Free Republic

A major operation is under way to free a car transporter ship that ran aground in the Solent, off the Isle of Wight. The Hoegh Osaka was heading to Germany when it ran on to the Bramble Bank, in the entrance to Southampton Water, at about 21:30 GMT on Saturday. The coastguard said 25 crew members were rescued from the vessel. Hoegh Autoliners said it was "currently assessing damage and stability issues on board". The ship's owner said one of the crew members was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Three senior officers stayed on board but have now...

While it might have been dismissed as underwater junk by the untrained eye, the archaeologists soon realised they had discovered a vital clue to a lost civilisation. The timber was not isolated. In fact they found another 23 pieces of all shapes and sizes intersecting throughout the underwater cliff off Bouldnor, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. They are now convinced the timber is evidence of a huge wooden structure built about 8,000 years ago by our Mesolithic ancestors. Garry Momber has been excavating the 1km-long site for more than a decade and believes it is the...