Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2011/January 2012 | Page 60

INTERVIEW
as miles of hedgerows. We also have
old stone buildings and dry stone
walls, where birds nest and bats roost.
We have a tremendous diversity of
wildlife, including four species of very
rare bats - Bechstein's, Barbastelle,
Greater Horseshoe and Grey
Long-eared.
“With the adjoining National Trust
there are about 1,700 acres of land
here all devoted to conservation, and
that is quite a sizeable area. We are
lucky that the Island has such a huge
expanse of land that is devoted to
conservation. It is not a well known
area- thank goodness!”
He continued: “We have won awards
for our conversation, and were among
the first on the Island taking advantage
of the consevation grants. At the
beginning it was laughed at by some
Island farmers, but not maliciously.
Now conservation on the Isle of Wight
is very widespread.
“Our logo is 'Farming for Wildlife'.

We are not organic, because I think
organic is a lifestyle choice, and has
very little to do with the quality of
food. I defy any organic farmer to say
the welfare of his cattle is better than
mine, or the welfare of his land is
better than mine.
“The grants we receive do not pay
the full expense of what we do, but
they pay a welcome proportion, and
without them we couldn’t continue. At
the start I didn’t call myself a farmer
because I thought it was an insult to
my farming friends. But I think we
have now established our management
of the cattle, so I now call myself a
farmer – probably only for the last
three years, but not the 10 years before
that.”
Michael and Carolyn also have a
home in Hampshire, surrounded by
20 acres of horse paddocks and a
small farm near Oban. But he says:
“My heart is on the Island; I am here
whenever I can be. All three places

– the Island, Hampshire and Oban
- are lovely and all different. I have
more friends on the Island than the
mainland. We go up to Scotland six
times a year, and there is far less to
worry about with the small property
we have there.
“Both here and in Scotland I have the
freedom to walk out of the door and
walk amongst my cattle. I love that
and it is important to me.”
He added: “I have been lucky. I have
kept active since I retired, I hardly
ever drink and I don’t socialise much
because I have so much in the farm
and racehorses to keep me active,
and I am very grateful for it. But I
could have done little of it without
the support of Carolyn and all those
working with me.”
*In the next edition of Island Life:
Michael Poland’s love of hunting,
horseracing and breeding Highland
cattle.

Michael set sail to deliver
America's Cup challenge
Michael Poland (left) has always
been a keen sailor, and a regular
competitor at Cowes Week.
And in 1964 he was involved
in Britain’s challenge for the
prestigious America’s Cup. He
said: “My father had quite a large
yacht, and used to let me take it
out – rather foolhardy!
“I bought my first yacht for
£150, which had been dropped
from a crane and was broken in
two. She was a great adventure.
My father was Vice Commodore
of the Royal Thames Yacht Club,
when the Club challenged for the
America’s Cup.”
The British challenge was
‘Sovereign’ owned by Anthony
Boyden and skippered by Peter
Scott. Michael recalls: “There
were selection races before I went
to the US to play a small part
in the actual challenge. It was a
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huge experience as I was given the
task of delivering the challenge to
the New York Yacht Club. It was
a privilege to be there, and the
house where our reception was
held was about the same size as
Buckingham Palace, but probably
with not so many bedrooms.
“There were 250 brace of grouse
shot, hung and flown out from
Scotland for the reception, but
the Americans were not too keen
on grouse and left most of them –
they thought because it had been
hung the meat was bad! Alas when
the racing took place, we didn’t
win a single race, losing 4-0.
“But the British have a stiff
upper lip, and we took defeat
cheerfully, which the Americans
didn’t like. They thought we
should be gnashing our teeth with
anger at ourselves. It was a great
experience.”