Year of Sculpture

Last Friday the Arts team organised a day trip to Winchester to visit two exhibitions that are part of Winchester's 2007 Year of Sculpture. A gang of 10 of us hopped on the minibus and first headed to the 'Rummage' show at Winchester Gallery which featured a selection of drawings by the country's leading contemporary sculptors. We then had lunch along the river and ambled up to the cathedral for the 'Light' exhibition. 'Light' featured seven pieces situated within the magnificent interior of the cathedral, including works by Rachel Whiteread and Marc Quinn. Both exhibitions were really engaging and it was a real treat to see work placed confidently within the space and context of the cathedral building.
Isle of Wight Year of Sculpture anyone...?

Chance Encounters

When they arrived at Wroxall Cemetery on Saturday for the Chance Encounters Walk, the twenty or so participants had little idea what lay ahead. Unusually, this was also true for the walk leaders. In an attempt to escape the modern obsession with controlling our lives and the world around us, those taking part agreed to allow chance to be their guide and to follow a course dictated by the roll of a gigantic foam-rubber dice (that's a die for any purists).

After a shaky start when the whole expedition nearly foundered in a huge lake of mud, fate smiled on the participants and guided them on a course over St Martin's Down taking in shaded paths through the woods, spectacular displays of flowers, open downland and as a final surprise, breath-taking views over the Channel.

Direction was not the only thing to be left to chance. Topics for discussion, styles of walking and mutual personal revelations were all prompted by the bouncing cube.

At the end, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the liberation of letting go of the reins for a few hours and parted by thumbing their noses at each other and stalking off - just as the final throw determined they should.

1st Bus Stop Poem Installed

Following several hours of whizzing angle-grinders and hammer drills, the dust settled in/on Oakfield outside Premier Stores to reveal the first poem to be installed as part of the Bus Stop Poems scheme. The project has been made possible by Arts & Business. The ode, written by Clea Barton, details all the wonderful things to be found in Oakfield, leaving one in little doubt that it is unnecessary, even foolhardy to venture elswhere. While this is probably a bit off-message with respect to its public transport sponsors Southern Vectis, it did seem to have the approval of those waiting at the stop. There are nine more bronze plaques to be installed around the Island.

Britain's Rarest Tree

Here is a fabulous Black Poplar, reckoned to be our rarest native tree. It wasn't so very long ago that there were real fears for its long-term future, fears that it might even become extinct. And yet it was once such a characteristic feature of the English countryside that it appears, identifiably, in John Constable's archetypal rural idyll, 'The Hay Wain'. This one is in Roud, in the upper reaches of the East Yar valley and was photographed by Rowan Adams on her Rambling Rivers walk for the 2007 Walking Festival . Rowan is gallantly guiding the fit and adventurous along successive sections of our Source to Sea long-distance trail (you can see it marked as the ' Yar River Trail' on the OL29 Ordnance Survey Explorer Map for the Island) throughout the Festival and on into the IWC Countryside Summer Walks programme. There are just a handful of Black Poplars left on the Island (maybe 3, maybe 5); all male and so trapped in hopeless chastity. Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of the Environment Agency and the great horticultural skills of the Isle of Wight College we are now able to collect cuttings from these trees and propagate them. In this way we will build up a stock of new saplings (all clones of the originals of course) ready for planting out and so ensure that this beautiful tree will grace the Island's river valleys and wetlands for many years to come. But, if there any female Black Poplars out there looking to relocate, please do send your age and measurements to: desperatetrees@island2000.org.uk

National Be Nice to Nettles Week - 16th to 27th May

Nettles have got a bad reputation known in the main for their formidable sting! However did you know that the nettle is one of the most important plants for wildlife in the UK?

Recent research has revealed the cause of the sting to be from three chemicals – a histamine that irritates the skin, acetylcholine which causes a burning sensation and serotonin, that encourages the other two chemicals.

The power of the sting actually makes the nettle’s leaves a haven for over forty species of insect, defending them against grazing animals. Nettle patches are also host to swarms of aphids a great source of food for ladybirds and birds in early spring.

Stinging nettle leaves are tasty and full of nutrients - lovely in tea and soup. Hooray for the humble, yet ferocious nettle. For more info on all things nettle-y see www.nettles.org.uk.
Be nice to nettles - we are.

Lady Ridley's Nettle Soup

Why not try Lady Ridley's nettle soup recipe? Let us know what you think or tell us your own favourite nettle recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes
½ lb young nettles
2 oz butter
1½ pts chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt & black pepper
4 tablespoons sour cream

Method:

Cook the peeled, chopped potatoes for 10 mins in salted water. Drain.

Wash & chop coarsely the nettles (Only pick the new, young tops,using gloves!)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the nettles and stew gently for a few minutes. Add the potatoes and heated stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.

When all is soft, cool slightly & purée in a blender, adding seasoning and the sour cream.

I hope you enjoy the nettle soup. The hardest work is picking the nettles. Half a pound is a lot of small leaves, but it is fun to do, in season, once a year.

THE VISCOUNTESS RIDLEY

Spring Bored

Internal investigations are beginning into the mutilation of a prime office stapler. The popular office essential appears to have been ripped apart with it's assailant taking the calculated move of replacing the stapler and, now deformed and flailing, spring back into the drawer from which it was taken.

Initial speculation as to the cause of such an attack has focussed on staff skill levels at refilling staplers and investigators haven't ruled out random 'stop and fill' tests to search out the guilty party.

The Queen's Bloomers

A crowd of over 30 walkers were lucky enough to benefit from the marvellously knowledgeable and self-confessed "Regency Man" Professor Boffin last Sunday when he led one of the walking festival walks.

Fresh from the signing tour of his latest book, "Pipes, sewers and drainage of the late 18th Century" the Professor made a rare departure from his regency specialism to provide an entertaining and informative tour; "The Queen's Bloomers", loosely based on Island 2000's "Boat Trail".

The walk highlighted the Victorian heritage of Cowes and East Cowes, particularly all the connections with Queen Victoria and her residence at Osborne House.

Following the walk, the Professor commented, "A splendid occasion. Wonderful people, the Islanders - got some very good friends in Seaview myself. My wife put me up for this - she's very keen on 'causes' - does a lot of work for charity and all that kind of caper. Anyway, must dash, I'm due up at Osborne House to investigate some of Victoria's pipework. Cheerio!"

Growing Places Goes Global (well, almost)

On 26 April Ryde High School hosted a celebration event for the continuing success of their Growing Places Project; a joint project between Creative Partnerships, Ryde High and Island 2000. The Project has created an allotment area in the school grounds and transformed an old concrete garage into a beautiful shed.

Along the way, all areas of the curriculum have been involved in various aspects of the project; building the allotments, growing flowers and vegetables, creating art installations in the garden area, performing on the outdoor stage, tracing the ecological footprint of the school, using the area during lesson times for inspiration and creating a film of the project for media studies.

The celebration event included a student version of the Greek Tragedy "Theseus and the Minotaur", and the first of this year's planting was completed in the new herb bed.









Island 2000's esteemed leader planted ceremonial elms at the new gateposts, and gave the project his blessing.

The Majesty of Flight

Partly as a team-day and partly as the dry-run for a business training event we'll be laying on for clients a little later in the summer the I2K crew assembled at the Ventnor Botanical Gardens last week. We had a nice wander through the flowers, first mainly stroking things and nibbling things that we hoped weren't deadly but might on the other hand be merely strongly purgative (later evidence suggested the latter). We were especially taken with Squirting Cucumbers and tales of the impressive hydraulic pressure they generate before blasting seed-gel into your face when you brush by. And then it was back to the conference room for the main session courtesy of brilliant artist and craftsman Dave Badman: making flying machines from cardboard packaging. But, no sketching, pre-planning or rubbing out allowed - strictly spontaneous scissors and glue. The whole thing is actually geared to helping engineers and designers enjoy the creative impulse unimpeded by detailed spec. and is intended to help spur patent applications for new applications of existing technology. But it's fun too. I got a lot of glue in my sock somehow. Below you can see some of the fab creations we then test-flew out in the garden. Marvel at Kev's gigantic machine; delight at Kate's brave refusal to accept any principles of aerodynamics and make instead a small cardboard stone with a face; thrill at Dan's hot-air balloon that burned to death on the footpath; and applaud the day's determined winner Sam with her robust and superb plane that you felt might easily take passengers.