Talk:Cowes

Rat O'Wight

 * It is believed that Cowes owes its reputation of 'yachting capital of the world' to the building of a small boat called Rat O'Wight on the banks of the river Medina for the use of Queen Elizabeth I.

Call me cynical but I'm not sure about this. Can anyone verify? The only online references look like clones of this paragraph. Even if such a boat was built, can it really be linked to the birth of yachting as a sport, or indeed Cowes as a centre for such a sport? There's a very long gap between Elizabeth I and Cowes becoming a racing centre. Naturenet 21:49, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Assuming the story to be true, I have edited it with a more plausible sense of proportion to the event. Dainamo 14:53, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Cowes/East Cowes
It seems to me that it's getting to the stage that there needs to be two seperate pages for Cowes and East Cowes. Might be a job to disentangle them, but not impossible. Anyone think otherwise? Naturenet 09:53, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Could be done, although there might be some duplication due to the significant symbiant relationship between the two towns in their history, industies and even the current waterside development today (not yet mentioned in the article). E.g. The Royal Yacht squadron orginainated in East Cowes and moved to Cowes and many non-Islanders would be familiar with "Cowes" as being the home of Victoria. I have yet to find out the date, but I beleive East Cowes did not have its own charter until about a hundred years ago (albeit part of the parish of Whippingham I think) The article at present captures the whole area and is not too lengthy, but as more is introduced then I am sure your suggestion is going to make perfect sense. Dainamo 00:16, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Mr Stigwood
Mr Stigwood is still very much in residence at Barton Manor.
 * Thank you. The matter has now been addressed. Naturenet | Talk 09:27, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

Splitting revived
East Cowes is a separate place and has its own identity. It is not quite part of Cowes and is on the opposite side of the estuary. If the article should remain in, maybe this should be renamed Cowes and East Cowes? Simply south (talk) 21:34, 3 May 2009 (UTC)


 * As East Cowes is now a separate civil parish I think there is a strong argument for splitting, though God help whoever is going to do it : it looks like it will be quite a task. As a poor second option, renaming to Cowes and East Cowes would be better than the existing situation. Skinsmoke (talk) 14:19, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Could an argument be made from three articles, Cowes as a settlement as a whole, East Cowes and Cowes/'West Cowes'/Cowes (parish) (the bit in the West). This is the case for Budapest, where articles exist for both Buda and Pest. --Neil (talk) 15:37, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
 * East Cowes is a separate town to Cowes, not just another part of Cowes. Simply south (talk) 16:18, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Personally I'd split it into the two towns of East Cowes and Cowes. Arriva436talk/contribs 16:32, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Split now complete, I tried it out first and saw there was definitely enough material to go in both articles. There is some repeated information but I have done my best to separate it out between the two towns. Two separate articles still need some work though.... Editor5807 speak 19:04, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Impressive job Editor5807. I'm sure there are a few minor tweaks, but I reckon you've done an excellent job. Skinsmoke (talk) 22:12, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Nice job! It's been long overdue. Arriva436talk/contribs</b> 18:17, 6 May 2009 (UTC)