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This weeks feature
| | Bob Lindo, A successful wine maker
At 54 Bob Lindo is one of England's most successful winemakers, following an illustrious and dramatic career flying jets for the RAF. |
Bob Lindo |
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Was joining the RAF always a schoolboy dream of yours?
Not at all. I come from a very ordinary background, on a large council estate in Suffolk, where aspirations were usually low. I always knew, though, that I would achieve something and I was only one of four kids from that particular estate to win a place at the local grammar school. |
Vulcan, a spectacular aircraft. | So how did the flying career come about?
I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but eventually graduated from the University of Essex in electronics. However, a friend had heard that there was the possibility of some free flying lessons at Biggin Hill, so we went along to find out. After the training I achieved some of the highest marks and it was suggested that I consider a career flying aeroplanes. I joined the RAF with the Cambridge Air Squadron and spent many years thoroughly enjoying myself, flying jets in Saudi Arabia and many other locations around the world. I flew mainly Vulcans, but also enjoyed training other pilots, eventually achieving the rank of Squadron Commander. |
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How was your exit from the RAF dramatic?
Having got married I had always planned to leave the RAF at the age of 38, instead of staying on until 55, the maximum age. My wife, herself a graduate, comes from a farming background, also in Suffolk, and as an investment in our future, in 1982 we'd bought a run down farm in Cornwall, which eventually became our new life.
On June 6, 1986, at 11.40am, two miles high in the skies above Yorkshire, the plane I was flying collided with another while practising a manoeuvre known as tail-chasing. I was badly injured, but luckily was able to eject.
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Can you remember what was going through your mind?
Every emotion I suppose, but mostly abject terror. Although I understood that I was badly damaged, I was just grateful to still be alive. It took ten minutes for my parachute to land, and my injuries were not helped by constant collisions with the emergency pack that was tethered to me.
Having landed somewhere near Helmsley, due to a mix up, it took three hours to locate me, whilst all the time a totally separate NATO exercise was going on overhead, a bizarre experience!
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So was that it for the RAF?
Well, the accident happened just 18 months prior to my anticipated leaving date. I'd broken my back, amongst other injuries, and recovery was quite slow and very painful. The prognosis wasn't good. I suppose it's part of my nature to prove people wrong, so after a long period of recuperation and physiotherapy I regained full mobility. I even took up martial arts and achieved a red belt in Tai Kwon Do for good measure. |
So you decided to become a farmer - did you have any experience?
Absolutely none! On day one, we took delivery of 100 sheep, already in lamb, and a sheepdog. I bought a correspondence course in how to farm them and went from there. Though we did quite well, and produced some wonderful quality Cornish lamb, I swiftly realised we weren't going to make the decent living I needed to supplement my small RAF pension. I converted a couple of farm buildings into holiday cottages to secure a regular income, and then, on the spur of the moment, decided to purchase 8000 vines to plant a vineyard. That was in 1989. | A vineyard in Cornwall?
Yes I know! The locals all thought I was barmy, too! However, I attended a training course to learn how to tend vines and was pleasantly surprised when our first vintage won a bronze medal in an English Wine Association competition. I'm a great one for reading manuals, I had to be fully briefed in the RAF, and I still refer to all the manuals before every job we do at Camel Valley. Similarly, whenever I order new equipment, I always request the manual in advance. |
Camel Wines, a great success. |
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Were there any other qualities from your RAF days that were especially relevant?
Perseverance, obviously. It's all very well winning awards, but you still have to go out the next day and do the hard work in all weathers. Furthermore, always do a job when it needs doing and don't put things off. |
Your successes have been really remarkable
I always hoped my wines would achieve recognition, and they have certainly done that. In 1999, the United Kingdom Vineyards Association awarded us the President's Trophy for the best wine in any class, style or vintage. We also won the English Wine Producers Trophy in 2001, followed by two International Wine Challenge awards.
Our prestige sparkling wine, 'Cornwall', was used to mark the one-millionth visitor to the Eden Project, in the company of HRH Prince Charles, and at the stone-laying ceremony for the new Cornwall University, with HRH the Queen. The wine is also available on the wine list at the House of Lords.
Another rewarding accolade has been appearing in the 'Rick Stein's Food Heroes' television programme. Camel Valley wines are also on the wine list at Rick's famous seafood restaurant in Padstow.
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Which award has given you the most satisfaction?
We have just won the Cornish Tourist Board's Champion on the Year 2003 award, which is a great reflection of everyone's work here. It's a family affair. |
How are the family involved?
My wife looks after approximately half of our 12,000 vines, and my son takes responsibility for bottling and much of the work after the wine is actually made. He has also done some fantastic work on the website. |
Have you any goals left to achieve?
I have begun to write a monthly wine column for a regional magazine, and I have found that really enjoyable. I have also made some tentative enquiries about the possibility of acquiring a small parcel of vineyard in either the Loire Valley or the Champagne region, in France, although that particular venture may turn out to be a future challenge for my son to achieve.
Camel Valley Vineyard is two miles from Bodmin, in Cornwall, and open all year round, 10am to 5pm.
Interview by Graham Sherwood
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