsidy.A PSO is the approval to spend
money to support a route. She claimed
that the Council would need to find
that cash if a PSO was awarded. That
could be “a large sum of money,” which
is why the Council is “a little uncertain” about applying one, she says.
But Cornwall’s Lead Officer for
Transport, Nigel Blackler, told the
meeting that his Council had recently
been awarded a 4-year PSO on the air
route between London and Newquay,
and the government had confirmed
Radio Scilly
that it will provide funding. He said
they had to prove the route was unviable after Flybe announced last year
that it was pulling out.
Diana reiterated that a PSO can’t be
given on a route where there’s already
an adequate service. But that led to
calls for the Council to pursue a winter
boat PSO because when the Scillonian
service finishes in Autumn, there’s no
way of travelling if it’s foggy. Some attendees claimed that there isn’t a yearround boat service, as the Council had
argued, because you cannot book the
Gry Maritha.You can only travel on the
cargo vessel at the Master’s discretion.
Marian Bennett of transport campaign group FRIST, speaking from the
audience, “thanked” Ms Mompoloki for
giving “all the reasons why it’s no-cando when it comes to a subsidy.” She
accused the Council of making no effort to pursue revenue support for
the route adding that she wished Scilly
could express “the same feistiness” as
the Scottish Islands. Marian said the
subsidised Islay ferry often runs with
only 15 passengers in winter, but is
considered a vital public service.
Avril Mumford asked about the potential for freight subsidy. Diana said
councillors had already agreed to explore that. James Francis felt that a subsidy for St Mary’s airport, rather than
the operator, could be a way forward
because it would reduce landing charges, which could be passed on to the
passengers. But Diana said that would
still require a PSO and would be regarded as state aid.
No decision on how to proceed was
taken at the Council-convened meeting.
Scillonian III Given
Brussels Green Light
T
ransport regulators in Brussels have given the green light
for the Scillonian III to continue
operating on routes between the
mainland and Scilly. That’s according to a report by Justin Stares,
the Editor of European shipping
news website, maritimewatch.eu.
Safety modifications agreed by
the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Steamship
Company have brought the 37year old vessel in line with European Union law, the Commission
said in a statement. A plan put forward last year to upgrade a noncompliant fire sprinkler system
had been rejected by Brussels.
But a new back-up pump plan has
been agreed. It means the ship will
be able to serve the islands until
2018. The vessel was extensively
refurbished in 2012.
There was concern that EU
safety laws would force the vessel, which is very old by European
standards, off the route. The rare
tussle between the UK maritime
authorities and the Commission’s
Directorate-General for Mobility
and Transport had reached the
UK parliament, where questions
were asked.
Chairman of the Penzance
Chamber of Commerce and
member of FRIST, Dick Cliffe, said
he was “delighted and relieved.”
The Steamship Company said
they had nothing to add to the
statement.
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Radio Scilly
May | 2014
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newsletter
May | 2014
No Problem Financing Scillonian Replacement
T
he Chief Executive of the Steamship
Company has said they’ll have no
problems financing a replacement for
the Scillonian III.
Rob Goldsmith was speaking at last
month’s Transport User Forum, in response to a question from St Mary’s
resident Nick Jenkins. Nick asked how
the company would be able to service
a loan of up to £25m to replace the 37year old vessel. He put it to Mr Goldsmith that it could cost up to £2.2m a
year, way above the current profit made
by the company. But Rob said he didn’t
recognise that figure and it was “complete supposition” that they wouldn’t
be able to raise the cash. He said there
were a range of alternatives available,
including a new, bespoke ship, a modified second hand boat or even extending the life of the Scillonian III for a few
more years.
“It’s in good nick,” said Rob and is registered to 2019, although he stressed
he’s not proposing that.
Rob also refuted claims that there
were no suitable second-hand vessels
on the market. The company had already identified a number of ships, he
said, but they’re not in a position to
decide which option is best yet. Nick
asked the Council’s Chief Executive,
Theo Leisjer, whether Scilly could manage without a boat service. “There’ll always be a ferry,” he said, because the
Steamship Company makes the majority
of their profits through the sea link. But
he added that it was their problem, not
his.
Ray Wornes questioned why the Scillonian III sails from Penzance in the
morning and back from Scilly in the afternoon. He said that causes “enormous
stress” for travellers. But Rob said he
hadn’t heard complaints about that before and any change would cause inconvenience to people on the opposite side
of the route. Ray also complained about
the stability of the vessel and questioned
why passengers would get on board a
boat knowing they might be unwell.
Mr Goldsmith said seasickness is a
well-known problem with the Scillonian,
caused by the flat keel and size of the
boat, which induces rolling. He wished
there was a magic solution but added
it was just something we’d all have to
live with. The Steamship Company boss
rejected calls for a winter boat service, saying the commercial demand
was low. They’d rather invest in making
Land’s End airport more resilient to bad
weather, he said.
Co-op Accused Of Failing The Islands
T
he Co-op’s Hugh Town store is failing the islands by not doing enough
to provide essentials for locals. That’s
the view of some islanders who have
taken to social media to voice their
frustration about a recent lack of basic
goods like milk and bread.
Earlier this year the Manchester-based
management of the national chain
promised to improve service and stock
levels following the appointment of a
new store manager. But many locals
have complained about empty shelves
and mouldy perishables. One local has
alleged that milk three days past its sellby date was on sale.
Accommodation provider Sheila
Thomas is one of the residents who has
written to the Co-op to express her
dissatisfaction. She says she understands
the quay at Penzance is still being repaired, but there should be no problem
loading goods onto the Gry. Sheila says
she wants a “proper” service where
customers can get everyday items regularly, “so we can live.” She’s worried the
problems with the Co-op will affect our
Radio Scilly
tourist industry. Sheila says she wants to
support the Hugh Town store and tries
not to use mainland suppliers, but that’s
becoming more difficult. She feels the
local manager should be more visible
and talk with shoppers.
Responding to the complaints, a
spokesperson from Co-op head office
says there is no excuse for mouldy produce. They say the store team will endeavour to carry out more regular and
thorough checks. The Co-op added that
issues with bread availability should now
be resolved, as they have amended their
delivery process to ensure better availability. The problem with a lack of milk
was caused by human error and has
now been rectified.
The Co-op says that the store is impacted by the delivery options available
and they are currently in discussions
with the Steamship Company about returning to the six-day-a-week delivery
schedule for some fresh lines. This will
help them cater for the higher demand
during the tourist season.
A Scilly Bee
Mixed Fortunes For
Scilly’s Bees
A
new report suggests that up
to eight species of bee could
be extinct across Cornwall and
the Isles of Scilly with a further
eleven under threat.
The data, published by wildlife
charity Buglife, is the first time the
information has been recorded at
the county level, although separate
figures for Scilly weren’t included.
Julie Love from Scilly’s Wildlife
trust says we have six bee species
on the islands. While she couldn’t
confirm if any of our bees have
become extinct, she said both the
Scilly bee and the red-tailed bumblebee are both in severe decline.
Julie says this is due to a lack of
nesting areas and foraging grounds,
as well as climate change.
One type of bee, the early bumblebee is a recent addition to the
Scilly. It’s thought to have flown
over from the mainland, while another, the buff-tailed bumblebee
is actually increasing in numbers.
Unfortunately this species is also
now active all year round and gets
the best nesting areas, says Julie, at
the expense of some of our rare
bees. The distance from the mainland means Scilly has remained
free of the varroa mite, which has
devastated bee colonies on the
mainland.
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newsletter
St Agnes High In
Wedding League Tables
S
t Agnes has the third highest
percentage of residents who
are married or in civil partnerships in England and Wales. Almost two-thirds of residents
are in formal relationships according to data compiled by
the Royal Mail to mark the
40th anniversary of the postcode. Only areas of Worcester
and parts of Poole have a higher
percentage.
Canon Paul Miller has worked
in parishes in Kent and Devon
before Scilly. He says in larger
areas it isn’t possible to know
everyone but in Scilly it seems
that marriage and civil union
remains popular. There seems
to be a strong sense of family,
he says, and only this week he’s
been talking to three different
couples about planning their
marriage. Paul has been working to promote the off-island
churches as wedding venues
and he says his promotional
work with the Islands’ Partnership has brought results so far.
Tresco Estate have been doing a lot to encourage visitors
to get married here, he says,
and that can have big benefits
for tourism. Wedding couples
often bring up to 60 family and
friends with them, who get to
see Scilly and might return on
their own in the future.
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
St Martin’s Man Recounts Philippines
Disaster Work For Shelterbox
A
St Martin’s man who spent two
weeks in the Philippines helping Shelterbox deliver aid to remote
communities has described his experience there as “very positive.”
Ben Julian, the joint owner of
Churchtown Farm, says it was “surreal” to be dropped into a disaster
zone, having to hit the ground running
then return back to everyday life on
St Martin’s at the end of it. Typhoon
Haiyan tore a 100-mile wide path
of destruction through the Philippines last November, and Shelterbox
was one of the first charities on the
scene. Ben’s team was actually one of
the last in the region, and they were
trying to reach remote mountainous areas where people hadn’t already received aid. He says farmers in
these areas literally had their
houses blown off the mountains, which meant they had
to leave their farms to find
safety in the valleys.
Ben says the deployment
was an unusual one, because
they weren’t handing out
traditional green shelterboxes. They focussed on tents
and solar lights, which allowed the farmers to return
to their land and start earning money again. Ben says
the worst of the disaster had
passed and he was lucky not
to have to encounter any
very harrowing scenes. But he says it
was still upsetting to see people’s lives
destroyed and was amazed by how
positive and helpful they were and
how much they appreciated the help.
This was Ben’s first international deployment and he says that while the
Shelterbox training is very thorough,
it can’t prepare you for everything
you’re going to encounter. He says you
have to “make it up as you go along”
and quickly get set up as a team. Ben
says the local group of volunteers,
many of them student nurses, were
incredible and he intends to keep in
touch with the friends he made there.
You can find out more about the charity by visiting their website at shelterbox.org.
‘Considerable Challenge’ To Keep Out Rat
K
eeping St Agnes and Gugh free of
rats is going to present a “considerable challenge,” says island councillor, Richard McCarthy. They’re asking
the public to be vigilant and report
any sightings.
The Seabird Recovery Project is trying to encourage breeding of storm
petrel and Manx shearwater by removing rodents from their nesting
areas. They say there have been no
signs of rats on the two islands for 20
weeks. New Zealand-based specialists
Wildlife Management International
carried out the key rat removal phase
of the project from November to
March and were joined by more than
twenty Seabird Task Force Volunteers
during the five-week period.
All 85 islanders assisted the operation. The project has provided
residents with secure compost and
wheelie bins to ensure good waste
management. Tim Hicks of Troytown
Farm says locals are going to remain
vigilant for rat signs and he’s encouraging all visitors to do the same. If
you see one you’re asked to ‘Rat on
a Rat’ by calling 422153. The project
team and islanders will then inspect
the area and set up surveillance and
response measures. They’ll also reinstall a 50m baiting grid in the immediate area. Project Manager Jaclyn Pearson said the colonies of seabirds are
about to return and already they have
a brighter future.
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newsletter
May | 2014
Tresco Church To Be ‘Wired For Sound’
T
resco’s St Nicholas Church
will soon be ‘wired for sound.’
Canon Paul Miller says the Diocese has approved a new speaker
system, which will be installed
once the refurbishment work is
complete. Part of the church seating is in recesses or transepts and
some worshippers find it hard to
follow the service when they are
seated there. The new equipment
Radio Scilly
will address that. Paul says he had
voice projection lessons when he
was in ecclesiastical college but
microphones are an accepted part
of church services now and it is
important that people can hear
what is going on.
Work to reslate the roof and deal
with damp will start on September 26th. The project, which has
received £106,000 from the Herit-
age Lottery Fund, should be complete by Easter 2015. The Church
Council meeting also backed plans
to buy Old Town Church a mobile
loudspeaker connected to a radio
microphone. Paul says if there’s a
well-attended funeral or wedding
there, guests often have to stand
outside.
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May | 2014
Boatmen’s Association Welcomes New Member
S
t Mary’s Boatmen’s Association has
a new member.
Paul Osborne has joined the business after buying the Meridian from
former owner Jeremy Philips. Paul has
been an independent boatman in Scil-
ly for almost 22 years, starting out in
1992 with the Wanderer, before purchasing the well-known Blue Hunter
in 1999. He says joining the Boatmen’s
Association will give him more job security. In previous years he’s lost up to
3 weeks work when engine problems
meant his boat couldn’t be used.
Paul says everyone in Scilly has to
work harder these days. Customers don’t just turn up any more, he
says. You have to get out there and
give them good service and value for
money. Paul says he doesn’t want to
walk in and start changing the Association, which has been running successfully for many years, because he’s
still learning how it all works. He says
he’ll just put forward his views and
talk to other members.
We asked Paul if he’d miss the Blue
Hunter. He says it’s impossible not to
get attached to your boats, when you
spend so much time painting, polishing
or fixing them. But he already seems
to be getting used to his new purchase. Paul says the Meridian is 15ft
longer than Blue Hunter, but is easy
to manoeuvre and handles beautifully.
MCA U-turn Over Costly Boatmen Medical Testing
T
he Maritime and Coastguard
Agency says they will alter their
procedures for boatmen’s medical
exams following islanders’ concerns.
Their change of heart could save
the islands’’ boatmen thousands of
pounds each year.
Maritime Officer Steve Watt says anyone skippering a larger boat carrying
over 12 passengers requires an ENG1
medical test. But since Dr Hessing retired earlier this year, nobody at the
Health Centre has been authorised
to test boatmen. Currently boatmen
need to make a costly mainland trip
every two years, or annually for those
over 60, to see one of just five doctors with accreditation in Cornwall.
22 skippers fall into this category in
Scilly, says Steve. Skippers of smaller
boats need a less rigorous medical,
which can still be performed locally.
Lead GP John Garman told us that
he was keen for one of our doctors
to be authorised to perform ENG1
tests. But the MCA wouldn’t allow it
as they only issue a certain number of
licences and there wasn’t available for
Scilly. Steve Watt has been negotiating
with the MCA on behalf of boatmen,
and they told Radio Scilly that they
had listened to locals’ concerns and
they are now trying to appoint to a
doctor to test in Scilly. John Garman
says it is great news that the MCA is
now making that provision.
Uptake of Medical Consultations By Video Remains Low
L
ess than 1 in 50 hospital consultations for islands’ patients is being
conducted by videoconference or telephone, with the majority of residents
still having to travel to the mainland.
Islander Andy Chesterman raised the
issue at the recent Transport User
Forum. He asked why the recently
installed video facilities at the Health
Centre weren’t being used.
Officer for Health and Wellbeing,
Aisling Hick, told attendees that the
Council had invested in the equipment and some teleconsultations had
taken place. But not every doctor at
Treliske had signed up yet and the
Council was working to improve that.
Aisling confirmed after the meeting
Radio Scilly
that between April 2013 and January
2014, 38 out of 2138 RCHT appointments were conducted by teleconsultation or by phone. She said the
Council is also looking to increase the
use of the new X-ray system installed
at St Mary’s Hospital and have bought
‘point of care’ testing equipment to
avoid having to send samples to the
mainland. But Aisling said the transport issues still remain relevant because some patients will always need
to travel for a face-to-face meeting
with their consultant.
Aisling told Radio Scilly that the
partnership responsible for health on
the islands are keen to minimise medical travel and bring services closer
to people, because it creates better
outcomes. And she said in many rural
areas internationally, technology has
proved successful in helping people
to access health services across large
distances. The Council is also looking
to pilot a project with BT, using new
telehealth and telecare devices to
promote independent living and overcome social isolation. GPs at Scilly’s
Health Centre introduced the option
of appointments by Skype to residents last year. We asked representatives from NHS Kernow what they
were doing to encourage consultants
at Treliske to take up the technology
but they haven’t got back to us with a
response yet.
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May | 2014
History Of The Scillonian Dialect Studied
A
linguist who has made detailed
studies on the way Scillonians speak
English is looking for more women to
help with her research.
Dr Emma Moore, from Sheffield University, has spent the last few years recording island residents and working
out if there’s a distinct Scillonian dialect.
And she’s recently presented her findings at an academic conference. Emma
says the language here in Scilly is very
complicated and tends to be a mix of influences from different areas. There is a
‘standard Scillonian’ with certain vowel
and consonant sounds that are very different from our neighbours across the
water in Cornwall. But one of her most
surprising findings is there’s also a second dialect, which is much closer to how
people in East Cornwall speak, rather
than people nearer to us in the West
of the county. That’s because when immigration to Scilly started in the 1600s,
the inhabitants of the west were speaking Cornish, while those in the East
spoke English. We’ve tended to carry on
with that version of English. There’s no
record that Cornish was ever spoken
in Scilly, even though many of our place
names come from that language.
Emma says the 1891 census records
show that 80% of people living in Scilly
at the time were born here. But there
was still a large proportion of residents
from as far afield as London, Ireland,
Lancashire and Yorkshire, and that could
also influence our dialect. Emma says
there’ are strong differences between
the way women and men use English
in Scilly. That’s quite common in other
dialects, she says, but the pattern here is
unusual, with women having a stronger
dialect than men. It’s most likely because
men and women were sent away to different places to get educated on the
mainland. She has plenty of recordings
of men from the islands, but she’s keen
to find more women, particularly those
born after 1930, who would agree to be
interviewed.
Emma’s currently writing a series of
academic papers on her research, which
she hopes to publish soon. But she’s also
planning to put together a book, which
she feels would be more accessible to
non-experts and include some aspects
of the history of the islands and how it
affects the way we talk.You can also find
out more on Emma’s website at www.
hrionline.ac.uk/scillyvoices.
Scilly To Get Its Own
‘Bee World’
S
cilly will get it’s own ‘Bee World’
this summer, courtesy of the islands’ Women’s Institute. It’s part
of a national campaign to halt the
decline in the insect’s numbers.
WI member Pam Manning says
the Carreg Dhu garden committee has given her permission to
convert around 100 square metres
into a wild meadow, the favourite
habitat of many bees. Pam says
wild meadows are under threat
even on Scilly, with fields being
turned over to growing bulbs or
for grazing animals. She’s appealing for local and visiting gardeners
to give her a hand preparing the
ground for planting, using a mixture of wild grasses and flowers
such as yarrow, oxeye daisy and
birdsfoot trefoil. Carreg Dhu is already a beautiful wildlife sanctuary,
says Pam, and she’s hoping once
the committee see how well the
meadow fits in, they might expand
it further.
1940’s Musical Tribute To Celebrate D-Day Landings
I
slanders will be able to relive the music
of the 1940’s at a special celebration
in June, to mark the 70th anniversary of
the Normandy landings.
‘Keep Smiling Through’ has been organised by Jenny Byers, who says the
idea came from discussions with some
of the elderly residents who attend the
Memory Café sessions at Carn Gwaval.
Jenny says they wanted to do something special to mark the event, but felt
it might be insensitive to celebrate war.
So they’re focussing on the experiences
of people left at home during that time,
who had to make the best of life, hence
the title.
The day-long series of events starts
in the afternoon with a party for older
islanders. An Andrews Sisters tribute
group, the Three Belles, and their band,
the Bevin Boys, are being brought over
from the mainland for the event.There’ll
also be performances from the Scilly Sirens, The Entertainer’s, St Mary’s Theatre Club, Lesley Thomas’ Dance School
and the school saxophone group. The
afternoon will be rounded off by a tea
party and dance, accompanied by the
Sunset Syncopaters band.
Jenny says she’s amazed by how the lo-
Radio Scilly
cal community has rallied around to help
fund the event. She’s received a £700
donation from the Radio Scilly Lottery
Fund, as well as money from Cornwall
Rural Council, the Duchy and several
private individuals. The islands’ Inner
Wheel are providing the refreshments
during the afternoon.
In the evening, the music continues
with ‘In the Mood,’ with a bar run by
the Rotary Club. Jenny says it should
be good fun, with a touch of nostalgia
thrown in. Attendees will be encouraged
to dress in 40’s style and hairdressers
will be on hand to help with styling. And
she says even though the younger members of the community might not know
the music, it’s so catchy that they’ll soon
be dancing along.
Jenny says she feels this could be the
last big anniversary event from the war
period for many of the older members
of the community, who are starting to
get very frail. She says she wants it to
be really special for them. Keep Smiling Through and In the Mood are taking
place in the Town Hall on Sunday June
1st. Jenny says tickets will go on sale in
May.
Over 350 Bee Worlds have been
set up across the country, ranging
from small plots to several acres.
The WI are asking their members
to write to Lord de Mauley, the
Minister for Bees, to ensure the
National Pollinator Strategy is as
strong as it can be. They’re also
encouraging support for farmers
to reduce pesticide use, which is
thought to be a factor in the decline.
Pam says bees are vital for the
environment and it’s important
for honeybees and our own Scilly
bee to survive. She said island residents can do their own bit too, by
leaving a corner of their garden
wild for bees to enjoy.
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May | 2014
scilly
999
Police Seek Information On Vandalism
S
t Mary’s Police are appealing for
information on the vandalism of a
Hugh Town shop in the early hours of
May 3rd, the Saturday of Gig Weekend.
The Papershop had a large amount
of paint daubed over the front door
and windows. Sergeant Colin Taylor
says the criminal damage happened
sometime between 4am and 7am. He
says there was some noise and rowdiness around 3.15am and people may
have heard this, but he says the damage happened later than that. Colin
wants to hear about anyone seen with
extensive pale-coloured paint on their
hands or body this morning.
He’s disappointed this has happened.
Colin says there were five officers out
that night with a highly visible presence but the incident happened after
they clocked off at 4am.Papershop
owner Clive Mumford has thanked
Katie Graham, Terry Ward, Dave Baxter, Barry Wright, Ben from The Farm
Deli shop, Clive’s daughters Vicki and
Selena and his grandchildren, Don
Bates, Stuart Hitchens and PC Mat
Crow, who all helped him and Avril to
clean up this morning before opening.
Sgt Taylor says anyone with information should contact the police station
on 422 444.
St Mary’s Businessman Hurt In London Mugging
A
St Mary’s businessman hospitalised after an attack in London
says he’s been overwhelmed by messages of support from the islands.
Tolman Café operator Adam Smith’s
jaw was broken in four places when
he was attacked by a mugger with a
metal cosh. Adam had been to see a
show in the West End on the evening
of Saturday 3rd May when he stopped
to give cash to a beggar. He struck up
a conversation with the woman and
asked her for directions to a taxi rank.
But she sent him towards her accomplice, who then knocked Adam to the
ground. His cries for help were heard
by a passer-by and his attacker ran off
with just a mobile phone. Adam spent
two days in hospital.
He says living in Scilly has possibly made him a lot more trusting of
people than he was when he lived in
Birmingham in the past. And he says
the attack has made him more nervous of visiting large cities. Adam needs
Radio Scilly
further operations to his damaged jaw
but has discharged himself from hospital because he says he feels obligated
Adan Smith from Tolman Cafe
to open the business next week. He
says his staff will be relying on him for
the work. But he says his workers and
locals have been very kind with their
messages of support.
Adam says he looks like he’s, “done
five rounds with Mike Tyson” but feels
lucky because people like his attacker
don’t care about life. He’s now back on
the islands.
Two Arrests In Two
Days For Alleged
Drink Driving
T
he Police have made two arrests within two days for alleged drink.
A Bryher resident was stopped
on April 10th during a police
patrol on the island and was
taken by Sgt Colin Taylor to St
Mary’s, where a sample of blood
was provided. It was sent to the
mainland for analysis. Colin says
it’s the first arrest for alleged
drink driving on an off-island that
he is aware of.
And on April 12th, a St Mary’s
man aged in his 20’s was arrested
just after 1am by PC Mat Crowe.
The male was driving a car on
Church Street when he was
stopped and taken to St Mary’s
Police Station, where blood samples were taken.
Sergeant Colin Taylor says the
islands’ police are “deadly serious” about enforcing drink drive
law as drinking and driving “can
and does ruin lives.” He says
there can be no excuses for it anywhere, let alone Scilly. Colin has
directed the islands’ three police
officers to wear their breathalyzers whilst on patrol from now
on, as a matter of routine. He
says he hasn’t launched a specific
crackdown and he’s got no data
to suggest that we’re any different from the mainland in terms
of drink driving numbers.
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Cannabis Caution Issued
A
St Mary’s resident has received a police cannabis caution.
The woman was stopped in Hugh
Town by PC Tracey Fuller. PC Fuller was covering police leave, and
was acting on intelligence. He retrieved an amount of the banned
drug in a plant form, enough to
fill half a mug. Police feel it was intended for personal use.
While some islanders have argued previously that dealing with
small amounts of cannabis isn’t a
good use of police time, Sergeant
Colin Taylor says his team are
just upholding the law. He says if
they have information that people
might have drugs, they have to investigate it. But Colin says there’s
nothing to suggest there’s an increase in the amount of use.
Alleged Assaults
Investigated
May | 2014
Hospital League Looking For New Members
T
he St Mary’s Community and
Hospital League of Friends wants
to find new committee members.
Eleven people attending last month’s
annual general meeting at Park House
heard that some longstanding officials
are to step down. Pat Hayden will relinquish her treasurer role after 15
years and Ann Mumford will end her
11-year chairmanship. Both women
feel there needs to be new input into
the group to drive it forward.
Ann says charities like Cancer Research UK are assisted by their larger
mainland organisations, whereas the
League is entirely operated in Scilly
with all money raised helping Park
House, the hospital or Health Centre.
This year around £11,858 has been
donated. They’ve funded a warfarin tester and mole monitor for the
Health Centre and an electric, adjustable bed and mattress for Park House.
They’ve received £9,211 income with
some of this being raised by groups
outside of the League.
Hospital staff arranged their own
sponsored bed push and the Scillonian
Club and St Martin’s Reading Room
quiz nights have also made donations.
Ann told the AGM that she was sorry
that few people have applied to their
fund that assists parents with the cost
of travel when their children are in
mainland hospital. She says she understands that people might be embarrassed to request help but it was
better to ask rather than struggle. The
money can be used to pay for overnight stays or transport costs.
The League hopes to fund a makeover for the hospital garden this year
and they also want to update some of
the hospital beds. Jenny Byers says it
is likely there will be an event at the
Health Centre again, as last year’s was
very successful, and possibly a cream
tea toward the end of the season.
They will also have a flag day later in
the year.
S
t Mary’s police are investigating
two separate allegations of assault made during Gig Weekend.
Two people from different gig
clubs have claimed that they were
shoved during an altercation on
Town Beach on the Sunday evening. The trophy presentation was
underway at the time, but Sergeant Colin Taylor from Scilly’s Police Team says a number of people
have come forward to make statements. Neither individual sustained
physical injury and Colin says the
police investigation continues.
Police Station Gets New
Emergency Phone
Locals and visitors who need to
contact the police on St Mary’s
in an emergency or for a general
matter have a new facility. A direct
dial phone has been installed on
the outside wall of the police station.
There are two buttons -one connects to 999 for urgent issues that
pose a risk to life or property, the
other routes to 101 for less important matters. Calls are handled
in Plymouth and staff there can
decide whether an officer in Scilly
needs to be dispatched urgently.
Radio Scilly
Busy Weekend For Air Ambulance In Scilly
T
he weekend of the 11th April was
a busy time for the Cornwall Air
Ambulance, with the helicopter flying
four missions to Scilly over a 72-hour
period.
Paramedics were called to the islands early on the Friday morning to
attend a female patient with a hand
injury. She was airlifted to the Royal
Cornwall Hospital in Treliske. While
on Saturday the charity-funded service attended two incidents. The first
was at 11.30am, to evacuate a baby
boy with a chest infection. Later in the
day another patient, an elderly male,
was airlifted from St Mary’s suffering
from an intracranial haemorrhage.The
aircraft was back in the air on Sunday
afternoon, attending to an adult male
who was taken to Treliske with severe
abdominal pain.
PR Officer Tom Matthews says there
were a particularly high number of
calls to the islands over this period.
He said it’s thanks to the support of
the public, including the people and
businesses of Scilly, that islanders get
the best possible care, fast. The charity normally expects an average of one
incident on the islands each week.
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New Life Saving System
Installed On Quay
T
he Duchy of Cornwall has
purchased a new state-ofthe-art defibrillator for St Mary’s
quay.
Harbourmaster Dale Clark
says it’ll be an invaluable piece
of medical equipment, especially
with the older age profile of the
visitors who use the harbour.
That includes a growing number of cruise ship passengers.
The system can be used by anyone without medical or first aid
training. Dale says the system
will talk the user through what
they need to do, step-by-step, if
they encounter someone having
a heart attack. That could give
them added confidence to use it
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
in the vital minutes before medical attention arrives.
He says they’ve been considering the purchase for over a
year now and the system wasn’t
cheap. But if it helps save someone then it’s worth it, says Dale.
It’ll be positioned at the entrance to the waiting room on
the quay, which is accessible 24
hours a day.
Fire Service Called To
Controlled Burn
S
t Mary’s fire fighters were
called out just after 9.30am
on May 5th to a property near
Harry’s Walls.
Emergency services were contacted when smoke was seen
rising from the site overlooking Porthmellon Beach. An en-
gine was dispatched but the Fire
Control Room in Truro says
no more appliances were sent
when crew discovered that a
controlled burn was underway.
Telegraph Public Phone
Vandalised
L
ocals and visitors to Telegraph have been left without
a working payphone after BT
equipment in the phone box
there has been vandalised.
BT Engineer on St Mary’s Stuart Moore says the handset was
smashed. Stuart says that “takes
some doing” and the glass that
protects the display has also
been scratched. He says people
often use that box to call taxis.
The damage has been reported
to St Mary’s Police.
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May | 2014
scilly
TIME OFF
Countryfile Exposure For Scilly Brings
Surge in Online Activity
O
ver six million viewers
watched BBC1’s Easter Sunday Countryfile episode featuring the Isles of Scilly. And publicity
from the popular programme is
already benefitting some islands’
businesses.
Unlike previous years when
primetime TV exposure brought
phone calls, most of the activity
now appears to be online. Julian
Pearce from the Council’s Economic Development Team says
that the TIC didn’t record an increase in email or phone calls.
Most interested viewers have gone
to the website. Amanda Pender
Kris Taylor from Veronica Farm
from the Islands’ Partnership says
visits to the Simply Scilly website
had 5,000 hits in the 24 hours after
the broadcast. The average per day
is between 1,200 and 1,400.
Sharon Sandercock of the Isles
of Scilly Steamship Company has
echoed that. She says their website
Radio Scilly
viewing spiked with around 3,500
hits between 7pm and 8pm, when
Countryfile aired. Sharon also reported increased activity on their
Facebook and Twitter feeds. Sabine
Schraudolph of the IOS Country
Guesthouse said her online bookings were up 20% on the previous
weekend, while Daniel Lawson of
the Bell Rock Hotel reports increased enquiries without anyone
specifically mentioning the show.
Some of the businesses featured
have all reported extra enquiries.
Sam Hicks of Troytown Farm says
he’s had calls and Kris Taylor says
she’s had an upturn in orders for
her Bryher-made fudge after it was
featured on the programme. Kris
says within minutes of the programme ending, the orders were
“flying in” and she spent the whole
of the Monday making fudge to fulfil the demand. Kris also says islanders need to accept that most business now seems to be conducted
on the internet and people need
to respond to that with good websites and online booking facilities.
Julian Pearce says the programme
has provided an additional talking
point for people on holiday here.
He says the coverage seems to reaffirms their choice of the islands
as a destination, increasing their
enjoyment as being “part of the
island experience” and hopefully
giving them more reason to return
again.
Tresco To Stage
Pioneering Art Exhibition
T
resco will be the setting for a pioneering outdoor art exhibition
this summer, the first of its kind in
the UK. Bristol-based artist Anthony
Garratt will be capturing the island’s
scenery on large canvasses at four
different locations. He’ll then display
the finished works at the same spot
they were painted.
Anthony has been a resident artist
on Tresco for five years and his work
takes inspiration from the environment and the weather. He says although the island is small, it has a varied and fascinating landscape. And by
exhibiting the paintings in the place
they were created, visitors will see
their appearance change as the light
and weather shifts around them.
Each landscape will take about a
day to create, starting at the end of
May. They’ll remain on display until
September. Tresco is home to one of
the largest collections of 20th British art in the South West, comparable to that held at the Tate in St Ives.
Owner Robert Dorrien-Smith said
art is deeply rooted in the island and
doing an exhibition on this scale was
a natural decision. He’s says he’s sure
Anthony’s paintings will become a
talking point for both residents and
guests.
Artist Anthony Garratt
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May | 2014
TV Crew Film German Drama On Tresco
A
crew from German television has
been filming on Tresco this month.
They’re shooting a Rosamunde Pilcher
romantic comedy in and around the Sea
Garden Cottages and Abbey Gardens.
Her books are especially popular in
Germany. National TV station ZDF has
produced more than 100 of her stories
for TV, where the adaptations occupy a
prime time Sunday evening slot. Her influence in bringing German tourists to
Cornwall was recognised in 2002 when
she was awarded the British Tourism
Award.
Tresco’s Marketing Manager Alasdair
Moore says the exposure will be good
for all the islands and he’s hopeful that
if the shoot goes well, the production
company will return for more filming
here. The island will be referred to as
“the Isles of Cornish” in the episode.
Star Castle Backdrop For Austrian Pop Video
A
n Austrian pop star has chosen the
Star Castle as the backdrop for her
new video.
Alexandra Lexer came ashore from
cruise ship The Azores while it was visiting the islands. Her film crew saw the
castle from The Roads, where the ship
was moored, and realised they’d found
the perfect location for the shoot. It
was Alexandra’s first time in England.
Her stylist Margot Reen told us that
the crew were struck by how beauti-
ful Scilly is, although they didn’t realise
that when they first arrived, because it
was foggy. Luckily the skies cleared to
give the perfect conditions for filming.
Alexandra mimed the words to her new
song for the video on the ramparts yesterday lunchtime. The finished film for a
German TV pop show is being made to
promote her new single, which translates as ‘Absolute Craziness.’ It should
be online in about a month.
St Agnes Musician Creates Music To Row To
A
St Agnes musician has released a
taster of a new CD of tunes celebrating Scilly’s long history of gig rowing.
Piers Lewin, who plays in the popular
folk group The Rough Island Band, says
his ‘Gig Jigs’ have been inspired by traditional melodies related to the wooden
rowing vessels, and mix instruments
with voices and even recordings from
last year’s championships. Piers says unlike most Celtic outposts, Scilly doesn’t
have any traditional music. He thinks
that’s because people were constantly
coming and going over the years, always
bringing new ideas cultures. And he says
gig rowing is the nearest thing we have
to a native culture.
The tempo of the tunes has been in-
Radio Scilly
spired by his experiences rowing for 10
years in the Shah gig and he says he’s fascinated by the way words and sound can
be mixed. His tracks include a new take
on a traditional melody used to start
19th century Cornish rowing regattas. ‘Off She Goes’ is interspersed with
snippets of Steve Watts’ commentary
from finishing line last year, as Falmouth
Ladies took the top place. Another tune,
Ralph Bird, celebrates the work of the
man who helped revive gig rowing and
built over thirty of the boats that people will see on the water this weekend.
He was a frequent visitor to St Agnes
and often stayed in Pier’s guesthouse.
Pier’s has release his album online at
www.fullofnoises.co.uk.
Second ‘Aggy Fest’ Set
For July
T
he second St Agnes-based
music event, Aggy Fest, on
Saturday July 26th will be bigger and will support one of the
islands’ most popular charities.
And this year there will be a
band from the mainland. Two
former Troytown Farm workers
are bringing their group, Room
6, over for the event. Organiser
Rob Seddon says they’ll fund
their own travel and that means
more money will go to the festival’s new cause, the Cornwall
Air Ambulance. They’ll receive
half of the funds, with the rest
going to the Island Hall project.
Rob says even though the
building will be complete, the
festival will continue to be held
outdoors.The new hall will only
be used to store instruments
or if the weather’s bad. For the
future, Rob says they’d love to
extend Aggy Fest into a 2-day
event, but it’s difficult finding a
good time when it doesn’t clash
with other events. The festival
also relies on volunteers and
he says he wouldn’t want to
ask too much of them. Rob
says he’s very grateful for the
amount of help he received last
year.
Local band All Squared Up will
headline and they’ll be supported by Skaramanga, Roadrunner,
Steam Band, Nut Rock and Bone
Idol from the islands.There’ll be
15 bands in total. The event will
start at 12 noon with games
including spacehopper racing,
gladiator duelling and beat-thegoalie. Tickets will be on sale
on the day at the same price as
2013. That’s £5 for adults and
half price for children.
Rob says he’s trying to find
someone to run the bar this
year, perhaps a pub or one of
the licenced clubs. Please contact him if you can help.
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May | 2014
St Mary’s Food Business Wins Awards
T
anglewood Kitchen has won two
Taste of the West Product Awards.
The business gained a Silver Award
for their lamb hot pot and a Bronze
award for their chicken and mushroom pie. That was entered in the
‘Ready Meals, Soups & Light Eats’ category. 21 companies entered 44 products in competition, arranged by the
Taste Of the West membership organisation. They work with food producers and retailers in an area stretching
from the Cotswolds to Scilly.
Tanglewood Kitchen is operated
by Euan and Lindsay Rodger from
premises inside St Mary’s Post Office
since November 2012. Before that
they spent two years providing meals,
cooked in their own kitchen, for purchase by locals and visitors in selfcatering accommodation as well as
lunchtime meals for children who attend Craftikids nursery in Old Town.
Artist Wants To Contact Scilly’s Beekeepers
A
West Cornwall-based artist
wants to make contact with the
islands’ beekeepers so Scilly’s bees
can feature in an art exhibition at Oxford University.
Kurt Jackson wants access to local hives as he prepares a project in
partnership with the Natural History
Museum. He’s passionate about the
insects and as a beekeeper, says he
was keen to put together a collection
of bee-related works for the display
next year. The exhibition will include
lawn sculptures and possibly sketches
and paintings. The artist wants extended and regular access to local
keepers’ hives as he develops his project. Kurt says seeing one of the rare
Scilly bees, last spotted on St Martin’s,
would certainly be a highlight.
Scilly To Encourage More Visitors From Devon
The Islands’ Partnership is working
with Tresco and Skybus in a campaign
to encourage more visitors from
Devon. Tourism Coordinator Amanda
Pender says Scilly will be represented
for the first time at next month’s Devon County Show.
The tourism body has been analysing postcodes of places where many
Scilly regulars live. There’s a cluster
between Taunton and Exeter and it’s
hoped that efforts to promote the
city’s airport as a gateway to the islands will pay off. A display, which
has been used to promote Scilly for
the past three months at the Duchy
Nursery in Liskeard, will provide the
promotional signage, supported by information about the islands and how
to travel here. It is a smaller show
than the Royal Cornwall, which generated thousands of email addresses
for database marketing through a
prize contest last year. But Amanda
say they intend to build on that success at the Devon Show and spread
the message about Scilly as a destination further upcountry.
Tresco will provide prizes for contest entrants. The show is being held
at West Point near Exeter between
the 22nd and 24th of May.
New Tourist Attraction Opens On Bryher
I
slanders and visitors will now be
able to see the islands’ rich-sea life
without getting wet.
Richard and Sheila Drew have
opened a small aquarium over the
weekend at their Bryher boatyard
and chandlery. They’ve recycled the
island’s old water tanks from Watch
Hill and added viewing panel portals
to create a nautical feel. It’s been a
5-week building project for Richard.
He says he’s been planning a fish and
sea life display for years and it’s something he’s been interested in since his
Radio Scilly
childhood growing up in the Devon
fishing town of Brixham.
The water in the tanks is replenished with fresh seawater regularly
and Richard says Bryher boy Seamus
Pender has been helping to collect live
exhibits when he goes out to check
lobster pots with his grandfather. At
the moment the aquarium houses sea
urchin and dogfish and Richard says
it’s a work in progress.The tank is free
to view outside the Bryher Boatyard
Chandlery.
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Radio Scilly
May | 2014
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May | 2014
70-Year-Old Islander Takes On 100-Mile Charity Cycle
A
t 70 years of age, you might understand it if someone wants to
take life a little slower. But one St
Mary’s man intends to undertake a
gruelling 100-mile cycle challenge.
Steve Watt has been accepted as one
of 15,000 cyclists for the ‘London 100’
event, which will see cyclists ride from
the Olympic stadium, across the capital and out to the Surrey countryside.
The event ends at Buckingham Palace.
Steve says it’s a challenge, not a race,
and is hoping to complete it in around
6 hours. That’s an average speed of
15mph he says. He’s riding on behalf
of Diabetes UK after being diagnosed
with the condition 7 years ago.
Steve was bitten by the cycling bug
after taking part in last year’s 50 km
‘Tour de Scilly’ cycling challenge on St
Mary’s, which he completed in under
2 hours.
Island Women Switch Run To Scilly After Travel Plans Thwarted
T
wo St Mary’s women who were
unable to travel to Plymouth for
the city’s half marathon on April 27th,
switched the 13-mile run to St Mary’s.
Rhiannon Wallace and Amelia Mills
were fundraising for the Cornwall Air
Ambulance but were unable to leave
the islands when bad weather halted
flights and prevented the Scillonian
sailing. Amelia said she was “gutted”
not to be able to get to the mainland.
They’d already done the training and
fundraising so decided to carry on
with their own version of the event.
The women set off on the circuit from
outside the Town Hall at 10.30am, accompanied by friends and family.
Amelia said she’s grateful to Helen
Pearce who set up the route. It’s the
one they used for training which she
says was a bit of an advantage - they
knew where the hills were, but they
didn’t have the benefit of the pace
runners along the Plymouth route.
Her daughters cheered her around
the circuit from their car.
Amelia said that she completed the
half marathon in her target time, finishing in 1 hour 48 minutes and she
says Rhiannon also had an “awesome”
race. Marian Gibson also took part.
Afterwards, the women were awarded medals donated by Helen, who had
previously entered the Plymouth run.
Lyme Regis Men Prepare For Transatlantic Record Attempt
T
he boat which two veteran rowers will use in a record-breaking
trans Atlantic row attempt has left for
New York.
Chris Walters and Elliott Dale, who
are both aged in their 50s, are aiming
to beat the 55 day crossing from the
Big Apple to Scilly, set by Norwegian
pair, Samuelson and Harbo in 1896.
The Lyme Regis Gig Club rowers have
already completed a 48-day row from
the Canaries to Barbados as part of
a four-strong crew in 2011. And Elliot
says they are taking preparations in
their stride because they know what
to expect.
The men are undertaking the challenge to fundraise for the Precious
Lives Appeal, which supports three
children’s hospices in the South
West. They’re hoping to raise at least
£300,000. A Dutch family trust has already pledged €30,000 to the appeal
and Elliot says he’s also been raising
money through his participation in
historic rallies. Elliot says their boat is
a bit more hi-tech than the one Samuelson and Harbo set their record in,
and he’s hoping to make the crossing
in 50 days or less. That means they
should reach the islands by 24th July.
St Mary’s Man Beats Previous Best In London Marathon
T
en years after his last London
Marathon run, St Mary’s man Martin Douglas has shaved seven minutes
of his previous time. Martin completed the 26-mile challenge in 3 hours
28 minutes and 13 seconds. And the
49-year-old runner joked that he’ll be
able to do it in 3 hours by the time
he is 80.
Martin says he paced himself more
this time, but the hardest part of the
Radio Scilly
run was at the 20th mile around Canary Wharf, and the heat. He’s been
raising cash for the Children’s Hospice in Cornwall and hopes to have
raised around £800 in total. Martin
says the support from the crowds was
amazing and feels it’s definitely the
best marathon in the world. He wants
to enter the London event for a third
time and intends to run the New York
marathon this autumn.
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May | 2014
Islands’ Newest Boating Company Launches
T
he islands’ newest boating
company is up and running.
Tresco Boat Services started
on the 1st May. They’re using
the Firethorn, and the two jet
boats, Hurricane and Cyclone,
purchased from Bryher Boats
earlier this year.
Manager Dean Whillis says
there’s been some confusion
over the purchase. Owner
Tresco Estate just bought the vessels
and not the whole company. Kathy
Stedeford, who is retiring, will retain
the Bryher Boats name. Some of the
old staff have joined the new venture,
including Ginny Hulands in the Bryher
office and skipper Neil Hanson.When
up to full strength, the team will include Joe Greenlaw and St Mary’s
men, Rick Pender and Joe Thomas.
Dean says his focus will be to maintain the level of customer service built
up by the Stedefords over the past
thirty-odd years. But he says they’re
looking at how they can reduce their
carbon footprint.
They want to operate more services
between the off-islands but decrease
the amount of ‘dead-legging’ that occurs, where a boat goes out full and
comes back empty, before doing this
in reverse when it picks the passengers up again. He’s been talking to
John Peacock from St Agnes about
sharing their services, so one boat
can pick-up and drop-off passengers
at both sides. Offering more options
for travel between St Mary’s, Bryher
and Tresco would need the agree-
ment of the Boatmen’s Association says Dean, but he feels
the new Islands’ Partnership is
a good forum in which to have
those discussions.
Another area where the companies could work together is
online booking. Dean says John
Peacock has developed a great
system, which allows people to
share special, privately-booked
boats. But he says the service on
Tresco is more complicated because
many visitors use an all-inclusive
boating ticket while they’re here. He
says it’s too late to set something up
for this season, but will look to have
something ready for the 2015 season.
Dean says they want to continue operating a mainland service too, when
it’s needed. The company had a ‘baptism of fire’ when they were inundated with calls from people stranded by
the fog at the start of Gig Weekend.
Incoming Theatre Club Chairman To Focus On New Members
S
t Mary’s Theatre Club has a new
Chairman. Gail Sibley took over
the top position at their AGM this
month. She’s been a member for 21
years and her vice-chairman will be
Dave Chodkiewicz.
The club is going through a period
of change as some long-serving members, including Barbara Phillips, Pat
Hayden, Sue and Dennis Milligan and
Maggie Perkovic have stepped down
from their roles.And encouraging new
members will be a key focus for Gail’s
chairmanship this year. She feels succession planning to keep skills within
the club is vital but there’ll be more
multitasking. The cast can no longer
expect to just turn up and perform
– they’ll need to help with things like
sets and make-up too.
Gail says there are lots of opportunities for members of the community
to get involved too, such as artists
who might want to help with sets.
And she says the group is not cliquey
or a ‘closed shop’ like some mainland
dramatic clubs can be. There was a
poor turnout at the auditions for the
summer play. Gail says the first session had just two members and at one
point, she joked, it looked like her and
Kevin Leeman would be performing
‘Educating Rita!’ In the end, they did
manage to get more actors and the
club is planning to stage the comedy
‘Merely Players.’
Some of the problems with recruitment could be down to timing. Gail
feels that their shows form an important part of the islands’ calendar
and visitors look forward to the performances. But they’re also staged
at a time when islanders are busiest.
Gail says putting on a couple of plays
with shorter runs might be less of a
commitment. The pantomime played
to reduced crowds this year and the
scheduling of the show could change
in the future too.
Gail says her aim will be to build on
the strengths of the club’s support
and talented members whilst introducing new ideas. She’s also keen to
see more collaboration with the Five
Islands School, which she has been
very beneficial to both the school and
the club in the past.
Scillonian Boarding Procedures Haven’t Changed Says Company
T
he Steamship Company says they
haven’t changed procedures for
boarding the Scillonian III.
Some islanders have voiced an opinion recently that there appears to be
a more rigid enforcement of check-in
and boarding times. They’ve claimed
that the company has been inflexible when passengers have arrived on
St Mary’s Quay a few minutes after
Radio Scilly
check-in has closed, but when there’s
still around 20 minutes before the
vessel’s departure.
The company says that nothing has
changed since last season and their
policy of requiring passengers to
board no less than 30 minutes before
departure was in place in 2013. In a
statement to Radio Scilly, they say that
they have to allow sufficient time to
board and meet scheduled departure
times.This avoids past problems when
“surges” of passengers turned up
shortly before each sailing. The company say tens of thousands of people
use the boat each season and they
haven’t had more than a handful of
complaints about the procedure.They
say it’s designed to work in the best
interests of all the customers.
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May | 2014
‘Overwhelming’ Support For Swim Challenge
S
wimming between all five inhabited
islands in a single day doesn’t seem
like the obvious way to visit Scilly. But
organisers of Scilly’s first Swim Challenge have been overwhelmed by the
number of people wanting to undertake this unique event.
Dewi Winkle, has run open water
swimming holidays here in the past.
He’s teamed up with St Mary’s man
Nick Lishman to offer 150 people the
chance to make the circuit around the
islands on 6th September. Dewi said
they’d done very little publicity for
the event, so he was surprised when
the event was fully booked within 6
weeks of opening for registration in
December. He had expected it to take
up to eight months.
The competitors will set off from
St Mary’s at around 5.30am crossing first to St Martin’s, then Tresco,
Bryher, Samson, St Agnes and back
to St Mary’s. Dewi says swimming 10
miles in a day might seem a lot, but by
breaking it down into stages averaging
about a mile and a half each, it makes
it more achievable for most people.
There’s time for a rest and refreshments on each island.
Nick says the course needs to be
challenging, but it also has to be a
nice day out for those taking part. The
event appeals to experienced open
water swimmers as well as people
just getting into the activity. Planning
ahead means it gives novices time to
improve their technique and Dewi
says they’ve had a wide entries from
21 to 72 years old.
With family and friends coming along
to support the swimmers, Nick says
they’re expecting up to 250 people to
visit. Most of those will be first time
visitors and he feels there’ll be a “noticeable buzz” over the weekend.They
still need more accommodation and
Nick is appealing to local providers to
get in touch if they can offer any deals
for the event.
The organisers are hoping the swim
will become an annual event. Nick
says they already have some ideas
about how to grow it, although he says
they’re keeping it simple this year to
see how it goes.
Plant Exchange To Benefit Gardens
P
lants from one of the wettest parts
of the UK could soon be growing
in Tresco’s Abbey Gardens.
Curator Mike Nelhams says they’ve
started a partnership with Mount
Stewart House in Northern Ireland,
which will see the two famous gardens swapping plant
specimens.
M o u n t
Stewart is
managed by
the National
Trust
and
owned by
the Londonderry family.
Tresco hosted a visit by their Curator and three
Gardeners this week. They were
shown around the Abbey Gardens
by Mike and Head Gardener Andrew
Lawson and drew up a list of plants
they want to exchange.
Mike says gardeners get a feeling for
what plants they think they can grow
and the visitors were particularly interested in Tresco’s collection from
South Africa and Australia. Tresco has
Radio Scilly
a relatively dry and warm climate compared to most parts of the country
but Mike says it’s surprising what can
be grown in the right position. Mike’s
excited by Mount Stewart’s collection
of plants from Chile and New Zealand,
which prefer wetter conditions. Some
he’s never even
heard of
and
he
says he’s
going to
have
to
do some
re s e a rc h
before
he tries
growing
them. They’ll be added to the specimens brought back from Chile last
year by Andrew.
Mike says they’ve found a more
shaded and cool spot in the garden
and he’s hoping to create a Chilean
border to showcase some of their
recent acquisitions. Staff from Tresco
will return the visit to Northern Ireland next year.
Scilly Featured In ‘Have
I Got News For You’
S
cilly has been featured in an
edition of the BBC1 topical
quiz show, Have I Got News For
You. The panellists had to identify the link between four images,
one of which was the St Mary’s
community bus.
The theme was speeding restrictions and the odd-one out
was the image of an autobhan
road sign, as the German motorway has no upper speed limit.
Scilly was included because temporary traffic lights will be set
up here for the first time in 150
years, later this summer. They’ll
be used to control plant movements during the airport works.
Guest host Jeremy Clarkson
joked that he’d take it as a challenge to drive at more than
20mph in Scilly after quoting the
Council Chairman Amanda Martin. She said it would be difficult
to go faster than that here. You
can view the entire episode on
the BBC iPlayer.
Paddle Power Gets
Bride To Her Wedding
A
bride has made her own way
to her wedding on St Mary’s,
using paddle power.
Gemma Rawlings is an outdoor
pursuits instructor who lives
near Caernarvon. She arrived at
the Porthcressa register office
ready to marry Stefan Owen in
her own blue canoe. Around a
dozen friends and family watched
Gemma paddle across the bay
from Little Porth in her white
lace wedding dress. After the
service, performed by Jane Hurd,
Superintendent Registrar Alison
Gardner served champagne on a
table overlooking the beach.
Alison said it was a wonderful
way to arrive at a wedding. As
there’s an average of only two
weddings or civil partnerships
each week during summer in
Scilly, Alison says the Council’s
team can offer a highly personalised service and are able to grant
most reasonable requests.
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May | 2014
St Martin’s Man Turning Fish Into Art
M
ost islanders keep a stock of
fish in their freezer for times
when the shops are running low.
But one St Martin’s resident keeps
them for another reason – to create works of art.
Toby Tobin Dougan is using a
Japanese technique called Gyotaku
to take colourful prints of the fish
caught in the waters around Scilly.
He first learnt the technique during his fine art degree in London.
The fish are washed and dried,
painted with special Japanese inks
and then pressed onto high quality
mulberry paper. Toby then spends
several hours adding colour and
detail to the art. He says he’s been
catching fish here for over twenty
years and is always amazed by the
shapes and varieties available.
But it’s been hit and miss which
species work. Most successful was
John Dory and pollack, while mack-
erel were disappointing because
they didn’t have very detailed
scales. He’s released 22 prints to
galleries around the islands, and
sent copies to Rick Stein in Padstow and a sushi restaurant in
Brighton. Toby says the best thing
about it is you can eat your subject
afterwards. And if fish isn’t really
your thing, he says the technique
also works with plants.
Cathedral Choir Will Return To Islands Says Chaplain
T
he Truro Cathedral choir will
return to the islands again.
And Scilly’s Anglican Chaplain has
promised that Bryher or St Martin’s will host a concert next time.
Canon Paul Miller says the support for the visit of the 19 youth
and 11 adult choristers was very
good. 200 people attended the St
Radio Scilly
Mary’s Parish Church performance
and 90 people went to St Agnes
Church concert on the Thursday
morning. Later that evening 120
people listened to the choral evensong on St Mary’s. The choir also
hosted an hour-long workshop in
choral singing, in which 20 locals
took part.
Paul says some choir members
have made it clear that they want
to return. The tour was part-funded by grants from the Scilly Lottery, the Council and the Duchy.
The Boatmen’s Association also
helped with sponsorship.
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Radio Scilly
May | 2014
20
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May | 2014
Medal Haul For Truro College Students
42
students represented
Truro and Penwith
College at the British Colleges Sport National Finals
held at Bath University, forming part of the South a team
which ultimately won the
overall championship across a
range of sporting events.
Over 2000 students and
staff from colleges across
England, Wales and Scotland
attended to compete in fourteen different sports. The
championship began with an
opening ceremony to present Truro and Penwith College’s winning rugby team.
the team captains from each
petition.
area to the gathered crowd,
The rugby team played over two days
including Steph Elliott from Truro College as the South West captain. This winning all their matches comfortably.
was followed by a display from Bath They were awarded their gold medals
Dance College and an inspiring speech at the ceremony on Saturday evening
by guest speaker and Paralympic swim- along with a number of other Truro
mer, Kate Grey. The Interim CEO of and Penwith students. Ciaran RutherBritish Colleges Sport, John Bolan, then furd from Truro College was part of the
officially declared the Championships South West Team who won silver in the
Men’s Trampolining and James Wright
open.
The first event of the Championship and Jamie Bassett, also from Truro Colwas the Golf which saw Harry Hall lege, won silver medals in the Men’s
from Truro College compete in both Table Tennis doubles. Bronze medals
the individual and team competitions. were won by Luke Hollis from PenHe scored the best round on day one with College as part of the South West
to achieve the Gold medal in the Indi- Men’s Swimming team, Dash Murray
vidual competition, continuing in great and Niamh Byrne from Truro College
form to help the South West team pick as part of the South West Girls’ Rugby
up the Silver medal in the Team com- team and Jacob Wood from Penwith
Radio Scilly
College as part of the South
West Men’s Cross Country
team.
The Netball Team, Girls’ Singles Tennis, Mixed Badminton
and Mixed Tennis narrowly
missed out on medals with
each being placed 4th in their
competitions, however they
contributed valuable points to
the overall championship. The
Wilkinson Sword award is given to the region with the most
points accumulated over all
the events and saw the South
West take the lead comfortably this year. 36 points separated the South West and the
South East, who took second place.
Steph Elliott from Truro College commented on her experience: “Being selected as team captain for the whole
South West Team was a great honour.
It was my second time at the championships and I really enjoyed the opportunity to take part in a National
competition in the fantastic facilities at
Bath University. Being part of a large
group of students from Truro and Penwith College showed the other regions
how strong sport is in Cornwall and
the South West. It was a great end to
some really tough competitions to win
the Wilkinson Sword Trophy and bring
it back to our region.”
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May | 2014
scilly
POLITICS
Council Economic Strategy Trims New Homes Plan Following Feedback
T
he islands’ public has had a first
chance to comment on an economic strategy blueprint for Scilly.
The Council has hired consultants to
look at economic data and previously
commissioned papers, like the Blue
Sail tourism report, so they can pick
out what they still feel are important
goals. The aim is to merge all previous
reports into one master to-do list.The
Council will then choose to adopt,
amend or reject parts of the final report in May.
Diana Mompoloki from the Council
says locals shouldn’t expect the Town
Hall to do everything. She says one of
the things that has come out clearly
from the work is “a feeling of complacency, that it’s someone else’s problem to deal with.” Diana says it’s about
defining what the Council can do and
other bodies then need to chip in.
The Duchy, Tresco Estate and Steamship Company have also had input into
prioritising the list, which was then
fine-tuned by consultants Ash Futures,
based on their thoughts and opinion.
They’ve produced an overall list of
business, infrastructure and community strengths and weaknesses. Strengths
include our heritage, tranquillity, wildlife and natural environment, as well
as our loyal visitors. But poor and unaffordable housing choices, our high
cost of living, travel and freight costs
and seasonal employment are weaknesses.
The dominance of tourism within our
economy is a negative, too, along with
variable quality within the sector and a
lack of signage. Future threats to Scilly
have been identified as reduced visitor
numbers and less government money
being granted, along with the risk of
storms and climate change. While the
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potential for EU grant funding and the
proposed high speed internet are seen
as opportunities, as well as the chance
to increase self sufficiency and to improve transport.
Some stakeholders had insisted that
achieving “affordable” transport should
be adopted as a key goal. It hasn’t been,
but Consultant Simon Hooton says
that wish is broadly reflected. He said
it might be possible to “shave a few
pounds off the price” but not halve it.
He believes people should keep trying
for a subsidy, but not build their plan
around that. There are more detailed
lists of suggested improvement projects within each sector.
Tackling traffic in the town, facilitating renewable energy projects, waste
disposal, food production and flood
defences have all been highlighted. Sunday and year-round business opening,
upmarket accommodation and a study
centre with student accommodation
are also recommended to improve the
visitor economy.
The consultants feel that businesses
should offer card payment facilities and
Diana Mompoloki says the action plan
also asks for accommodation providers to adopt online booking. She said
if people don’t want something that
makes their businesses run better,
then “maybe they shouldn’t be in business any more.”
Around thirty locals attended the
open day. Some left feedback on postit notes and cited the need for protection from flooding as a high priority.
Housing was another hot topic. The
consultants are suggesting that the
Council and other large employers
should develop their own key worker housing. New homes, they say, are
needed to encourage new business
operators to relocate here and diversify our economy away from tourism,
perhaps using the faster internet connection when it comes.
Earlier in the week, Ash Consultants
were recommending in stakeholder
meetings that up to 120 new homes
should be built in Scilly. Simon Hooton
says he still thinks that’s the right number, but for the public session, the
number was cut to between 60 and
90 homes. Simon says that was due to
feedback. He couldn’t expand on the
formula used to arrive at that number,
but said there would be an explanation
in the finished report.
But some attendees, like Veronica
Maple, were not in favour of more
houses. Veronica said visitors come
here for green fields and open views,
not “house after house.”
“Why spoil it?” she asked.
It’s not clear who will bring the
strands of this to-do list together, if
the Council backs it. Simon says there
could be grant funding available to create project management and delivery
jobs on the islands.
A number of businesses feel the survey that has helped shape this report
has not been well publicised. Simon
says 397 businesses in Scilly were informed of the survey in an Islands’
Partnership update email, and most
of them have chosen not to respond.
67 businesses gave their views, and Simon feels that gave a good overview,
although he says if enough people get
in touch to complain, he’d consider extending the survey. Simon says change
has to happen in Scilly and he’s optimistic that the new leadership on the
islands that will help drive it forward.
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May | 2014
Another ‘Grow-Your-Own’ Air Traffic Controller
To Be Recruited
T
he Council says they’re hoping to recruit and train another island-based
air traffic controller later this year under
the ‘grow-your-own’ initiative described
at the recent Transport User Forum.
Chief Executive Theo Leisjer said the
type of controllers needed for the Council-run airport are “like gold dust.” He
wants to train local people, “grounded in
the islands” and with the right skills, to
do the job. The Council says training has
already started for their first recruit, although some residents voiced criticism
on ScillyToday that the position hadn’t
been advertised widely in the community.
A new Senior Air Traffic Controller, Russ
Schild, is now in place and adverts for a
qualified Deputy and Controller have
been published this week.These positions
will command salaries from £36,000 to
£40,000. The Council is currently filling
those roles with agency staff at a cost of
almost £8,200 a month.
Stuart Yates, Senior Air Traffic Control
Trainer at The Resource Group, a special-
ist ATC training college, says staff trained
in so-called ‘approach control,’ which operates at our airport, aren’t necessarily
difficult to find. He says it’s just that most
people making a career in ATC will tend
to move on to higher-paying jobs in the
more complex area of radar control. They
can earn salaries starting at £60,000. Stuart says the positions in Scilly are most
likely to attract experienced people, possibly closer to retirement age, who want to
move here for the lifestyle. He endorsed
the Council’s approach of training up our
own controllers but says this isn’t a quick
process. It will take around 15 weeks just
to get a Student Licence, the equivalent of
a provisional driving licence. They’ll then
need to be supervised by another ATC for
several months and will take around two
years to become fully experienced.
The airport is operating some restrictions on flying hours until the end of
May because of staff shortages. However,
they’ve said this will have minimal effect
on scheduled flights.
St Mary’s Quay
Funding In Place
W
ork should start on extending St Mary’s Quay in Octo-
ber.
There have been ongoing delays
with the scheme, but Cornwall
Council, who are now entirely responsible for delivering the project
on time and on budget, say they are
confident of starting in the autumn.
Their Lead Transport Officer Nigel
Blackler announced in the Town
Hall Transport User Forum held in
April that the full funding is in place.
The majority of the £15.2m budget for a joint St Mary’s and Penzance scheme will be spent here in
Scilly.The mainland works are mainly related to dredging whereas on
St Mary’s the quay will be extended,
made more resilient to storms and
a freight and cold storage facility
will be developed. The money is being offering by both the European
Commission and the Department
for Transport.
Nigel says they should have tenders for the scheme returned next
month and the project is now
moving forward rapidly. Working
through the winter should mean
that there’s no impact on tourism
in the summer, he says.
Islanders ‘Not Looking
For New Helicopter’
T
Airport Upgrades Given Green Light By Europe
P
lans to hard-surface the runway at
Land’s End Airport and improve the
surface and navigational facilities at St
Mary’s have been approved by Europe.
Work had been on hold since March
when the European Commission began
checks to ensure that the £6.5 million
Scilly and £2.6 million mainland schemes
didn’t give unfair commercial advantage
over other airports or operators. Both
projects have now passed the state aid
rules.
The Commission says St Mary’s airport
is the only such facility on the islands
and only allows flights from small, shortrange aircraft. That means the financial
aid doesn’t distort competition. Similarly,
they say improvements at Land’s End will
Radio Scilly
increase the accessibility to the Cornwall
region, a key part of Europe’s transport
policy. This is the first grant that the EC
has assessed under their new, simplified
aviation guidelines, which promote development of Europe’s more isolated regions.
Chairman of the Transport Committee Chris Thomas says he’s pleased that
the Council has addressed this challenge
successfully. Chief Executive of the Isles
of Scilly Steamship Company, Rob Goldsmith, says he’s delighted that the EC has
found no state aid issues with the funding.
The next step is for formal contracts to
be exchanged between the UK Government and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.
Rob says the company can then decide
when to carry out the work.
he prospective Conservative
MP for Scilly says islanders
aren’t looking for a replacement
helicopter service but just want to
get to the mainland “quickly and
comfortably when they need to.”
Derek Thomas, who visited on
April 8th, says he was surprised to
find people were “relaxed” about
how they get to and from Scilly,
as long as the method was secure
and ran through the winter. He says
he now understands the difficulties faced by medical patients and
pregnant women, who often have
to leave the islands days ahead to
reach hospital appointments, in
case there are problems with transport. Derek briefly met the new
Council Chief Executive during his
visit, who told him the Authority
wouldn’t “turn away” a subsidy for
the route if one was offered, but it
was a lower priority on their list of
things-to-do. barriers could be removed.
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May | 2014
Park House Given Clean Bill Of Health By CQC
C
ouncil staff have
turned
around
the islands’ residential
home, Park House. It’s
been given a clean bill
of health following another inspection by the
Care Quality Commission in March. The twoday, unannounced visit
was their fourth in 18
months.
Previous
problems
with staff numbers and training records, as well as their knowledge of
safeguarding procedures have now
been addressed. The CQC has always maintained that the residents
were very well cared for and there
have been steady improvements
following each report.
Adult Social Care Manager Gareth Peters says the home is now
applying best practice in a number
of areas. It’s a good position to build
from, he says, but they can’t become
complacent. Gareth credits the
Radio Scilly
to make the necessary
improvements.
Gareth says the service is already providing a lot of support
to people in the community with advance
stages of dementia. But
he’s keen to start helping those with early
signs, such as memory
loss. There’ll also be
turnaround at the care home to
a focus on so-called
the new Manager, Jean Sleigh, who ‘re-ablement,’ ensuring that peomoved back to the islands from a ple who leave hospital can remain
career in Bath last November. He living independently for as long
says Jean has made a huge differ- as possible. Gareth says he hopes
ence. She’s very experienced, says people visiting Park House now
Gareth, and brought a lot of skills can see how well the team work
from the mainland. She’s also done together. It’s been a tough couple of
a wonderful job leading the team years, he says, with staff under a lot
through a large amount of change, of scrutiny and with changes to the
he says.That change is ongoing with management. But he feels they now
new recruitment of staff about to have a good team working together
begin. For her own part, Jean says to deliver good services.
she’s pleased that people believed
in the ability of her and her team
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May | 2014
Council Announces New Senior Management Team
T
he Council has announced their
new senior management team.
It follows the decision by councillors earlier this month to approve
the restructuring of the authority by
new Chief Executive Theo Leisjer. He
didn’t want to take on last year’s reshaping of staff structures put in place
by the Interim CEO Barry Keel.
Theo began the process of recruiting to the new positions earlier this
year. His Assistant Chief Exec will be
Craig Dryden. Craig has worked for
the authority since 2005 and most of
his career has been in town planning.
He came to Scilly following planning
roles in North Devon and North
Cornwall. But he’ll be relinquishing his
planning duties for his additional role
as Senior Manager of Infrastructure
and Assets.This puts him at the top of
the department that oversees waste,
water, roads and infrastructure. Craig
will take on a range of responsibilities
similar to those of the former Chief
Technical Officer Neville Gardner.
Diana Mompoloki takes up a permanent Council position as Senior
Manager for Strategic Development.
Previously she had been employed
through a European funding arrange-
ment. She’ll oversee economic development. Before she came to Scilly 2
years ago, Diana headed up a team at
the now defunct Regional Development Agency, where she worked with
the new Council Chief. Richard Burraston joined the Authority in Summer 2012 as an Accounts Technician.
He’s been promoted to a top-level
role as a Senior Manager for Democratic and Corporate Services. His
previous mainland experience was as
a solicitor.
Last year, under Barry Keel’s plan,
the Council contracted headhunters to find a candidate for the widest
portfolio, a role that was then termed
Director of People. No external appointment was made to that. Aisling
Hick has now been appointed internally to the new position of Senior
Manager for Services to our Community. She will have a number of
legal responsibilities to deal with
including acting as Chief Education
Officer, Statutory Director of Adult
and Children’s Services and Officer
for Public Health. She’ll also oversee
Adult Education and Park House. The
Council’s job specification indicated it
was desirable for applicants to have a
qualification in social work or education legislation. Aisling has, however,
held a strategic management role in
the Town Hall and has worked at the
Council since 2005. Before moving
here, she worked in advertising on the
mainland.
Members have been told that the
new roles command a £58,000 salary. The Assistant Chief and Chief Executive will earn around £80,000 and
£100,000, respectively. No permanent
replacement has been announced
for Iain McCulloch, who has left the
Council as Head of Finance to move
abroad.
It’s expected that senior officer employment costs will exceed £500,000
per annum when a finance replacement is hired. The staff changes have
already brought physical reorganisation of the Town Hall workspaces last
week. The new senior management
will all share the former ground floor
admin office.
That’s a change from the established
practice where senior management
work in the same office as staff underneath them.
Councillors Get First Opportunity To Discuss Staff Restructuring
C
ouncillors have been given their
first opportunity to discuss detailed proposals for a major overhaul
of the Council.
It will be the biggest shake-up of
Town Hall operations to date, with
most departments facing potential
changes or loss of staff numbers. The
reshaping takes in most services from
Lifelong Learning to the Library, Finance to the Sports Hall. However
the Airport and Direct Labour Force
operations will be evaluated later in
the summer.
On May 6th, staff whose jobs could
be changed or abolished under the
proposals were given notice of a 45day consultation period.The plan is to
create new roles. In some cases existing duties or part-time posts will be
merged into fewer, full time positions
with new titles, and staff will have to
reapply for those jobs.
Elected members given the chance
to raise their concerns with Chief
Executive Theo Leisjer at a special
meeting, He was part of a working
Radio Scilly
party that drafted the plan along with
Council Chairman Amanda Martin,
Vice Chair Gaz O’Neill and an external HR consultant. The meeting was
informal so the press and public were
excluded. Members were also emailed
by a Council officer and advised not
to talk to the media.
Some councillors have told us they
find the new structure complicated
and difficult to understand. Cllr David
Pearson says he’ll fight to save nonstatutory children’s services, which he
fears could suffer if staffing is reduced.
He accepts that the Chief Executive is
trying to increase efficiency, but David claims to have ”lived too long and
worked in local government too long
to think it is an easy task.” Cllr Pearson says this is only a proposal and
staff cuts “don’t have to happen.”
Cllr Gordon Bilsborough said he
felt the elected members should have
been consulted more and received
the blueprint before it was given to
affected staff. He’s concerned about
staff satisfaction if the reshaping is
adopted, warning, “people are not a
jigsaw.” In the past, salaries and grades
have been decided by the job evaluation process. Gordon wants to be
sure that process has been followed
and that the new grades have not
been agreed by just a few officers. It
is too big a job to delegate to a small
group of people, he says. Gordon says
councillors will take ultimate responsibility for the effects of any changes,
so members should have the final
sign-off.
Cllr Christine Savill echoes Gordon’s view that members have not
had much time or information to take
in the plans. Chris also wants a wider
members’ discussion on the restructuring. In a short official statement,
Council Chairman Amanda Martin
said: “This week the staff at the Council have had several opportunities to
learn more about the proposals for
the Council’s new structure and consultation process. This is part of the
agreed re-organisation of the workforce.”
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Radio Scilly
May | 2014
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newsletter
Report Highlights
Issues Facing Council
This Year
C
ouncillors are being advised
that the level of payments to
senior Council officers made redundant recently, could generate
a reaction from locals when the
sums are made public.
The recent Policy and Resources
meeting was asked to approve a
Council response to the auditor.
Grant Thornton formally requested details of any legal, compliance
or financial issues which have been
dealt with or which could flare up
this year.
The Council won’t reveal how
much former Chief Technical Officer Neville Gardner and the redundant Director of Finance and
Resources Peter Lawrence got in
their settlement until the Statement of Accounts are published in
June. But in a paper to members,
Head of Finance, Iain McCulloch,
advises that there might be a public reaction when that figure gets
out. The Council also intends to
advise the auditor that they face
two cases of legal action over alleged breach of employment
contracts. Money hasn’t been set
aside for this because the Council
doesn’t know how far it will go.
The Information Commissioner
will rule on two alleged breaches
of data protection soon too, but
there’s unlikely to be a financial
penalty. Other problems that will
be flagged up include the Food
Standard Agency ruling that the
Council failed in their duty to provide statutory food law enforcement activities.
Steps have been taken to deal
with issues at Moorwell but the
Council will still need to put it
on record that the incinerator
breached emissions levels and
that the Environment Agency has
served a closure notice on the use
of the dump as a landfill site.
The good news is that there have
been no cases of fraud or bribery
to flag up. If councillors approve
the responses in this letter, it will
then be sent off to the auditors.
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
Council Chairman Backs Yellow Lines
C
ouncillors have rejected a proposal
to restrict parking on Hugh Street.
Chaiman of the General Purposes Committee, Steve Sims had wanted to add
flower planters in the road outside the
Co-op. His proposal was defeated unanimously. Yellow ‘no-parking’ lines will now
be painted once the road is resurfaced.
Council Chairman Amanda Martin accepted that some locals feel the lines
are not pretty but she said action had to
be taken to deal with “the main artery.”
Amanda feels that yellow lines are “a fact
of life” and they have been a feature in
Scilly for years. Cllr Sims argued that the
floral planters would improve the appearance of town and appeal to tourists more
than yellow lines. Steve’s planters would
have narrowed the roadway but not
as much as parked cars do. Extra width
would mean freight vehicles wouldn’t
have to mount the walkway and they
were a cheaper solution than widening
the pavement, he said.
Many opponents of the plan argued that
disabled drivers would find shopping difficult if they couldn’t stop outside the
Co-op. But Steve told councillors they’d
still have a shorter distance to walk than
mainland shoppers. Cllr Amanda Martin
said that the Council needed to assist
people with real mobility issues but there
were some locals who could make an effort to carry their shopping further than
they do.
Despite strong views for and against the
plan, only 6 of the 11 councillors on the
General Purpose Committee attended
the vote. The Island’ Partnership received
33 responses over the plans and Amanda
Pender told the meeting that there had
been equal numbers for and against the
idea. But most councillors spoke of widespread opposition.
Cllr Andy Guy undertook a massive
amount of work researching local opinion.
He picked 121 people randomly on the
electoral roll and called them. Only one
person backed the planter scheme, he
said. The rest said no.
Sergeant Colin Taylor explained that
our Council is one of only a handful that
hasn’t taken on parking enforcement. It
remains a criminal and police matter in
Scilly. He advised that the legislation “is an
invitation” for the Authority to take it on
and patrol as they wish. Whilst he was assured that issuing a few tickets would be
enough to encourage compliance, he told
the meeting that parking issues will not
become a police priority. Colin says the
police won’t issue tickets every day and he
doesn’t know how regularly his team can
patrol. But he says when they’re in Hugh
Street doing other duties they’ll look out
for parking offenders. Drivers will still be
able to stop on the lines when loading
although Colin says that is complex. For
example, he says, it can be taking or collecting a package from the Post Office, but
not a letter.
Cllr Chris Thomas pointed out that
a vehicle regularly parks in Hugh Street
advertising a business. Cllr Martin says a
lot more thought needs to be given to a
long-term solution and Steve Sims says he
hopes they will be able to revisit traffic
management and the town’s appearance
soon. Steve feels if there’s money available
in the future, Hugh Street could still be
made into more of a public space.
Chairman Unhappy Over Auditors
T
he Chairman of Scilly’s Council has
said she doesn’t want to use Cornwall
Council auditors for financial services in
the future.
Cllr Amanda Martin told members of
last week’s Policy and Resources Committee that there’s been dissatisfaction
with Cornwall’s work over recent years,
although she didn’t elaborate on what
those issues were. Amanda’s comments
followed a proposal by the former Head
of Finance Iain McCulloch to retain their
services as Internal Auditors for a further
12 months.
Iain said he hadn’t had time to go to the
open market to find an alternative. The
Council’s finance team has been running
below capacity following the departure of
former Director of Finance and Resources, Peter Lawrence last year. Iain added
that the Council currently takes a number
of services from the neighbouring authority and would be looking to tie them up
into a single contract. Amanda said she
wouldn’t sanction that and wanted to
look for possible alternatives.
But Cllr David Pearson said it would be
better for councillors to “worry about the
things that we definitely have to change
for the future.” He recommended keeping
the status quo for a further 12 months
and they eventually agreed to that.
27
newsletter
May | 2014
Scilly And Cornwall Slipping Further Down Economic League Tables
S
cilly and Cornwall are slipping further
down in league tables that show the
strength of the economies across Europe.
New figures compare our GDP, the average value of goods and services produced
per resident, with other regions. We now
have a poorer standard of living than
parts of Bulgaria and Poland.
EU grant funding for schemes like the
Local Action Group, the Porthcressa Regeneration, airport and quay works has
been offered because we’re an area that
achieves under 75% of the European average GDP. But even though over £1 billion
of grant money has been pumped into the
region since the mid-90s, the economic
performance figures are worse. The most
recent data from 2011 was released this
week. We’ve fallen from 72% of the target
in 2010 to 64% in 2011.
We asked the Council’s Economic De-
velopment Manager Diana Mompoloki
for her view but she said she felt unable
to comment, as she “didn’t own the data.”
The Local Enterprise Partnership did
want to comment. They say that part of
the problem has been a fall in income for
self employed people across the UK and
we have a greater number of people who
work for themselves. The LEP believes
their latest bid for EU cash will boost Scilly’s future economic performance. Their
request for £15m to improve water and
sewage systems here would allow “unfettered” growth and development here, by
providing adequate infrastructure. They
say visitors expect clean drinking and
seawater and improving the infrastructure would prevent economic decline and
eventual depopulation. And there would
be a knock on effect by supporting the
building of 50 new homes.That could cre-
ate at least 25 new businesses and safeguard 300 existing ones.
But St Mary’s businessman Ted Moulson
is critical. He feels grants could be used
on big transport infrastructure schemes
like rail links or a new helicopter service.
And he maintains that easy loan terms
would be better than grants because the
cash pot would be replenished. Ted says
he could expand, creating 3 or 4 new full
time jobs, but access to capital is currently too costly. But businesses in Scilly
are reporting improved conditions. Ted
believes that, after a disappointing year
last year, the worst is behind us. Ben Julian says most of his Churchtown Flower
Farm income comes from exporting to
the mainland and after a few static years,
trade has increased.
Scilly Businesses Want Tourism To Feature In EU Cash Bid
S
cilly and Cornwall businesses haven’t
been effectively consulted by the Local
Enterprise Partnership in their pitch for
up to £1 billion of European cash. That’s
the view of the Cornwall Business Forum,
who say they represent businesses on
both sides of the water and claim to have
437 members on the islands. Their Chief
Executive Kevin Oliver says the funding
wish list sent to government by the LEP
is dominated by new technology like renewable energy and major schemes like
the Newquay aeronautical hub.
Kevin says it leaves out the areas covered by the majority of the region’s small
businesses, including tourism, fishing, agriculture, engineering and food and drink.
“They should be building on what we’ve
got, not trying to create something we’re
not,” he says.
But Sandra Rothwell, Chief Executive of
the LEP, says they have to offer the right
mix of new innovations, larger strategic
initiatives and smaller local projects. Garrison Campsite owner Ted Moulson is
concerned that our visitor economy is
hardly mentioned in the plans outlined
in the draft paper for spending any cash
that’s secured. Sandra says Scilly’s challenges have been addressed, including
ideas to maximise the quality and value of
the tourist offering here.
Economic consultants Ash Futures have
drawn together the strategy for the LEP
and presented their draft findings to islanders earlier this month. But the regional plan was submitted to London last September. It was sent back to the LEP late
last year because it lacked the evidence to
support their funding case.
Ted wants locals to review the plans and
feed back to the LEP. He says he’s worried that the money could bypass us and
will be spent on projects with theoretical
value, which are judged by “mandarins in
ivory towers.” Ted wants more in the proposals to help small business and favours
a flexible loan scheme. Kevin Oliver also
feels that there needs to be revision. He
says local businesses should be sending
a strong message to government if they
don’t feel part of the process or if they
think that plans won’t be of benefit to
them them. Kevin wants the LEP consultation to be repeated with all businesses
and economic sectors given a chance to
feed back their views.
Sandra says the LEP understands how
important it is to listen to the business
community and if the messages aren’t getting through to Ash Futures, she’ll make
sure it’s “pushed harder.” The Cornwall
Business Forum will address the LEP with
their concerns on May 28th.
Council Quits New Offices Because Of Overhead Aircraft
C
ouncil staff are being moved out of
their new £100,000 offices because
overhead planes are disrupting their computers.
Economic Development and IFCA staff
have been told they’ll be moved to the
former Lifelong Learning Offices at Carn
Thomas or the Old Wesleyan Chapel.The
relocation from the recently refurbished
Porthmellon premises forms part of the
overall Council reorganisation. Council
Chairman Amanda Martin says the industrial estate building is underneath the
flight path. That affects IT equipment, she
says, and makes it a poor choice for a
Council building. Amanda says relocation
Radio Scilly
of the workforce will improve efficiency
and allow staff to regroup in fewer buildings.
The former Home Hardware Garden
Centre has been a costly purchase for
the Council. They bought it for £100,000
in 2009 and spent £30,000 on refurbishment. It was valued two years later at
£115,000. The purchase was agreed without formal valuation and was made as an
urgent acquisition, signed off by a handful
of members. Some locals objected. The
Council’s auditors found nothing unlawful in the purchase of the unit from the
former Council Chairman’s husband, but
the auditors’ investigation, which also
tackled complaints about Chief Officers’
pay rises, racked up a further £49,000 bill.
Amanda says the building will be let in
the short term. There are no details on
how islanders can tender for it at this
stage and in the long term, the building’s
future will be reviewed as part of the
Council asset management strategy. The
vacated premises will be joined by additional office space on the industrial estate,
soon.
Work is set to commence next month
on a £1.5m Council scheme to transform
the former wholesalers building into offices and workspaces for local businesses.
28
newsletter
May | 2014
Council Assures Residents Over Water Taste
T
he Council wants to assure St
Mary’s residents that their tap
water is safe. It follows some resident
complaints that it tastes and smells of
either bleach or chlorine.
Linda Thomas told Radio Scilly she
replaced her kettle, assuming it was to
blame. Cllr Steve Sims, who chairs the
Council’s General Purposes committee, which oversees St Mary’s water
supply, also thought it tasted odd. But
the Town Hall told him they had received no complaints. That prompted
comments from Chris Blackwell and
also Fiona Robson, who told us they
had contacted the Council. Fiona says
the water has a “funny taste” especially when it’s boiled. She’s complained
several times and has been told to run
the water for a period of time before
using it.
The Council says that tap water
chlorine levels have always remained
comfortably within legal standards.
The amounts vary but they have always remained below the thresholds.
Water is monitored daily and samples
are sent to South West Water monthly. There are regular weekly samples
taken from reservoirs and consumer
supplies.
The Council says they have made an
effort to visit those members of the
public that have contacted Technical
Services and all tests have come back
with satisfactory results. They say the
primary cause of metallic tasting water is internal plumbing. Appliances,
like washing machines can contribute
and installing a non-return valve on
appliances can help.
Committee Discusses Options For Sallyport Property
C
ouncillors have been asked to review the sale of a Council-owned
property at 6 Sallyport, after no buyers were found.
The house, last occupied by the former Chief Executive Philip Hygate, has
been empty for the last 12 months. In
July, the Council took the decision
to sell it and they were looking for a
price over £400,000. But after receiving several enquiries, including three
from the mainland, no offers had been
made by the closing date for sealed
bids on the 20th January.
At last month’s Policy and Resources
Committee, councillors were asked to
look at a number of ways to encourage the sale. This included removing a
clause giving the Council 25% of any
profit over £400,000, should the site
be redeveloped. And rather than marketing it ‘in house’ an option was given to use a conventional estate agent
and take the highest offer. But if a sale
doesn’t go through within 6 months,
the current dwelling could be demolished and the site redeveloped as a
residential scheme, to assist in meeting the housing needs of the islands.
Discussion of the report was taken behind closed doors at the last
minute, with the public excluded, as
councillors were told that there were
confidential issues related to the sale.
This is thought to relate to an offer of
a direct property exchange from an
islander, rather than a cash sale. So far,
the Council has lost £11,000 in rent
and council tax on the empty building.
Standards Investigation Finds Councillor Released Confidential Info
A
n Isles of Scilly councillor
breached the Members’ Code
of Conduct by releasing confidential
information about the suspension of
the former Head Teacher Bryce Wilby.
That’s the finding of an independent
review carried out into the actions of
Cllr David Pearson, following a complaint by Lisa Magill last year.
Lisa alleged that Cllr Pearson had revealed confidential information about
the case in official Council press releases and during an interview on
Radio Scilly in September 2012. The
case was originally investigated last
July by Cornwall’s Principal Legal Officer Simon Mansell. He found that no
breach of the rules had taken place,
but Ms Magill Brown appealed, and an
independent review was launched in
Radio Scilly
November by Solicitor Mark Hynes.
Mr Hynes found that Cllr Pearson’s
radio interview amounted to an “unauthorised disclosure of confidential
information, which also bought the
council into disrepute.” No confidential information was released in the
Council press releases, he said. Because the original finding was changed,
that triggered a further review on behalf of David Pearson by another solicitor, Philip McCourt. Mr McCourt
upheld the decision that the radio interview breached the rules. Cllr Pearson will now have to attended training
on media relations and handling confidential information.
Speaking to Radio Scilly, David said
he feels that he didn’t reveal anything
that wasn’t already circulating in the
community at the time. He says it was
difficult to know what was actually
public knowledge because there were
so many leaks from the Council, but
he maintains that he acted in good
faith. David says he’s suggested to the
Council’s Monitoring Officer that it
would be helpful for all elected members to receive media training.
29
newsletter
May | 2014
scilly
SPORT
‘Best Ever’ World Pilot Gig Championships Ends On Another
Falmouth Double
T
he 25th anniversary World Pilot
Gig Championships was the most
successful to date. That’s the view of
Rick Persich, the Chairman of the
committee that organises it.
Falmouth Ladies and Men did the
double again with both their crew taking gold medals. That’s the fifth year in
a row for the women and the fourth
year for the men. And there was success for the St Mary’s women, rowing in the Tregarthens gig, who gained
silver. The crew of Selena Baxter, Anna
Jenkins, Helen Shave, Alison Stedeford,
Kirsty Graham and Becky Baldwin
were put through what Selena describes as a ‘bootcamp’ style training
regime by their cox Colin Jenkins.
Selena says many hours of hard work,
including training in the poor weather earlier this year, paid off. She said
that coming second in the world was
“amazing” and Kirsty Graham added
that they had trained for months and
the placing was “brilliant.” But Selena
says she’s going out on a high. As she’s
approaching her 45th birthday, she’s
retiring from A team rowing.
Rick says the line-up at the start of
the St Agnes to St Mary’s Men’s race
was the longest in the event’s 25 year
history with 145 gigs. And he wants
the 2015 championship to be even bigger with more international entrants.
A crew from Brittany is scheduled to
come. And he’ll be inviting gigs from
the USA, Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland again. Rick says the
clubs he spoke to have all said they’ll
return next year and some are determined to bring extra gigs. He says they
Radio Scilly
committee will be having discussions
about where they could store the extra boats although he says accommodation for rowers on the islands could
still be a limiting factor.
Cost of transport and capacity also
remains an issue. Rick says some clubs
were told there weren’t any more
travel tickets available and then more
were suddenly released. He had a
meeting with Steamship Company
senior managers to discuss this and
CEO Rob Goldsmith assured him it
won’t happen next year. He’ll also be
talking to the Cornish Pilot Gig Association to iron out any problems.
Many of the staff of Cornish firm
Ginsters are involved in the Cotehele
Quay Gig Club. The Cannington-based
baker is now a household name and
produces up to 5 million pasties each
week. Managing Director Mark Duddridge says he knows the event organisers doesn’t want it to become too
commercialised, but says his company
is keen to carry on with their support
in 2015. He felt the whole weekend
had a fantastic atmosphere, possibly
due to 25th anniversary and the good
weather, and he hopes more people can bring their family and friends
across next year.
Most bars and pubs are reporting a
good gig weekend but some businesses say there’s less demand for food
and drink before the finals, as more
rowers appear to be closely monitoring their diet and avoiding alcohol.
Richard Mills of Porthmellon restaurant Speros says they have been busy.
There have been more rowers but
fewer spectators and if that continues
it could affect the event atmosphere.
It’s the first year that the Star Castle’s
James Francis has run The Mermaid
over gig weekend. James says the business was “solidly busy” and the event,
as a whole, is crucial to the islands’
business sector.The pub had an extension granted until 4am over the three
days of the Bank Holiday weekend.
The Atlantic Inn closed earlier but
they did run out of the St Austell
Brewery’s ale, Tribute. The pub served
over 2,000 pints of the flagship beer.
Landlady at the Old Town Inn, Margaret Evans, says her kitchen was “flat
out” catering for rowers. She had
been advised about the volume of customers to expect with her first event
and says she enjoyed the experience,
although she was “shattered.”
As usual the event was good-natured
and generally trouble-free, with just
a few altercations reported and one
arrest. A male received an £80 ticket
for a drunken altercation with a police
officer on the Friday night outside the
Town Hall. Sergeant Colin Taylor says
the issue didn’t involve gig rowers.
There’s been no further development in the vandalism attack on the
Papershop but clogs belonging to visiting rowers, which had been removed
from Pelistry Cottage, have been returned. A Twitter account showing the
shoes on location around St Mary’s
had been created. It’s owner, the ‘Scilly
Clog Fairy,’ has tweeted that he or she
didn’t mean to offend, and it was just
banter.
30
newsletter
May | 2014
No Wish To Hold Gig Championships Says
Weymouth Club
W
Money Raised For
Stroke Appeal
A
stroke can affect anyone,
at any age. That was the
message being given by St
Mary’s resident Beth Thomas,
who hoped to raise £1,000 for
the Stroke Association over
this month’s Gig Weekend.
Beth was selling purple wristbands at £1 each, carrying the
‘Stroke for Stroke’ logo. And
she set up a stall on Holgate’s
Green, handing out information to rowers on how to spot
a stroke and how they can be
prevented.
Beth says people tend to
think that strokes only affect
older members of the community. But she says even fit and
healthy rowers can be hit. She
knows this from personal experience. Her own father Paul
had a stroke at the age of 44,
just two weeks after competing in the Gig Championships.
Collection boxes were placed
in various businesses around
the islands and the Nornour
women’s gig crew wore tshirts sponsored by the charity. You can also buy the wristbands at the papershop.
Radio Scilly
eymouth Gig Club say they have
“never expressed any wish” to
hold a rival to the Gig Championships.
They’ve written to some gig rowing officials including Scilly’s World Pilot Gig
Championships to tackle the issue-head
on.
Ease and cost of travel and accommodation has fuelled speculation that the
Dorset town might provide an alternative championship.That followed a 2012
vote within the Cornish Pilot Gig Association reportedly backing a switch to
Weymouth. Helen Gardner, Chairman
of Weymouth Rowing Club has written to clarify her club’s position. She
believes that the vote was “somewhat
tongue-in-cheek” and was being used
to encourage Scilly to provide lower
prices to rowers, but it has heightened
speculation. She says people have confused the talk of Weymouth as a venue
and have assumed it’s connected with
the Club.
But the Chairman of the Cornish
Pilot Gig Association Jason Nicholas
disagrees. He said the CPGA has never
backed moving the event from Scilly to
Weymouth and believes it’s “a small discussion blown out of proportion.” The
World Pilot Gig Championship Chairman Rick Persich says he has never
been concerned that Scilly would loose
the event, because so many rowers
feel the islands’ atmosphere makes the
event. Attendees can relax without fear
of damage or vandalism to unattended
boats, says Rick, adding “as long as the
islands want it, it will stay here.”
Helen agrees, claiming that Weymouth’s rowers love coming to Scilly
and to say that they would host an alternative is “ludicrous.” She says Weymouth organise an annual regatta, but
it will never rival the size of the World
Championships. It has been suggested
that the Olympic rowing facilities in
the town could be used, but Helen says
that’s not the case. She says there are
no legacy facilities on Weymouth beach
- these are at the sailing academy in
neighbouring Portland.
Rick feels the event can grow even further but Jason feels Scilly’s Gig Weekend
has now reached its capacity. He wants
more work to be done on transport arrangements, claiming clubs are unhappy
at having to ship over their boats so far
in advance and not getting them back
for weeks.
Traditional Post-Gig Weekend Sports Matches
Take Place
I
slanders have taken on the ‘Rest-ofthe-World’ in rugby and netball.
The rugby event is a traditional part
of the Gig Championships weekend,
where locals take on the visiting rowers
on The Garrison. It was a 12-0 win for
the Rest-of-the-World, during a match
described by Radio Scilly’s sports show
host Mark Twynham as “a fairly good
game.”
There was some confusion over the
start time of the netball game and organiser Carolyn Garman says it was
really a “Scilly versus Scilly match.” The
weather proved a challenge as rain
forced the players to abandon the game.
The score was 9-5.
31
newsletter
April Winners!
May | 2014
Lottery
News
Congratulations to Wendy...
April 7th 2014
Wendy Emlyn from Paignton
April 14th 2014
Dave Stone from St Mary’s
April 21st 2014
Emma Stewart from
Sandhurst, Berkshire
April 28th 2014
Martyn Brown from
Somersham
W
endy won the Scilly Lottery on
April 7th and sent us this lovely
note from Devon:
Many thanks for the cheque, which
arrived this morning. You’ll be pleased
to know that the majority of the
money will return to the Islands. I’ve
worked out that £1,000 will almost
exactly cover the cost of my next hol-
iday there, including the return train
trip between Paignton and Penzance,
B&B in Penzance at both ends of the
holiday, return flights from Lands End,
11 nights B&B at Anjeric in Hugh
Town, 10 boat trips, a visit to Tresco
Gardens and £20 a day to spend on
meals, drinks, ice-creams etc. Now
all I need is wall-to-wall sunshine, and
some stunning sunsets and clear starry nights! I’ve only been once before,
when we didn’t get any of those things,
but the beauty of the Islands has got
me hooked anyway, although I’m having to rely on Facebook photos and
comments in the meantime! Please
pass on my thanks to George Kershaw
and Sergeant Colin Taylor particularly,
for their efforts in keeping everyone
up-to-date with what’s happening on
the Islands through their Facebook
entries and photos.
Emma won £1,000 Over Easter...
O
ur Easter Bank Holiday Monday
winner was Emma Stewart from
Sandhurst. Congratulations!
Emma wrote: I cannot tell you how
thrilled I am to have won the Scilly
Lottery last week! Without going into
detail that bit of good news could not
have come at a better time.
I have been coming to Scilly since I
was 4 years old which is, ahem, over
40 years ago! Don & Carmen Hicks
who used to run the Post Office on
St Agnes back then became Grandpa
& Grandma to me and my 2 sisters as
we didn’t have any surviving grandparents and they didn’t have any grandchildren.
We stayed in the Post Office flat every summer in those days and in more
Radio Scilly
recent times in Smugglers, Myrtle and
several years in Rosehill. St Agnes &
the Scilly Isles as a whole have therefore had a very special place in my
heart for almost all my life and I am
at my happiest whenever I am there.
I first brought my daughter when
she was 15 months old. She is now
9 and it has been wonderful watching
her, plus my niece & nephew, growing
up enjoying the beauty and magic of
the islands as we did! We are coming
back for our annual fix in August and
so every penny of my winnings will
be spent on the islands. On the list is
some additional celebratory spending in the Turks Head (best pub in the
world!), a few extra Troytown Farm
ice creams, a longer trip than usual
with Island Sea Safaris and a pint for
the most engaging and entertaining
Police Sergeant in the UK!
Thanks so much again, and best regards. Emma
32
newsletter
The Scilly Lottery Discount Card
W
hen you sign up to the lottery,
you are entitled to a Scilly Lottery discount card.
You have to request a card. Not everyone wants a discount card, so we
don’t send them automatically.You can
only apply for a card by leaving a SAE,
or an addressed envelope for your
own collection, at Radio Scilly or by
posting a SAE to us.
We can’t post them out if you phone
or email but, if you’re visiting the islands, we can leave one for collection
if you email with 7 days notice.
For a card, please send a stamped
and addressed envelope to: The Scilly
Lottery, c/o Radio Scilly, Porthmellon,
St Mary’s, TR21 0JY.
Note – We’ve heard that some people have been trying to use cards after the expiry date on the back has
passed. If your card has expired or
worn and the date is unreadable, you’ll
need a new one. Businesses will refuse
to offer the discount if your card enddate has passed. Just send a SAE (see
above) with at least a week’s notice
and we’ll post a new card.
May | 2014
Bank Manager In The
Money..!
C
ongratulations to St Mary’s
Bank Manager Dave Stone,
who won £1,000 in April.
We’re sure he’ll know what to
do with that cheque!
Here’s the latest list of businesses accepting the Scilly Lottery
Discount Card and we’ll be announcing new ones over the coming
weeks!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
10% off at Tanglewood Kitchen
10% off food at the Old Town Inn
10% off clothing at The Foredeck and 49 Degrees Clothing
10% off beauty treatments with Claire at Flares
5% off drinks and 10% off food at the Atlantic Inn
10% off food at the Atlantic Hotel
20% off DJ CABS fares – Call 423 775
10% off at Portreath Garden Machinery
10% off food, drink and accommodation at St Mary’s Hall Hotel
10% off from PFS in Helston
10% off at Kavorna Cafe
10% off at the Kaffeehaus
Radio Scilly
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newsletter
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
34
newsletter
I
must first take issue with Derek
Thomas who is the Conservative
representative for this part of the
world with his comments about
problems over in Scilly. He said he
really didn’t see many people who
said they were missing the helicopter service.
Now if you look at the subject
objectively, of course we miss it. A
twenty-minute flight that lands in
Penzance and gets you quickly to the
Railway Station or other places by a
mini bus or taxi etc. Why you could
walk down from the Heliport without too much stress if necessary!
That was convenient.
There was a Transport Forum to
which some people who were staying in a holiday let I look after, attended. They commented about the
fact that no one there, presenting at
the forum seemed to realise how
appalling the cost of travel was to
visitors. Add this to the worry that
bad weather prevents you actually
arriving on Scilly or returning and
this could stop our season being a
good one.
No matter how wonderful Scilly is,
“
.. .you could walk
down from the
Heliport without
too much stress if
necessary! That was
convenient..!
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
Maggie’s
Moan
I
had a nasty shock the other night.
I usually ban myself from the BBC
as they are so Labour-orientated
but due to the weather I was having problems receiving many channels. So I tried BBC World News.
Imagine my horror when Tony Blair
appeared telling everyone why
we should be invading Syria. I fell
across the room to switch him off
and felt quite sick for the rest of
the evening!
I also have a requested rant from
a respected resident, and as it
...do they actually spend
concerns the BBC I am so happy
time creating any laws
to comply! She got very irritated
...ever..?
when the presenter of the news
says: We now have our reporter in
oliticians continue to depress ‘wherever-it-is’ who will give you
me. The Conservatives have the story! What story? This is a
just had an embarrassing episode report of often a very serious and
over a sexual assault matter, which upsetting happening and they are
was dismissed. The Liberal Demo- calling it a story - incorrect wordcrats have seen a book published ing.
Also, why send BBC journalists
which exposes a cover up of the
abuse of vulnerable youngsters. all over the world, or even down
The Labour party has Ed Balls try- to Cornwall when I presume they
ing to explain why he didn’t report have their own reporters in situ
a minor collision with his car and who are, I am sure, perfectly capaso on. Do they actually spend time ble of speaking to us themselves
and saving some of the tax payers
creating any laws ...ever?
Oh and a lady from the UN ac- money.
And why, when there is a report
cuses this country of being the
most sexist and offensive to wom- from Downing Street, do they have
en in the world. Why? Because the to stand in front of this building, or
men wolf whistle at the female from Ministry of Defence when it
sex! Actually, when you are young is a military matter? We all know
and pretty, although you bristle and where these buildings are and it
look indignant you actually quite adds no gravitas to the report to
enjoy the fact that you can get one, have them in the background!
as I remember!
with the winter storms not quite the
picture it appears in the brochure,
expense on arriving and staying here
and you could have a lack of bookings throughout the Islands.
I have been told, “We are hoping to
avoid budget holiday makers and go
for a better market.” If that is the
case Scilly needs a make over full
stop. If you do that, we might well
lose our identity which makes Scilly
special.
“
P
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newsletter
May | 2014
Robin Mawer
Julian Pearce
Grzegorz Grażyna Skrzypek
Images of Scilly
Radio Scilly
36
newsletter
Radio Scilly
May | 2014
37
newsletter
May | 2014
Radio Scilly is grateful to the following
businesses for supporting our broadcasts
Tourism
St Mary’s Boatmen Association
St Agnes Boating
The Sailing Centre
Island Rover Coach Tours
The Phoenix Workshop
Islands Tourism and Business Partnership
Kings of the Castle Soft Play Centre
Accommodation
Star Castle Hotel
St Mary’s Hall Hotel
Smugglers Hotel, Newquay
The Atlantic Hotel
Isles of Scilly Country Guesthouse
Tresco Estate
Garrison Campsite
Travel
IoS Steamship Company and Skybus
DJ Cabs
IoS Parking Company
Services
Coodes Solicitors
Knight O’Byrne Financial Planners
Cut Loose Hair Salon
Paul Harris & Co Accountants
PFS (Helston) Ltd
R and M Cleaners
County Electrical Supplies
Cornwall Glass & Glazing Ltd (Ray’s Glass)
Jackson’s Insurance
Jacksons Wealth Management
Island Properties / Scilly Self Catering
Scilly Linen Supplies
Island Estate Agents
William Rogers Insurance Brokers/
Towergate
Wright Construction
Duchy Hospital
Richard Hand Haulage
Tucker Car Hire
Crane & Johnson Accountants
MJ Marine
Food and Drink
Cornish Food Market
Juliet’s Garden Restaurant
Speros Beach Café & Restaurant
Scilly Fish and Chip Van
Kavorna Café
Celtic Fish and Game
Carn Vean Tea Gardens
Veronica Farm Fudge
The Atlantic Hotel
The Atlantic Inn
Kaffeehaus
Bay View Restaurant
The Tanglewood Kitchen Company
St Mary’s Hall Hotel
The Pilchard Pit
Tresco Estate
Plowman Food Company
The Scillonian Club
The Grape Vine Off-Licence
Organisations
Truro & Penwith College
Council of the Isles of Scilly Children’s
Services
NHS Smoking Cessation Service
Healthwatch Scilly
IoS Parent Carers Group
Radio Scilly
Shopping
Scent from the Islands
Flares Beauty and Craft Gallery
Andrewarthas Furniture, Penzance
Josling TV & Electrical
Portreath Garden Machinery
Chenpump
Solo Building Supplies
Sports Mode
The Foredeck and 49 Degrees Clothing
The Sandpiper
Red Rose Textiles
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