I recently felt proud to be an Islander, when I attended the funeral of Newport-born singer/songwriter Les Payne at the Amersham Crematorium.
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The Island’s Michael Whitehead has enjoyed a fascinating life that has involved working with Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, the Milky Bar Kid, the Apollo Theatre, Tales of the Riverbank, the Mary Rose and currently The Ghost Train.
Ryde’s Doug Watson has been playing the drums for 59 years and is still as enthusiastic as he was when he first played in the Homing Birds skiffle group.
I knew Morris Barton, who died recently aged 75, long before he became the most famous person on the Isle of Wight. When he first joined the IW County Press he was an apprentice linotype operator to my late father, Roy. When dad revealed stories of work, Morris was often mentioned.
THE JOHN HANNAM INTERVIEW
Many successful Island journalists learned their skills on Island publications and then moved on to mainland newspapers. But one of our most successful, Philip Norman, was turned down by one local paper because it had no vacancies.
THE JOHN HANNAM INTERVIEW
Who has been the Island’s favourite pop group of the last 50 years? There are numerous bands to choose from, but for many the Cherokees are still revered as our most popular ever and they reigned supreme for 10 years from the early 1960s.
THE JOHN HANNAM INTERVIEW
During the 26 years of my Isle of Wight Radio chat show, two people created the biggest impact – Cliff Richard and the late Military Road farmer Sylvia Jones. Sir Cliff was perhaps expected, but Sylvia, making her radio debut at the age of 74, brought in phone calls from all along the south coast, and she came back several times by popular demand. I still think of her every time I drive past Sutton Farm. She was always full of fun and once told me: “What I’ve got left is either wrinkled, shrivelled up or dropping off.
THE JOHN HANNAM INTERVIEW
Actor Graham Pountney and his wife Suki Taylor, a dancer and choreographer, have been coming to the Island since 1976, and were married six years later in Seaview.
Since then Graham has starred in Howard’s Way, until his most spectacular screen exit as powerboat driver Mark Foster, and guested in shows like New Tricks, Hannay and EastEnders. Meanwhile, Suki appeared in Hello Dolly with Danny La Rue, worked with the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi and now plies her skills with local wheelchair dancers and dementia sufferers.