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ISLAND UPDATE: September 2025
- Adele Trathan
- Sep 12
- 4 min read
Your community news, achievements and feel-good stories. Please do continue to send them in to editorial@iwbeacon.com
Save The Date!
This year The Isle of Wight Literary Festival will be held on the 9th to 12th October. Make sure you save these dates to enjoy a wonderful event sure to entertain, inspire and enjoy. The 2025 speaker programme will explore a wide array of themes, including history, politics, personal narratives, crime, and loads more. Northwood House in Cowes is the primary festival venue with many supporting venues as well.
Cowes Mayor Awards
Five members of the Cowes community have been given special awards in recognition of their extraordinary dedication to the town at an event held at Northwood House. The Mayor’s Awards were issued by Cowes Mayor, Councillor Stuart Ellis, at his Cowes Week Reception. Each of the award winners were presented with a glass award and a certificate in recognition of their contribution.
The awards went to:
Paul Armfield, Manager of Medina Bookshop in Cowes, to recognise that Medina Bookshop had been named ‘Independent Bookshop of the Yearfor the Southeast’ as part of the 35th Bookseller Awards.
Michael Paler for continuing to support Cowes Town Council and for providing excellent photography at town events.
Major Crane for all her work with the Cowes Combined Cadet Force who she has supported for around 20 years.
Ali Burt for all her work in Scouting on the Island.
Ian Scragg for all his work behind the scenes, supporting Cowes Town Council.
Cowes Mayor, Councillor Stuart Ellis, said, “It was my pleasure, as Cowes Mayor, to present the awards this year to five very deserving people who have truly done great work for Cowes and our wider Island community. On behalf of Cowes Town Council, I thank them for their continued work and dedication.”
Bronze Age Barrows Saved
As part of this year’s Festival of Archaeology (19 July to 3 August), the National Trust celebrated a major conservation milestone on the Isle of Wight, with confirmation that the Bronze Age barrows at Headon Warren are set to be removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
These ancient burial mounds, dating back over 4,000 years, are a Scheduled Monument and an important part of the Island’s prehistoric landscape. Their survival and protection have long been a concern, with gradual deterioration caused by agricultural activity, natural erosion and burrowing animals leading to their inclusion on the register. But following a period of focused conservation work and sensitive land management, their condition has now improved significantly.
James Brown, Archaeologist for the National Trust said, “These barrows connect us directly with the Island’s deep past – and this project is a brilliant example of how collaborative working, combining farming, archaeology and conservation, can safeguard heritage for the future.”
Local Nurse Wins Award
Mountbatten Isle of Wight lead inpatient unit nurse, Theresa McNamara, won the Excellence in Palliative Care Nursing (Not for Profit) Award, at Care Talk Magazine’s Palliative and End of Life Care Awards 2025.
She said, “I was blown away at winning. I really didn’t know what to say! Thank you so much to those who nominated me. I absolutely love what I do and am incredibly passionate about palliative and end-of-life care.”
Theresa was described as an exceptional nursing leader who thoroughly deserves the trust and respect shown to her by members of her team. A culture of openness, positivity, care and compassion flourishes among inpatient unit staff members, in turn fuelling exceptional patient care.
Theresa received her award from journalist and broadcaster, Kate Garraway, who hosted the ceremony at London’s Hilton Bankside, in June.
Big Beach Clean
More than 40 local residents of all ages rolled up their sleeves recently to protect our coastline, collecting 20 bags of waste from East Cowes Esplanade as part of the Marine Heroes community event.
This was the first of several events funded by East Cowes Town Council and supported by resources from Surfers Against Sewage. The session combined environmental action with nature-based learning – from tallying brand names of litter to identifying shells and spotting signs of coastal life. Children left proudly holding Marine Heroes certificates, a symbol of their contribution to a cleaner, healthier Isle of Wight.
Founder of Wild Isle Nature School, Elle, said, “Events like Marine Heroes show how small actions, taken together, can have a big impact on our local environment.”
Child Safety In Sport
Parents, carers and sports clubs on the Isle of Wight are being urged to find out more about the NSPCC’s Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week this October. This is a national campaign to help protect children in physical activity settings, after concerns reported to the charity’s Helpline increased by almost 50% last year.
Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport is a year- round campaign that raises awareness of safeguarding children in sports settings and encourages positive behaviour by parents and carers from the sidelines.
Christian McMullan, NSPCC Professional Learning Services Director, said, “Our Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport resources are free, easy to access and use, and can help adults understand more about
what role they can play in ensuring young people enjoy their sport in safety.”
Twice Rescued Island Book
Peter Stark Lansley’s manuscript for Pon My Puff: A Childhood in 1920s Isle of Wight was first discovered in a trunk in 2013, 60 years after it was written. His son, Dr Charles Lansley, got it published through a local publisher in Newchurch, but sadly when they ceased trading the book went out of print.
Charles Lansley went on a rescue mission to try and find a publisher to prevent it from ending up in a dusty old trunk again, and happily, he succeeded. The autobiographical novel, by the late Peter Lansley who died in 1999, is a true story of a child’s upbringing by his grandparents in 1920s Isle of Wight. We gain a greater understanding of what family and Wootton village life was like in the 1920s, when the steam train ran supreme, when there was no electricity or telephone, and when it was safe for a five-year old to walk into the village alone.
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