NEW ADMINISTRATOR ARRIVES ON ASCENSION

The Islander caught up with our new Administrator, Andrew Kettlewell, following his arrival on the RMS and asked about his background and his thoughts for the future.

Now 44, Andrew was born and educated in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. After school he went on to Newcastle University where he studied Economics and Accounting.

He just completed a two-year tour as the Management Accountant on Saint Helena during which he spent some considerable time as the Acting Financial Secretary. Much of the last year was spent on the development of St Helena's banking systems, a project which he hopes will come to fruition shortly.

A Chartered Management Accountant, Andrew started work in 1980 in Bradford at a firm of chartered accountants in the Ernst & Young group. After 2 years auditing ("yes it is as boring as people say"), he enjoyed a 10-year spell with BT, working on systems development and business planning. He then became the Financial Controller for BT's Group Personnel Division, employing 6,000 people with a budget of £250 million pounds.

In 1993, he took a contract with the Overseas Development Agency (Now DFID - The Dept. for International Development), setting up a strategic planning process for the Jamaican Government. He stayed in Jamaica for 4 years, and in 1997 went to Belize to manage a £2 million DFID project to computerise the accounting and tax systems, and to revise budgeting methodology. In October 2000 he took up his current assignment in St. Helena.

"I enjoyed my 2 years on St Helena and it's great to be here on Ascension. I know that my wife - who is away enjoying a short holiday at the moment - is looking forward to joining me in mid-October."

What does Andrew think of the future for Ascension?

"With the first set of elections to the Island Council only weeks away this is an exciting time to be coming to Ascension Island. There is an opportunity for the people who live on Ascension to have a real say in how the island is run. I would like to encourage everyone to think seriously about whether they could make a contribution to the Island Council and to put their names forward. Democracy is not about an elite group it's about everyone."

And after the election?

"There is still a lot to be done, this is the start of an evolutionary process not the end of it. We will have some of the basic building blocks in place but we - and I do mean we - need to see Ascension Island develop a bigger and better community."

News From St. Mary's:

What is better than one service on a Sunday in which to give thanks to God and to hear his word? Why, two of course. It was a joy to go to the Grotto on Sunday and find nearly as many people there as had been at St Mary's in the morning. To think that there are so many Christians on an Island the size of this one is fantastic, and that doesn't take into account all those that come to the Monday evening Bible Study either. As you can tell, I had a great day.

I would like to thank the Church Council for allowing the RAF to hold their annual Battle of Britain Service at St Mary's last Sunday. Every British military person on the Island was there. I don't think that there will be many RAF Stations around the world that can say that. The collection of £133.65 has been sent to the RAF Benevolent fund, which provides assistance to ex-and serving members of the RAF who have problems.

It is with joy that I can tell you that we are expecting Father Keith and his wife Daphne in on the aircraft on Friday morning. Father Keith will be taking the service on Sunday morning, please come and welcome them both to our Island. Sunday is the anniversary of his ordination, so an auspicious occasion alround.

Now, the pleas, we would like to set up a card stall to raise some funds for the Church and to provide some alternative cards to those that are available elsewhere. What we need is some one to run it, if you feel you could do this, please talk to myself or to Cheryl. Terry and I are leaving shortly, we need to find a new home for Fiver, the cat, can you help?

What did we talk about in Church? We saw what a difference Jonah had made to the lives of those living in Ninevah, how he had no reason to be sulking about the generosity of God. The Psalm was one of praise telling us that we should be thanking and praising God daily. Paul wanted to die and be with Christ, but knew that he still had work to do here on earth. Our Gospel message was the extraordinary one about the vineyard owner who paid those who worked for him for one hour the same wage as those who had worked all day. It doesn't matter how long we have had Christ in our hearts and in our lives, the rewards are the same. Look at the difference one man makes, be it Christ, Paul or Jonah. Are we making a difference through our own lives and example?

LETTERS

Last week I forgot to mention we stopped at Trafalgar Square and there were millions of pigeons flying overhead much to the delightful/frightened screams from the girls. Mashay showed her true feelings of fright when her back pack was covering her head and she screaming to the top of her voice for me to help her.

Thursday 8th Aug. Departed Foxlease for Lymington to board the ferry for Isle of Wight. We arrived at Yamouth and the coach took us to Alum Bay. Here were shops of all kinds - sweet making, glass making, assortment of coloured sand making ornaments etc..., arcades and rides. Our first task was to experience the chairlift ride to The Needles to see the different coloured sands that ornaments are filled with. Penny told us the ride was not too high so none of us should be scared!!! Roberta & myself took the first chair and away we went with Fiona videoing all of us from the chair before us. All the others followed - who could be heard screaming in front? - yes, Yours Truly. I screamed and screamed, prayed and had my eyes closed almost the entire time. Roberta, bless her, kept saying "There's nothing to be afraid off - look at all the view and the people looking from the ground at you"!! Then behind us were more screams this time it was Bessie & Kirsty. The rest of the girls were giggling at us. Once we had passed the tops of trees standing at 50ft with the tops touching our feet that dangled from the chair we approached the hill that went down, down, down to the platform where we got off. We screamed even louder as the drop came nearer. On arrival looking back Bessie & Kirsty were actually crying real tears!!! Penny thought it was really funny and said she was only joking when she said it's not scarey.

Back at the Alum Bay shops, Dayna, Teri, Carly & Vetannie rushed off to the arcades to play on the machines while the rest of us moved onto the coloured sand to make our ornaments. How proud we were to be able to tell family and friends when they come into our homes that we made that at Alum Bay.

We watched the glass making which was fantastic and while my eye was peering through the video camera I focused on someone who looked so much like Jean Fowler. Later, he brought his family to us while we waited on the coach to Black Gang Chine and confirmed he was definitely Pat Thomas, Iva and Jean's brother.

Black Gang Chine just brought the kid out in you. There we were crawling up the huge dinosaurs (plastic!!) and posing for photographs, testing the maze out and other things kids would like to do. At the end we saw the sign that read DO NOT WALK, CRAWL OR STAND ON THESE MODELS!! Guess who took a run for it. Betty's Auntie Norma and Uncle Rex came to meet her here. Before arriving at Yamouth we passed through Ventnor, Shanklin, Newport and stopped at Cowes for a few minutes. We departed for Lymington at 18:00 hrs. Once at Foxlease, supper was served, we packed for the morning's departure back to Kinver and chilled out.

Here at Foxlease before anyone leaves you have to change your bedlinen so the girls were up bright and early to do this. While Fiona, Betty, Vet, Relly & Teri went to visit the shops at Lyndhurst (15 mins walk) the rest of us sat in the lounge, wrote Thank-You cards and watched TV while the rain poured down outside. So peaceful, until there were squeals of laughter. I turned round to see what had happened only to be told that Mashay been the 'nosey' one heard a noise outside and quickly went to the window to see who it might be and banged her head (thinking it was open) on the doubled glazed window.

Our train departed Brockenhurst station at 13:00 hours and there were 5 stops in all to Waterloo Station. Then onto the tube and 7 stops to Maryleborn where we departed for Stourbridge. Before reaching Stourbridge there were 10 stops in which 2 delays of 70 mins took place and a change of trains at Birmingham Snow Hill. From here we arrived at Stourbridge at 19:30 and back to Kinver. A total of 7 hours travelling!!

Saturday 10th Aug. Not very much happening today. We went to visit the Rock Houses in Kinver accompanied by Pat & Clive (Fiona's Fiancee Mark's parents). The girls thought they were going to see a show but no it was the home of Mr. & Mrs. Fletcher who lived there hundreds of years ago. Very interesting as my Gran-ma still live in a rock house today in St. Helena. Inside we were shown how they lived, having fire grates, wooden stoves, irons that are heated on the stove to iron the clothes etc... Everything there is what my Gran still uses today, because she doesn't want electricity. I was told by the Guide that if she was in the U.K. and sold it to the Government she would be given a fortune as these old buildings sell well!!!!

Soon after this visit we wondered off to the village shop and came back in readiness for the BBQ in the evening. The 1st Primrose Guides and families, our families and friends were invited as well. A great evening with a speech from Fiona about us, Betty speaking on our behalf to Thank Fiona and a presentation to Fiona as well for all she did for us. There was disco music which the Ascension Guides enjoyed - even smoochy dancing together. The most exciting part was showing the others how to do the African dance that Tara George showed them. This went down very well.

ASCENSION ISLAND:Although there were some showers around, most days saw some sunshine, with the run up to last weekend seeing three fine and sunny days.

UK: Although high pressure dominated the weather for much of the UK, fronts managed to bring some rain, chiefly in the Southwest where St Mary's (Scilly Isles) and Cambourne (Cornwall) recorded nearly an inch of rain each during Thursday and Friday. Temperatures ranged from a high of 22 Celsius at Saunton Sands (Devon) on Thursday to only 2 Celsius at Sennybridge (Powys) on Saturday night.

FALKLANDS: After a rather unsettled and quite windy week, high pressure brough more settled conditions for the weekend.

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The week got off to a fairly quiet start for all the Metties, what with the rather cloudy conditions continuing from the weekend. This made Doug's panic tanning sessions a quite sporadic pastime, though it must be said that he was fairly persistent in his attempts.

Wednesday afternoon saw Stan Vesta and Makem get a couple of hours worth of panic tanning and snorkelling in up at Northeast Bay, this being Makems first sunbathing session of the tour. The evening saw Makem and Stan visit the MVC for tea, where we ran into Falling Phil, Dave Cornish (henceforth known as the Quiet Assassin) and Ken (MT Control). Then it was off to the mess bar to meet up with Martin and Jonesy for a few quiet beers, but Stan Vesta had other ideas. Although Makem was ready to go home at 10pm, Stan decided a visit to the karaoke at the MVC was a good idea….just for the one of course. Two hours and several bottles of beer later Makem and Stan staggered up the bank to Snob Hill, rather the worse for wear. The highlight of the karaoke was Snob Hills own Sarah, belting out "Reet Petite" (A very apt song considering Sarah's stature, but at least it got the biggest round of applause on the night). Sarah also managed to get a new hairdo as well during the evening, a bottle of Castle making a passable substitute for hair gel.

Thursday morning saw a not very well looking Ken at breakfast (though it was noted that the Quiet Assassin had a wry smile on his face). Falling Phil explained later in the day that a quiet drink had turned into more of a full blooded session, Phil squarely laying the blame on the Quiet Assassin. Makem, who was hard at work in the office, had visits from Billy Briton and Sarah, who owned up to what was the gaff of the week. Sarah's basha telephone has not been working for the past couple of weeks, so she duly contacted Cable and Wireless to repair it. The engineer arrived and after lifting the handset, pressed a couple of buttons on the keypad. After a quick word with the operator the phonen suddenly sprang into life. Was this some technical fault that had been discovered….No, Sarah had managed to disable the ringer on the phone…….and she willingly owned up to this!!! The evening saw Makem and Jonesy stroll down to the mess bar to meet Martin, but without Stan who was nowhere to be seen, the lights were out in his basha, his vehicle also being absent from the carpark……Had he gone partying without his minders……All was revealed a short while later when Makem received a phone call in the bar….he had been down to the hospital, Boggy having had a major mishap on the way back from Tea. Both Stan and Boggy promptly appeared in the bar, Boggy sporting a sling and various other scrapes, cuts and bruises. It looked, to all who were there,as if he had made a valiant attempt at claiming the Ascension Island Clinker Diving Championship. Of course he received the usual, regulation amounts of sympathy from his friends and neighbours (OK so we mercilessly took the water). Tom Ramsey also departed the island for good (possibly) during the evening, but not before leaving Makem his stash of fresh (frozen) cow juice behind the bar. This completely confused Karen, who was not quite sure which Tom had left it, or for which Rob it was left. All the best Tom, it's been a pleasure, hopefully we'll run into each other again sometime.

Friday saw Makem and Doug hard at work in the office, the Island's weather having turned somewhat wet during the morning. We were visited on several occasions by a coffee hungry post-person, who had obviously heard about the fresh milk. The evening saw the "Battle of Britain" dinner in the Mess, this being attended by Neil as Met office representative. Makem, Doug, Stan and Martin, (who did not fancy the menu served up at the Mess function) set off for a tour of some of the island's bars. First it was off to the VC for tea, where we again ran into Falling Phil, Ken, Ali Mac and the Quiet Assassin. After that it was down to the Exiles for a few more beers, where we ran into the Postie and Paddy. A quick trip to Two Boats club was rapidly followed by a return to the VC to finish off the evening. Falling Phil was still there partying with the best of them, but he admitted to wishing he was a good few years younger. Who was driving the crew about? none other than Makem, who had a thoroughly enjoyable (and totally sober) evening laughing at the antics of the others. Makem managed to not recognise several people in the VC, including a few people he sees every day, this being put down to his evening's abstinence from alcohol. Makem escorted, a drooling and dribbling, Stan and Martin out of the VC during the early hours of Saturday and ferried them back to Snob Hill, where Stan took a rather long stagger from the car park to his basha. Wooley made a big mistake (or so he tells us) of not accepting a lift home. Did he walk home or manage to scrounge a lift? NO! he was still partying at 7am on Saturday morning!!(Nice one Steve…..I'll take what you said on Sunday as gospel….next time I'll make you to get into the car)

Saturday saw Makem in mourning following the defeat of his beloved Sunderland by arch rivals Newcastle. (then again it's the first time they've managed to beat us at their ground for a number of years…or am I clutching at straws). Stan finally surfaced around lunchtime, feeling somewhat worse for the previous evening's drinkathon. The evening saw a rather strange sight with all of the island's firemen in fire-fighting action at the tip., Firemen fighting fires, whatever next!!! Weather-men getting a forecast right…surely not. The mess bar was rather quiet during the evening (or so sources inform me) Jonesey being the only one in there until Doug turned up. (Stan and Makem both being on duty, thus unable to attend).

Sunday saw Billy Briton take three other intrepid walkers off on what must be (and was described earlier in the week, by several other mainly non-walking types as "totally insane") one of the toughest walks seen on the island in many a year. From Pillar Bay across to Letterbox and then up Whitehorse. Accompanying him was our very own Chris, plus Sarah and Lyndon. They set out early as no-one knew just how long the walk would take. They finally struggled back to Travellers Hill some ten and a half hour's later, all being rather tired (Chris was so in need of a refreshing drink he actually took his can of ice cold Amstels into the shower with him! Most invigorating apparently!). All then went off for a VC tea to celebrate their efforts. It later emerged that Sarah is in the running for a second "gaff of the week" award. It transpires that she managed to get the car bogged down while recovering her fellow walkers, so instead of having a comfortable and easy journey back to Travellers Hill, they ended up having to push the car out of the mud. So this weeks award must go to Sarah, for persistence if nothing else.

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EDITORS : Adam, Julia and Malcolm
The New Islander Office, Fort Hayes, Georgetown, Ascension Island.
Tel/Fax 00 + 247 6327

E-Mail: editors@the-islander.org.ac

Internet Team: Richard Thomas, Laura & Mark Handley, Richard White and Gavin Yon

Deadline for all contributions is 6.00pm on Monday

	Max (deg C)	Min (deg C)	Rainfall (mm)
AIRHEAD	27.4	21.0	0.5
TRAVELLERS	28.4	18.3	6.7
RESIDENCY	No data	No data	No data
GEORGETOWN	29.5	20.0.	6.1
ST. HELENA	21.2	13.1	Nil
FALKLANDS	No data	No data	No data
UK	22	2	23.9

The Islander - Thursday 26th September 2002

NEW ADMINISTRATOR ARRIVES ON ASCENSION

News From St. Mary's:

LETTERS

1st ASCENSION GIRL GUIDES

1ST ASCENSION GUIDES TRIP 2002 IN THE UK - PART 5

The Met Office Weather Report

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