Hampshire: Remember these? Some of our unusual most-read stories of the year
A cow pretending to be asleep, the return of a stolen baby donkey, stranded brides and a plane making its way through a city’s streets. As 2023 draws to a close, we look back at some of the unusual and light-hearted stories that made the news in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Here are some of the highlights:
Isle of Wight cow ‘faking sleep’ Doris attracted sympathy from across the globe for “pretending” to be asleep to get out of being milked. Part of a 200-strong herd on an Isle of Wight dairy farm – she featured on a US news programme and attracted more than 1.5 million views on TikTok.
The video prompting all the fuss[1] shows farmhand John Brodie trying to coax an unimpressed-looking Doris outside on a cold morning. Mr Brodie said the footage demonstrated how Doris was “more person than cow”.
Hayling Island sunflower farm’s plea over naked photo shoots In the height of the summer, a sunflower farm had to urge visitors to keep their clothes on[2] after some were reportedly stripping off for photos. Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island had an “increase of reports of naked photography taking place” at its Sam’s Sunflowers visitor attraction at the end of July.
One visitor said her son stumbled across a woman wearing “just a thong” and “didn’t know where to look”. Broken-down Hampshire bus brides praise officers who rescued them Two brides who got a lift to their wedding in a police car[3] after their coach broke down said the officers who rescued them went “above and beyond”.
Jemma and Sian Batchelor-Thomas were on the coach with 20 of their closest family and friends when it broke down in Hedge End. Officers gave the couple a lift to the ceremony in a police car while others accepted lifts from passing motorists. Baby donkey found two weeks after being stolen from farm
A baby donkey stolen from a farm was returned and reunited with her mother[4] after a police investigation. Story continues Two-month-old Moon was snatched from a field at Miller’s Ark Animals in Hook on 15 May.
A Facebook post from the farm was shared thousands of times and it provided regular updates on possible sightings. Following a two-week search, the foal was found at an address in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. One-off drone dive at Spinnaker Tower
A drone pilot was given “unprecedented access” to film a unique dive[5] from the top a 170m (550ft) landmark, spinning to ground level. The unique footage was captured around the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. Award-winning pilot, Hugo Healy, was given special permission by the attraction to film the eye-popping video using a tiny and highly manoeuvrable drone.
Along the way it captured abseiling painters dangling more than 90m (300ft) above the ground to keep the tower’s white surface in pristine condition. Aircraft pulled through streets of Southampton An aircraft was pulled from the scrapheap and taken to a museum through a city’s streets.
The BAC 1-11, built in Christchurch, Dorset, in the 1960s, was set to be scrapped before Southampton’s Solent Sky Museum took it on. The front of the plane was all the museum could save due to the size of the craft. It was seen coming around the bend[6] in Canute Road, Southampton, before arriving – and parallel parking – at the aviation museum.
The museum hopes to turn it into a cafe.
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References
- ^ video prompting all the fuss (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ urge visitors to keep their clothes on (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ got a lift to their wedding in a police car (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ reunited with her mother (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ film a unique dive (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ seen coming around the bend (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Instagram (www.instagram.com)