The new Chairman of the Isle of Wight branch of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Colin Boswell, believes the recent influx of new entrants to the Island’s rural scene make it a time of change and opportunity.
Mr Boswell replaced Laurence Taylor at a CLA committee meeting on Monday night, in one of the most important rural roles on the Island.
Father-of-5 Mr Boswell and his family run The Garlic Farm near Newchurch, a business which includes self-catering cottages and yurts as well as a fast-growing farm shop, restaurant and café, attracting more than 200,000 visitors a year.
He moved to the Isle of Wight as a child in the 1950s, where his father pioneered the growing of sweetcorn in the UK, supplying the expanding supermarkets from the 1960s.
Fast forward several decades and Mr Boswell says there is a new influx of fresh faces to the Island who have the ability to help its rural economy evolve and grow – a group he calls the ‘new Victorians’.
Mr Boswell, who frequently rides his bike around the Island and has observed their impact, said:
“New Island residents are increasingly present in the rural scene, and it is important we embrace them.
“I note the many changes taking place in upgrades of rural housing, a continual work in progress accommodating the needs of our new rural residents. Improved Wi-Fi technology links everywhere, boosting the number of people who commit to a full-time investment in Island life week in, week out rather than just arriving on a Friday night.
Article continues below this advertisement “I consider myself fortunate to meet many new Islanders. They are relatively informed, considerably younger than our average age gathered here and with the energy and tenacity to make an Island life a rich and rewarding one.
“Our new Victorians arrive with money to invest in improving their new location, hopefully to the benefit of all. I see the Island CLA as a natural home for many of them. We should be welcoming them and offering ourselves as a go-to source of knowledge and contacts within this community.”
Mr Boswell married Jenny in 1976 and joined his parents in partnership on the family farm. Over the next 20 years, it grew from 300 to 1,500 acres, mostly sweetcorn, and imported 2,500 tonnes of garlic a year from around the world to supply UK supermarkets.
In 1999 the business supplying supermarkets and manufacturers was sold and Colin and Jenny returned to their roots as a family farming business specialising in garlic, but continuing to diversify into 70 garlic product lines.
Over the last 15 years, Mr Boswell has travelled widely researching the origins of garlic, from Kazakhstan to Eastern Turkey, and works as a garlic consultant across the world. He also features in TV cooking and gardening series related to garlic.
As the CLA Isle of Wight branch Chairman, Mr Boswell will be representing farmers, landowners and rural businesses across the Island. He added:
“I am grateful to Laurence for chairing the Island CLA through an extraordinary time. Thank you Laurence for taking on a totally unexpected situation, dumped in your lap, with such good grace, equanimity and attention to detail.”
CLA South East Regional Director Tim Bamford said:
“We wish to place on record our sincere thanks to Laurence Taylor for his tremendous work, ideas and enthusiasm over the course of his chairmanship.
“We are delighted to welcome Colin Boswell into the role and look forward to working closely with him over the next few years.”
People have short memories !!!!!!
“We must embrace new islanders to boost rural economy” – hit the nail on the head there – the old islanders failed at that miserably and they’re not going to improve now!
New Islanders, is that the same ones who want to build on rural open spaces and cover them in concrete and brick. Get real. Is this the same Boswell who got charged £20,000 with spraying workers with insecticide and over £16,000 in costs, oh yes it is…. just google it, it’s still online. This is the truth so why should we listen to what he is telling us.
I bought a listed building for exactly that reason! Re-use all the way; and from a second-home owner who would otherwise visit IoW only during summer. I plan to spend quite a few £k on renovating the building to its former glory over time plus eco friendly heating overhaul. And I don’t even own a car, bike all the way – not all of us new guys are concrete-crazy car-dependant Jeremy Clarksons 😉
Is a man who was convicted of spraying dangerous pesticides onto sweet corn and then selling them for human consumption causing illness to the public right for this and also the right person to be given a voice about rural affairs. He is no friend of the countryside. I wonder if island Echo publish this letter or delete?
I bloody hate Garlic. Just sayin.
Perhaps the CLA would like to provide the Dentists and GP Practices to cater for this great influx of people
The news just gets worse and worse. I can’t.
Has he changed then t—
There wont be any rural scene left on the Island at the rate the council is allowing new houses to be built on agricultural land.
New Islanders arrive every day. They are precious and welcome, and make themselves known at St. Mary’s Hospital maternity ward. They can’t arrive by ferry as they would not be Islanders. Not born here, not from here. Not an Islander, new or otherwise. People would call me misappropriation if I moved to another country and said I was from there, as it was ‘home’. Wrong.
You sound like a lovely person. If you could keep away from mainland hospitals that’d be great, sure you will.
Ahh the same Boswell who embraces the archaic act of fox hunting and blames anti hunt for “destroying his business” the same as the owner! Of Ventnor Botanics by the way”, the same Boswell who was taken to court by Marks&Soencers for flogging them” organic goods”in a chemically laden field, the chemical involved highly toxic and certainly not organic! And has still to clean the ground but plants wildflowers there for bees to hover around beautifully and feed off of pollen laden with chemicals the roots of said”wild flowers”have fed on… (as a bee keeper I take particular issue with that Boswell) that Boswell “jog on Colin”!
The moral of this article is “CRIME DOES PAY”
I assume Mr Boswell would be happy to embrace all these new Islanders if they came and lived on an estate next to his property at Mersley Farm?