INTERVIEW
life
The original Old Forge pictured in 1950
and opposite the same photo 2008.
visited villages” says Diane.
So now when you come to the impossibly
pretty village of Godshill with its
thatched cottages, church, traditional
pubs, tearooms and quaint shops, the
natural place to stop is The Old Smithy.
Diane and her elder sister Rosemary
began helping out in the shop when they
were around 16, and although they both
went on to have other jobs – Rosemary
worked in a shop in Newport and Diane
in a bank – they joined the business when
their father talked about retirement –
“he’d never have retired though,” muses
Diane. “He continued to come down to
www.wightfrog.com/islandlife
the shop every day until his 89th year”.
After running her own jewellery shop in
Newport Rosemary’s daughter Jane joined
the firm in 1986, and after her marriage
her husband Steve left BP to take over the
day to day r