Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2011 | Page 47

Island Life - February/March 2011

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Under pressure from the cars behind
in (TS11 F500 Surteés) 1961 taken at
Donington Park in 2007

not too fussed about what I did. But as time went by the
demands from Lloyd’s grew, so we had to put a lot of graft
into Barnsley Farm. I did the electrics and plumbing myself
very-much a DIY project. The house had been empty eight
years after burning down, and it was all very primitive,” he
said.
“I did find a part-time job doing work for a motor
racing club in Silverstone, but realising I was completely
unemployable, decided to start the brewery.”
The traditional real ale brewery opened in 1993, using the
18th century converted barns on site as its HQ, and it became
Goddards Brewery Ltd a year later. It continued to grow along
with the restoration of the farm, and the company’s annual
turnover rose to in excess of £1.85million.
The brewery began with just Anthony and one brewer,
with an outside firm used for distribution. But in 1995, as
expansion continued, the whole operation moved to its
current site. And Anthony can now proudly boast: “Someone
has worked out that a pint of our beer goes down someone’s
throat every 53 seconds!”
The company acquired its first pub, The Wishing Well, in
1999, and acquired what was the Billy Bunter’s in Shanklin
the following year, and at one point had 65 employees.
Both pubs were subsequently sold on, and four years ago
the wholesale part of the business closed, so now there
are a more manageable nine employees. But Goddards still
produces in excess of 11,000 pints of beer every week.
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