July 1970
Isle of Wight County Press:
July 4th 1970: HOSPITAL – The Royal I.W. County Hospital, Guild of Past Patients has raised £2700. The money has gone into building and equipping the Island’s most advanced coronary care unit at the hospital. The three-bed unit was officially opened on Tuesday when Mrs. S. R. BIRD, guild chairman, handed over the final £1200 to Major General F. M. HEXT, C.B., O.B.E., chairman of the I.W. Group Hospital Management Committee. It took about 18 months for the guild to raise the money.
July 4th 1970: ELECTRICITY SUPPLIES – Heavy rain on Tuesday evening caused some high voltage line insulators to flash over and resulted in the automatic interruption of electricity supplies. In Binstead, Ashey and Wootton, supplies failed just after 6 p.m., but the majority of the 2000 consumers involved supply was restored within half an hour.
July 4th 1970: A RECORD – Christine ISLES (12), of Ryde Secondary School, was winner of the junior high jump with a record 4ft.4¾in. during the school’s field events on Monday.
July 4th 1970: NOISY RADIOS – Letter to the editor. Almost as big a menace as summer bonfires are noisy T.V.s and radios, in spite of the B.B.C.s frequent reminders. Not the much-maligned teenager, passing with a transistor set, but selfish “oldies” who are all-the-year-round offenders, refusing to admit increasing deafness. The smaller their rooms, the greater the volume amplifies, it reaches nearby homes hours on end.
July 11th 1970: DISABLED – More help for disabled tenants of council houses in the Borough of Ryde will be forthcoming in the near future. It will mean that for the first-time purpose-built accommodation will be provided aimed at easing the lot of tenants who have to rely on wheelchairs. Special features will include ramps in place of steps, light switches at waist level, sliding doors and lowered sink units.
July 18th 1970: MUSIC HALL – Due to popular demand, the Old Time Music Hall at the Esplanade Pavilion will be staged on seven nights a week from tomorrow. Until now Mr. Don ELLIS and his company have presented their Summer Revue on week nights and staged Music Hall only on Sundays. There will be three changes of programme.
July 18th 1970: HISTORY TALK – Mr. R. BRINTON gave an illustrated talk on “Ryde through the ages” at the Congregational Schoolroom on Monday when £14. 10s. was raised for the new building fund. More than 130 people attended this, the first of a series of programmes. Mr. BRINTON spoke of early life in the manor house and fisherman’s cottage, and continued the story to the development of the town, the beginning of the railway and touched on the history of the churches.
July 25th 1970: TRUST YOUR BUTCHER – Mr. BARNETT, secretary of the I.W. Meat Traders’ Association, said that members were doing, and would continue to do, their utmost to avoid retail price increases. He warned that the situation would worsen the longer the strike lasted and indicated there would be a sharp deterioration if Smithfield Market porters carried out their threat to “black” meat if it was unloaded by the army.
July 25th 1970: POP FESTIVAL – With little more than a month to go before the festival, the Island was still in a state of flux throughout the week as to what exactly was happening, although assurances were given by the promoters that the site would definitely be in the West Wight. Alderman Mark WOODNUTT, M.P. pointed out that he had before him 360 letters objecting to the festival.
July 25th 1970: FIVE-YEAR-OLD SWIMMERS – More than 100 pupils took part in 30 events at the St. John’s County Primary School swimming gala in the school pool on Monday. Swimming reached a high standard, and an encouraging feature was the number of five-year-old children able to swim. Staff organised the gala under the direction of Mr. W. N. WATKIN (headmaster).