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)

The boys are back in town after a short, medically-induced, break from the studios.  Nothing, it seems, can keep our dedicated duo from fulfilling our services to podcastery.  Cries of relief are heard all across the land, after all, where else can you eavesdrop on a conversation between 2 ageing men covering subjects as diverse as obscure Olympic sports, Liz Truss and the wonders of authentic Scottish confectionary, almost within the same breath?

The answer, of course, is right here on QWightLike A Podcast.  Listen in as Rory and Tim procrastinate on the best coffee, humourless politicians and the postural advantages of England’s finest sportsmen and women, whilst celebrating places to visit to quench thirst and sate hunger on the Isle of Wight, Alan Titchmarsh’s lugubriously described ‘Diamond Isle’.

As always, thanks for listening.

Until next time … stay tuned

Tim and Rory

The freshest QWightLike A Podcast episode yet appears before you on your podcast shelves as these collected bits and bytes form eloquent gyrations seeking to entertain and inform.  Unlike this week’s King’s Speech which seeks to legislate, this podcast seeks to elaborate on all manner of topical chat.

We range from polite politics through to dogs on beaches via the perennial debate as to whether to scrunch or fold.  Listen in to find out the context of that one.  

Visitors to our island and agricultural shows compete for a slice of your ear’s capacity alongside plans for next year’s Isle of Wight Festival which are already brewing despite no lineup.  Football is fast becoming a distant memory except for the pre-season friendlies already in full swing as England’s sad demise in yet another final or semi-final haunts the podcast studio.

Until next time, no, the podcast, not the football.

Thanks for listening

Tim and Rory

Our marathon UK Westminster general election coverage is spread across 2 sessions, 24 hours apart.  The first on polling day itself as the close of poll drew inexorably nearer, Tim’s and Rory’s political junkie credentials come to the fore as they look forward to the night ahead.  Predictions, Portillo moments and election snacks are covered as we prepare for the results that may just have a momentous impact on all our lives.

Fast forward 24 hours to the post-results, after-party come down to find out if our intrepid duo are motivated by the outcome and what highlights do we pick out from the many that graced our screens and radio dials for the last 18-20 hours.

With the new Prime Minister firmly installed in Downing Street, find out what Rory and Tim think of the results and the prospects for what happens next.  Certainly there will be more episodes of the Wight’s favourite, regular podcast, that has hardly skipped a beat in over 18 months of pod and radio broadcasting.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory

The weather starts so many conversations especially in the long awaited, and oft missed summer season and our podcast continues this tradition with a typically wishful look at the weather past, present and future before straying into the topical minefield of elections and football tournaments.  Who will be the winner, who will score the most own-goals, we bet it won’t be the media.  Off to place a bet on the date of the next episode of QWightLike A Podcast, we meander from national service, along the A34, to holstering IT equipment via a festival of place names you can’t pronounce.

Recognising the anniversary of co-host Tim’s heart attack almost a year ago to the day we celebrate our own experiences of the NHS that have made us the men we are today - part organic and part bionic.  A roundup of Father’s Day gifts from loving offspring trumps stories of Yarmouth fudge and confused Scottish co-hosts make a fist of the First Minister’s surname (Ed. - it’s Swinney, not Sweeney, you swine!).

Rounding up the pod we cast our eyes over Ventnor's ingress and egress challenges for the next 2 weeks, with gentle encouragement to find your way in, by car, bus, bike or en pied, to support the excellent local businesses with your custom.

Thanks for listening.  We’ll be back before you can place a bet on the General Election, probably in time to pore over the actual results.  Will we be celebrating, crying or analysing, or all 3?  Stay tuned.

Tim and Rory

Normal service is being resumed as the QWightLike A Podcast team return from an elongated and unscheduled break following illness, family visits, operations and holidays, to return with our usual conversational interventions to ease you into your weekend and beyond.

A lot has happened and so we slightly run over our allotted studio time to bring you our highlights from the last month or so of enforced pod downtime.  What has happened whilst we were looking the other way?

The aurora, The UK Pink Floyd Experience, surgical waiting list reduction, holiday trips and new eatery experiences here on the island all appear in our canter through our calendars.

We quite like an election, so given our recent lack of productivity we bring you our opinions on the opening salvos fired in the UK General Election campaign announced in late May and remain in active consideration of our “Rest Is …” franchise extension equivalent, with the working title of “QWightLike An Election”.  By the time we make our minds up it is entirely probable that we’ll be well aware of the result and will have a whole new slew of political interviews to line up as the characters move around the chess board.  Where is Bob?

So settle down, on your own, with a brew, something cold and sparkling, with loved one(s), with friends and enjoy the return of our something for the weekend offering.

Thanks for listening

Rory and Tim

Fashion dictates following a crowd, but your heroic dadcasters struggle to present a contemporary image to the outside world relying on personal brand and witty repartee to create any sort of impression.

This episode takes a gentle stroll through island eateries and refreshment stops, discussing ferries and the Anglo-Saxon barbarians who disrupted England’s last pagan kingdom (yes, the Isle of Wight) before an attack of the mangoes brings us back to the modern day and our best recommendations for chilling with a Netflix binge watch.

Visitors, colleagues and political shenanigans all rear their head in this meander through popular news and modern-day existence.  Still we QWightLike chatting about our lives and influences and we QWightLike the Isle of Wight.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory

Welcome to another chat-filled digital space competing for space and time in your eardrums as we continue our gentle lollop towards the heady bright days of Spring and Summer.  The island slowly comes alive at this time of year with plenty for us to experience and share with you.

This episode is largely given over to another scoop interview with one of the many generations of Blakes that have shaped much of the Ventnor experience for visitors and residents alike.  Tim spends time with Ed Blake of the fishing dynasty that continue to ply their trade at sea, from Ventnor Haven and as a new generation, online.  Tim gets the inside track on what’s involved in fishing for crab and the rest of the catch in what is a remarkably large fishing ground.  Remarkable insight is shared into the current status of fishing boats on the island. In the second part of this 2-part chat, Ed explains how he was persuaded to get involved in local politics, his motivations and how, as a business owner, he hopes to help influence the changes he thinks are needed to help the local community.

For the rest of the podcast, Rory and Tim, riff around the edge of subjects as diverse as the recent North American total eclipse of the sun, vehicle number plates, transport, and first cars which leads to a promotion of the Rest is History podcast episode with Tom Hanks as their special guest.  Not to be missed.

Another gentle ramble around the workings of our minds ends with tributes to our favourite tribute musical acts and a birthday tribute to Ella, Tim’s other half.  Happy Birthday, Ella.

Thanks for listening

Tim and Rory

Another fortnight crammed full of travel is tipped out onto the podcast recording console to inform and, hopefully educate.  Rory’s return to Scotland with fanfares at border crossings.  Tim’s rather more sombre trip to Kraków taking in Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as the pleasure of experiencing the city’s cultural, architectural and culinary delights … all after jetting off easily to get there.

Football (soccer) shirt emblems, excessive language dependencies are covered alongside explanations of European nations’ mastery of the English language rendering our preparations for overseas travels to be limited to checking our passport validity and packing.

Back on the island we are steeling ourselves for the invasions of very-welcome tourism as our roads will fill up, our cafes will have less tables free and our ferries will struggle to stay operational.  Easter weekend will bring trade and traffic marking the start of our busy season as spring stretches the days into long summer beach stays started with balmy breakfast brunches and finished with boozy rosé sunset dinners.

Whatever you’re doing this Easter, QWightLike is here to ease you into your break with our chit and chat and musings on all manner of transport, tipples and touring tales.  From fixed links to flexible ferries, we cover the conversation points on the tongues of travelling townies tearing over to temptation on our diamond isle.

Thanks for listening.

Tim and Rory