The Ventilator

Not From Round Here

10th August, 201915th August, 2019 Cat 0 Comments Hurst, isle of wight, iwcp, New York

Right. Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not from round here. No matter how long I have lived on the Isle of Wight, nor how much I adore

County Press articles Ranger Rants

Wellness tea – a national disgrace

22nd April, 201922nd April, 2019 The Virtual Ranger 0 Comments iwcp, tea, wellness

Like it or not we’re all having to give some thought right now to the question of what makes us British. In case you think I exaggerate, the very existence

Naturenet updates + news Wildlife & countryside news

The now entirely virtual ranger

30th January, 201830th January, 2018 The Virtual Ranger 4 Comments gift to nature, isle of wight

Back in 1989 I discovered that people would actually pay me to work in the countryside. I could hardly believe my luck – and still can’t. It’s been a great

Invasive species Protected species Videos

Behold, the tree lobster. (Spoiler: not a lobster)

10th October, 201710th October, 2017 The Virtual Ranger 4 Comments australia, lord howe island, massive animals, rats, stick insect

We like to bring you the occasional large invertebrate on this blog. And even a huge vertebrate now and then. But here’s a big insect with a story to tell. And it’s a story

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Review: WakaWaka Power+ and Light

3rd May, 20175th May, 2017 The Virtual Ranger 0 Comments charger, flashlight, light, new forest, outdoors, review, torch, wakawaka

I recently went on holiday for a week to the New Forest – not everso far, I’ll admit, but for me, that counts as an overseas trip. We stayed at

Isle of Wight

Is the Solent the most expensive ferry crossing in the world?

9th September, 20169th September, 2016 The Virtual Ranger 4 Comments costs, expensive, ferry, floating bridge, hovertravel, iwcp, prices, red funnel, solent, wightlink

Moaning about the price of Solent crossings is a national sport on the Isle of Wight. “The Solent is one of the most expensive stretches of water in the world.”

Spiders

Are spiders afraid of conkers?

20th July, 20164th August, 2016 The Virtual Ranger 3 Comments chestnuts, competition, conkers, school

I doubt there’s a spider enthusiast who is not familiar with enquiries about how to keep spiders out of the house. It hardly needs to be pointed out that spider-lovers

Promotions and competitions

Review: Hi-Tec Trek Plus Activity Tracker

23rd February, 2016 The Virtual Ranger 0 Comments fitness, hi-tec, review, tracker

These days I’m out and about a bit, so I got myself a fitness tracker from Hi Tec to see how that worked. I had a rival tracker last year

Health and Safety Promotions and competitions Wildlife & countryside news

The Ranger re-booted

17th January, 20162nd May, 2017 The Virtual Ranger 0 Comments boots, clothing, hi-tec, review, walking

I’m hoping to spend a lot more time out patrolling the countryside this year, and so I have been on the lookout for a new pair of boots. And given

Naturenet news Wildlife & countryside news

Back to rangering for me: joining Gift to Nature

6th December, 20156th December, 2015 The Virtual Ranger 5 Comments

I’m being outsourced. The Isle of Wight Council can’t pay for a full countryside service any more, so some time early in 2016, I’m taking a load of the council’s