Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2011 | Page 45
Island Life - February/March 2011
interview
Anthony
brews up
fabulous
life after
being on
the brink
Considering Anthony Goddard was pushed towards the brink
of bankruptcy following a disastrous sortie into the world of
insurance, he says: “The bottom line is I have had a fabulous
life.”
Anthony, 65, was behind the successful renovation and
rejuvenation of Barton Manor, converting what was once part
of Queen Victoria’s Osborne House estate it into one of the
Island’s leading tourist attractions of the time, and producing
fine wines from its vineyards.
And for the past 18 years he has been at the helm of the
equally successful Goddard’s Brewery, winning numerous
awards for real ales which remain as popular as ever, not only
on the Island but also along the south coast.
At the brewery’s headquarters at Barnsley Farm on the
outskirts of Nettlestone, Anthony reflected on the many
highs and occasional lows of a career that has also embraced
engineering, agriculture, and accountancy.
“I am very lucky that I have seen and done lots of
interesting things. I have been fortunate that I have enjoyed
good health, a long-lasting marriage, and good businesses.
So really I am not complaining about anything,” says the man
who once saw more than £1million of his assets wiped out in
the Lloyd’s of London controversies.
Anthony revealed that he was conceived behind German
lines in Northern Italy during the Second World War. His
father John was an Army Officer who won the Military
Cross for his actions in North Africa. Shortly after that he
was captured, but after two years 'in the bag' he became
an escaped prisoner of war and he met his wife Vilma –
Anthony’s mother - after she sheltered him for eight months
or so, while running messages and medicines for the
partisans.
They came to England to live in Surrey after the war, and
that was where Anthony was born and brought up before
attending Uppingham School in the Midlands. He recalls: “I
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