As 2023 draws to a close, we look back at some of the most unusual and light-hearted stories that made the news in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. From a cow pretending to be asleep to a stolen baby donkey, these tales captured the public's imagination.
Doris, a cow from an Isle of Wight dairy farm, attracted sympathy from across the globe for 'pretending' to be asleep to avoid being milked. The video of farmhand John Brodie trying to coax her outside went viral, amassing more than 1.5 million views on TikTok and featuring on a US news programme. Mr Brodie said the footage showed how Doris was 'more person than cow'.
In the height of summer, a sunflower farm on Hayling Island had to urge visitors to keep their clothes on after reports of naked photography. Stoke Fruit Farm's Sam's Sunflowers attraction saw an 'increase of reports of naked photography taking place', with one visitor saying her son stumbled across a woman wearing 'just a thong'.
Two brides, Jemma and Sian Batchelor-Thomas, got a lift to their wedding in a police car after their coach broke down in Hedge End. Officers gave the couple a ride to the ceremony while other guests accepted lifts from passing motorists. The brides praised the officers for going 'above and beyond'.
A two-month-old baby donkey named Moon was stolen from Miller's Ark Animals in Hook on 15 May. Following a two-week search, the foal was found at an address in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and reunited with her mother. A Facebook post from the farm was shared thousands of times during the search.
Other notable stories included a drone pilot capturing unique footage from the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, and a BAC 1-11 aircraft being transported through the streets of Southampton to the Solent Sky Museum. The plane, built in Christchurch in the 1960s, was saved from the scrapheap and now resides at the aviation museum.
