Island Life Magazine Ltd December/January 2018 | Page 4

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A WORD
FROM THE
EDITOR
With everyday life getting endlessly more
frantic, complicated and technology-
driven, the Christmas holiday season
brings the chance to wind down, enjoy
some of life’s simpler pleasures and re-
connect with loved ones.
Writing and receiving Christmas cards is
one surprisingly enduring feature of the
season – and against all the odds, when
you consider the onward march of digital
communications like texting, email, and
social networks. But it seems we Brits still
love to send millions of those cards – and
it’s a tradition that goes back to Victorian
times and the birth of the postal service, as
we discover in our feature.
We also look at the background to two
other seemingly eccentric Christmas
customs – the silly paper hats that most of
us will put on at the dinner table, and the
stockings we hang up for Santa.
Christmas aside, you can also get a
glimpse into two very different lives, in
our profiles of busy Island GP, Dr Michele
Legg, and Cowes-based wine consultant
(now there’s a job you won’t come across
every day!) Paul Anthony Gidley. He tells
us about his “Christmas miracle” - a real,
but sugar-free wine that’s due to roll out
in the UK thanks to financial backing from
the likes of Dragons’ Den entrepreneur
James Caan.
Also inside this last issue of 2017, you’ll
find plenty of ideas for places to go and
things to do over the holiday season and
into the New Year. Do, please, support all
our advertisers, because they’re the people
who help us to keep on delivering your
free high quality magazine.
Finally, may we wish all our readers and
your loved ones a very happy Christmas
and a great New Year – and we’ll see you
back here in 2018!
Jackie McCarrick, Editor
4
www.visitilife.com
C ONTENTS
I SLAND L IFE
DECEMBER / JANUARY 2018
INTERVIEWS
p31
p44
Ageing gracefully:
COUNTRYSIDE
Cheers! Dragon’s backing p75 Matt Noyce: A winter’s tale
p 76 Ten things you didn’t know
Anthony Gidley
PROPERTY
Feature property: Little
Budbridge
p20
Feature property: Charter
House
p29
Ideas for the Living Room
about Pied Wagtails
p77
Decadeance: A close
encounter
p50 The Festival of Lights
p54 Santa dash for charity
p61 ‘On the buses’ for a pint of
real ale
Sam Biles: Natural or Man-
made?
p78
The Gold Standard: Gilten
Market
p80 Resolutions for wildlife
p82 Tony Ridd: Countryside news
p84 Helping wildlife through the
winter
DAYS OUT
p36
Monster mash masquerade
Dr Michele Legg
for Island-born wines: Paul
p14
p68
EQUESTRIAN
p88 Open meet at Westover
p91 Robert Booth: Training
horses
p92
Sarah reaches for the stars