QWightLike. A Podcast. – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Back from an enforced holiday break, the island’s longest, continually running podcast* (sorry Harriet), presents to you our 41st episode from our combined 2 series across 21 months, being broadcast come hell or high water.

We bring to you a follow-up from our outside broadcast for our 40th episode and related important sporting fixtures that draw threads together from as far afield as north east Hampshire and the south east of the Isle of Wight.  Listen to find out how these threads weave their way into our topical chat.

Sport, holidays, petting cafes and island hotspots share the billing with a very special guest, and friend of the podcast making a cameo appearance, telling tales of a short-lived career in the Forbes publishing empire.  No, not this one … that one!.

We gently meander through diverse subjects drawing from common themes, often celebrating our island’s rich and diverse culinary attractions.  The whiff of fete, hangs heavy over some, but we are able to showcase a number of exciting experiences that will leave you wanting to come back for more.  It’s just like listening to a popular podcast.  We ain’t no Mortimer and Woodhouse, nor Campbell and Stewart but we are Dedman and Forbes and we do gentle man talking.

Thanks for listening, we hope you are enjoying our musings and please do tell your friends not to miss out on the island’s longest continually running podcast*..

Tim and Rory

* This may or may not be true.

With the football (soccer) season well underway and with diary challenges perplexing your podcast planners, we found ourselves together instead, not in a cosy studio, but in Beatrice Avenue, East Cowes, one balmy, summer’s Wednesday evening, for an Isle of Wight cup and local derby clash.

Friendly rivals, Newport Isle of Wight FC , found themselves drawn against East Cowes Victoria Athletic A.F.C. with a crowd of 447 turning out for this Wessex League Cup clash. Fellow travellers in the Wessex League Division 1 they will meet again on Boxing Day in what is likely to be an epic, top of the table clash at Christmas.

We’ve wanted to take the podcast out on the road for some time, so this was an opportunity not to be missed, to test out our gear and our ability to hold a conversation whilst surrounded by crowd distractions and noise.

Tim managed to collar John Davies (we don’t know who John Hughes is), the Chairman of Newport, the “home” side for the evening clash between these 2 ground-sharing clubs.  An insider’s view as to how grassroots football operates was delivered in Tim’s half-time interview with John.

If you want to know the result, you’ll have to listen right to the end of this shorter-than-normal edition of the podcast.

We think it worked out quite well so stay tuned to your podcast provider, and our Instagram account for details of further QWightLike on the road trips in the near future.

Thanks for listening, folks.

Tim (manager) and Rory (kit man)

A torrent of topical tales tumble into your shell like, as Tim and Rory wax the surfboard of chat and get to grips with stories from across the island and mainland, mixed with serious reflection on mother nature sliding into our mentions with interventions re-shaping the world around us.

Who else weaves the Tufty Club into Darth Vadar and the Green Cross Code man whilst promoting music festivals and chinese chip shops alongside the delights of island favourites such as The Garlic Farm for brunch and the Spyglass Inn for celebration meals.

As the general election looms larger then smaller again in the rear view mirror of the news cycle, and podcasts are recorded too early to capture the news from the day after the night before we tee up our plans to document the next electoral exercise right here on the podcast.  Our plan is to radicalise our listeners to see them agitate for the rights of all to enjoy a full cooked breakfast, English or otherwise.

Join us as we generate renewable energy in the form of an hour of chat on subjects medically reported to induce relaxation and/or angst in equal measure.  As the podcast bursts into meteorological spring we hear of opportunities to plan days out, get out of the house and into the shops, pubs, restaurants and visitor attractions all over the land.  We qwightlike that.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory

Join Tim and Rory, for a jaunt around the island and many vaguely related subjects linked together by our shared ability to wax lyrical on almost anything and everything. We've been out, visiting beaches and "beverage opportunities", getting rained on and can be found in this podcast riffing, in the best tradition of the latest online influencer ... the Dadcaster, on all manner of subjects, educational and otherwise.

From smashed avocado breakfasts and millennial lattes to retired radio contributors (retiring just as demand for radio presenters on the island is set to increase), there's something in here for at least a few of you. We revisit a favourite haunt for traditional cooked breakfasts, for the Dadcasters, complemented by fruit-based offerings for their female companions and Tim introduces us to one of the latest exciting coffee stops overlooking Freshwater Bay, the Bike Box Cafe. Worth a visit whilst cruising the Military Road, whilst its still open to us.

Wrapping up with our periodic homage to the NHS and with a much more serious note, we acknowledge the role the medical profession continues to offer when we find ourselves in urgent need of intervention and support, despite the media's attempts to paint the NHS as in crisis. True or not, they always seem to be there when they need them.

News of New Year resolution progress allows us to bow out with a successful set of statistics and progress reports, albeit a horrendously exaggerated claim of rowing distance achieved. When Rory says kilometres, think metres. A tall tale in the making.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory

A Valentine’s Day massacre (of Rory’s new roving microphone and headset) was narrowly averted by Tim’s free wheeling interview with the long-time Green party candidate for the Isle of Wight, VIx Lowthion.  As we continue our conversations with island politicians in the run up to the General Election, Tim manages to host a chat with Vix that ranges from her vision for the island as an active politician and councillor right through to her thespian activities with the Apollo Theatre in Newport and her geology walks.

Tim and Rory bookend this fascinating insight into the motives and activities of yet another candidate, this time for the new East Wight with chat explaining why we both abandoned our wives on Valentines Day evening to discuss politics and proportional representation.

Plenty to enjoy in this episode and a unique set of insights from an experienced local and nationally active politician, so sit back and enjoy another hour of topical chat in the company of Tim and Rory.

Thanks for listening.

Rory and Tim.

A wintry week with colds galore led us not down the garden path but rather along our much loved international tourist magnet here on the island being the Military Road.  This oft deified drivers’ paradise is facing its own challenges from the onward march of the sea and the elements as the tarmacadam sits perilously waiting to be consumed by nature.  If we don’t save it what damage will be down to our landscape, to our tourism, to our very identity as islanders? What will we leave Alan Titchmarsh to wax lyrically about as high definition drones dive bomb unsuspecting motorists to grab more stock footage of this national landscape?

The MP and a variety of citizen led social media campaigns have sprung into action to do what they can.  Spurred on by this show of community dedication we discuss whip rounds for post offices, village halls and once much-loved newspapers.Off-island adventures introduce one half of the presenter team to the delights of air fryers.  There’s much talk of triple fried chips and Sodastream powered Betamax video recorders and other flash in the pans.  Stay to the end to find out whose bed the Milk Tray man’s calling card may have made an appearance in much to the surprise of the other host.Covering all the bases, another episode packed to the rafters with topical chat.

Thanks for listening

Rory and Tim

As we career through the early weeks of 2024, evaluating early 20th century London postal delivery frequencies compared with the capital’s 21st century refuse collection cadence (yes really), sit with us as we review the early progress of  our New Year resolutions.  Listeners … we’re on it.  There’s no rowing back from us on these commitments and when they make the movie of this podcast they’ll see we had a plan, and we saw it through.

We consider the great philosophical questions of our time including whether printed books are preferential to digital copies, whilsht teaching you how to shpeak like Sean Connery.

In our second half we replace wide-ranging discussions on matters of existential significance (!) to compile a shortlist of our favourite island coffee spots, pubs and visitor attractions.  The very best of the Isle of Wight, places we QWightLike.  Listen to find out our personal favourites.  Lets us know if you agree.  If you don’t know the island, come and visit us, try our recommendations and let us know if you agree.

Thanks for listening.  Stay warm.

Tim and Rory

Happy New Year to all our listeners as we all welcome 2024 into our lives along with a new series of QWightLike A Podcast. In this new episode 1, Rory and Tim review their Christmas and New Year celebrations telling tales of their family gatherings and reviewing favourite festive flicks. Who had the most embarrassing gift unwrapping moment? Who received the gift of a terrible viral load to be laid low for the second part of the holiday period? Listen to find out.

With travel being such an important part of our island lifestyle, we were delighted when Tim was able to come alongside Bronwyn Hamilton-Brown, for a chat about the Wightlink User Group (https://www.wug.org.uk/) she founded in November 2022 and which now boasts over 5,000 members. If you need to get on and off our island this is a must-listen.

We round off our first foray of 2024, with a discussion on our New Year resolutions, leading to one or two interesting revelations, that you won't want to miss out on. You'll have to subscribe to the podcast to follow our progress throughout the year to find out if we miss out on our resolutions, despite them all being SMART goals. Google that if its a new term for you.

Thanks for sticking with us throughout 2023 and we hope we can encourage you to remain ahered to our output in 2024, both here and on Vectis Radio.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory

So as our first season draws to a close, we have an opportunity to look back over the last 12 months, 24 episodes (not including this one) and the evolution of our little idea to share our chats. We also take the seasonal route to discuss memories of Christmas as young children, and how much-loved family traditions survive the dilutive effects of marriage and aging.

Fuelled by mulled wine and mince pies we reminisce on our favourite TV adverts, favourite food and how we'll be celebrating this holiday season with our families.

Thanks for listening throughout 2023. We've learned a lot from our early tentative steps back in January through to our more polished recent output, and we know we can only continue to improve. Our collaboration with the team at Vectis Radio was an unexpected development and we are using that experience to make sure we manage time and quality even better, without losing the essence of two blokes chatting over a beer, cup of coffee or a cooked breakfast.

As we introduced our interview slots back in the summer, we added a new dimension to the podcast. We intend to provide new content whilst keeping the very best of QWightLike to bring you throughout 2024.

Thanks for listening.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Tim and Rory

With Christmas approaching we turn our attention to festive fare, topical tipple and the all important links from our island to the mainland that bring families together, facilitate economic activity and deliver entertainment to our audiences.

A wide ranging chat on Christmas meals at popular island eateries wraps a warm pair of arms around a fireside chat between Tim and Bob Simpson, the managing director of our major island brewer, Goddards. An honest conversation about the brewery being up for sale, hopes for the future ownership and potential for future growth in the offer is had and, nothing is off limits. Bob is refreshingly, just like his beer, frank.

The inaugural 2023 Goddard's Firkin Deck restaurant Christmas Meal, Garlic Farm lunches continue the festive feel until we find ourselves discussing football memories of FA Cup feats, first jobs (in football) and photo restoration antics to raise a smile as Rory launches a challenge to the 'artificial' intelligence industry.

For a double dose of your dynamic duo, tune in to Vectis Radio (104.6FM on the island) or available online and on smart speakers, at 3pm on Saturday 9th December for our launch episode bringing QWightLike to a wider than Wight audience.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory