Islanders’ Heroes

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was the most famous poet of the Victorian era, renowned for his dramatically powerful subjects and highly-wrought melodious style.

Among his most celebrated works are ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (1842), ‘Ulysses’ (1842), In Memoriam A.H.H. (1849), ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1854) and Maud (1855).

Tennyson often took inspiration from Classical and Arthurian mythology, and frequently explored death, loss, desire, the passing of time, and the dilemma of whether to withdraw from or engage with the world.

Poet Laureate
Such was the acclaim for In Memoriam, that Tennyson became Poet Laureate on the death of William Wordsworth in 1850.

An epic and painfully personal poem about Tennyson’s grief on the sudden death of his best friend, Arthur Hallam, it came to represent an age of mourning, particularly in the wake of Prince Albert’s death in 1861.

Lord Tennyson
Having become an icon of Victorianism, Tennyson was made a baron in 1883. He had come a long way from his origins as the son of a Lincolnshire reverend.

To find out more about Alfred, Lord Tennyson visit the Farringford Website.

John Wilkes was a politician, rebel and resident of Sandown.

In 1788, a spent force, Wilkes left his tempestuous past behind and leased a cottage at Royal Heath, Sandown Bay.

With few neighbours, he lived alone, writing daily to his favourite daughter, ‘Polly’ and giving a fascinating insight into the 18th/19th century, Isle of Wight.

He remained until 1795, the year of his death. His local memorial remains only in the name of Wilkes Street, Sandown.

His Isle of Wight story is told on Jan Toms’ Website.

Image: © Robert “Bob” Hampton

Maria takes great photographs of your Island, but even though she didn’t know who Andy SC is, don’t let that count against her!

She’s a great ambassador for your Island in London and she’s part of a mystical sisterhood that takes her for meals.

She has also outlined all the good pubs you have, which is making me want to visit!

John is a passionate skateboarder and has been skating for all his life, which has taken him around the world and alongside some of the biggest names in skateboarding.

Here on the Isle of Wight, he founded skateboard company Wight Trash and has been fundamental in promoting the skating scene, from sponsoring local skaters, to fundraising for skate parks.

Skate parks provide important opportunities for kids (and big kids) to get outside, exercise, expand their boundaries and just have fun.

Skate Club for all ages
John also runs John Cattle’s Skate Club teaching all generations including the next to skateboard.

Based in a purpose-built training skate park in Wootton, he excels at teaching all ages and abilities (from 3 to 50+) with no previous experience necessary, in a safe and fun environment.

A real legend
Through sharing his skills and enthusiasm, John gets people more active, and involved in a great community.

That’s why John Cattle is my Isle of Wight Hidden Hero.

I’d like to nominate Ian Boyd as one of the Island’s kindest, brightest, productive and most unsung heroes.

A polymath by nature and a brain-poppingly knowledgable ecologist, he’s quietly and gently worked to conserve, restore, reimagine and revitalise landscapes, places, buildings, communities, developments, wildlife and people all across the Island… either directly, picking up a shovel and getting planting or painting, designing trails or commissioning artists, or indirectly behind the scenes writing funding bids/supporting campaigns for Island-enhancing projects even including the Biosphere.

He’s added the essence or sparkle to countless projects and lives, founded I2K, G2N, Island Rivers, Shaping the Bay, Arc, Artecology, Discovery Bay, new not-for-profit The Common Space and more – all to make the world a better place.

He works non-stop to connect people & wildlife, from a calendar of always-imaginative science and nature events such as Under the Pier on his days off, to making space to sponsor and support students or in fact anyone, of all ages and abilities, and including some of our most vulnerable people.

He’ll drop everything to support and direct people to become the best of themselves, with endless patience and enthusiasm.

Thanks to him, numerous people have been inspired by nature, or enabled to work in the environment, many of whom may not even be aware of it. His actions or advice have made a huge difference to species and habitats too.

Thanks to his imagination and experiments, the Island has acres of marvels and new opportunities; bee fields and biograffiti walls, rare elm trees and white letter hair streak butterflies, new artificial rockpools bringing hope for marine wildlife against sea level rise, universities visiting the Island, and £1000s has been raised for regeneration projects in the Bay area for example in just the last couple of years.

Believing in the importance of public realm, he’ll often spend his own money, spare time or last ounce of energy to make things happen – the Willow Walk a latest example, even planting hundreds of coastal plants by himself.

He advises on national environmental work from Bournemouth to Edinburgh. And all this is only a tiny bit of his output. I think good people, true heroes, don’t blow their own trumpet and their purpose is clear and genuine.

They meet adversity with integrity, invention, humility, humour and spirit, they look for and act on every opportunity to improve things for their community, and they always say it was a team effort! That’s why they’re hidden, presumably.

Ian’s a truly valuable human being and Island hero. But best of all, thanks to him, there are poems on our pavements, and orchids in our fields, we know why a weevil’s got a long nose, where to find a sponge garden or where to hear a nightingale sing at sunrise.

Image: © Portrait of an Island – Steve Blamire and Julian Winslow