Strong Island on BBC Radio Solent

Paul will be interviewed about Strong Island on BBC Radio Solent a little after 10am this morning, talking about how SI began, what we do, aspects of modern local community, our plans for the future, etc. Must not swear!

You can now listen to it again on the BBC Radio Solent website HERE. It starts at 0:35:35. I’m not sure if the walk on song was directed at us though….

Tags: BBC Radio Solent

I still feel like going for a bike ride!

So it turns out there are quite a few people out on their bikes this coming month and what with Southsea Fest coming up on the 18th September I’m definitely in the mood for a little light refreshment at The Bridge Tavern and a casual cycle along the seafront and back to help me shake off the hangover on the 19th. I might even end up at Spice Island for a cheeky tipple after. I reckon I’ll get to the Bridge Tavern for a bout 12pm and set off around 2pm after some lunch. Give me a shout if you’re in the area. Nudge nudge. Wink wink.

Tags: Bike Ride

Strong Island Birthday Party at The Belle Isle, Southsea

For all your support over the last 2 years we’d like to say a little thank you and invite you to a bit of a bash on the 30th of September. Our good friends at The Belle Isle have agreed to let us hold a little social at their bar on Osborne Road and we’d love it if you could join us. I’m going to keep some of the details under my hat for the time being as there are a few more things to sort out, but keep it in mind and we will have more information for you at the start of August.

We’ve also moved over from our old Facebook Group and started a new Facebook Page. Keep up with everything happening and more information on our Birthday Party over HERE. Look forward to seeing you all and hopefully putting some faces to names.

Artwork : Tristan Savage

Tags: Strong Island 2nd Birthday

What do I think of Strong Island? I LIKE it…

In the interest in keeping up with current affairs we have moved over to a Facebook Page rather than using the current group. Simply follow this LINK and LIKE the page to join. How does this benefit you? We’ll with a group it was hard to keep up with activity and information that you guys would post up.

Having a page means YOU can be a lot more involved and we’ll be able to capture things that we often missed before. A page also creates posts directly into your live feed meaning if you use Facebook regularly you can see any new posts on the Strong Island website via Facebook and then head over.

We’re coming to the end of some pretty big changes here at Strong Island that will hopefully help get you, our readers, much more involved. The new logo you can see here and on the 2nd Birthday invite is just a taster of changes to come so watch this space. We’ll be closing the group in a few months, so please help spread the word.

www.facebook.com/StrongIslandUK

Tristan & Paul

Little Johnny Russells T-Shirt Launch Party Tonight

A quick reminder that Bored of Southsea in partnership with Strong Island and The Little Johnny Russells present their Summer T-Shirt Launch Party, featuring LIVE music from The Colourmasks and plenty of earful treats from some of your favourite local DJ’s. In other words a great excuse for a party. Come one, come all. FREE entry tonight.

Further Developments

The Strong Island Company crate for The Belle Isle is coming along nicely, but I’ve been stuck for a while now as of what to put on the other sides. The main logo I painted on is going to be hidden by peoples legs most of the time so I needed to add something that could be seen from other angles. A lot of messing around and researching old posters and adverts left me no where so I decided to keep it simple. Keeping up with the the whole shipping crate theme and making something that made it more in keeping to it’s surroundings.

Once I figure out how to age paper and make it look all knackered I’ll apply a print to each end of the crate. Now……I’m still not sure what to put on the front! I’ll get there in the end. Think I’ve got about a week left.

How good would stickers look? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink…

Tags: The Belle Isle

Welcome onboard…

Over the past 21 months we have endeavored to bring to your screens as much past and present photography and facts, local events and gigs, art, design, exhibitions, skateboarding, cycling and much more besides from Portsmouth & Southsea in a very ‘Strong Island’ fashion.

And it seems to of worked. A little too well in some ways. With Strong Island now taking up more and more of our free time outside of our daily jobs it’s becoming harder to keep up with everything. Especially when you consider the truly remarkable amount of amazing things occurring locally. For such a small place it really is packed with lots to do and see.

With that said, we’re extremely happy to welcome good friends Southsea Gent Ben Mills and Senior Lecturer Claire Sambrook to the team. Both of whom are equally intrinsic to many of the events happening that you read about on Strong Island already. Both Ben and Claire are in very unique positions to help bring more to Strong Island and make it bigger and better. Welcome onboard guys.

We would also like to mention that Strong Island has benefited both of us hugely by bringing in a lot of extra ciricular work and helped us make many new friends, contacts and collaborators that we may not have met without reaching online popularity with you, our readers and supporters. We can’t thank you enough.

Cheers

Tristan & Paul

Tags: Ben Mills, Claire Sambrook

Confession!

The sneaky photo I posted last week of the Strong Island Co. crate was in fact a fake. I’ve been working on a design for friends and their new venture. I’ll keep it a bit hush for now, but here’s some of the development. Take one freshly made ply crate. Stain it mahogany. Beat and scratch the hell out of it with hammers, screwdrivers a plastering trowel and some sandpaper. Re-stain the dents and scratches to make them darker. Then scratch my head about how to authentically paint the logo on without making a mess of it…

Apologies to the people I duped.

Tags: Strong Island Liquor Crate

What a find!!!

Tags: Secret Photoshab

We are from Strong Island

Tom just sent THIS winner over to me. Nice to see our original logo is good enough to show The Jersey Shore what’s up. The question is do I send them an invoice for robbing the logo from HERE via HERE. Ha….

Strong Island Easter Bike Ride Video II

Sharpie just sent me over his edit from the Bike Ride last April 4th. He attached one of those fancy Flip Cameras onto his handlebars and he was away. Really cool to be able to see the ride from different perspectives. Cheers buddy.

Bank Holiday Bike Road from JAMES SHARP on Vimeo.

Tags: Strong Island Easter Bike Ride Video

Strong Island Easter Bike Ride Video

The guys over at www.saftandboneless.co.uk have put together a nice little edit from the Bike Ride on April 4th. It really shows the vibe of the day well. Good times. I better get on the phone and book the Police escort for August.

Tags: saftandboneless

Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride

Finally i’ve been granted some free time since the April Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride to give you a little update. A rough estimate tells me that there was something like 250 on the ride. 250………that’s just nuts really. Who would ever of thought it. What a turn out of great people and some equally great bikes. Some guys even travelled for their 3rd Strong Island bike ride from Bournemouth. The Bridge Tavern must have had the best Sunday on the books for years.

There was a bit of a shaky start when the Police arrived at The Bridge Tavern and walked up to me asking if I knew who had organised the event. After a short hesitation I owned up and was shocked to hear nothing but good words. I’ll be honest, when 2 Police Officers in a car, 2 on bikes and 1 on a motorbike arrived I thought it was game over. It couldn’t have been further form the truth. They had got wind of the bike ride in the station through Facebook and just popped along to make sure everything was cool. I think their main concern was 200+ people meeting at a pub then going riding on mass around the city. I explained the situation that the bike ride is not a statement and we’re not out to get drunk or harass motorists and that it’s just for the fun of riding bikes.

With the Police totally on our side, the bike Police even saying they wish they had the day off, we were on our way with a Police Escort in tow. I didn’t get the name of the motorcycle cop but he was really helpful and made sure everything went smoothly. Even joining in the roundabout session for a lap and even better he sounded the siren at Eastney to mark the off after the photo on the beach. On completion of the ride he came and found me to say everyone had made it back to The Point safely. What a nice chap.

Unfortunately Ian Parmiter didn’t get the good cop treatment when he was fined on the spot for an alleged £80 when he had a run in with some other Police. I’ve still not got the full details on this as I’ve not seen Ian yet, but I’ll try and get more info. With Ian being the most polite and well dressed of most people on ride I’m intrigued as to what happened.

Thanks to everyone for making it such a great day out. I really hope we can continue with no need for growing in to some kind of organised event with people looking over our shoulders or having to advertise and remaining quite simply a gathering of enthusiasts that just want to have a nice time on a Sunday riding their bikes.

There were some awesome photos as always from various people.

Photos : Tristan Savage

Photos : Chink One

Photos : Dan Tonkin

Photos : Claire Sambrook

Photos : George Crick

Photos : Marie S Jolley

Excuse the lack of posts…

…we’ve been really busy outside of Strong Island both with our real jobs and other projects on the side. We have loads to post up and some really great photos from the bike ride last Sunday. When I have a spare second i’ll do a little write up and gather the photos together.

Bike Ride Panoramics

We will have loads of photos and stories from Sunday’s hugely successful Strong Island Bike Ride and to get started we have some huge panoramics taken by George Crick. Sadly we can only show some of the small versions here that do not do them justice so be sure to visit George’s website to see the all of the photos in full size, and spot yourselves in there!

George’s panoramics will be available to buy in Wallspace Gallery in Albert Road from Saturday for a bargain price of just £35.

Tags: George Crick, Strong Island Bike Ride, Wallspace Gallery

Strong Island Bike Ride this Sunday 4th, leaving at 2pm

Well the weekend is here and we all know what that means. Yes, it’s the Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride. Short and sweet here’s the deal for those interested in coming along for a causal Sunday bike ride with a whole bunch of really nice people.

A few of us will be meeting at around 12pm at The Bridge Street Tavern in Old Portsmouth aiming to SET OFF AT 2PM(ish), so feel free to come early and hang out and chat over a few drinks.

The route is a really easy paced 8 mile loop and all ages of people and all manner of bikes come along. Someone said to me they really wanted to come but only had an old BMX. Cool. They’ll be plenty of BMXs, and Shoppers, Cruisers, Racers, Fixed Gears, Mountain Bikes, SIngle Speeds and just every other manner of bike there is. Although I don’t think anyone took up the challenge to ride Ian Parmiters Penny Farthing.

The loop takes about an hour with a stop off at the Eastney end of the Promenade for a group photo. There is no ‘official’ photographer for this so everyone feel free to snap away. Hoping back on, the route takes us back to Old Portsmouth and ends up at Spice Island, The Point for a few post ride drinks and chat with friends new and old. Good times for sure.

What can possibly put a stop to this. Nothing. It’s gonna be sunny, sunny, sunny………..ahem, but if not do wrap up warm and pack a jacket. Rain or shine it will still be a great day out.

And for those who want to party the evening away the One Eyed Dog has taken care of everything for the Official Strong Island Bike Ride After Party. I’m not sure who the DJs are, but knowing those boys it will be some of Southsea’s finest. get involved.

Matty is hooking me up with BMX Bandits for the projector and we have a hand full of other bike films & videos to show in The Duck side of The Dog.

Jeez, I’ve just written a lot. Whatever you do have a great Easter weekend and hopefully we’ll all see you on Sunday for a beer and a bike ride.

Strong Island Route Time Lapse from Tristan on Vimeo.

Click on the route map for a closer look or head over to Google Maps HERE

Strong Island Roundabout from Tristan on Vimeo.

Filmed by Paul Stone

Strong Island Summer Bike Ride from Tristan on Vimeo.

Tags: strong isl

Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride – Route Video We’ll be setting off at 2pm but meeting at 12pm

Not long now till the Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride on April 4th, Easter Sunday. The ride starts at The Bridge Tavern in Old Portsmouth and will leave at 2pm taking us all on a casual 8 mile cruise down to Eastney and then back on ourselves ending up at Spice Island, The Point.

A few of us did the route on Sunday to get a bit of air in our hungover lungs. I must say, although it was quite a nice day it was still a bit chilly. So wrap up warm people, because you never know what the weather man will predict.

Strong Island Route Time Lapse from Tristan on Vimeo.

Click on the route map for a closer look or head over to Google Maps HERE

Tags: Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride

Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride

The Easter weekend is rapidly approaching and as unpredictable as the weather is currently I for one can’t wait, rain or shine. Numbers are looking pretty crazy with 312 ‘confirmed’ guests. We all know the rule of Facebook, but hey, that’s pretty damn nuts. Continue to spread the word and let’s make it 400.

Nothing has changed. 2pm from The Bridge Tavern on Sunday 4th April. Ride for a causal 8 miles along the seafront and back, ending up at The Point, Spice Island. SImple and fun. Check the Facebook Event page for details. Oh, and don’t forget the After Party at The One Eyed Dog from 6pm onwards. Matty is lending me his copy of BMX Bandits for the projector.

Tags: Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride

Strong Island Bike Ride Teaser

Just a little teaser to get you in the mood for the next Bank Holiday Bike Ride. Keep in touch over at Facebook. Have a great weekend everyone.

Strong Island Summer Bike Ride from Tristan on Vimeo.

Tags: Strong Island Bike Ride

Strong Island Bike Ride After Party @ The Dog

We’re fully stoked on this. Graham asked if we would like to throw a party after the Bank Holiday Bike Ride back at The One Eyed Dog on the 4th April. What a lovely fello he is, apart from when he’s feeding you booze like an animal…seriously though. Cheers mate. This will be the first ever ‘official’ night we’ve had with full sound system, projections, lights, movies and a series of top local DJs.

Stay posted for confirmations on the DJ front, but rest assured they’ll be killing it all night starting you off easily with some Indie/Alternative, moving into some Soul/Funk, over to a Hip Hop session and then close it up with some Party Bangers to get you sweating.

The numbers for The Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride are shaping up incredibly well. 290 people as of today. We all know that will alter, but still. Imagine if everyone came along. Epic to say the least.

Head over to the Facebook Events page for updates and to see who else is involved and check some of the images from last years ride over at My Flickr and the Strong Island Bike Rides Flickr

As always this ride is by no means a political statement, critical mass, reaction towards the council or statement of any kind and is by no means an event, just friends in Southsea getting together for a bike ride to the beach. All very innocent. It’s all about Sunday fun with friends and bikes.

See you all there…

Click on the poster for a larger printable version.

Click on the route map for a closer look or head over to Google Maps HERE

Strong Island Roundabout from Tristan on Vimeo.

Filmed by Paul Stone

Tags: Strong Island Bike Ride After Party @ The Dog