Monthly flights between St Helena and Ascension Island have been negotiated, after months of discontent over the vital link being excluded from the original deal with winning contractor Comair. Each month, of the the airline’s Saturday flights from Johannesburg will land at St Helena and then continue on to Ascension for an overnight stop, before …
Breakthrough at last on Ascension-St Helena flights Read More »
Nearly a million people read The Observer newspaper. And in the final issue of 2013, they have been treated to a picture of Cynthia George and Raymond Hudson, posing in their scouting uniforms on Jamestown seafront. The photographer, Jon Tonks, has a thing about uniforms. The Observer says they illustrate the strangely British, but not-quite-British …
Raymond and Cynthia achieve a uniform kind of fame Read More »
The British government has been asked how people and supplies will be transported between St Helena and other islands in the South Atlantic after the RMS St Helena is withdrawn from service in 2016. But no clear answer has emerged in response to a written question in the House of Lords by the Liberal Democrat …
Work ‘in hand’ on inter-islands link – but no answer yet Read More »
The Falkland Islands Post Office is to issue a set of stamps to honour Baroness Thatcher for liberating the islands after the Argentinian invasion of 1982. The islands already celebrate Thatcher Day each year on 10 January, the anniversary of her post-victory visit to the islands in 1983. The stamps will be released on 16 …
New stamps honour Maggie. She had the Argies licked Read More »
Suggestions that the capital of the Falklands should change its name from Stanley to Port Margaret, or even Port Margaret Thatcher, have been treated with scorn by the islands’ newspaper, Penguin News. “Once the laughter had died down,” it said, “we began to consider the suggestion more seriously and some pragmatic factors began to emerge, …
Stanley’s no toy town for UK to play with, says Penguin News Read More »
Falklands governor Nigel Haywood has completed the Stanley Marathon in a time of 3 hours, 30 minutes and 1 second – on his birthday. He was nearly three times as fast as chef David Bradley, who predicted he’d be a bit of a plodder on his online fund-raising page: “I’m doing a marathon in a …
Marathon relief: chef in bomb suit gets more than a red nose Read More »
Celebrations have taken place at the Whalebone Arch in Stanley in the wake of the overwhelming (but not surprising) vote in favour of the Falkland Islands remaining a British overseas territory. It is understood that only a small number of St Helenians living on the islands were qualified to take part in the referendum, called …
Only 98.8% vote Yes to Falklands staying British Read More »
Military chiefs have drawn up plans to step up defence of the Falkland Islands, the Telegraph newspaper has reported. It says the March referendum on whether to remain a British overseas territory could lead to an act of aggression by Argentina, such as planting the country’s flag on the islands. Harrassment of fishing vessels and disruption …
Britain is ready to step up Falklands defence, says paper Read More »
Newly-released secret papers have revealed how Margaret Thatcher had to stand her ground over Britain’s right to use Ascension Island as an air base during the Falklands War. America’s senior diplomat planned to tell Argentina that UK use of the South Atlantic island had been “restricted” by the United States. But the tough-speaking Prime Minister firmly insisted: “It’s …
War papers reveal Thatcher’s fighting talk over Ascension Read More »
De-classified documents have revealed the British government’s shock when it realised Argentina was about to invade the Falkland Islands. Only two days before troops walked through Stanley did Thatcher and her advisers realise what was about to happen. In October 1982 she gave evidence behind closed doors to the Falkland Islands Review Committee, set up …