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 40 www.visitilife.com 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.”