Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2011 | Page 43

interview

Island Life - February/March 2011

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and
taught her a lot about planning applications
and running estates- which was to prove
invaluable on her permanent return to the
Island in 1979.
Anne’s father died in 1966 when she found
the estate she had inherited, asset rich but
income poor. Shanklin Chine had become
little more than an overgrown shortcut from
Shanklin Old Village to the beach. It was not
until 1979 that she took over the running
and restoration of the Chine.
“It was like Sleeping Beauty which had
been there hidden from the First world War
until I took it over. I only uncovered what
was already there. Mr Hayles and I ran it
between us with his wife helping during
the winter, and of course the local branch
of Age Concern in the pay boxes! In 1981
we formed the Friends of the Old Village
Association. I was secretary because I was
the only one who could type.”
Much of the past enhances the future and
she admits she is very proud of what has
been achieved in the Chine’s restoration.
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Anne then bought the lease of the
Fisherman’s Cottage in 1984, converting it
from a club into a pub, and subsequently
employing a number of different managers,
and bringing stability to one of the most
idyllic hostelries on the Island.
Although there is little left of the estate,
this quick-witted, sprightly lady still owns
several freehold properties, together with
farmland and woodland in Shanklin. She now
lives in Bembridge with Michael, her husband
since 1988, and a friend since her teenage
years.
“I never wanted to get married young,
because I didn’t want to stand there cooking.
I suppose I was a career lady and I had a
remarkable secretarial career. I have been
very lucky, and it has all been so much fun.
Of course I have had my ups and downs and
if I have just one regret it is maybe that I
never did get to work in the Foreign Office,”
she concluded.
Words - PETER WHITE
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