Robinson Crusoe of the Seychelles - Yorkshireman's 50 great years on own small island

[wfgodot]

By 'eck! It's Yorkshire's Robinson Crusoe: Brit who bought a cut-price island in the
Seychelles 50 years ago... and still lives in blissful solitude with 120 giant tortoises

Surely it’s what many of us dream about while trudging into the office during another April downpour.

Why not escape the rat race and the grey skies to live on a sunny tropical island?

Brendon Grimshaw has done just that. In 1962, the Yorkshireman bought Moyenne - a small island just half a mile wide - in the Seychelles for the princely sum of £8,000, and he has been living there ever since.

The sprightly 86-year-old wakes to the sound of rustling palm trees and the Indian Ocean lapping against the shore.

He spends his days caring for the island’s tortoises and birds that also call it home.
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And so how did this originally transpire?

He first arrived in the Seychelles on holiday in the late Fifties, restless and seeking adventure after years spent working as a newspaperman in Africa.

‘I started thinking about buying property almost as soon as I arrived, but I couldn’t find the right place,’ he told me.

It wasn’t until the very last day of his holiday that he heard about Moyenne. ‘I knew the moment I set foot on the island that it was the right place for me.’

Brendon had dinner with the owner and a deal was done.
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Million- and billionaires own other small islands in the Seychelles chain.

A Saudi prince once offered him a blank cheque for Moyenne, and other rich visitors have also been so entranced they’ve tried to buy it on the spot. But Brendon certainly isn’t selling.

‘The only reason someone would want to buy this island is to build a big hotel,’ he said.
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‘Brendon is the modern Robinson Crusoe,’ says Joel Morgan, environment minister for the Seychelles. ‘He’s a naturalist, a conservationist and a damned hard worker.’
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The island has been Brendon’s life, and as he has struggled and toiled to create a spectacular home,  it has repaid him by giving him a tonic that no doctor can prescribe: a real sense of purpose and meaning.

Out in the Indian Ocean, Brendon Grimshaw, Dewsbury-born and Yorkshire proud, is still living the  dream.

Quite lengthy, entertaining article, along with many pictures and a video interview with Mr Grimshaw, at Daily Mail link above.

[Portabella]

Looks like paradise to me, would have actually loved to hear more from him in the video, i bet he has so many stories....

[cocolafay]

I read that there is a documentary on this. Does ayone know when and where it will be shown? Thank you in advance. coco

[wfgodot]

Originally Posted by cocolafay

I read that there is a documentary on this. Does ayone know when and where it will be shown? Thank you in advance. coco

Indian Ocean on BBC2 is presented by Simon Reeve. He visits the Seychelles in next Sunday’s episode at 8pm.

at Daily Mail link above