Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2014/January 2015 | Page 40
INTERVIEW
Embankment, and after I left the Air Force,
I became a ship’s joiner, making all the
furniture for a boat called Perpetua, which
at the time was the biggest fibre glass boat
in the world. But after a disagreement, I
walked out and never went back.
“My father was also a painter and
decorator, so I joined him full time, and
later took over the firm, F. M. Toogood
and Son, gradually building up the work
force. Some of the men worked for me
for 25 years, and we did work on a lot
of the big estates on the Island. I did
modernisation of cottages, and even
built a couple of bungalows.”
Peter ran the business until he was 63
when he had a heart attack, so was forced
to close it down. But as his profession
ended, his woodwork hobby flourished.
His sun room in his house is lined with
oak, and most of the furniture in the home
has been built by him. As an accomplished
bricklayer he also built two extensions. His
works also includes building a fishing boat
for his grandson - basically there is nothing
he can’t build from wood! He said: “I have
done a lot with oak, but I think my favourite
wood to work with is pine. I had throat
cancer 10 years ago and got over that, and
recently I had bladder cancer, but I still like
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making things.”
Peter has paintings around the house
of the clippers his grandfather sailed on,
while his father worked on yachts and
was skipper of ‘Betsie Jane’ for then Lord
Ebbisham. Peter said: “When the war
started the Navy took over the ‘Betsie
Jane’, so father joined the Navy. He went
over the Portsmouth one morning to join,
and came back the same day as a Petty
Officer. In 1940 ‘Betsie Jane’ took part
in the evacuation of Dunkirk under the
command of my father. I don't know how
many trips he made as he didn’t like to
talk about it too much.”
Later, Peter often sailed with his father
in ‘Betsie Jane’ and the testament
to his father and grandfather is the
fantastic fleet of model ships, all to scale,
underlining his incredible woodworking
skills. Other members of his model fleet
include the Cutty Sark, HMS Surprise, and
even a Viking ship. Some of the models
took Peter a winter or more to complete.
He said: “Sometimes I would go into my
workshop in the morning, and the next
thing I knew was my wife coming in to
remind me it was midnight. I still enjoy
working with wood - it has been a big part
of my life.”