July 1975
Isle of Wight County Press:
July 5th 1975: ROTARY SERVICE AWARD – The Ryde Rotary Club Vocational Award—a cheque for £20—was presented at a function at the Prince Consort, Ryde, to a porter at the Royal IW County Hospital, Ryde, Mr. William ALLAN, of 20 Millward Road, Ryde. This was the third year the award has been presented to a member of staff at the hospital. Previously it had been given to student nurses, but this was changed to staff after the nurses’ training college moved to Newport.
July 5th 1975: BROWNIES DECORATE THE BEACH – Over 120 brownies from the Ryde area took part in the annual sandcastle contest at Appley beach. This time each team of six girls made a seaside monster out of what materials they could find. Winners were the gnomes of 3rd Ryde (St. John’s)—Amanda HEATHFIELD, Sharon SOAL, Helen PETTY, Emma WATSON, Alison JONES and Angela NUTTALL—who were awarded the Caple Cup.
July 5th 1975: COCKTAIL PARTY – More than 200 people attended a subscription cocktail party for the IW Foot Beagles in the house and grounds of Ryde House, Binstead, on Saturday. It is the third year running that the function was held at Ryde House, the home of Captain and Mrs. I. R. Hamilton BLACK.
July 5th 1975: WORKERS ACCEPT OFFER – A mass meeting of strikers at the Trucast factory in Marlborough Road, Ryde, voted on Thursday to accept a management offer and return to work on Monday. The strike was in the 18th day. Workers voted to accept a £6.80 increase with a further £2.20 from next February. Mr. Christopher MOAKES, senior night shift shop steward said that no new pay deals should be negotiated for 13 months.
July 5th 1975: BEQUEST WILL AID FAMILIES – Mr. Frederick Harry ADAMS, of Mount Street, Ryde, retired builder, left £12,427.20 gross. He left £100 to the trustees to be used in units of £10 for deserving poor families in Ryde at Christmas; £100 to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Ryde and £50 each to Toc H, Ryde, the Salvation Army Corps at Ryde, and the British Anti-Vivisection Society.
July 12th 1975: BIG STORM – Ryde Rowing Club’s new £17,000 club-house narrowly scaped severe damage when lightning stuck a nearby oak tree during the violent electrical storm which raged in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The incident at Ryde involved an old oak tree near the new club-house which was recently opened by Admiral of the Fleet Earl MOUNTBATTEN of Burma, KG, Governor of the Island. Bark was stripped from the tree by the blast, which split the trunk, but it remained standing.
July 12th 1975: DOG RACING – Greyhound racing at Smallbrook Stadium near Ryde, had moved a step nearer. Mr. CAMPBELL, Medina Borough Council amenities officer said the committee on Tuesday had been in contact with the National Greyhound Racing Association and the Midland Greyhound Racing Company Limited, who own tracks in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Newcastle. Mr. CAMPBELL who put forward the idea of a track at Smallbrook said he had numerous letters supporting the suggestion.
July 12th 1975: £500 HAUL – Thieves who got into the rear of Hepworths shop in Ryde High Street on Monday stole 30 pairs of men’s trousers, six black leather jackets, and a velvet jacket worth a total of £500.
July 19th 1975: AMBULANCE – Twenty-four-hour ambulance coverage based at Ryde was necessary in case of emergencies on the cross-Solent ferries or in other parts of the town, the Island Community Health Council urged at their meeting on Monday. It is still a fact that one ambulance only is kept at Ryde, in the open, and that the small ambulance, the only one which British Rail will allow to go onto Ryde Pier, is kept at Newport.
July 19th 1975: CHURCH PROBLEM – The Council should look for an immediate solution to the problem of St. Thomas’s Church and churchyard at Ryde, for the benefit of the borough. The observation came at the end of a discussion on the disused church which an organisation known as the Friends of St. Thomas’s have sought for several years to save from threatened demolition