A large number of charges are set to be introduced as the government tries to raise more money.

They are being levied by the Department of Infrastructure to meet its budget target and are aimed to help the government achieve its ‘national priority’ of rebalancing public finances by 2016.

The DoI is responsible for delivering revenue savings of £5 million in the current financial year, which is half of Government’s overall target for 2014-15.

It is going to balance its books by introducing new charges for a lot of its services.

Its proposals were set out some months ago. Now most of them are being introduced.

The measures include:

Charging for parking spaces used by Tynwald Members and government staff in central Douglas

Increasing the charges at Chester Street, Drumgold Street and Parade Street East and West car parks

Introducing pay-and-display parking on Douglas Promenade Walkway and reducing the maximum stay for parking in the disc zone between Granville Street and the Sea Terminal to one hour

Introducing a £25 administration charge for residential permits, exempting holders from time restrictions at disc parking zones where they live

Increasing revenue generated by vehicle excise duty by 10 per cent overall

Introducing a charge of 50p per journey for children travelling to school by bus

Changing the age of eligibility for free bus travel for senior citizens from 60 to the state pension age. Passes will not be withdrawn from existing holders who will retain ‘grandfather rights’ to their passes.

Revising charges for the collection and processing of fallen stock at the Animal Waste Processing Plant

Removing the 30-minute free parking period and disc zone at the airport

The implementation dates for the department’s new budget measures will be confirmed in the near future.

More on this story in tomorrow’s Manx Independent

Talented Claire Mulhern, who co-ordinated the drafting and publication of the Crown Dependency guidance notes on FATCA, has left the public sector to join an island company.

She has been welcomed by the SMP Partners Group.

Claire will primarily manage the Group’s FATCA implementation project and work closely with colleagues to ensure compliance with international information exchange agreements, whilst also providing ad hoc external consultancy and advice services.

From its group headquarters in the Isle of Man, SMP Partners provides a wide range of wealth structuring to a global client base across more than 50 jurisdictions through a network of international offices.

FATCA (The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and the UK equivalent Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) came into operation in July 2014.

The purpose of the agreements is to strengthen cross-border information reporting and compliance with the aim of detecting and deterring the evasion of tax.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which closely follows FATCA, is due to take effect from January 1, 2016 for at least 48 countries with over 20 other countries already committed to follow in due course.

The legislation, regulation and guidance for the IGAs can be complex, especially as understanding of practical implementation develops, making access to expertise in this field vital.

Claire returned to the Isle of Man in 2005 to join the Income Tax Division of Treasury as a central services manager. She subsequently moved into a technical manager role in the division before more recently working as an international co-operation officer with particular responsibility for the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) and FATCA.

She was involved in the later stages of the negotiations with both the UK and US in concluding the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) signed in 2013, and also coordinated the drafting and publication of the Crown Dependency Guidance Notes on FATCA, issued jointly by the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

Claire has also taken part in numerous presentations and seminars regarding FATCA during the last year and is well regarded within the financial services industry on and off the island for her knowledge in this area.

She said: ‘I am very pleased and excited to join SMP Partners and take responsibility for managing its FATCA and CRS implementation project and providing ad hoc advice and consultancy services.

‘It is an opportunity to put into practice all of the knowledge that I gained through my work in the Income Tax Division regarding FATCA and I am looking forward to the challenge.’

Managing director Mark Denton said: ‘FATCA is a priority and focus in the financial services industry across the world at present, although many TCSPs and financial institutions still fear the work that it entails.

‘It is vitally important that firms in the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories understand IGAs with the UK, US and other jurisdictions and the implications for their clients and consider engaging specialist FATCA advisory services.

‘Claire brings to SMP Partners an in-depth knowledge of FATCA and AEOI having worked so closely on the detailed negotiations which led to last year’s IGAs with the UK and US.

‘She is acknowledged as an expert in this important field and brings her wealth of experience to our business and clients, ensuring we offer an unrivalled understanding of the work involved and best-in-class service delivery.’

A patient who took his own life while resident in Grianagh Court was a victim of substantial failures in the care systems in place at the time.

Coroner John Needham said there was clear evidence of neglect on the part of the Department of Health which was guilty of a substantial failure in its systems.

The court heard Benjamin David Hall, who was 25, died as a result of hanging himself using the shower curtain rail in the en suite bathroom at Grianagh Court on June 12 2012.

Mr Hall, who lived at Bradda Road in Port Erin, had originally been referred to Grianagh Court in 2008 when he was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid delusions and was dignosed with an acute schizophrenia like condition. He was admitted to Grianagh court again in 2009.

In May 2012 the court heard Mr Hall had inflicted a superficial injury to his wrist and was again suffering paranoid delusions, complaining of hearing gunshot sounds and believing the army was coming to get him.

He said he had cut his wrist with the intention of killing himself as he believed his father, who was on holiday at the time, may be dead.

He was again admitted as an in-patient to Grianagh Court in May 2012.

Mr Needham said to establish unlawful killing such as manslaughter, it was necessary to establish Mr Hall’s death had been caused by breach of a duty of care owed to him and that the breach was grossly negligent.

But he said he was ruling out a verdict of unlawful killing because the systemic failures that led to Mr Hall’s death could not be attributed to a single individual.

In considering the issue of neglect, he said there were four questions to be considered.

First, whether or not there was a failure to provide basic medical attention or care, including provision of basic safety features, for acute mentally ill patients with a recognised risk of suicide.

He said collapsible curtain and shower rails were usual in such facilities to address the known risk of patients using them to secure a ligature, but this was not the case at Grianagh Court.

Second, he said the failure to provide a collapsible curtain rail was a substantial failure because the consequences of not doing so could in all probability be a fatality. Third, if basic medical care had been provided in the way expected it was more likely than not that Mr Hall would not have died as he did.

‘I am of the view that the lack of provision of a collapsible shower curtain rail ...was a gross failure in the basic care provided to Ben such that his death by suicide was contrbuted to by neglect,’ he said.

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Needham said Mr Hall had taken his own life while accommodated as a voluntary in patient on the acute psychiatric ward at Grianagh Court.

‘The lack of provision of a specifically designed collapsible shower curtain rail amounted to a gross systemic failure in the basic care provided to Ben and his death by suicide is likely to have been avoided had a collapsible shower rail been provided in accordance with recognised practice for such facilities.’

A statement from the Department of Health and Social Care expressed condolences to Mr Hall’s family and continued: ‘The department undertook an immediate and comprehensive review and implemented a number of measures in response.’ It said it would now consider if any further measures were necessary.

This year’s poppy appeal launch will take place at 10.30am on Saturday at The Strand Shopping Centre in Douglas.

Douglas’s mayor, Stan Cain, and mayoress Sheila Cain will declare the appeal open.

In the official party will also be Royal British Legion Isle of Man County President Stephen Rodan SHK, Royal British Legion Isle of Man County chairman Graham Hooton, Royal British Legion Isle of Man County women’s section chairman Pam Collister and Royal British Legion Isle of Man County Poppy appeal co ordinator Audrey Brown MBE.

There will also be a display commemorative stamps newly issued by Isle of Man Post Office to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The stamps, a collaboration between Isle of Man Stamps and Coins and the Royal British Legion, depict life in the trenches, and will be available for sale on the day.

The Army Cadets under the command of Mathew Moffat will be in Strand Street collecting throughout the day.

To add to the occasion, the Ellan Vannin Pipe Band will be playing at the Strand Shopping Centre at 12.30pm and will also be collecting for the poppy appeal.

Equiom Group managing director, Sheila Dean has been shortlisted for the Citywealth Power Women Awards.

She is in the running in the categories of Woman of the Year: Leadership (Professional Services) and Woman of the Year: Business Growth (Professional Services).

New for 2015, the Power Women awards were introduced by Citywealth to champion women in the wealth sector and highlight the female leaders of today and tomorrow.

They aim to identify individual females and companies who support care giving responsibilities, female leadership and celebrate diversity in order to maximise the potential of women in the wealth sector.

Citywealth also hope they will lead to the creation of a best practice platform within the sector that collectively exercises positive social influence.

Sheila Dean said: ‘I am thrilled to have been shortlisted for these awards.

‘Women have a significant role to play at Equiom.

‘Our female managers, senior managers and directors add a different dimension to deliberations and importantly act as role models and mentors to develop the many talented women within the Equiom Group.

‘We have created a culture where career progression is unequivocally based on the ability to fulfil the objectives of the role and are satisfied that there is a strong correlation between the success of the firm and female leadership.’

The awards are being judged by a panel of senior men, as well as women, from within the wealth sector.

Online voting is now open and ends on November 28, 2014, with the winners being announced at a prestigious dinner in London on January 22, 2015.

The winners will be those found to have demonstrated individual success as women in business, including financial competence, business growth or have mentored or championed women.

Equiom have also been shortlisted in the category of Company of the Year: Female Leadership (Professional Services).

For more information about these awards: http://www.citywealthmag.com/events/power-women-awards

Potter Kathryn Mitchell was given a special commission by the Army Benevolent Fund Isle of Man to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War.

The plate and vase will be auctioned off at the Army Benevolent Fund’s annual dinner next week.

Michael MHK Alfred Cannan, who is chairman and honorary treasurer of the Fund’s island branch, last week collected the commissions from Kathryn at her studio at Lower Bishopscourt Farm, Kirk Michael.

The plate and vase features a poppy design with the words ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe’ - the words spoken by British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey on the eve of Britain’s entry into the First World War.

Kathryn produces hand-made and hand-painted tableware such as mugs, bowls and plates, as well as creating bespoke pieces to commission.

She said: ‘It was an honour to be commissioned by the Army Benevolent Fund to create these special pieces.

‘The plate and vase were a challenge in both the design and making, but I’m very pleased with the result.

The commemorative vase and plate will be auctioned at the Army Benevolent Fund dinner to be held on Friday October 24 at the Mount Murray Golf Club.

Kathryn grew up on the island, studied and trained in Australia, then returned home in early 2013 to establish her business on the Isle of Man.

She set up her workspace last October, with the support of the Small Business Start-Up Scheme and Isle of Man Arts Council.

Of the 7,109 Manxmen who fought in the Great War, some 1,165 were killed and 987 were wounded.

More of Kathryn’s work can be found on her website: www.kathrynmitchellceramics.com

The Douglas branch of the British Legion may be forced to close down if more volunteers cannot be found.

The organisation holds its annual general meeting on Monday, October 27, at 8.30pm in the pool room of the Manx Legion Club on Market Hill, Douglas.

Secretary Hilary Cleverley said: ‘There are only 50 members left and all but a handful are under 75. We desperately need new recruits.

‘We need a younger generation to carry on the good work. Some people are under the impressions it’s an old boys’ organisation or only for ex-servicemen but anyone can join and help. It could die a death, there won’t be people to run the branches soon, recruitment is our problem.

‘We used to have 12 branches on the island but Ballaugh closed two years ago, Port St Mary went too and Colby had to amalgamate with Castletown.

‘We couldn’t do anything for our 90th anniversary or the war this year, we just don’t have the manpower.

‘It’s such a shame because the island raises far more per capita than anywhere else in the UK.

‘We’ve won that award something like 37 years running. The Poppy Appeal which always receives an amazing response here, Douglas alone raised over £25,000 last year.

‘There are several vacant at the moment. I’m secretary, treasurer, welfare worker, membership secretary and poppy organiser.

‘People who are computer literate could help but it’s not essential, we will train people. people are overloaded with work.’

To help contact Hilary on 614286 or via cleviom@msn.com

Douglas council employees have a better-than-average sickness record according to a recent report presented to councillors.

A report compiled by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) for Douglas council examined statistics for sick leave in Douglas council and compared it with the national average.

The figures, which refer to the year 2013 to 2014, recorded that Douglas council non manual employees lost an average of five days’ work compared with the average non-manual employee’s total of 10 days.

Douglas council manual employees also scored well. The report said the council’s manual employees lost, on average, 10 days’ employment through sick leave during the year. This compares favourably with the average manual worker who loses an average of 11 days’ employment through illness.

The report said the average number of days’ sickness across all emplyees in Douglas council was eight, per employee, compared with the average for all employees in local government, according to the CIPD 2013 survey, of nine days per employee.

A rise in sickness levels and consequent time off work in the UK was recorded in 2013 in the CIPD report but this was not reflected at the council which had shown an overall decrease in the average number of sick days taken per employee.

Council members heard a factor in this could be the written absence management policy in place at the council. Line managers who had responsibility for attendance at work of employees were helped and supported in managing short and long-term absences. Ill-health management policies took account of the needs both of the employee and those of the council and each case was dealt with on an individual basis which aimed to be fair and consistent.

Councillors agreed a clear approach to managing absence should be maintained, line managers should intervene where necessary and all employees should be kept informed of up-to-date absence procedures.

In future, councillors thought it would be helpful to include figures for the past three years in the report.

It’s a genuine attempt to engage with the public - but the content still needs to be refined.

That’s the verdict of Chief Minister Allan Bell following the third of the government’s Big Debates.

There was a near-capacity audience of 95 for last week’s public meeting at the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin.

One more event is planned in the first round of the Big Debates - at the Manx Museum on November 4. As before, the audience will be randomly selected from the voters’ list.

But Mr Bell confirmed that future rounds would comprise open meetings.

He said: ‘It is an essential first step and genuine attempt to engage with the public.

‘I think there’s a lack of understanding from some as to what is hoped to achieve from the debate.

‘Now we are close to rebalancing the revenue budget it’s very important for people to recognise the work we have put in is only the first stage. The real challenge is the long term approach for addressing very serious issues such as the future of the health service, the sustainability of pensions and the structure of the welfare state.

‘The debate is intended to stimulate people into thinking more long term, 10 to 20 years, at how we can sustain the range of services we want and still maintain a competitive tax regime.’

Mr Bell said lessons had been learned from the first of the Big Debate sessions.

He said there may be some truth in criticisms about how vague some of the questions were and accepted the meetings must be more focused, with questions clearer and better understood and with clear outcomes at the end.

‘I think the concept is fine but I think we do have to refine the content of it,’ he said.

‘Once we get a feeling as to how the public have reacted to the first round, I would suspect that questions will become more specific. The chairman’s intention is to continue in further rounds with open meetings.’

In response to public feedback from the first two events in Peel and Ramsey the format in Port Erin was tweaked.

Presentations gave more context, some questions were removed or given more focus and voting was interspersed throughout, rather than in one block as before. There was also more detail on means testing and examples of services provided.

A well-known chef and former Keys candidate appeared in court this week on cannabis charges.

One of our reporters heard what happened and reports the story in this week’s Manx Independent.

Also this week we report from Tynwald on the end of Toilet Tax mark 1 and the start of Toilet Tax mark 2.

The paper includes more details about a large number of charges that the government is set to introduce, ranging from ending free parking at the airport to ending free school bus journeys.

The Jacksons concert at the Villa Marina lost money, so cost the taxpayer. We have more on that.

The paper also looks at passports. They’re going to printed off the island soon and that means we won’t be able to get one as quickly now.

Remember the Queen’s Pier controversy? We reveal a new attempt to bring it back to life.

After last week’s suggestion that promoting caravan holidays could be good for the island’s tourism industry, we look at the costs and ask if that would really be the case.

Elsewhere in the paper, a Steam Packet captain looks back on his long career as he prepares for retirement.

In our Island Life section we look forward to Shrek the Musical and look at the successful MusicLab project.

With 12 pages of action-packed sport, the island’s What’s On guide, your seven-day television guide and a lively letters page, the Manx Independent is a great read this week.

It’s in the shops now.

Police have announced a firearms and weapons amnesty for November.

The last amnesty in 2005 – which followed the discovery of two cases of weapons found dumped in a skip in Douglas – saw 150 weapons being handed in.

Inspector Mark Britton said the police did not know how many weapons were out there. ‘We really need to find out,’ he said.

Under the amnesty, the public won’t be prosecuted if they hand in illegally-held firearms, air weapons, crossbows, ammunition, swords and knives.

Members of the public are invited to bring secured weapons and ammunition to their closest designated police station from Saturday, November 1, until midnight on Sunday, November 30.

Police headquarters and police stations at Ramsey, Castletown and Peel are taking part in the amnesty.

But the force is stressing that under no circumstances should grenades or anything else with a potentially explosive content be handled or transported by members of the public, let alone handed in to a police station.

This is the case even if they believe they have been made safe.

Anyone unsure of how to check the condition of any weapon or ammunition or if they have explosives, such as grenades, they are urged to contact police headquarters.

Arrangements will then be made for a trained firearms officer to call round, make the item safe and remove it safely.

For more information, call the firearms department on 631212.

The Community Farm is joining forces with commissioners to promote recycling in Braddan, as Amanda Griffin explains

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Minimising waste and recycling are central to education programmes at The CommunityFarm in Braddan.

Kitchen waste is collected and fed to the worms in the wormeries to produce compost and liquid fertiliser that is used in the poly tunnels to grow fresh veg.

Green waste from the gardens and animal bedding is composted in large bins and then turned onto the gardens to grow yet more food.

The wormeries and other composting systems are used as teaching tools with primary and secondary groups in co-ordinated fork-to-fork lessons.

The farm’s inclusion learning programme helps to manage composting as part of Level 1 Horticulture Certificate training.

As a charitable project of The Children’s Centre, the farm is very careful with its use of resources; reclaiming, reusing and recycling wherever possible.

Good examples of this are the information boards around the site, made by groups of young people from reclaimed pallets.

Wooden garden planters, bird boxes, bug houses and bat houses have also been created from reclaimed wood using the farm’s workshop.

Over in the vegetable gardens plastic drink bottles are reused as garden cane toppers and bird scarers. Old wellies adorn the walls filled with flowers and herbs.

Growing areas are mulched with old coffee grounds from Noa Bakehouse and spent mushroom compost from Greeba Farm.

The paths, meanwhile, are covered in bark chip donated by tree surgeons.

Up in the farm office, the team use reclaimed desks and chairs, donated by corporate donors when they refresh their offices.

Regular forays to the reclamation areas of the island’s amenity sites provide fresh supplies of plant pots, furniture and games for the recreation room.

Even the tractors are reclaimed and upcycled, with the tractor shed now being used to restore a second Massey Ferguson, with young people learning mechanical and spraying skills under the watchful eye of farm staff.

The farm worked with the Isle of Man government’s recycling and waste minimisation officer Steve Taggart to put recycling bins and signage around the farm.

The staff, children and young people collect and recycle glass, metal and plastic.

Confidential waste paper is shredded, used as animal bedding and then composted.

School groups use waste management as a topic monitoring recycling levels and taking trips to amenity sites and the energy from waste plant, which can be seen from the farm.

New to the farm’s programme this year have been a series of workshops and short courses including composting, willow weaving, felting, bread-making and an introduction to permaculture course.

All of these use local resources and local expertise to increase levels of countryside skills and sustainable land management which tie in with the farm’s ethos of ‘reconnecting with the countryside’.

To find out more about what’s happening at The Community Farm, including alternative education programmes workshops, open afternoons and bookable children’s parties, check out The Farm blog www.thecommunityfarm.wordpress.com

Call 676076 or email farm@thechildrenscentre.org.im

Clementine Properties Limited, whose registered office is situated at 8 Langdale Close, Onchan, bought 1 Prospect Hill, Douglas, for £1m.

It was bought from The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited.

It was bought from The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited.

Other recent transactions lodged at the General Registry in Douglas are as follows:

Kevin John Rafferty, sold 118 Slieau Dhoo, Tromode, for £399,950, to Fletcher Charles Craine and Carly Craine, of Balladan, Quarkers Road, Maughold.

Craig Alistair Marr and Joyce Mary Gracie Marr, sold 11 Maple Avenue, Ballawattleworth, Peel, for £325,000, to Paul Williamson and Anna Louise Featherstone, of 2 Hillberry Lakes, Douglas.

Janet Gale sold 14 Balladoyne, St John’s for £375,000 to Ann Vickers, of Holly Holme, Greeba Bridge, Greeba.

John Edward Bethell sold B House, The Darragh Estate, Port Erin, for £360,000, to Hartford Homes Limited, whose registered office is situated at 2 Middle River, Douglas.

Graeme Edward Jones and Julie Ann Jones sold a plot of land at Ballabrooie Way, Douglas, for £275,000, to Lyncot Property Limited, whose registered office is at 8/9 Hill Street, Douglas.

Jamie Mitchel Teare and Anita Luise Imberger, of Jurby Road, Ramsey, sold 6 Cronk-y-Berry, Douglas, for £272,000, to Hayley Roberts, of 16 Ballure Grove, Ramsey.

Stephen Christopher Williams and Shirley Ann Black, of 15 The Park, Onchan, sold 51 Sunningdale Drive, Onchan, for £257,000 to Lynda Arline Galka, of 5 Howe Road, Onchan.

William Kershaw Burton, of 53 Murray’s Lake Drive, Mount Murray, sold 38 Windermere Drive, Onchan, for £230,000, to Jennifer Frances Rosarrii Attridge, of Apartment 8, Clybane Court, Farmhill, Douglas.

Mark Andrew Conway sold 5 York Road, Douglas, for £225,000, to Hazel Frances Smith, of Dolphins, Clayhead Road, Baldrine.

Victoria Street Properties Limited, whose registered office is situated at Ballacriy Manor, Ballacriy Park, Colby, sold 66 Bucks Road, Douglas, for £200,000, to LCT Commercial Limited, whose registered office is situated at 12 Manor Park, Banks Howe, Onchan.

Jean Valerie Wood sold Mona Cottage, Bay View Road, Port St Mary, for £185,000, to Jonathan Mark Quayle and Alyson Nadya Quayle, of Rosecroft, Shore Road, Castletown.

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We publish details of all sales unless we receive a written request from the police or probation service.

Went to the flicks one night last week.

In case you don’t know what this means I went to the pictures, to the Broadway Cinema in the Villa Marina, to see Gone Girl.

It’s been a long time since I went to the flicks, largely because I don’t know most of the leading film actors of today, which is my fault and not theirs.

In the days when I knew Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or ‘TheThree Stooges’ were on, I would know exactly what to expect and I would be the first in the queue at the Picture House in downtown Douglas,

I went to see Gone Girl with a small group of friends. There was a full house who fully enjoyed themselves.

What troubled me beforehand was news that the film was going to last an hour and 49 minutes. A long time to sit there without the chance of buying an ice cream from a girl usher’s tray of goodies in the advertising interval.

I missed a lot of the plot through involuntary intervals of sleep but the Storm Force 12 sound track always brought me back to life.

But even this could not prevent me missing a lot of the plot and not understanding the outcome.

Mind you when I was awake I beguiled myself by counting the number of times both men and women in the film used the F-word. I didn’t get them all. But my count came to 43.

You didn’t get that kind of thing from Fred and Ginger.

As for one of the stars, this was a succulent young lady called Rosamund Pike of whom I knew nothing. She spends a lot of time in the film getting undressed.

Next time I see her name up in lights I will be going to the flicks again. This time I will know what to expect – hopefully.

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This week’s example of Manxlish has come in from the late Mrs Agnes Brew, from Peel, via her grandson, the Examiner’s assistant editor Stephen Parry. It’s with reference to a couple separating and later getting back together:

‘Cold broth is easy warmed,’ she used to say.

And I have it on good authority that Agnes had many more like it.

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I have been telling my worldwide readership about my experiences at a weekly Walk and Talk session at the NSC. I recommended it to one of my fellow Manx Radio broadcasters in our holding pen at Broadcasting House. He said he would prefer Drive and Skive.

Stu would drive himself to bed if he could get his Mercedes AMG up the stairs.

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The Examiner said: ‘The future of the horse tram lines is being discussed currently.’

Electric horse trams?

The Examiner also had a headline which is now in my collection of the brilliant black arts of sub-editors.

It was on a story about a drugs offender in court who had concealed heroin up his rectum: ‘Island drugs donkey finds it’s a fair cop for bum wrap.’

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‘Greeba Lady’ has written in asking how many people know there are only four words in the English language ending in ‘dous’ and she is willing to tell anybody who doesn’t know.

This is a tremendous offer.

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The Daily Telegraph carried the headline: ‘Don’t call me feisty, warns Downton’s Daisy Lewis’.

I’m not surprised that the fragrant Miss Lewis objects to the description.

In the English language of the days of Queen Elizabeth the First, feisty described people, men and women, who were unable to stop themselves breaking wind in public.

I hope this doesn’t come as a blow to Miss Lewis.

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This week’s Manx crossword clue is sent in by Barbara Taylor and it comes from the Saturday Telegraph Prize Cryptic as follows: ‘Saw cut down chopper getting TT place (5)’ - AXIOM.

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Pun for the Educated: A sceptical anthropologist was cataloguing South American folk remedies with the assistance of a tribal elder, who told him the leaves of a particular fern were a sure cure for any case of constipation.

When the anthropologist expressed doubt, the elder assured him: ‘Believe me, with fronds like these you don’t need enemas.’

An open meeting to discuss the proposed new by-laws for Castletown will be held at 8pm next Monday, October 27, at Morton Hall, Castletown.

The meeting has been called by the town’s Festival Committee, whose chairman Tony Brown is concerned if introduced, the by-laws will make the confetti carnival illegal and have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the operation of the festival. Also, he is concerned about the potential impact on street collections for charities.

Mr Brown’s concerns were considered at the authority’s meeting on October 6 when commissioners agreed the by-laws would be subject to a six week public consultation period and discussed by them in public at their meeting on December 1.

Mr Brown wrote about the open meeting to interested individuals and organisations that the authority is progressing new by-laws which, ‘if approved, may impact on your organisation’. He said the meeting was called because of the ‘serious implications of the proposed new by-laws’.

At last Monday’s meeting, commissioner Andrew Thomas said: ‘It’s an awful lot of fuss about throwing confetti.’

A host of special events take place this week to mark World Polio Day tomorrow (Friday).

The Rotary Club of Douglas will be at the centre of the events which promote the World Health Organisation campaign to eradicate polio by 2018.

For the weekend, two of Douglas’s most prominent buildings, Tynwald and the Tower of Refuge, will be illuminated in purple, the campaign colour for Rotary’s End Polio Now initiative.

The club will also be exhibiting an iron lung which was used in hospital in the Isle of Man to help people paralysed by the disease to breathe.

Kevin Kneen, of the club, said the machine had been borrowed from the hospital, having been in storage at Westmoreland Road.

‘We actually have two dating from the 1930s and the 1950s,’ he said. ‘The older one has a plaque on it saying it was donated by Lord Nuffield whose daughter, we believe, suffered polio.

‘We hope to have them on display at the Mount Murray. They were used over 50 years ago when polio was still endemic on the island and this is, we believe, the first time they will have been on display.’

The Mount Murray was the venue yesterday for a Rotary lunch with guests, who included Phil Gawne MHK representing the International Development Committee, to recognise World Polio Day.

Another first for the campaign is a promotion by the Ellan Vannin football team which will be sporting End Polio Now team shirts for home and away games.

‘We believe this is the first time any international football team has allowed its match shirts to be used to promote a campaign like this,’ Mr Kneen said.

Manx International Football Alliance chief executive Malcolm Blackburn said: ‘We are delighted and honoured that Rotary International see us as being useful in the global fight to eradicate polio, and to be the first international football team in the world to be able to use its exposure potential for such an amazing goal is humbling.’

Since 2011 the club has addressed 6,000 school children and other organisations, raising more than £30,000.

Every Rotary donation is matched two for one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

An expert who was the military consultant for the film War Horse will give a lecture in Douglas tomorrow (Friday).

Andrew Robertshaw BA MA PGCE twillo present his lecture ‘The Real War Horses: Horse Power, Logistics and Transport 1914-18’ at the Manx Museum.

Mr Robertshaw’s expertise in the field led him on to be the military consultant for the feature film ‘War Horse’ directed by Steven Spielberg.

He was formerly the curator and manager of The Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Deepcut and Head of Education at The National Army Museum in London and is now Director of Battlefield Partnerships Ltd.

They are currently preparing for two archaeological projects on the Western Front. Andrew has regularly made TV appearances, most recently working on episodes of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, ‘Find My Past’ and ‘Time Team’.

Within the lecture Andrew will examine the contribution made by horses, mules and donkeys to the British army’s war effort on the Western Front. When the war began in 1914 the British army possessed a mere 25,000 horses.

The War Office was given the urgent task of sourcing a further half million to go into battle.

The Ramsey Courier on Friday, August 14, 1914, reports the War Office sending a requisition to the Insular Government for the supply of 100 horses from the Isle of Man for military purposes.

Horses were requisitioned from all over the island, including those from the stables of the Douglas Corporation and two horses owned by yhe Steam Packet Company. Horses were brought to Ramsey for dispatch to England by steamer.

Sadly, many faithful animals were wounded or killed in the battlefields and never came home.

‘Imp’, a much loved horse of Canadian breed, was however happily returned to the island following the First World War.

After his military career in the battlefields of France, Imp finally found rest at the Glencrutchery Children’s Home. Imp’s companion ‘Baby’ bought at the same time, was also pensioned in a field owned by the Tramways Committee.

The lecture is part of the Manx National Heritage 2014 programme to commemorate the First World War in conjunction with the exhibition This Terrible Ordeal at the Manx Museum.

One very special object in the exhibition is a horse shoe belonging to a war horse named ‘Molly’.

Before the war Molly worked for fruit and veg merchants Dale and Colvin, a family business based on the North Quay in Douglas. She also returned to the island following the war, and when Molly eventually passed, her shoe was hung at the entrance to the warehouse to bring good luck.

Andrew Robertshaw’s lecture ‘The Real War Horses’ will take place at the Manx Museum on Friday, October 14, with 7.30pm start, doors open at 7pm. Tickets are £10 available from the Manx Museum Gallery Shop and www.manxnationalheritage.im. A 10 per cent discount is available to members and ACE cardholders.

A St John’s man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the death of a woman by dangerous driving at Tholt-y-Will on April 26.

Donovan Bradley Kitching, 30, had previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of Gwen Valentine, from Winchester, who was walking on the Tholt-y-Will Road when she was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by him.

Deemster Alastair Montgomerie also sentenced Kitching to an additional two years and 72 days in relation to a previous sentence which he was on licence for, having been released just three weeks before the April incident, bringing his total jail time to more than 10 years.

Kitchen was disqualified from driving for 15 years, sentenced to seven months in jail for driving while disqualified and one month for possessing amphetamines, to run concurrently to the eight year sentence.

Plans have been submitted to change the house type of 10 homes being built as part of a residential development under construction in Ramsey.

Heritage Homes Ltd previously planned to build the 10 homes with two bedrooms, on land east of Gardeners Lane and next to the EMI Unit at Poyll Dooey, Ramsey.

But in the application it states it wants to make them three bedroom homes: ‘Sales to date on this site, as well as feedback from potential customers, has indicated a much greater demand for dwellings with three bedrooms rather than two in this location at this time.’

A grey IPhone 5s was stolen from a silver Ford Focus in Mountfield Road, Onchan, overnight Tuesday/Wednesday.

Constable Paddy Moore wants to speak to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area or has been offered a grey IPhone 5s.

Constable Moore said: ‘Most thefts of this type are easily preventable. Please make sure you do not leave valuables in view in your car and always make sure your car is locked when unattended.’

Anyone with information regarding this incident contact Constable Moore at Lord Street police station.