Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2014 | Page 19

INTERVIEW

Dave takes a starring
role in own front yard
By Peter White

D

ave Wheeler has been
an Island longshoreman
virtually all his life. Every day
you can still see him walking
along the beach in Steephill Cove,
chatting to tourists, and helping to keep
the area neat and tidy.
Dave is 87 years young, and has never
lost his love of the area, tucked away on
the south of the Island, and undoubtedly
one of the most tranquil and picturesque
spots.
He smiled: “It’s a bit like being a film star
on a stage. People always want to stop and
talk to you. Some come up to me and say
‘I’m sure you must remember me, I was
here last year’. They like it if you say ‘oh,
nice to see you again’ even if your don’t
have a clue who they are.”
Dave was born in the front bedroom
of the house at Steephill Cove where he
still lives, although for spells during his
87 years he has ventured slightly further
afield. He once moved to a house at
Wheelers Bay, Ventnor - named after his
grandfather - for about 10 years, before
returning to his place of birth.
Dave’s father and grandfather were
fishermen and hired out deck chairs in
the Cove, and in fact the Wheeler family
has been traced back to 1455, living in
West Wight around Blackgang and Chale.
Dave reflected: The Cove was a nice
place to be brought up. I went to three
different schools in Ventnor, walking to
and from school each day because there
were no school buses in those days. I left
school when I was 14, during the Second
World War.
“I was still a schoolboy in 1940 when
we saw a lot of war action around these
parts. I remember watching the convoys
being bombed out in the sea. On VwW7@