Moving to the Isle of Wight is the subject of the latest book by the author, journalist and broadcaster, Hunter Davies OBE.
Along with his partner, Claire, Hunter bought a house in Ryde during 2020 and his latest book, Love in Old Age, charts the experience.
It’s his 103rd book, and probably his last, Hunter writes, although you can still expect to read his columns in various newspapers and periodicals.
What to expect
The book is not just a comprehensive account of buying their new home and moving to the Island, but also includes interviews with several Island characters such as Peter Harrigan of Medina Books; Mother and Daughter team from Monkton Arts, Dawn Fidler and Jenna Sabine; gardener and broadcaster, Alan Titchmarsh; Colin Boswell from the Garlic Farm; former Isle of Wight councillor, Wayne Whittle, as well as the MP for the Isle of Wight, Bob Seely, who invited Hunter and Claire to have lunch at his home at Mottistone.
Bob Seely according to Hunter Davies
Whilst reading Love in Old Age, we learnt several things about the Isle of Wight MP that aren’t commonly known.
We were already aware that Bob was born to an English father and German mother, but not that his German grandmother was sadly killed by ‘the Soviets’ in World War II.
Island-connection
As mentioned on News OnTheWight before, Bob comes from the Nottinghamshire branch of the Seely family, who made their money in land and coalmines. It’s well-known that many generations up the family tree, Bob is related to the Isle of Wight Seely family (his great-great-great grandfather was the Liberal MP, Charles Seely).
Bob told Hunter that he’d inherited a passion for the Island from his family at an early age. He recalls his best memories of childhood were of those spent on the Island in the summer at Brook or Bonchurch (he boarded at Harrow public school growing up), which is probably why he names Brook, Ventnor and Bonchurch among his favourite places on the Island.
Personal life
A quick look at Bob’s Wikipedia page reveals that he was married briefly in 1995 to Nata Rashimas.
At the time of meeting Hunter (2020), Bob was dating the then Isle of Wight Radio journalist, Iona Stewart-Richardson, although they’ve since split up (as reported in the Daily Mail).
Doorstepping for the Mirror
It’s well-reported that Bob worked in PR for MTV, as well as being a stringer for The Times when he lived in Ukraine in the 1990s.
What we hadn’t heard before was that when he left Harrow, Bob’s early career included working as a reporter for the Sunday Mirror, “doing doorstep interviews”.
Dream job
Bob tells Hunter that being Isle of Wight MP is his dream job and that he’d never be content unless he was representing the Isle of Wight.
He’s quoted as saying that, “It’s like being married to the right woman” and that if anyone else was ever MP for the Island, “he’d be forever plotting blue murder”.
“Not always prepared to follow the party lines”
Hunter describes Bob as a “free and independent thinker, someone who is not always prepared to follow the party lines”.
Perhaps Hunter hadn’t seen Bob’s voting record which tells slightly different tale. Between when he was first elected as IW MP in 2017 and the next General election (2019 – see what he voted on) out of 418 votes, Bob “rebelled” six times (1.4 per cent). Whilst between 2019 and present out of 530 votes he has “rebelled” 11 times (2.1 per cent).
Find out more
You can read more about Bob, as well as the other characters featured in Love in Old Age, as well as Hunter’s account of the move from Hampstead Heath to Ryde and living with Claire for the first time.
It’s worth noting that Hunter mentions at the end of the book that all those featured had sight of what was written about them before it the book was published. Apparently two people objected to what had been written, so Hunter decided, for ease, to leave them out of the book.
You can buy the book on the Island from Medina Bookshop in Cowes, as well as Waterstones in Newport.
You never know, you might learn something about the Isle of Wight that you never previously knew.
