Virginia Holgate

Speaker 20:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 20:08

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen eighty six, and the presenter was Michael Parkinson.

Presenter0:30

A castaway today is one of Britain's most successful and popular horse trials riders. In a sport notorious for the technical and physical demands it makes on the participants, she's shown exceptional skill and courage on her way to the top. She's won at world and European level and at the 1984 Olympics won a bronze and a silver medal. She is Virginia Holgate.

Presenter0:51

Virginia, what kind of a family did you come from?

Virginia Holgate0:54

Well, my father was in the Royal Marines and was sort of sent here, there and everywhere abroad. We started off I think I was well definitely born in Malta, but after that we went to Cyprus, Canada, Singapore, the Philippine Islands. So we travelled a a lot. Mummy, who'd always been brought up with horses ever since she was three years old, found it quite difficult really to keep going with the horses in places like Singapore, but she managed it.

Presenter1:20

When when did you first come to England, then?

Virginia Holgate1:22

Well, I suppose we were here for the first time when I was about three years old, and that was in between Canada and Singapore. I was then sort of planted on board, and off we went, then left for Singapore when I was about six, and I spent two years there, and then back to England for quite a long time before we went to the Philippine Islands, which is our final

Virginia Holgate1:45

Trip really, abroad.

Presenter1:47

What kind of an effect do you think all this travelling around, this kind of rather ruthless uh lifestyle you had, had on you?

Virginia Holgate1:53

I really did love the travelling. I mean, as a child, I remember, certainly in Singapore days, of thinking of nothing but going to the swimming pool and eating ice creams, and loved the the sun. The sunshine was really important to me. And also, really meeting different people, different races. And I think.

Speaker 22:06

Sun

Virginia Holgate2:14

In a sense, I was fairly well educated in that way. I mean, I never did do a tremendous amount of work at school anyway, so.

Presenter2:22

But what what about in a place like Manila? I mean surely there'd be a language problem there wouldn't they? I mean that must be made you rather isolated from the rest of the children.

Virginia Holgate2:30

Yes, I actually started off at a convent in the Philippines where I think I was the only white girl present, but they all spoke English. The local language was Tagalog, and I cottoned on fairly quickly. I could understand a bit, mainly'cause I had to.

Virginia Holgate2:46

Um but a lot of Americans were out there and I think I really had quite a few American friends and certainly all the Filipinos spoke very good English, so it wasn't too bad, it wasn't too much of a problem.

Presenter2:58

Let's have a first choice of record.

Virginia Holgate3:00

Well, the first one is Glen Miller, Moonlight Serenade.

Virginia Holgate3:04

Very romantic. But mainly because uh I always remember my parents playing it, especially in Singapore days when it was just evening and having drinks on the veranda and things. So it's

Virginia Holgate3:17

It has good memories for me.

Presenter3:51

Virginia, reading about you, I'm amazed that you made it to the studio, because certainly when I read about your early life,

Presenter3:58

You were very much a tomboy, and very much accident-prone, it seemed.

Virginia Holgate3:59

Very much.

Virginia Holgate4:01

Desperate.

Presenter4:02

Could you recount one or two of the uh of the uh incidents that befell you as a child?

Virginia Holgate4:07

Well, I always thought that whatever my brother did, who was four years older,

Virginia Holgate4:13

I could do better, or definitely equal him.

Virginia Holgate4:16

I remember once he said, Right, I'm going to swim fifty lengths of the pool, bet you can't. So in he went and he I watched him, he did fifty, so in I went and I did fifty and I actually passed out when I got out of the pool, I was so determined to do it. He then went in and swam fifty one lengths, which I thought was really cruel.

Presenter4:35

You indulge in fisticuffs too, didn't you?

Virginia Holgate4:37

Oh yes. It was a mixed school in Singapore.

Virginia Holgate4:41

and there was a real school bully.

Virginia Holgate4:43

And he'd really gone too far one particular day. I think one of my friends had been.

Virginia Holgate4:49

clip round the ear or something. And so I I actually got very angry and there was a real fight, I mean a proper fight.

Virginia Holgate4:56

and he pushed me into a pillar, and my front teeth fell out on the floor, at which stage I thought, you know, this is too much and I actually had him pinned to the ground and I spat on him.

Virginia Holgate5:08

which I feel very guilty about now, but um

Virginia Holgate5:10

I remember going home and mummy looking at me, and she just couldn't believe it. I had no teeth at all. So, um.

Presenter5:17

The competitive spirit coming out of you, then. How old were you when you first started riding?

Virginia Holgate5:22

Three.

Presenter5:23

Three. Yes. That's very young, isn't it?

Virginia Holgate5:26

I think I was rather determined to get on board and I think mummy got so fed up.

Virginia Holgate5:31

that she said, Oh, you better get on then and so I did.

Virginia Holgate5:34

I had a super little pony called Misty. You know, it was a smashing little pony. She used to get fed up with me, kicking and sort of shouting and screaming. So she'd trot across the field and drop her shoulder towards a ditch and I would plop off into the ditch and then she'd trot away. That would be the end of the lesson for the day. So I learned at an early age not to ask too much at once.

Presenter5:54

Most have a second charity record.

Virginia Holgate5:56

The next one is Misty, sung by Johnny Mathis, and actually the pony was named Misty after the record. Again, another one that particularly my father enjoyed, and ever since I listened to it as a child it's been a big favourite of mine.

Virginia Holgate6:14

Can say that.

Speaker 46:15

And you're leading me on But it's just what I want you to do

Speaker 46:28

Don't you notice how hopelessly I lost? That's why

Presenter6:43

Johnny Matheson Misty, which I didn't know until today was the name of Virginia Holgate's first horse.

Speaker 46:48

Damn.

Presenter6:49

How determined were you to be a rider? I mean, when you first sat on on board, as you you put it, did you know that this is what you wanted to do as a career?

Virginia Holgate6:57

Well, actually, no. All I remember was that I actually really enjoyed jumping and galloping about and all those things. But it was I mean, lots of children, especially girls, love horses, don't they? Horsey books and posters and things. And when I was at school, I I had this strange idea that I was going to become an actress.

Speaker 27:10

Horsey box.

Virginia Holgate7:19

Now, where I got that from, I can't think, but I used to love doing the school plays and

Virginia Holgate7:24

absolutely adored being chosen as the sort of the schoolmistress with the powdered wig and the sort of long skirt and the

Virginia Holgate7:31

I love comedies. I loved playing in school comedies.

Virginia Holgate7:36

That's what I wanted to be when I left school. So it wasn't until I went home at the age of sixteen.

Virginia Holgate7:43

that my parents said you're not going to London, you're too young. That I actually started to ride and suddenly thought, well, maybe this is where I ought to be and what I ought to be doing.

Presenter7:53

Let's go back to those school days because in fact you you were very unhappy weren't you at Born in School and you became anorexic, didn't you?

Virginia Holgate7:55

Because in f

Virginia Holgate7:58

Yeah.

Virginia Holgate8:00

Yes. I was very unhappy because I I think I missed my parents so very much, and because they were so far away, it seemed at that age to be years before I'd see them again.

Virginia Holgate8:11

I think the reason I got anorexia was

Virginia Holgate8:14

A great friend of mine and I decided that we were too fat, you know, vain as ever, and we went on a diet and I just didn't stop.

Virginia Holgate8:22

And I used to put sort of bricks in my pockets when I was away and I used to sort of take doggy bags into school meals and drop the food into the doggy bag. I mean, I did everything in order not to eat anything.

Virginia Holgate8:34

And it wasn't until my mother came back actually on leave

Virginia Holgate8:38

That she

Virginia Holgate8:39

Discovered what had happened because I'd obviously got very thin, but with the school uniform, it was difficult to actually notice as far as the teachers were concerned.

Virginia Holgate8:47

And she took me home and she said, Either you eat or you don't ride. And it was the fact that I wanted to ride that actually made me eat again. But I think it was a very good bargaining point and she was very clever the way she went about it.

Presenter8:54

Bye-bye.

Presenter8:59

So your mother, of course, is a very, very strong influence on your life. It seems to me that uh you're a formidable team, aren't you, really, rather than mother and daughter.

Virginia Holgate9:02

Yeah.

Virginia Holgate9:07

Yes, they were very fortunate to get on incredibly well. I'm no sort of spring chicken, I'm quite old now, and you know, we work as a team together. And I think mummy's been very clever.

Virginia Holgate9:18

by encouraging me to do well, but never

Virginia Holgate9:22

Expecting me to win, and I think that's probably the difference. And she's always given me absolute.

Virginia Holgate9:29

Dare say hell when I've done something wrong.

Virginia Holgate9:32

but always encouraged me when I've done something right.

Virginia Holgate9:35

You know, the venting has a certain amount of good and bad luck involved.

Virginia Holgate9:40

And if I had done something particularly stupid, she would say, you know, really

Virginia Holgate9:44

take a grip and and, you know, you're too grown up and

Virginia Holgate9:48

experience to make mistakes like that. And if I've just happened to have a bit of bad luck, she's the first to say, well, never mind better luck next time. So she's handled me very well. I hope I do the same for my children.

Presenter10:02

Let's have another record, Virginia.

Virginia Holgate10:04

Well the next one is Elvis. Now Elvis was a great love of mine and I always thought that he'd definitely wait for me to grow up.

Presenter10:12

How old were you then?

Virginia Holgate10:12

I was about seven, so I had a bit of growing up to do. But one of my favourites was Wooden Heart, which um was in the film G.I. Blues.

Virginia Holgate10:21

And it was one of the first grown-up films I went to see, so it was very special.

Speaker 410:26

And you see I love you. Please don't break my heart in two.

Speaker 410:33

That's the hard to do, cause I don't have a mood in God.

Speaker 410:41

And if you say goodbye, then I know that I will cry.

Speaker 410:47

Maybe I would die because I don't have a mo

Speaker 410:53

Mm

Presenter10:55

Virginia, you mentioned that luck plays a a great part in in your sport well, any sport indeed. What was it, therefore, the first breakthrough for you in your in your chosen career?

Virginia Holgate11:04

Well, I think probably when I won the junior European championships with this super horse called Giuboni that was bought for thirty five pounds by my grandfather, I think that really gave me the incentive to want to compete and to go on within the sport.

Virginia Holgate11:21

I then won the mini Olympics on a h another horse called Jason, who was a part bred Russian Arab of all things. And I think probably I got rather conceited and expected things to go right and they started to go very wrong. And we had a period of three years where we lost the use of three advanced horses. I had a bad accident.

Virginia Holgate11:45

And

Virginia Holgate11:46

Basically nothing went right and I actually did think somebody is trying to tell me that this is not the sport for me and I ought to try and uh learn to be a secretary or do something completely different. On the other hand, something kept telling me not to stop.

Virginia Holgate12:02

So it was a a little bit of a battle between going on and actually choosing a completely different way of life. Then suddenly out of the blue came a fantastic little horse called Priselis and his half brother Nightcap, as baby horses we would call them at that age.

Virginia Holgate12:19

And as five-year-olds they seem to be quite talented, and Price has then won a three-day event at Bramham in Yorkshire.

Virginia Holgate12:27

And that was really the turning point.

Virginia Holgate12:29

of me saying to myself, Well, maybe I should go on. This horse is obviously very good, so is the other one. Let's see how far we can go with them.

Presenter12:39

Let's go back, though, to the darkest moment. I suppose the darkest moment for you must have been when you had that very bad accident.

Presenter12:45

What happened exactly?

Virginia Holgate12:46

Well, I'd been long listed for the Olympic Games on Jason, and the final trial was at Babington, and I was doing an event just prior to Babington as a warm-up.

Virginia Holgate12:57

And entirely my fault. I came up a long, steep hill the horse was quite tired.

Virginia Holgate13:02

and there was a a combination at the top of the hill.

Virginia Holgate13:06

And he

Virginia Holgate13:07

for some reason hesitated over the first part of the fence, whether it be he was tired or I didn't ride him properly, whatever reason.

Virginia Holgate13:15

He actually left one foreleg down and somersaulted.

Virginia Holgate13:19

over the fence and I went hairing in towards the road head first literally and I thought, yikes So I put my left arm out and I forgot to bend it, which wasn't very clever. And so I ended up smashing the wrist and the elbow sort of went shooting out in the wrong direction.

Virginia Holgate13:36

And I looked at my arm and I thought, oh, whoops, there's definitely a bit of a problem here because it was upside down at that stage. So off to hospital we went. And there was a bit of a sort of um discussion going on after the first operation as to whether it was actually worth keeping the arm because it wasn't a bit of a mess. And a marvellous chap called Commander Bertram decided to have another crack at it.

Virginia Holgate14:00

And he did a super job and it works beautifully. So I was very lucky indeed.

Presenter14:05

I mean you had two operations on it.

Virginia Holgate14:07

I think it was a total of six for me for the day.

Presenter14:09

Six operations.

Virginia Holgate14:11

Yes, and

Presenter14:12

and useless.

Virginia Holgate14:13

Yeah.

Presenter14:14

Must have shown great determination to

Virginia Holgate14:16

I think stubbornness. Because Commander Bertram said, right, he said, I'm not going to send you to a physiotherapist. If you want to ride, you'll do it. So just carry on. So I thought, oh, right. So

Virginia Holgate14:30

First we

Virginia Holgate14:31

I would try and pick up a pencil.

Virginia Holgate14:33

And the second week I would try and pick up a mug and so it went on because the nerves were crushed, but eventually it came back.

Virginia Holgate14:42

And then I had to try and straighten my elbow, which was a problem, and I couldn't seem to do it.

Virginia Holgate14:46

So our vet, Don Attenborough, came out one afternoon and said, Right, let's have a look at these X rays and I showed him and he said, Right, no problem and he got hold of it and he went yank and it went crack and it straightened, so that was that. But um I'm terribly lucky'cause a lot of people in the sport do have bad accidents and

Virginia Holgate15:04

I feel very fortunate that my particular accident was actually not too bad at the end of the day.

Presenter15:10

Another choice of record.

Virginia Holgate15:12

Well, this is rather a special one because at the Genesis record, I met Mike and Angie Rutherford just after I won Bramham, which was the stepping stone to continuing on in the sport.

Presenter15:23

Mike Rutherford, I should tell people, is part of Genesis.

Virginia Holgate15:25

That's right, yes. And they took me off on holiday.

Virginia Holgate15:29

And when we came back we went to

Virginia Holgate15:32

My first ever live concert which was Genesis and this was one particular track that they played so

Virginia Holgate15:39

It's really because they're good mates and I think they're brilliant by

Presenter16:13

Virginia, when you've taken that a bad tumble like you had there, and you had that awful accident, how long does it take you to get your confidence back?

Virginia Holgate16:20

Altogether it took me eighteen months. I was never frightened of hurting myself, but I was concerned that I couldn't ride, and I felt that my riding had gone completely downhill, and I'd lost that certain rhythm and balance and

Virginia Holgate16:36

Confidence in order to compete.

Virginia Holgate16:39

properly in the sport. So The first thing I did was to ride my old horse Gibonet.

Virginia Holgate16:44

who at this stage was about twelve years old, and was a real campaigner, you know, he knew exactly what he was doing. And I made quite a few mistakes on him, but he got me out of trouble, which then actually gave me the confidence to say, right, now I feel ready to ride the young horses again.

Virginia Holgate17:00

But it's surprising how long it takes for you to get that

Virginia Holgate17:03

feeling that you can do it and you are riding properly back again.

Presenter17:07

How do you describe the relationship you have with a horse?

Virginia Holgate17:10

Well, it's a sort of

Virginia Holgate17:11

I think probably a harmony between horse and rider.

Virginia Holgate17:15

Very much like, shall we say, skating, where you have, say, Torville and Dean.

Virginia Holgate17:20

And they are absolutely as one. They know exactly what the armor is going to do. They're confident in each other. That when, say, Dean pushes Torville away,

Virginia Holgate17:31

He's going to do it just at the right time, just at the right speed, that she's going to do a fantastic turn and he'd catch her in three point five seconds, whatever. And I think that's really the best example I can see to compare between horse and rider. When you're coming into a fence, the horse, let's face it, has never seen the course before, we have, and you have a sort of

Virginia Holgate17:54

Code. A certain speed, a certain stride means a certain type of fence. And certainly with my horses, if it's a very, very, very difficult fence coming up, I'll just give them literally a tap on the shoulder. It's like a code. I'll say, Now come on. And you can see their ears going ding ding ding ding ding as if they know that there is a problem coming up and they can associate with the way you're riding them coming into a fence as to how difficult it will be.

Virginia Holgate18:21

It is a marvellous rapport that one can have and I think you have perhaps half a dozen brilliant rounds with that particular horse in your life because it's so rare and so special.

Presenter18:33

What about the two horses you've got now? I mean, how do you characterize them as individuals?

Virginia Holgate18:37

Uh

Virginia Holgate18:38

Well

Virginia Holgate18:39

Nightcap's a real gentleman. I think if he was a human, he'd be uh probably a city gent and very, very good looking and dark and handsome and charming and really one for the girls. And he'd sort of enjoy going out for dinner and having cocktails and sort of a brandy after dinner and be very, very charming, very nice.

Virginia Holgate19:01

And Prices would definitely be a bit of a lad.

Virginia Holgate19:05

Um, he'd probably either be in the army or

Virginia Holgate19:08

be in the coal mines or somewhere somewhere real tough, rugged type of job and he'd go down the pubs with his mate and have a quick few beers and he'd probably have a few tattoos on him. He'd be a muscle powered Rambo, I think.

Presenter19:19

Muscle

Presenter19:23

Let's have another choice of record, Virginia.

Virginia Holgate19:25

Well the next one, We Are the World, firstly I think it's a marvellous song and also I felt very strongly about Bob Giddoff's whole approach to the problem in Africa. I felt very touched by it all and I was quite keen to perhaps drive one of the lorries out there with food. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to go about it, but if you know of anybody who wants a truck driver, here I am.

Virginia Holgate19:53

Put it in chat.

Virginia Holgate19:54

Uh

Speaker 419:54

There's nothing we can fall.

Speaker 419:59

The real life

Speaker 420:01

Oh, that a change can occur when we stand together as one.

Speaker 420:15

Yeah.

Speaker 420:21

So let's start.

Presenter20:25

But you know, l let's look now at some of the highlights of your career. I mean, you've won just about everything, haven't you, in your sport?

Presenter20:31

Well you've won at most levels. You won at world level, you won at European level and you've got two medals from the Olympic Games.

Presenter20:36

Just talk me through two or three of those moments. Which will be the the the most magic moment for you?

Virginia Holgate20:42

I think probably the Olympics because

Virginia Holgate20:45

I think not only is it a tremendous honour to be chosen from your country to compete in the Olympic Games.

Virginia Holgate20:52

and then to actually get there and compete.

Virginia Holgate20:55

Was what sort of one thing, but to actually come away with a medal, which was highly I mean, we thought as a team we do

Virginia Holgate21:02

very well. And we did, we got the silver medal. I mean it was absolutely

Virginia Holgate21:06

Mind blowing it really was.

Virginia Holgate21:08

Then to by some chance get an individual medal as well was beyond my wildest dreams.

Virginia Holgate21:15

the whole sort of atmosphere.

Virginia Holgate21:18

the sort of opening and closing ceremonies was something that I don't think I'll ever experience again.

Virginia Holgate21:23

And it was so emotional having all those countries together, being really friendly.

Virginia Holgate21:30

Supportive. It was just like one huge family. It was just quite incredible.

Virginia Holgate21:36

I mean, grown men crying their eyes out. I mean, I certainly cried my eyes out more than one occasion. It was just fantastic.

Virginia Holgate21:43

I think that's probably the most emotional competition I've ever been to. But each time one is lucky enough to succeed.

Virginia Holgate21:52

has its own special moments for me, certainly, because

Virginia Holgate21:57

You know, you are very, very lucky to succeed. A lot of people work equally as hard as I do, probably harder, and never get the chance. But, um, I consider myself incredibly fortunate.

Presenter22:08

Let us then have another choice of record.

Virginia Holgate22:10

Well, the song All Night Long by Lionel Ritchie is very special because he performed on stage at the closing ceremony and when he was singing everybody joined arms and we all sort of swayed to the music and he was quite a sort of favourite of mine anyway and to have him there live on stage was quite something.

Virginia Holgate22:32

And we had fireworks, so the whole evening was fantastic, so that's very special for me.

Speaker 422:38

Well my friends, the time has come.

Speaker 422:42

Raise the roof and have some food

Speaker 422:47

Throw away the work to be done.

Speaker 422:52

Let the music play on

Speaker 422:56

Everybody sing, everybody dance.

Speaker 423:00

Lose yourself in wild romance, we're going to

Speaker 423:04

Party, karama, fiesta.

Presenter23:07

Our cast away this week is Virginia Holgate. Virginia, for someone like myself who's fairly ignorant about the ways of your sport, I mean I see it on television and I enjoy it and that sort of thing.

Presenter23:17

Uh I always imagine he sort of just jumped on the horse and away he went round the arena. Of course it's not like that, is it? How long does it take to prepare for a big event?

Virginia Holgate23:25

Well, it's about three months. But to prepare a horse to that level takes between three and four years, so it's quite a long process.

Presenter23:35

What about yourself too? Because I mean you have to keep fit. Yes. Do do you have a routine?

Virginia Holgate23:37

Yeah.

Virginia Holgate23:39

I do. I find that although I may ride four, possibly five hours a day, it's not really enough. So I either run or skip, and running is not my favourite occupation. So I tend to skip rather than run, because I can watch the T V.

Virginia Holgate23:58

And I suddenly look at my skipping rope, which has a little counter on it. And if it's a really good movie, I've done three hundred and I think I've only done three, so it gets very enthusiastic.

Virginia Holgate24:06

So um that's really how I keep fit.

Presenter24:08

What about superstitions? Are you superstitious before you have a ritual before every uh

Virginia Holgate24:12

No, I'm not. The only thing that were two things, actually.

Presenter24:12

Yeah.

Virginia Holgate24:16

One is I will always wear odd socks. Now, whether that's because I can never find a pair.

Speaker 224:21

Uh

Virginia Holgate24:22

Or I did wear one day because I had old socks on, that's obviously why I did well. I don't know, but I always wear old socks. And the other is my mother always gives me a leg up.

Virginia Holgate24:31

before I do the cross country.

Virginia Holgate24:33

I think she's always done it and I feel a bit nervous if somebody else does. But those are the only two sort of things that stick in my mind, I think.

Presenter24:42

Another choice of record.

Virginia Holgate24:44

The next one is Walk of Life by Dar Straits.

Virginia Holgate24:47

It's a very, very good bouncy record and I find sometimes when I'm going to a competition and I'm a bit nervous about it, if I play something like this it gets me really going and I ride cross country a bit more with a bit more flair shall we say.

Speaker 425:03

Johnny's ringing, oh he's going Bobby Looney baby, what I say.

Speaker 425:08

Come John and sing it, I got a moment Down in the tunnel tryna make it play He got the action, he got the motion Well yeah yeah, the boy can play

Speaker 425:20

Dedication

Speaker 425:21

Oh shoot, turning on a night time into the game Shooters all about see the moon

Speaker 425:30

Yeah.

Presenter25:34

That was dire straight. So what what does the future have for Virginia Holgate now then? What are the plans for the future?

Virginia Holgate25:39

Well, I've got a nice young horse called Murphy himself. You can gather where he might have come from.

Virginia Holgate25:47

I hoped that he might be talented enough to go

Virginia Holgate25:51

towards the next Olympic Games. If that's the case and if my poor husband can cope, I'd like to continue certainly until then, which is in two years' time. And then I would obviously like to have children, so that has to be thought about. And

Virginia Holgate26:08

really see how things go from there because I think once you're married and you have a family, your family has absolute priority over anything else. But if I'm lucky enough to be able to have the family and compete with the horses, that would be marvellous. I think that would be perfection itself.

Presenter26:27

Right, let's have a final choice of record Imagine.

Virginia Holgate26:30

Well, this is a slightly romantic bit because um when I met Hamish, my husband, this particular record I just called Saya Lavi was number one. And I think I'm right in saying that it was the first number one hit for Stevie Wonder.

Virginia Holgate26:45

And I'm a great fan of Stevie Wonders. I think he's a remarkable man. So two reasons really why this one is rather special for me.

Speaker 426:54

I just called

Speaker 426:57

The same

Speaker 426:59

I love you.

Speaker 427:03

I just go.

Speaker 427:05

To say how much I care

Speaker 427:11

I just got

Speaker 427:14

To say

Speaker 427:16

I love you.

Speaker 427:20

And I mean it from the bottom.

Presenter27:25

Rap Virginia, now on your desert island, do you think you might try and escape?

Virginia Holgate27:29

I would pretty well certainly have a go. I would probably get cold feet'cause if I saw a shark's fin I would immediately stay put.

Presenter27:39

But are you self sufficient, I mean, could you look after yourself?

Virginia Holgate27:42

I think I'd probably die of starvation.

Virginia Holgate27:47

No, I don't know. I think probably if I was stuck there and I had to get on with it.

Virginia Holgate27:52

You'd learn to cope and sort of suss things out and learn how to fish and all those sort of things. Like the heat and sunbathing.

Presenter27:58

Alright.

Presenter28:01

So you're allowed then one record of the eight you've chosen, you're allowed on the island because the you have to imagine the other seven are swept away or something. So which one record would it be?

Virginia Holgate28:07

Price

Virginia Holgate28:09

Would I choose Glenn Miller?

Presenter28:10

Why?

Virginia Holgate28:11

It's the sort of record that I don't think I could get tired of.

Virginia Holgate28:15

Because I've always loved it and I've always listened to it.

Presenter28:17

What about the book?

Virginia Holgate28:19

Well, the book I'd probably have to go for do it yourself.

Virginia Holgate28:23

Or Robinson Crusoe, perhaps, to learn a few tips from him.

Presenter28:27

Which would it be, Robinson Crusoe or do it yourself?

Virginia Holgate28:29

I think do-it-yourself manual would be very useful.

Presenter28:32

And what's the luxury object, the one luxury object you're allowed, what's that to be?

Virginia Holgate28:36

Well, I'd like to take my husband with me, but I don't suppose we're allowed to

Presenter28:38

But I don't suppose we're allowed to inanimate.

Virginia Holgate28:41

So I'd like to take with me a never ending supply of smoked salmon.

Presenter28:47

The smoke.

Virginia Holgate28:47

Yeah.

Presenter28:49

Virginia Holgert, thank you very much indeed.

Virginia Holgate28:51

Thank you.

Speaker 228:59

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists Archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk/radio4.