Congratulations William and Kate! From Portsmouth's big screen

With an estimated global audience of 2 billion, the Royal Wedding was sure to draw a crowd wherever it was played.

Waiting for the ceremony to start

Onlookers and well wishers gathered at Portsmouth’s big screen in the city centre to watch William and Kate tie the knot. 

For those not lucky enough to have a street party happening on their doorstep, the big screen seemed the logical place to join in with the celebrations.

Lauren Coe, 19, from Corsham, Wiltshire said: “I just wanted to come and watch it with everyone else rather than watching it on TV so I could get more of a patriotic atmosphere.”

There was a mixture of people at the Guildhall but all watched intensely as William and Kate said their vows. Cheers erupted when they said ‘I will’ and some even opened the bubbly and let off party poppers.

Watching William and Kate say 'I will'

Shane Lowe, 20, a student at Portsmouth University said: “It’s a cause for celebration and a powerful moment in British history. I am quite patriotic and love anything to do with England. I thought I would come down and watch history in the making.”

Some people were in the city centre for other reasons but had taken the time to stop and watch the big moment.

Jo Field, 42, head of performing arts at Portsmouth College was at the last heat of Rock Challenge, a dance and drama competition at the Guildhall, she said: “I am not a royalist at all but if it makes people happy then that’s great.”

For all the latest news on the Royal Wedding visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11767495

For the schedule of Portsmouth’s big screen visit: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/2012games/14386.html

Follow the big screen on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/BBCBigScreens 

The Guildhall, Portsmouth and its big screen

Tattoos are for life - not just for fashion!

In today’s modern society we see endless celebrities parading in front of us, showing off their new tattoos.

Last week the angelic teen-idol Miley Cyrus showed off her new tattoo to her Twitter followers. Rihanna famously has a controversial gun tattoo and a word spelt backwards across her chest so that she can read it in a mirror. Last August she had reached tattoo number fifteen. Even the nation's sweetheart Cheryl Cole has them; her latest addition took a whopping 11 hours to complete.

With tattoos becoming more a fashion statement than a personal one, how does having a tattoo affect the life of a normal person holding down a 9-5 in the real world?

Speaking about tattoo removal and her own personal experiences is Frederika Bird, a micro-pigmentation specialist from Portsmouth.

See Frederika’s website here: http://www.frederikadefinedmakeup.co.uk/

See Cheryl’s tattoo at: http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/cheryl-cole/news/255683-cheryl-cole-tattoo-girls-aloud-x-factor-ashley-cole

Read about Miley at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/miley-atwitter-about-new-tattoo-15144593.html

Portsmouth City Council clears fly tipped rubbish from Hilsea allotments

Getting an allotment was meant to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience for one Portsmouth couple. After waiting over two years on the council’s waiting list, Lee and Marc were delighted to be accepted for a plot at the allotments in Horsea Lane, Hilsea.

Some of the tidier Hilsea alllotment plots

Since they have taken over the plot they have faced a bigger problem than just the weeds. They were devastated to find their plot had been used as an area for fly tipping.

Fly tipping is a growing problem up and down the UK and has been made worse by the introduction of the EU’s landfill tax, which has made waste disposal more expensive. Fly tipping is not only unsightly and costly to the taxpayer; it can also have a stressful impact on the general public who then face either removing the rubbish themselves or a time-consuming process contacting the council for help.

One of the neighbouring plot holders said: “Nobody will admit to dumping the rubbish there, what happens is one person leaves a pile of rubbish and then others add to it and then it ends up in such a large pile it is impossible for one person to move.”

The allotments in Portsmouth are some of the most popular in the country with an average waiting time of over three years. Portsmouth City Council runs the allotments and they charge rent per plot.

David Moorman from Portsmouth City Council said: “Over the years, a great number of items accumulate on allotment sites – most of which were brought onto the site for a genuine purpose. However when these reach the end of their useful lives, or when a plot is taken over by a new tenant, plot holders need to dispose of them. The council provides a skip every month for this purpose, or plot holders can take this rubbish to the local tip.”

The skip that the council provide for plot holders

He continues: “Sometimes when a plot has just been taken over there is nothing being grown yet, there may be a pile of things to dispose of. This plot is seen by some as fair game for dumping their rubbish, so what was a small pile grows into a large pile which the plot holder rightly feels is not their fault or responsibility to clear.”

If caught fly tipping you could face a fine of up to £50,000 and 5 years in prison. Recently a businessman in Essex was fined £10,000 after being seen fly-tipping twice at the same location. As for the allotments, if the council receive evidence of fly tipping they would look to prosecute the culprit. They would also terminate the tenancy of their much-sought-after plot.

The council removing the fly tipped rubbish from the site

The council have now cleared the rubbish from Lee and Marc’s plot and they hope that this will allow them to plant their vegetables in time for a bumper-growing season. Lee said: “We have waited so long for our allotment, I can’t wait to get started.”

For more information on the Portsmouth allotments visit: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/living/8583.html

View information on how to rent an allotment in Portsmouth: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/media/
PKS_Allotmentleaflet.pdf

Read up on tips on how to get an allotment all over the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/go_further_allotments.shtml

Join the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Limited at: http://www.nsalg.org.uk

MyStreet - I love Albert Road

Albert Road, Southsea

 For those of you that haven’t seen it already – here is a link to my video on Albert Road, Southsea. It has been entered into a national competition, MyStreet, check it out http://mystreetfilms.com/content/i-love-albert-road.

I am currently working on a new short video and am looking for subjects to cover. If anybody has a Portsmouth/Southsea story that they would like me to make a short video on then inbox me with your ideas and contact details. 

Portsmouth's Round Tower opens as an art gallery

A new art gallery opens tomorrow in one of Portsmouth’s most historic locations – the 15^th Century Round Tower in Old Portsmouth.

The Round Tower was one of the first fortifications to be built in Portsmouth and dates back to 1418. Although the tower itself stood empty since the Council bought it in the 1960’s, the Point Battery artists have used the arches nearby to display artwork for many years.

An artists impression of the finished development

The Artches project run by Portsmouth City Council, earmarked the area including the tower for development earlier this year. It hopes to ‘animate the built heritage of the seafront’ in Portsmouth. The Round Tower is the first of its buildings to be opened as a gallery space.

It will be displaying work from over 30 local creatives and the first exhibition will be ‘Strong Island’. Strong Island already have a big following on the internet as a site set up to ‘promote, showcase and inform people about Portsmouth’. 

Portsmouth University have been heavily involved with the project. The curator, Clare Sambrook, a senior lecturer in creative technologies at the university, plans to use the opening to promote her book ‘Creative Portsmouth’.

The gallery will be open Tuesday to Sunday and will be free of charge. The ‘Strong Island’ exhibition runs from Saturday to 3 May. A special preview night will be held on Friday night. 

More information on the gallery and its exhibitions, visit: http://www.theroundtower.co.uk/

For more information on Clare Sambrook and her book visit: http://www.port.ac.uk/aboutus/newsandevents/frontpagenews/title,125372,en.html

The Strong Island exhibition poster