Do we need further restrictions to protect the Manx scallop fishing industry?

More than 60 boats, of which only 25 were Manx, converged on our territorial waters to fish for king scallops when the scallop season began on Tuesday.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture says the number of boats fishing in the island’s scallop fishery has expanded to an ‘unsustainable’ level.

Restrictions were put in place in 2010 after there was a big outcry about the number of visiting vessels.

Further restrictions were imposed last month. The number of boats allowed to fish in the three-mile limit was reduced from 89 to 37 and the number in the three to 12 mile limit was cut from 156 to 88.

Five new no-fish zones have also been introduced in the three-mile limit and a curfew imposed between 6pm and 6am.

On the first day of the season, Tuesday, there were 62 boats in the island’s scallop fishery, compared to 79 last year. Of those 62 boats, 40 per cent were Manx, 29 per cent were Irish, 19 per cent were Scottish, 10 per cent English and two per cent Welsh.

David Beard, of the Manx Fish Producers’ Organisation, said 208 tonnes of king scallops had been caught off Peel on Tuesday – but only 21 per cent had been landed and processed in the island.

The DEFA’s director of fisheries, Karen McHarg, said it was ‘far too early’ to see whether the new restrictions were working but further measures would be considered if necessary.

She said: ‘It’s a first step towards creating a sustainable fishery. Under the fisheries management agreement with the UK we have to allow fair and open access to our waters. We have reduced the number of boats that can come and we continue to monitor stocks.

‘If we have concerns, there is a lot more we can do to manage the fishery – curfews, quotas, further restrictions on number of vessels, weekend bans.

‘But it’s got to be fair – and Manx boats would be restricted as well.’

Allegations of fishing activity within the curfew times have been investigated. DEFA says the weight of scallops landed in the island on the first day of the season increased from 111.6 tonnes last year to 290.9 tonnes this year.

The rate of inflation in the Isle of Man fell to 0.9 per cent last month, figures released today show.

In September it stood at 1.2 per cent.

Prices rose for many air and sea passengers and the price of petrol increased as the value of the pound sank in the currency markets.

An increase in the cost of phone bills and Lottery tickets also played a part.

The drop in the value of the pound since the UK’s referndum on leaving the Europen Union in June has had an effect.

While that makes British exports cheaper abroad, it means people here will have to spend more money to buy imported goods. The first sign of that is a rise in fuel, which is sold in American dollars in world markets.

The Isle of Man will be affected in the same way as all other areas that use Sterling.

Click here to read more.

The government now releases information on inflation based on the consumer prices index (CPI).

The figures reflect the annual change in prices. In other words the cost of goods was 0.9 per cent in October 2016 than they were in October 2015.

Between December 2014 and August this year (apart from April 2015) the Isle of Man underwent deflation. That meant that things, on average, were cheaper than they were 12 months earlier, according to the CPI.

An experienced sidecar driver died as a result of injuries to his head, neck and spine after being thrown into the air in a crash while competing in this year’s TT races.

Coroner John Needham recorded a verdict of misadventure on 27-year-old Dwight Stewart Beare, who died during the first sidecar race on June 4 in an accident near the 16th milestone on the TT Mountain Course.

Mr Beare, who was a carpenter by trade, lived at Greeba Drive in Onchan but was originally from Melbourne in Australia. A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Ervine Long at Noble’s Hospital found he died from massive blunt force trauma which caused head, neck and spinal injuries.

Mr Beare’s sidecar partner Benjamin Binns, who met Mr Beare in 2014 at the Southern 100 races, said in a statement read out in court: ‘Dwight was on good form and was his usual chirpy self. He was looking well and appeared in good health. There was no change in Dwight’s behaviour immediately before the race.

‘I believe we had a good start and our pace was good. Dwight appeared to be fine, everything was fine.’

Mr Binns described the conditions on the day as ‘perfect’. He said that near Rhencullen the sidecar ‘stepped out to the left’ but then settled. However it stepped out once more and then remembers being thrown into the air.

He recalls seeing Mr Beare being pulled off the road by marshals and at that point realising that his partner was deceased.

He believed they were going at a speed between 135 and 140mph when the crash took place.

‘I will miss my friend dearly and his memory will live on,’ Mr Bins said.

A witness, whose written statement was read out in court, said he saw both riders thrown in the air with one landing on the pavement and one on the road.

Technical officers Mark Elliot and Trevor Denning both separately gave written statements. They inspected the machine the pair were racing and found it to be ‘free of any defects’ and complied with the technical regulations in force, however Mr Elliot recorded a potential issue of disc wear.

Following the accident, vehicle examiner Anthony Bode inspected the vehicle and prepared a report. He said that the braking system was working properly and that no defects would have contributed towards a collision and that the machine had been correctly prepared.

He added that sight disc wear recorded previously would have not contributed to the cause of the crash.

Delivering his verdict, Mr Needham said: ‘Dwight was a young man in the prime of his life and he was doing what he loves. Of course, that’s no comfort to the people he left behind but he didn’t suffer and died instantaneously.’

Mr Needham offered his condolences to Mr Beare’s family.

Military bomb disposal experts will be visiting chemistry departments in several Manx schools this weekend following updated guidance regarding the storage of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine.

The chemical was in the headlines across the UK earlier this week, when controlled explosions were carried at a number of schools.

Known as 2,4-DNP, it is used in A-level chemistry lessons and can become dangerous if it is allowed to dry out.

Constable Kevin Williams said: ‘We’ve liaised with the Department of Education and Children, and specialist police officers will be working over the weekend with a military explosives and ordnance disposal team (EOD) at several schools to complete this programme.

‘Police are satisfied that the risk presented by the storage of this chemical by our schools has been negligible.

‘The assistance of EOD has been sought in line with current guidance as simply being the safest method of disposal.

‘People shouldn’t be concerned if they see police and military vehicles and staff in the vicinity of schools during the weekend.

‘It is anticipated there will be a number of small controlled explosions, but there will be no risk to the public or property.’

Art enthusiasts will have the chance to meet the four artists who have created a new exhibition at The Isle Gallery at Tynwald Mills.

The Meet the Artists event will take place on Sunday (November 6) at 2pm and marks the start of the Myths and Morphones exhibition.

Simon Park, Julie Roberts, Anna Clucas and Colette Gambell are the artists behind the showcase which explores myth, legend and imagination through photography, illustration, ceramic creations and mixed media. It runs until November 27.

An annual three-day Fairtrade sale raised a record breaking £7,000 to support One World Week.

Christmas cards, Fairtrade food and craft gifts were sold at the Cooil Methodist Hall, with an additional £1,900 raised from ‘simple lunches’, which offered a bowl of homemade soup, a bread roll and homemade dessert for £7.

All the funds were split between a HIV and AIDS clinic in Sierra Leone, and a Manx-based charity helping orphans in Uganda, called Developing Orphans.

Margaret Newton started organising the event in 1980, when she sold Fairtrade goods from her cottage across the road from the Methodist Hall. From such small beginning, the event has grown ‘bigger and bigger’, and 12 years ago Mrs Newton had to move the event into the church hall, where it has been held ever since.

She said: ‘I would like to thank everyone who was involved. It was marvellous that so many people came and it is great to think that they will all have such a great effect on people in the developing world.

‘We had about 250 people during lunch times, and about 400 people in total. It was very busy!’

Volunteers for the event were all friends and members of the Isle of Man Methodist Church, which ran the event.

The sale took place last week from Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 6.30pm.

There are free willow lantern workshops for the parade at the switch on of Castletown’s Christmas lights in December.

The free workshops are on November 19, 20, 26 and 27 November from 10am to 4pm (last entry at 2.30pm) in the civic centre.

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

For further information contact Carol Quine, phone 368350 or Kimberley Quine, phone 468482.

An appeal has been made to vote online and help a charity secure £25,000 to boost funding for a radiotherapy machine which vastly improves treatment of several forms of cancer.

The Manx Breast Cancer Support Group’s fundraising for the machine has been entered for an award by Friends Provident International (an Aviva company) and the candidate with the most votes receives £25,000.

The group’s vice chairman Carole Male said: ‘The Intrabeam Intra-Operative Radiotherapy machine is amazing, it is effectively a “one-shot” providing radiotherapy treatment whilst the tumour is being removed here in our breast unit instead of weeks of daily radiotherapy treatments in England. It can also be used for many other cancers, including spinal metastases, skin cancer, gastrointestinal, bowel, colo-rectal and head and neck tumours.

‘It is very important that you add your votes!’

Carole, like all the members of the group’s committee, understands too well the trauma of enduring cancer treatment and the need to make it as efficient and effective as possible.

‘I lost my mum, dad, younger sister and husband to cancer and I hate it,’ she said.
‘My husband had cancer and we spent many months in England while he was having radiotherapy followed by further treatment at Christie’s and it makes everything so much worse at an extremely difficult time when you’re away from home, family and friends.’

The group has raised an extraordinary £1.8m in two years and built the breast unit - now members want to get the best possible equipment in there and have just bought a DBT (three D mammogram machine) which cost £178,000 and detects up to 40 per cent more cancers.

The radiotherapy machine costs a breathtaking £500,000, but as Carole pointed out, savings to the health budget in travel and hospital costs in England will be ‘massive’.

To vote see www.manxbreastcancersupportgroup.com, Manx Breast Cancer Support Group’s Facebook page or www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/voting/project/view/16-3328
There are ten votes for several projects but all votes can ggo on one project; the closing date is November 18.

A self-confessed porn addict has been handed a suspended jail term after admitting 10 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Prosecutor Rachael Braidwood told the court that when police arrested Keith James Horne at his home in Waterloo Road, Ramsey, on March 9 this year he told them: ‘Okay, it was me. I’m addicted to porn.’

The 40-year-old entered 10 guilty pleas to the charges which relate to 30 still images and 38 moving images found on a pink laptop computer, the images made over four months between the end of October of last year and the end of February this year.

The images were graded on the Copine scale, a rating system for categorising the severity of images from one to 10, with 10 being the highest.

A total of 18 were rated level one, five at level two, six at level three, and 39 at level four. None was rated five or above.

Mrs Braidwood said the defendant was truly remorseful for his actions and although he had never physically been involved in the abuse of children he accepted his offences were not victimless.

Defence advocate Paul Glover described the offences as an ‘extremely foolish error of judgement which has put everthing he holds dear at risk’. His client accepted that he had only himself to blame for the offences which were completely out of character. His family were standing by him, the Court of General Gaol Delivery heard.

Deemster Alastair Montgomerie told the court that the small number of images and the short period of time in which they were viewed, together with Horne’s early guilty plea and no previous convictions, gave him just sufficient reason to suspend a prison sentence.

For each of the 10 offences he sentenced the defendant to eight months’ custody to run concurrently, and suspended for a period of two years.

Horne was also handed a two-year supervision order and his name was added to the Sex Offenders’ Register for a period of seven years.

He was also given a Sex Offenders’ Prevention Order until further notice, preventing him from buying, renting, or borrowing a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone without first notifying the police’s public protection unit.

Deemster Montgomerie ordered the destruction of the images and ordered Horne to pay prosecution costs of £500.

The Manx netball season resumes after a week’s break on Sunday.

Premier Division

9am NSC Thompson 2 v Simcocks Red Eagles

10am CRHS Missfits A v Toomraiders

10am NSC Route 1 Turbos v Simcocks Blue

11am NSC Route 1 Connections v Thompson 1

Division One

9am SNLS SMP Balla B v RL360 Y’Farmers

10am SNLS Castletown Pink v The Spaniards

11am SNLS Long & Humphrey v Marbree

12pm CRHS Fencibles v Manx Glass Saints

Division Two

9am NSC Route 1 Sparks v Route 1 Reactors

10am SNLSSMP Ballasalla C v Thompson 3

11am NSC PwC Emeralds v Simcocks White

11am CRHS Missfits B v Absolute Scaffolding

Division Three

9am CRHS Missfits C v West Coast Fitness

9am SNLS PwC Sapphires v Thompson 5

10am NSC Simcocks Eagles v Route 1 Volts

11am SNLS Thompson 4 v Castletown Navy

Corinthians booked their place in the Railway Cup for the first time in three decades by thrashing Union Mills in the Canada Life Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Not since the 1980-81 season have the Whites competed in the Yuletide top-flight competition but, having ended St George’s long unbeaten run recently, the Ballafletcher side sealed their place with a 7-0 win at home to neighbours Mills.

Danny Oram was the star of the show as he helped himself to no fewer than four goals and he was joined on the scoresheet by Connor Gorman, Callum Campbell and substitute Stephen Whitley.

The result also moves them up to third in the table after Peel suffered defeat at the hands of western rivals St John’s at the Station Fields.

Stuart Morrison and Rhys Oates gave the Saints a 2-0 lead at the break before Peel goalkeeper Kiril Velev was sent off for hitting Oates. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Sunset City side pulled a goal back through Ashley Webster’s penalty but St John’s held on to claim a 2-1 victory.

St Mary’s left it extremely late to get the better of near-neighbours Douglas Athletic at Springfield Road. Darren Shields put the Pinks in front before Steven Priestnal equalised and, just when it looked like the match would end in a draw, Priestnal struck in injury time to steal all three points for the Saints.

There was a cracking game at Glen Road where Laxey and Rushen United played out a 1-1 draw. Declan Cummins gave the Miners the lead but Matty Cain ensured a share of the spoils as both sides created numerous chances but were unable to find a second goal.

League leaders St George’s were in typically ruthless form as they thumped bottom-of-the-table Ayre United 11-0 to maintain their two-point lead at the top.

In JCK Division Two the clash between Braddan and Gymns was abandoned in the second half after the visiting goalkeeper suffered an injury.

This means that Castletown are the new leaders after they edged past RYCOB thanks to Nathan Cooil’s goal, although the southerners were reduced to 10 men when Alex Crawley was sent off in the second half.

Foxdale suffered a setback in their quest for promotion and the title as they were edged out by the odd goal in seven at Marown, Ashley Higginbotham and Joey Rothwell both bagging braces for the hosts.

Douglas Royal moved level on points with Foxdale after they got the better of a spirited Malew side at Ballafletcher. Despite a brave performance from the southerners, a Paul Whitley hat-trick, braces from Craig Dolman and Andrew Lancaster plus a single strike from Gavin Gawne saw the Whites run out 8-2 winners.

Pulrose United were also in fine goalscoring form as they put nine past Governor’s Athletic without reply. Darren Flanagan and Kenny Cowin led the way with hat-tricks apiece and were joined by Dale Walker, Ray Lovell and Barry English.

Onchan’s fine run of form continued apace as they claimed all three points on offer from their trip to Balleira Road where they beat Michael United. Joey Rees claimed two of the goals and Paul Morris completed the scoring.

Saturday, November 5

Canada Life Premier League

St George’s 11-0 Ayre Utd

Peel 1-2 St John’s

Laxey 1-1 Rushen Utd

Douglas Athletic 1-2 St Mary’s

Union Mills 0-7 Corinthians

Colby P-P Ramsey

JCK Division Two

Governor’s Athletic 0-9 Pulrose United

Douglas Royal 8-2 Malew

Michael Utd 0-3 Onchan

Marown 4-3 Foxdale

Braddan A-A Gymns

Castletown 1-0 RYCOB

Canada Life Combination One

St John’s 2-8 Peel

Rushen Utd 4-3 Laxey

Corinthians 3-5 DHSOB

St Mary’s 7-1 Douglas Athletic

Colby 3-1 Union Mills

JCK Combination Two

Pulrose United 5-1 Governor’s Athletic

Malew P-P Douglas Royal

Onchan 5-0 Michael

Foxdale 3-3 Marown

Gymns 0-3 Braddan

Geordie funnyman Ross Noble is returning to the island with his latest tour, Brain Dump.

He will be performing at the Villa Marina’s Royal Hall on Monday (November 7).

He explained the title came from a customer review on Amazon for one of his DVDs.

‘They wrote: “This is just like a massive brain dump” and I thought: “Oh yeah, that’s exactly what my stuff is. I’ll have that!”’

Ross, dubbed the king of improvisational comedy, doesn’t see it as a risk that his ‘brain dumps’ are largely spontaneous.

‘The “risk” is all relative,’ he said.

‘It’s like driving a car; after 25 years you don’t get in a car and go “What if this goes wrong?”.

‘If you hit a few bumps in the road you just think: “Oh, this is fun, let’s bounce around for a bit!”.’

When asked how he thought his comedy has developed since he started out, he said: ‘The main change is that, because I’ve built up this really loyal audience, there’s more of a shorthand.

‘When I first started, if I was talking about something a bit left field people would go: “Oh god, where’s he going with this?”

‘Whereas now that’s what people want, they go: “Oh right! Where’s he going with this?”.’

Ross has clocked up some 17 appearances on BBC panel game Have I Got News For You and admits that he ‘absolutely loves it’.

‘I was still at school when the show started, so it was a really big deal when I first did it,’ he said.

‘It’s still the top panel show on telly. Because it’s been on for so long, it’s got a really strong sense of what the show is, it’s become very well defined.’

On one appearance Ross and team captain Paul Merton got every single question wrong and scored zero points.

‘We did it on purpose,’ he admitted.

‘I’d done the show so many times, so I jokingly said to Paul: “Why don’t we just see if we can score no points?”.

‘It’s actually harder than you think, because when an obvious story comes up it’s really hard not to say the answer.

‘Charlie Brooker was on the other team, and at the end he said: “I can’t believe we won!” and Paul went: “Well, we can!”.’

Noble’s acting CV has bumped up in recent years. He played a murderous clown in 2012 film Stitches and then a nurse in 2015 film P.O.V.

‘It’s definitely easier for a stand-up to do straight acting than an actor to do comedy.

‘In the horror movie Stitches – it sounds mad because I was playing a killer clown – but I wanted to play it as truthfully as possible.

‘I didn’t want people to go: “Oh, that’s just Noble dressed as a clown”.

‘I’ve just filmed another horror, and that’s a straight horror film; there are no laughs in it.’

Noble said more strange than playing a murderous clown was going on a date with Ian Smith, the actor who played Neighbours character Harold Bishop in the Australian comedy It’s a Date.

‘That was my idea, so I only have myself to blame,’ he said.

‘It was a mate of mine’s show – he asked me to write and be in an episode.

‘Afterwards I realised that I could have picked pretty much any Australian actress to date; I could’ve written myself a love scene!

‘But when he asked who I wanted to go on a date with I said Ian Smith, who plays Harold Bishop. We laughed about that for about an hour. But he agreed to it, and then the next thing you know I’m on a set sat opposite him.’

Doors open at 7pm for an 8pm start.

Tickets cost £22.50 including a 2 per cent booking charge.

They are available online at www.villagaiety.com or call the box office on 600555.

The show has a recommended minimum age of 15. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

The chronicles of an early Georgian and Regency era governess who wrote a 10,000 word travelogue following her visit to the Isle of Man is featured in a new book.

Miss Nelly Weeton (1776-1849) was a prolific letter writer and a formidable woman with a penchant for travel and adventure.

From May to July 1812 she extensively toured the Isle of Man and ascended Snaefell alone. Her adventures forms a chapter in a new book entitled: Miss Weeton, Governess and Traveller.

Her letters candidly reveal the ‘warts and all’ personalities of many of those she met and corresponded with later.

She had sailed to the island from Liverpool on board The Brilliant on the morning of Saturday, May 23, 1812, but did not arrive in Douglas until the following day, by which time she was extremely seasick and ‘scarcely able to crawl out of the cabin’.

Her first impressions of Douglas were not great.

She wrote: ‘I never saw a town so ill-built, nor altogether so shabby and dirty.

‘The best houses, with very few exceptions, are in an almost total want of whitewash, paper, and paint; and so mingled with little, dirty huts, as to present the most opposite ideas from those of cleanliness, comfort, or symmetry.’

She recounted her walk up Snaefell in cold and misty conditions. At the summit was wind was a ‘complete tempest, roaring most loudly’. Terrified she would be enveloped in fog, she ran down again with the ‘utmost speed’.

Miss Weeton wrote: ‘Nearly at the bottom, I saw the skeleton of a sheep. And I too, may die here, thought I, if I cannot get away before the cloud settles; for it is cold enough to starve me totally, and I am so far from any human habitation, that I shall soon be lost.’

Earlier, on a walk up Greeba, she recalled meeting a young girl wearing no shoes or stockings, and noted: ‘The poor women in the island seldom wear shoes or stockings, whilst the men seldom go without them; why there should be such apparent injustice or partiality, I know not; I see it every day.’

She recalled how many in the rural hamlets spoke to her in Manx. ‘The natives adhere with great tenacity to their original language, and will speak nothing else if they can help it, frequently refusing to answer strangers in any other. I have met with some instances of this, and felt somewhat chagrined at their rudeness and stupidity, when I have wished for a little information,’ she noted.

Miss Weeton wrote identical copies of each of her letters for some 30 years. Her ‘copy’ letters were discovered by Edward Hall in memorandum books found in a Wigan second-hand bookshop in the 1920s. Other writings discovered include voluminous journal entries and autobiographical fragments.

This important peep into our past some 200 years ago, was later published in a two-volume book in the 1930s, by Oxford University Press, entitled Miss Weeton’s Journal of a Governess, edited by Edward Hall.

Unfortunately, Hall had given up all hope of discovering where and how she died, with the words: ‘As obscurely as she lived, so obscurely she died.’

It would be another 60 years before the end of Miss Weeton’s life was finally discovered by a Liverpool resident in the 1990s, inadvertently stumbling across Miss Weeton’s burial record and will in the registers for the city’s Necropolis Cemetery.

From that discovery it was learned that her final years had been spent living with her daughter and son-in-law in Bedford Street, Toxteth.

Miss Weeton, Governess and Traveller, edited by Alan Roby, is published in hardback by Wigan Archives and is priced at £20.

A man who admitted possessing 70 indecent images of children has been handed an eight month jail term.

But Matthew James Dadds, 26, was released from custody later that same day, having already served more than four months on remand.

The Court of General Gaol Delivery heard that police raided Dadds’s flat on Murray’s Road, Douglas, on June 28 this year.

He admitted 10 offences of possessing or making indecent or pseudo-indecent images of children, between January and July this year.

Prosecutor Rachael Braidwood told the court that police found 13 still images and 57 moving images.

Images are graded on the Copine scale, a rating system for categorising the severity of images from one to 10, with 10 being the highest.

A total of nine were rated level one, seven at level two, seven at level three, 44 at level four and three rated level five.

Deemster Alastair Montgomerie sentenced Dadds to eight months in prison for each of the 10 charges, with the jail terms to run concurrently.

But having served months on remand, the Deemster told him: ‘You will be released later today.’

He extended the licence period of the sentence for a period of 12 months.

The defendant’s name will be added the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order under which for the next five years Dadds will not be able to purchase, rent, borrow or otherwise possess a computer, laptop, tablet of smartphone without notifying the public protection unit within 24 hours.

Dadds can’t use any device capable of accessing the internet unless it records the search history and he makes it available for inspection. Neither can he delete a search history or enter an internet cafe without notifying police.

Two new services – a drop-in centre for Hospice Isle of Man and a collection and distribution point for the Isle of Man Foodbank – are being launched at the Methodist church in Port Erin.

Their launch within weeks of each other is just a coincidence, revealed Methodist minister Reverend Kath Corkish.

She said that last year the Methodist and Anglican churches decided to work more closely together. ‘We got together to pray and things have started to happen,’ she said. ‘It’s one of those God coincidences.’

The drop in centre will operate from midday to 6.30pm on Tuesdays from mid-January. Hospice will hold an information session on Tuesday, November 15, at 2pm in the church hall for anyone able to offer some time to help with the drop-in sessions.

Meanwhile, shelving has already been secured for the Foodbank thanks to a donation by Clear Pharmacy.

From early December the church will act as a collection and distribution service for food parcels, delivered to those who are referred by specific agencies.

The Isle of Man Foodbank was launched in October 2013 by a combination of government and third sector organisations. The charity helped 114 people in a three month period to September this year.

In an email appealing for help, the church said: ‘We don’t like to admit that such facilities are needed in the Isle of Man, but the fact is that they are, and we must help those in need.’

Shoprite will have a trolley for food donations in their store in Port Erin. Further donations can be made by dropping them at the church on Tuesdays.

The church will supply a list of the sort of items that are required for the Foodbank.

‘Many of these ideas will need support in various shapes and forms,’ said the email.

‘If you feel that you can offer us even an hour, please watch out for the posters around the south that will be appearing shortly. There will be lots of opportunities to brew up and make coffee, just chat to folk. Or maybe you can set up a collection point for food at your place of work. We would be delighted to give you information as to what we will need for the food parcels.’

The church is canvassing for any further ideas on how it can be of use to the community and is also looking at being a venue for new mums and, on Saturdays, for dads to meet for a chat.

The initiatives will draw more people to the church but that is not the aim, said Kath, rather it is about supporting those in the community.

‘We want to be loving and outgoing to the community,’ she said. ‘People are good, and we want to serve.’

For more information, call David Shirtliff on 621968 or Kath Corkish on 836411.

The government will not appeal against a court ruling involving stock proof fencing alongside the heritage steam railway after all.

In a small claims court hearing in September, Deemster Sharon Roberts ordered the Department in Infrastructure to pay damages of £952.10 to a farming company after a cow was killed when it broke through a fence at Colby and strayed into the path of a train.

Immediately after the decision, lawyers for the DoI said the department would appeal.

But the deadline passed last week without the government submitting an appeal.

Moorhouse Farms director Kirrie Jenkins said: ‘A cheque was received in settlement of the damages and fixed costs. Common sense prevailed in the end.’

The company took the DoI to the small claims court seeking damages after a heifer broke through a fence near the Ballagawne crossing in August 2013 and died after it was struck by a train.

The farming company argued the department should pay compensation as it had a responsibility to maintain the fences, and some of the railway posts dated back to when the line first opened in the 1870s.

Deeds showed that as part of the compulsory purchase of land to build the line, the railway company was obliged to erect and maintain ‘proper and sufficient’ fencing. This responsibility passed to the government when the railway was nationalised in 1978.

Former Tynwald president Noel Cringle, who also farms on land adjoining the line, gave evidence for the claimant and said the maintenance of the fencing had always been the responsibility of the railway.

Director of public transport Ian Longworth wrote to the claimants the month after the accident, telling them it was not the responsibility of the railway for the fencing to be stock proof and it was ‘merely an indication of our boundary’.

But giving her judgment, Deemster Roberts said she had little problem in reaching the conclusion that the fencing was insufficient to comply with the statutory requirement to maintain stock proof fencing in good condition.

Hundreds of fireworks fans were left disappointed as two official displays were called off in the island yesterday.

(Saturday).

The event in Douglas was cancelled because of a ‘serious issue’ with the system used for firing [starting] the display.

Crowds had been kept waiting for around an hour before council leader David Christian announced the fireworks had been called off for the night.

And down in Port Erin the commissioners decided several hours before the planned 7.30 pm start that the event would not be going ahead because of concerns about the weather.

On social media the commissioners said: ‘Unfortunately we have had to postpone this evening’s fireworks display due to the wind.

‘The display will now be on Monday,November 7 at 7.30pm.’

In the capital, people were kept waiting until not long after 8.30pm before council leader David Christian announced the evening’s dazzling entertainment had been cancelled.

On Twitter the council said the fireworks display was cancelled ‘due to a serious issue with the system used for firing [starting] the display.

‘Unfortunately there were no other options available to us but to cancel the display.’

The council said it would be making an announcement on social media about whether it would be running the display tonight (Sunday) instead.

As of 9.30 amtoday there was no official word on whether a decision had been reached.

The council said: ‘We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’

Meanwhile, Port Erin firefighters dealt with putting out a fire, thought to have been caused by fireworks, on a verge near the green hut on the Upper Promenade.

The crew were at the scene at around 7.30pm.

This morning the blackened and charred area was clearly visible.

I give in. The ink is just about dry on the ballot papers (the ones they could find, that is).

It really beggars belief that in the counting of votes following the recent general election some ballot boxes were overlooked and that some ballot papers were missed from the final count.

As it happens, the missing papers did not affect the results, but in my book, something like that is akin to a surgeon cutting off the wrong leg.

It just shouldn’t happen. But it did, and no doubt there will be an in-depth inquiry costing long thousands in cash and long hours in time to arrive at the conclusion that it should not have happened.

Although...wait a minute, I’d forgotten, we’ve just had a General Election and we’ve got a new government. And not only have we got a new government, but the new Chief Minister, who chooses the Council of Ministers that runs the new government has included a number of new MHKs in the new team.

And to extrapolate the train of thought, this new team, our new Council of Ministers, that will be running the country, may not have a great deal of actual ministerial experience but they have a huge collective knowledge of where the previous administration were doing everything wrong (allegedly).

So if we apply a spot of lateral thinking, the new gang running the show and who will be the ones to act on the result of the ballot box investigation will more than likely find the mistakes were down to human error. If this is indeed the case, the human who made the error should pay the price of failure.

Instant dismissal, or even worse, a transfer to the OFT.

We shall soon see if our new Ministers have the ideas and ability to rectify the errors of their predecessors (allegedly)or will they find that a seat at the table of the ‘Something will have to be done’ party, was a great deal more comfortable than their new armchair in the ‘OK, so just get on and do it’ club.

For example, the ex-chairman of Peel Commissioners who has been known to express some firm views on the future of sewage disposal in the west of the island will soon find that now he is the Minister for that department, it was easier to shoot the bullets than to dodge them.

The newly appointed Minister of Environment, Food and Agriculture, Mr Boot, has taken over a department that will give him plenty to get his teeth into. The socially well connected Mr Boot, who, as a Minister will be entitled the Hon Geoffrey Boot or Baron Boot as he was described in an interview in IoM Today in 2015, could well be known as the Baron of beef*.

I should think that with the value of the pound on a downhill slide he will be under pressure to encourage farmers and supermarkets to grow and sell more local produce.

Health and Social Care Minister Kate Beecroft takes over from Howard Quayle.

I hope she can get on with her new boss but relationships between Lib Van leaders and Chief Ministers seem destined to fail. Recently retired Peter Karran only lasted a matter of weeks as education chief under Allan Bell’s leadership.

Unfortunately for Kate, she just doesn’t seem to know when to call it a day. The only thing she achieved with her Pinewood feud with Eddie Teare was to bore the pants off everyone else. I hope she can use her talents and ability to advance to greater things, or will it all be just another Pinewood Carry On film?

And what about the top two? Allan Bell and Eddie Teare will be a tough act to follow. Howard Quayle and Alf Cannan can do it. They have the ability, they have the departmental expertise. Can they develop and grow their colleagues into a team?

For all our sakes, I hope so. Honest. I really do. For all our sakes, please try.

* baron of beef. An English joint of two sirloins, joined at the backbone.

Douglas promenades’ northern section will be resurfaced later this month as a temporary measure to improve the state of the road.

Work will start on Saturday, November 19, with preparation work taking place the day before. The resurfacing is scheduled for completion on December 4.

Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer MHK said: ‘The northern end of the promenade is clearly in an unacceptable condition and I have requested that resurfacing takes place to make the road smoother and safer.

‘It should be recognised that this is very much a short-term fix until the department can progress a scheme for the full reconstruction of the promenade.’

The project will be carried out in two phases. The first will run from the bottom of Broadway to the Palace Hotel, and is expected to finish on November 25.

The second phase will be from the Palace Hotel to Summer Hill junction.

Work will begin in earnest following the peak evening commute on Friday, November 18, with work beginning the next day.

A ‘contraflow’ system will be marked by traffic cones, and motorists are being urged to adhere to all signage and instructions.

Parking will be suspended between Broadway and the Palace Hotel from midday on November 18 for the duration of the first phase, and the Department of Infrastructure is urging people to remove all vehicles from the area in advance of this deadline.

At the end of the first phase of the project, parking will be re-established in between Broadway and the Palace Hotel, with parking from the Palace Hotel to the Summer Hill junction then being suspended for the second phase of construction.

The work is set to cost an estimated £40,000.

Mr Harmer said: ‘Once completed, the surface will give motorists much-needed respite from the poor conditions being experienced at the moment.’

Pedestrian access to the promenade and vehicular access to properties, car parks and side streets will be maintained wherever possible.

Businesses and residents have been notified of the construction.

Bonfire weekend has been busier this year compared to previous years for the island’s fire service, with nine call outs so far.

The figures were announced by the fire service as Douglas Council said on social media that tonight’s rescheduled fireworks event will be taking place.

The council has posted this announcement on Facebook and Twitter: ‘The Douglas firework display will go ahead this evening (Sunday) at 7.30pm.

‘We apologise for the cancellation of Saturday’s display and the inconvenience caused to everyone.

‘We would also like to apologise for the delay in communication.

‘Unfortunately, at the time there was not a clear understanding of how long the delay may be and it took some time before the engineers informed us that the display could not go ahead.

‘We will review the event in full and will learn from this experience.

‘Looking forward to tonight our sponsors, Celton Manx, have very kindly offered to provide free hot drinks and doughnuts from 7pm, to be served near the war memorial.

‘The display will go ahead at 7.30pm with full planned display, music and light show.’

Meanwhile, down in Port Erin the commissioners decided several hours before the planned 7.30 pm start yesterday that the event would not be going ahead because of concerns about the weather.

On social media the commissioners said: ‘Unfortunately we have had to postpone this evening’s fireworks display due to the wind.

‘The display will now be on Monday, November 7 at 7.30pm.’

Meanwhile Port Erin fire crews were called out to four incidents within a few hours varying from three small grass fires caused by fireworks and one call to a bonfire which was mistaken for a grass fire.

Douglas, Ramsey and Peel were also out dealing with calls to bonfires where members of the public had concerns, all were found to be under control and being managed.

Douglas crews dealt with a wheelie bin fire caused by careless disposal of sparklers, and Peel early Sunday morning to a grass fire which was caused by a smouldering fire work.

A spokesman confirmed bonfire night has been a busier period for the fire service this year compared to previous years with nine call outs.

The spokesman said: ‘We did not receive any calls to any property damage as a result of the festival or aware of any injuries to any members of the public.

‘Obviously fireworks can still be set off by members of the public until midnight on November 6 after which they must have a license; this does not apply to local authority events which have been pre-arranged.

‘Anyone setting off fireworks after midnight today will be in breach of The Fireworks act 1984.

We would ask people to be careful; if they are having a bonfire tonight let the emergency services joint control room know by phoning 697327 to help prevent any unnecessaary call outs.’

Last night’s event in Douglas was cancelled because of a ‘serious issue’ with the system used for firing [starting] the display.

Crowds had been kept waiting in the cold for around an hour before council leader David Christian announced the fireworks had been called off for the night.

On Twitter the council said: ‘Unfortunately there were no other options available to us but to cancel the display.’

The council said: ‘We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’

Later it was reported that the boss of the company organising the Douglas display was apparently flying over with a replacement piece of kit.