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The Islander - Thursday 10^th June 1999

Niddy Huxley & Kate Hayward Sadly, it has reached the time again to say farewell to a gallant Islander team member! Over the pass two years Kate Haywood has dedicated a lot of her time into helping to keep the Islander a 'weekly issue'. Even after stepping down from the Editors chair she was still playing a role with the team doing printing, collating and helping the other editors whenever time was not on their side. We would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the remaining Islander team to say farewell to Kate & Adrian, and wish you all the best for the future.

LETTERS

Father Keith Writes:

PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN.  ASCENSION ISLAND (Diocese of St. Helena) Parish Priest: Fr. Keith James - 6431 Church Warden: Mervyn Isaacs Church Warden: Cheryl Anthony

Dear Friends,

There we were in the bar of the Exiles waiting to order lunch when Iain came in and said ‘I wonder if you can help me?’

He had had a request via E-mail to put some flowers on a grave and did I know where it was? Over the past few months I have been collecting together various strands of information about Georgetown Cemetery; there is the Burial Register which belongs to the church and which goes back to 1861, a Register of Deaths held by the Administrator which was complied when Mr GC Guy was Administrator (1975), and a list of all the inscriptions found in the Vicarage files recently, possibly the work of a team from the Royal Engineers in the past.

Even so, it is only those graves which are marked with a headstone that can accurately be identified. So could I find David Hebron’s grave?

He’s not in the Burial Register, nor in the Register of Deaths, but his grave is there, small, well kept and with a small plaque which reads:-

‘Baby David Hebron, Born Prematurely on 10th June 1970. Lived one Day.’ Still loved, still remembered, still very precious.

And so on the twenty-ninth anniversary of David’s birth Iain will be able to put some flowers on his grave for his mother living thousands of miles away. Not only that, but by the wonders of modern technology he will be able to take a photograph with his digital camera and send it to her via E-mail all in the space of a few moments. I am sure baby David’s mother will be very moved.

God’s gifts to us in the field of technology are so often used for evil purposes, and E-mail is no exception, with the spread of pornography and its use by paedophiles and the like. Let us fight such evil, but thank God for the good things, like bridging the gap between the miles and memories for David Herbron’s Mum.

God Bless You and Keep You,
Fr Keith & Ginny.

NEWS FROM ASCENSION AUXILIARY AIRFIELD By Maj Jeff Lowdermilk

This week, the US Base was visited by Major Scott Van Ness who is the Commander at Antigua Air Station. Major Van Ness was on an orientation tour of the island and installation. While Antigua Air Station and Ascension Auxiliary Airfield are "sister" units and have similar missions, they do have some significant differences. Antigua Air Station is involved in more launch operations as the result of their proximity to Cape Canaveral. Additionally, they possess a system not found at Ascension Auxiliary Airfield, command distract. This system allows Eastern Range officials to destroy an errant launch vehicle. On the other hand, Ascension Auxiliary Airfield has an airfield mission and supports a number of non-45th Space Wing customers.

We say farewell to a number of personnel associated with the US Base this week. Dr Brendan Godley has been exceptional in his professional endeavors and has become a genuine friend to many of us. We also say farewell to Squadron Leader Adrian Hayward and his wife, Kate. We sincerely wish good luck in all future endeavors to these friends of Ascension Auxiliary Airfield.

As many of you know, there is always a significant amount of construction activity on the base. Unfortunately, what we usually see are the results and not the day-in and day-out hard work of a multitude of people who make these projects come to fruition. Currently on base, here is a list of projects being performed by personnel assigned to the US Base:

• Replacing the salt water pump house.
• Replacing secondary containment drain valves on fuel tanks at Catherine Point.
• Assisting the subcontractor in the kitchen renovation.
• Installing new ventilators on the roof of the freezer facility.
• Renovating the bathrooms at SATCOM/GPS and the Administration Building.
• Relocating a back-up generator at SATCOM.
• Replacing a power feeder in the airfield vicinity.
• Assisting the subcontractor in the renovation of Communications Operations.
• Constructing curbs around the Power and Desalinization Plants.
• Installing heat detectors at the Waste Water Treatment Plant.
• Removing asbestos around pipes at the old Power Plant.
• Providing construction aggregate.
• Shipping old Power Plant equipment (to include engines and switch gear).

  Here is a list of projects being performed by subcontractors on the US Base. Generally, these subcontractors simultaneously employ CSR employees after their normal duty hours:

• Constructing a Vehicle Paint Booth.
• Renovating five dorms.
• Repairing Communications Operations.
• Performing corrosion cntrol on a Supply Warehouse.
• Renovating the kitchen.

  Major Jeff Lowdermilk

The Met Office Weather Report

Statistics for the week ending Sunday 30^th May 1999.

ASCENSION SEA SWELL FORECAST ( based on data available on Monday afternoon) :

Sea temperature around Ascension Island : 27 C.

ASCENSION ISLAND: A mostly dry week at Airhead with only a few light showers at times. Georgetown and the Residency had more in the way of rain but Travellers Hill had some quite sharp showers at times. The temperatures were fairly constant through the week but Sunday was the warmest day.

ST HELENA: Gary Thomas reports: A few light showers this week, falling mainly during early morning and then remaining cloudy until around midday when the sun shone, this being the pattern for most of the week. Saturday was a pleasant day for the cricket District and KO finals and presentation. Incoming water flows have dropped to such a level that it is necessary to pump from Sharks Valley to supplement the domestic supply. A fair swell has been running this week, breaking onto the sea-front most days.

U.K: An area of low pressure was over the country for pretty well the whole of the week, so there were showers or longer periods of rain. Some of the showers were heavy and thundery with the result that at Brize Norton on both Tuesday and Saturday there was over half an inch of rain. Tuesday was warm but otherwise it was a generally cool week.

FALKLAND ISLANDS: With a weather front lying close to the islands, much of the week was cloudy with rain, sleet or snow at times and from Tuesday there was a frost on the ground every night. Pressure started to rise by Friday and the weekend was mostly dry with some sunshine at times and it became warmer by Sunday as the wind turned from a southerly direction into the west.

METCHAT ************************************************ METCHAT *******************************************

METCHAT. THE B.O.U. EXPEDITION, 1957.

To mark its centenary in 1957 the British Ornithologists Union sent an expedition to Ascension Island to make a study of the bird life, because little had been done previously in the way of research and the island was changing so rapidly that it was thought that a record ought to be made. Under the leadership of Bernard Stonehouse, a zoologist from Oxford University, the team of young scientists spent 18 months on the island, working amongst the seabirds especially and making frequent boat trips from North East Bay out to Boatswain Bird Island. As might be expected, the currents and the swell caused them problems in their small boat and their adventures in this respect make interesting and amusing reading.

Boatswain Bird Island was their main study area, and there they recorded details of the nests of boatswain birds, boobies and frigate birds but their camp was in the Mars Bay area at the foot of South Gannet Hill and another principle study was made on the breeding cycle of the Wideawake Terns. They followed them very closely, not at the nearby Mars Bay Fair, but at the much larger Water’s Edge Fair on the other side of South Gannet Hill and principally in the area marked on the Ordnance Survey map as "Sandy Run". At that time there were about 2 million birds breeding of the island each season, about five times the current figure.

Bernard Stonehouse wrote an excellent book about the expedition, now sadly out of print and becoming more and more expensive on the second-hand market, but it is well worth trying to get hold of a copy. It, quite naturally, contains full details of all the findings made about the seabirds but also there are many interesting details about the land birds, the breeding cycle of the green turtles, a potted history of the island and a good general description of what life was like when Ascension was mostly occupied by the employees of Cable and Wireless and the airmen at the American Base, including descriptions of fancy dress parties, etc. It is very well written and a good read.

Unlike Professor Gill’s camp further down towards the sea, there is now no trace of the BOU camp at the foot of South Gannet Hill but it consisted of several prefabricated huts, mostly made from materials rescued from the dump (nothing changes does it!) with neatly laid out paths between. All sounding rather similar to the Gill camp because, like David Gill, Bernard Stonehouse brought his wife to the island and she, like Elizabeth Gill, gave the camp a semblance of domestic orderliness.

As a bonus the book ends with a two-week trip to St Helena, the author and his wife having to fit in with the sailing times of the Union Castle ships, just as we have to fit in with the schedule of the RMS sailings. On the parent island they studied the bird life of course, but also searched, not very successfully, for papers relating to the history of Ascension Island and studied the birth records.

The book is called "Wideawake Island" by Bernard Stonehouse and was published by Hutchinson in 1960. The next Metchat will contain a map of the area covered by the articles of the last few weeks, I will see you then, take care,

Cestrian.

 

SCHOOL PAGE
From the Deputy Headteacher - Mrs Tania Maggott

 

Hello!!

I shall be standing in for Betty Joshua this week, but I am sure you all join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

Work Experience
This week marks the start of our Year 10 students going out to various companies on the Island to see what it is like out in the 'real world'. I would like to thank the following companies for their involvement: AIS, Merlin, Turners, Eurest, CSR and joining for the first time, SERCO. I will leave it to the students to tell you how they got on at a later date.

Sports Day
This year Sports day is to take place on Sunday 27 June at Long Beach. The decision was taken to hold the event on a Sunday so that a greater number of parents would be free to come and watch their children perform.

The day will take the same format as in previous years with the usual track events, circus events and field event finals. I would also suggest that the parents begin training now as we are planning on holding a parents 100m sprint and a 1500m run and if time permits maybe a few more.

In addition to previous years there will also be a beer garden and a BBQ so make it a family day and come and support the children.

Reports
Seniors Reports will be out at the end of the month. There will be a parents evening for the whole school. This is to be held on Thursday 1 July 1999. Appointment sheets will be sent out shortly.

Open Morning
We are holding an Open Morning on Wednesday 7 July 1999. This is a chance for anyone, not just parents to come and view the school and see our students and teachers at work.

A final reminder that the half term holiday follows the Queens birthday and runs from Tuesday 15 June to Friday 18 June inclusive.

Tania Maggott
Deputy Headteacher

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ASCENSION ISLAND SEISMIC EXPERIMENT

Following the report in the 15th April edition of The Islander on our seismic experiment in mid-May, here is a short report on the experiment from the point of view of those on the research ship RRS James Clark Ross. The shipboard group included scientists from Southampton Oceanography Centre, the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, the US Naval Research Laboratories, and the IFREMER Centre de Brest in France. We arrived at the island after a 12-day passage from Montevideo, during which time we had plenty of opportunity to set up our equipment and catch some sun. There followed four days of extremely hectic activity in which four ocean bottom "hydrophones" (like underwater microphones) were placed at sites around the island (and three recovered - one sprung a leak and could not be recovered!) and our airguns were fired once per minute for a total of about three days. During the airgun shooting the ship followed a complicated track towards, away from and around the island at ranges between 3 and 45 km from the coast.

Though one of the ocean bottom hydrophones was not recovered, the airgun system kept going very well and the shots seem to have been well recorded on the various receivers, so the experiment was deemed a success. An additional bonus was that while our recording equipment was deployed, strong signals were coming in from volcanic activity somewhere to the south of the island, which started a few weeks before we arrived. The 3000-4000 airgun shots recorded will provide an enormous dataset for studying how sound waves in the ocean get through to nuclear test ban monitoring stations located on islands, and plenty of information to locate existing hydrophones around the island.

The RRS James Clark Ross

Since our previous article concentrated on the test ban monitoring aspects of the experiment, here we describe the more geological aspects. Ascension Island forms the top of an isolated 4000 m high volcano thought to be less than a million years old. There are many such volcanoes in the oceans; some (such as the Hawaiian islands) lie in lona chains thouaht to mark the passage of the oceanic plate across a fixed "mantle plume" of hot material rising from deep within the earth, but more isolated volcanoes like Ascension are hard to explain with this theory. On those volcanoes which poke through the sea surface to form islands, there is a constant battle between volcanic activity, which builds up the island, and erosion by the sea and rain which wear it down. An additional effect is that the huge weight of the volcano causes the plate beneath it to buckle and depress downward. The main geological result of the experiment will be a cross-section of the speed of sound in the rocks which form the volcano and the crust beneath it. The sound speeds and their variation with depth tell us about the types of rocks involved, whether molten rock is being injected into the crust beneath the volcano as well as erupting at the top, and how much buckling of the crust is involved. The amount of buckling tells us about the strength of the underlying rocks, which is very difficult to measure in other ways.

An advantage of doing this type of experiment at Ascension is that we can investigate the central part of the volcano without needing to use explosions on the island itself, because the coast is not far from the centre. On most oceanic islands, environmental considerations preclude such explosions, and so similar experiments around larger islands such in the Canaries and Hawaiian chain have not generally been able to investigate in detail the central part of the island.

The RRS James Clark Ross website can be found at:
http://www.nerc-bas.ac.uk/public/info/jcr.html

GET STUFFED! By Geoff Jones

I’ve just been (net) surfing through old Islanders and found a review of Reflections written by the Editor who suggested it may be the start of a regular eating out column. But I can’t find any further reviews - have the fat-cat media Mongols grown so physically large on high living fuelled from Islander proceeds that they daren’t eat out any more? That may explain why the Editors only work once a month - they probably spend the interim weeks dieting so they can fit back into the Editor’s chair when it’s their turn again! Well never mind for I have decide to take up the challenge and become a restaurant critic, it’s topical (what with all this talk of private enterprise and tourism) and it would provide an excuse for the fact I’ve become a bit of a Gazza (a fat bar-steward for those of you who don’t know their football chants but can speed read!) And I’m going to start with Reflections Bistro too. Yes I know it’s been done before, but the review didn’t tell me everything I wanted to know - how sexy were the waitresses? Were there any celebrity customers? Did anyone get drunk and disgrace themselves? Would you want to take a doggy bag full of food for your darling cat or would you leave it out hoping to poison the horny ferrule cats that have been giving your treasured pet the eye (or other bits of their anatomy)? Talking of furry things I was very interested to read in last week’s AISPCA News about the "micro-chipping of all cats and dogs". Great, remote control pets! For the first time in my life I want a dog ‘cause then I’d be able to bite people’s ankles and cock my leg where ever I liked - by proxy obviously! Which brings me to the real reason for me wanting to be a restaurant critic - their articles seem to be an excuse to write about whatever the hell they like, usually spending more time describing the decor and background music than the food. Describing Reflections decor is an easy task on account of there being no walls. This makes for fine air-conditioning but with the name Reflections I was expecting glass tables and lots of mirrors, on discovering there was nowhere to hang a mirror I began to worry that there wasn’t gona’ be a reflection in sight. So, purely in the interests of journalistic endeavour - you’d find more romance in one of those mouldy hot dogs Patrick Sim was passing off as food the other week at the Scout’s beach hut than I have within me - I gazed fondly into the eyes of my partner for the evening and did indeed see a reflection ..... of Her Majesty’s Prison! And before you Sickos start thinking that this means the lady concerned was under age, she did in fact have a magnificent view of Georgetown’s jail, while I, once I stopped gazing into her eyes, could see the Administrator’s office in the other direction. I suppose we could have reflected on the highs and lows of Ascension’s society!

And now a confession - in the best traditions of gutter journalism I wrote that last bit before I even went to Reflections! Originally I had booked a table for two but Natalie rang me the night before and asked if we would mind moving to a table for four - unusual but very Ascension! So I ended up sitting opposite Nicky Herne - and no I didn’t gaze into his eyes, although I suppose had I wanted to I could have seen ten reflections of the Prison in Nicky’s ear studs! Last Thursday was Indian night at Reflections and on arrival there were two bowls on the table, one of Bombay mix, while the other caused me to very foolishly scoff "Popcorn, how Indian?" before I tried it. Whatever trick Natalie had performed on the popcorn had made it very Indian indeed, it was really spicy, and just as excellent were the pompadoms, neither of which were for the feint hearted. The Lentil Dalh was the best bit of the main course and we were given seconds of that together with more pompadoms. Now, as any expert on Indian food will tell you, an Indian meal is never truly over until the morning after or whenever the diner dares to subject themselves to the "ring of fire" test. A really hot curry and you could be left wanting to squat over North East Beach’s blow hole to cool the final taste, or should that be feeling, of your meal - if nothing else it would give the guys at Ariane something different to gorp at! Then again the entire Ariane mob were at Reflections too, so it’s just as well it was a painless morning after or there could have been quite a queue for the blow hole! Next week I shall probably take the mick out of .. er I mean review ... the Snack Bar, although I could also review the chicken curry Georgetown Galley are producing for a party we’re throwing at the Klinker Klub on Sunday 13th from 10 pm - usual Ascension rules, all Gate Crashers welcome provided they bring some booze. Gerwyn’s D.J.ing and as usual Nicky will be supplying compulsory Brain Haemorrhages. Further into the future I may review Reflections a third time, as like most of the people there, we booked up for a return visit before leaving. You can’t give a better recommendation than that. As we staggered out into the night I wondered, having just eaten at a privately run business whether I had just tasted the future of Ascension ... now how’s that for a reflection!

Hash Trash
Hash No.751 (a personal account from the rear)

From: Sugar Lumps (Sat 5th June)

The Hares: Wanna Be, Fit Guy, Beanie Baby, Lady Like, Thomas The Tank Engine, Thunderthighs and Crystal Tips.

The Pack: Small Thing, The Fugitive, Sniffy, Dozy Ha'P'orth, Near Miss, Roly Poly, A-Drain, Frank-n-Furter, Prambo, Captain Klingon, The Human Mattress, Lance-a-Little, Coffee Mate, Lollipop, Chief Longpole, Chris, Jack, Julie, Bob, Tom and Tony.

A number of rumours had gone around about this hash, words like 'short' and 'child friendly' sprung to mind, so when Thunderthighs gave a run down on the hash and the words 'not long' were used, most of us where already thinking of cold drinks and sandwiches having hardly broken a sweat!! Oh how people can be so easily fooled!

The ON ON was towards Sugar Lumps but ended abruptly when the FRB's lost the trail. With a bit of help the trail was re-established, and the FRB's starting scaling the rocks only to find a back arrow. This didn't put off Coffee Mate who seemed to shoot-off into the distance having to back track himself to meet the pack at the first circle check, where first blood was claimed by Fugitive. Soon we were off again following a trail to Bullocks Pond (the second circle check). After a short rest (short for the knitting circle), the ON ON was down the gully (so why did the FRB's lead the pack straight on? Once all but one of the FRB's had rejoined the pack, a bar check was encountered leading straight on and up. The third circle check at the top of the hill was an excellent vantage point to watch Coffee Mate scrabbling up the other side of the hill having yet again shot-off in the wrong direction.

From this circle check Thunderthighs pointed to a lonely tree up in the clouds and explained that the next circle check was "up there by the small water catchment". Those of us still pondering the 'not long' bit of the brief gazed back at the cars wondering how the route up was going to bring us back - a pre-positioned bus was entering our minds - but where? So we all started up Green Mountain (or was it the North Face of the Eiger?). Once we had all reached the water catchment - the view was spectacular - alas however, the ON ON was again UP! On we went (oxygen was broken-out for the older members of the hash) to complete the climb to a plateau over looking Travellers, Two Boats, the Airhead and our cars, now some 1500 feet below us. This time the ON ON took us around the side of Green Mountain - a short respite - until yet again the ON ON was up across some fields and to the main water catchment above Break Neck Valley. The ON ON led down into Break Neck and through the tunnel ending with cake and drinks (no beer!) and of course transport back.

Thanks goes to this weeks Hares, who also arranged a Hash Bash to say farewell or is it au revoir to The Human Mattress.

Receding Hair Line: Next week Captain Klingon from Two Boats Club.

Captain Klingon

RAF FUN CAPTION COMPETITION

Sorry no prizes for the winner - just a mention next week!

EDITORS - Penny Peters & Adrian Fower

The New Islander Office, Fort Hayes, Georgetown, Ascension Island.
Tel/Fax 00 + 247 6327

Deadline: 12 pm Tuesdays

E-Mail: editors@the-islander.org.ac
Deadline: 12 PM Tuesdays

Contributors: Penny Peters, Nathan & Debbie Prince, Father Keith, Tania Maggott, Sharon Andrews, Jeff Lowdermilk, Caz Parker, Graham Biggar, Roger Huxley, Geoff Jones, Mark Giles.

Printers: SYLVIA & STELLA
The Islander post-box is situated in the entrance to the Administrator’s Office.
Deadline for all contributions as 12.00 on Tuesday

All articles © copyright 1999 The Islander Newspaper. All rights reserved.

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