Isle of Wight News from OnTheWight

OnTheWight in conversation with artist Tommy Brentnall at the No Ordinary Town exhibition at Quay Arts in November 2025. Tommy discusses his exhibition, which explores the future of Sandown through a collaboration with Boojum and Snark. The project involved a month-long residency, workshops, and community engagement. Tommy’s work features pastel drawings of boats and futuristic characters, i...

In 2025 Teresa Grimaldi held an artist residency at Boojum & Snark, exploring the strange story of All Colours Sam the Sandown Clown. To bring this UFO-folklore to life, Teresa co-created a giant puppet with the community that took part in the Sandown Carnival. She also created a wonderfully strange installation called ‘The Windowless Hut’ that could only be seen from a peephole. Alo...

OnTheWight chats with writer Anmarie Bowler, and artist Tommy Brentnall about their collaboration for The Sandown Tarot, A Tool for Survival. The deck of tarot 24 cards “provide a compelling lens through which to explore Sandown and its future” and was one of the final Sandown Rocks projects supported by Arts Council England.

OnTheWight speaks with geologist, Martin Simpson, to hear more about his and Dr Bruce Denness’s theory about what is happening geologically on the start of Newport Road, Ventnor, known locally as ‘the graben’. As far back as the 1980s, the graben structure on Newport Road, Ventnor was thought to be the result of a geological fault opening up at the crest of the Ventnor landslide....

OnTheWight spoke with Graham Horton, Deputy Director at Natural England, at the launch of the Isle of Wight’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) in May 2025. Graham emphasised the importance of community involvement and low-cost interventions and praised the Isle of Wight’s exemplary strategy, noting its clear priorities and strong community engagement.

OnTheWight spoke to Ian Boyd from The Common Space at the launch of the  Isle of Wight Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). Ian explained the work that he and his team at The Common Space have been doing for the past 18 months and outlined what we can all do to help protect biodiversity on the Isle of Wight.

OnTheWight spoke with James Brewer at the launch of the  Isle of Wight Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) on Friday 16th May 2025. He outlined the work that had taken place over the previous two years and why it is important for us all do our bit to protect, conserve and enhance the natural world around us.

OnTheWight sits down with Phil Gibby, Director of Arts Council England South West Area at the launch of Department, Ryde. We cover a range of issues, but highlights include the Arts Council’s role in facilitating conversations and supporting artists; the tenacity of local artists, particularly Shademakers, for their entrepreneurial spirit and problem-solving skills; the importance of sharing...

The final part of four of the interview with Ollie Boulter, Head of Planning and Infrastructure for the Isle of Wight council. We cover the energy efficiency of buildings – and the steps IWC are taking to exceed current government insulation standards, the reaction of IW developers and how the new build market is now seeking the highest levels of energy efficiency. There’s an explorati...

Third part (of four) of the interview with Ollie Boulter, Head of Planning and Infrastructure for the Isle of Wight council. We cover the building of new houses for people to rent and buy; the Airbnb dilemma; government targets; how planning officers weigh up harm and benefit and how they balance it. We end with how Isle of Wight council (IWC) is reaching to double the affordableness of new houses...

Second part of the interview with Ollie Boulter, Head of Planning and Infrastructure for the Isle of Wight council. We cover, in detail, the purpose and process of pre-planning applications, life as a planning officer on IW, the department’s accumulated knowledge, the need for planning officers to understand a local community and how do they stay on top of so many different planning applicat...

Ollie Boulter, Head of Planning and Infrastructure for the Isle of Wight council, explains his role, which includes overseeing planning applications, local planning policies and enforcement. During our two-hour conversation (broken up into several parts), Ollie emphasises the importance of balancing competing interests in planning, considering social, environmental and economic factors. The conver...

Elsie Calder was announced as Brave Island’s Isle of Wight Young Artist of the Year Award 2024 at the launch of the Quay Arts exhibition on Saturday 5th October 2024. OnTheWight spoke to Elsie after she received the award.

OnTheWight sat down with Zoe Portsmouth, a valued member of the Bay Area Youth Project team who has spearheaded the inclusion of young girls in the sport of boxing. Zoe explains her own journey into boxing, transitioning from fitness to competitive boxing, and how this helped her find her identity again after managing various responsibilities as a manager, mum, and daughter. Through working with t...

OnTheWight speaks to Hugh Wells, Managing Director of AJ Wells & Sons Ltd. On 17th September 2024, the company were presented with The King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade, by Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Susie Sheldon. OnTheWight caught up with Hugh following the celebration event to find out more about the award, the challenges of a growing business, how Christian fai...

OnTheWight caught up with David Jones and Natalia from Goldsmiths University who made a ‘life-sized’ ‘All Colours Sam’ statue and brought it to Sandown. It’s a wide-ranging conversation where we cover ‘Sam the Sandown Clown’, how David found it; what modern folklore is about; other examples and much more.

On Friday 6th September 2024, Doug Brock, the great nephew of Olivia Parkes, visited Ventnor to see where his great aunt had lived and died. OnTheWight sat down with him to find out more.

Bonchurch Pottery celebrates its 50th year in 2024. OnTheWight sat down with its founder, Andrew Bristow, to find out more about the last 50 years – exploring his creative process over that time.

(Apologies for the noise in the background – all the chairs from the meeting started to be dragged back to their original positions in the hall. About half way through we dived out to a slightly more quiet space) Quick interview with Stephen about how East Wight Primary has pivoted, what’s next and how they will secure voting We covered:

Recorded at the Isle of Wight Green Impact Awards ceremony at Building 41 in Northwood. Simon and Dr Holly Jenkins discuss the awards, how Island business can get involved in 2024, SOS UK and behavioural change theory: Sustainability and climate justice at Green Impact Awards. SOS UK is an educational charity focused on sustainability, diversity, and climate justice. A programme to help businesses...

News OnTheWight chatted to Ella Clapham to learn what’s been happening at Building 41 since it launched just over a year ago. Shared workspaces at Building 41 in Northwood Co-working space in Northwood, Isle of Wight, has seen steady growth in popularity since opening over a year ago. Office layout and privacy features The layout of the new office space, including a social area and individua...