Enjoying Life Outdoors

RICHARD HANBURY ENJOYING LIFE OUTDOORS

Richard Hanbury is one of a trio of outdoor adventure instructors who founded Reach Outdoors, now based at Goodrington, in 2012. Anita Newcombe dropped by the beach to nd out more.

I’m meeting Richard Hanbury at Goodrington Sands and he explains that he, Rachel Mayhew-Edwards and Ashley Hone used to work together at a youth charity in Southhampton. Having come up with the idea of setting up their own adventure sports company based in Devon, they gave up their jobs, launched Reach Outdoors and decided they would give it a year to see if their concept worked. Clearly it did as they now have a vibrant calendar of events running plus plenty of training and one-to-one intensive coaching sessions as well as the simple hiring out of kayaks and paddleboards from the beach. e three directors came to the Bay in 2012, initially renting a house together at Combeinteignhead. Operating from a shared rural location where they had space to store their kit and where the dining room became their o ce was a success in terms of keeping costs low in the rst couple of years. ey worked (without pay initially) at Reach Outdoors in the daytime and took part-time jobs in the evenings to make ends meet. ey invested in a van, a trailer, 6 kayaks, a stock of wetsuits and got started. Richard explains that their website was important to their early success, being so professional that they looked really well established from the word go. e work was done by Kubiak Creative thanks to a family link. In March 2014 they were approached by Torbay Coast and

Countryside Trust to rent part of the former Seashore Centre at Goodrington (the Trust still has the top oor) and this gave them the perfect base from which to develop and expand the business. ey already had a relationship with the trust as they were regularly hiring its residential centre Warren Barn for groups. Later the team at Splashdown Quaywest o ered them some space to store all their kayaks and paddleboards. Richard says, “ ey’ve been just amazing to us.”

Nowadays Reach Outdoors o ers kayaking, paddleboarding, coasteering, climbing, caving, bushcraft and multi-activity wild

weekends with training, “expeditions and coaching. You can book with your own group or join one of their open sessions. Richard tells me, “In addition to group sessions we’ve also been doing one-to-one coaching with vulnerable young people who haven’t been able to settle within a mainstream environment.” Referrals are often made via Torbay Council and sometimes via local colleges. Youngsters can be coached for as many as 12 hours a week over a long period. Reach Outdoors’ Adaptive Education Programme provides transferable skills and can o er the students a chance to gain outdoor accreditations and move into the world of outdoor education, transforming their lives. e company also works with the Prince’s Trust and Duke of Edinburgh Awards and surf therapy charity e Wave Project. eir Adaptive Education work has become an important part of the business but Richard and his codirectors also want to expand their training services. To

this end they are o ering a 16-week intensive instructor training course starting in November. If you fancy it, you’ll need a good level of tness plus a real passion for the outdoors and engaging with people. Reach Outdoors also o ers training for the British Canoeing Sea Kayak Award and the SUP Sheltered Water Award. During the winter and shoulder months they have weekly programmes with schools, regularly running a variety of activities for pupils. Among the three directors, Rachel specialises in climbing, Richard and Ash specialise in kayaking and paddleboarding and they all o er coasteering. Richard Richard tells me that he’s delighted by tells me that when how the business has grown and become a they started running well-loved service at the heart of the Bay. the centre, coasteering was by far the most popular activity with lots of bookings for stag and hen parties. Now however, they work with a much wider range of clients including families. Kayaking, paddleboarding and other activities have quickly grown in popularity. For Torbay residents and visitors there are guided tours, overnight expeditions plus skills training. e Open Programme can be booked on the website or you can ask for a private group session to be arranged for you. For families there are two giant SUPs taking 8 people on each. Guided expeditions will usually head around the Bay, taking in the beautiful coastline, spectacular caves and hidden beaches.

When booking a session you’ll be provided with wetsuits and buoyancy aids plus helmets and gloves as needed.

You can also simply hire kayaks and paddleboards by the hour directly from the beach at Goodrington Sands. It’s de nitely worth gaining a decent level of skills though as the weather conditions can change markedly as you travel around the Bay. When it’s mellow at Elberry it might be very windy and exposed at Meadfoot. In fact Reach Outdoors will not hire out their craft at all in strong o shore breezes. e team are often rst on the scene with their safety boat when ordinary members of the public get into di culty. Richard explains that this often happens during the peak season – a child may be blown out on an in atable for example. Even though Reach Outdoors is not a rescue service for the public they will always help as needed.

Richard tells me that he’s delighted by how the business has grown and become a well-loved service at the heart of the Bay. He tells me, “I just love the Bay – it’s spectacular, really sheltered and no two days working here at Reach Outdoors are the same – the variety makes it fun and really rewarding.”

Richard is married to Natalie and they have two children, Jonah who is four and Walter who is two. Jonah loves going on a paddleboard and has already been on a trip around atcher Rock. Walter has only been kayaking so far but he is showing signs of loving water sports already. Jackson, their Collie Cross Springer loves the beach and the water too. e family lives in Newton Abbot although Natalie originally came from Exeter and Richard from Llanelli in Wales.

After leaving university in Swansea where he quali ed in Watersports and Outdoor Activity Management, Richard worked for Mark Warner in Greece and Corsica before becoming a sailing instructor in Australia as part of a world trip to exotic spots like New York, Los Angeles, Fiji and ailand.

However, now Torbay is de nitely best. Richard says, “ e Bay is amazing – east facing so it’s a safer environment than many places in spite of the occasional o shore breezes – the horseshoe shape of the Bay usually o ers shelter somewhere.” Of course their trips also take in the fabulous River Dart, often from Stoke Gabriel or Totnes. Caving is available nearby at Pridhamsleigh Cavern near Buckfastleigh and is an adventure activity like no other with stunning rock formations, chambers and even an underground lake. If any of these ideas have inspired you, why not give a new adventure a go?   reach-outdoors.com

Goodrington Beach Wheelchair

A Beach Wheelchair is now available at Goodrington Sands to anyone who needs it. It has special wheels that can go over the sand and into the water. Provided by Torbay Holiday Helpers Network (THHN), it can be booked and collected from Reach Outdoors, Tanners Road. A donation of £5 is requested with a deposit of £20 and a form of ID needed (donation goes to THHN). Please phone to book or ask at Reach Outdoors. 01803 524950 reach-outdoors.com

John Robert Gibbs

wholesale vision...

Lying directly behind the terraced houses on Manor Road in Preston Paignton, is one of Torbay’s hidden commercial gems. Torbay Civic Society Chairman Ian Handford tells the story of John Robert Gibbs.

Every day pedestrians, cyclists and motorists note those was supplying products to pharmacists around the county. large white commercial vehicles with the AAH letters Six years later and our agent/salesman realised there was emblazoned on their side not realising they are part of an opportunity for a pharmaceutical wholesaler in the area a large national pharmaceutical organisation supplying and so set about creating his new business. thousands of products from Preston to chemists around In 1937 Jack purchased two empty houses in Manor the South of England. What commenced as a small family Road Preston and then appointed a Board of Directors, business with humble beginnings started in a garden store including his father and brother Bert, plus a quali ed of a house in Kings Road, Preston. Yet the business was pharmacist. He established his business as a company - J destined to become a major supplier of pharmaceutical R Gibbs and Co Ltd and initially continued to trade from products from Preston, which made it, in its formative the family store until it was clear that far more storage years, one of our largest was required. Now the local employers. It was John Robert Gibbs (known as Jack) working from 1930 as “ From the outset of his new company Jack had announced he would only supply products he deemed “ethical” while also promising a next day second stage of progression came when the company purchased a large property behind the row of terraced an agent for the West delivery service to clients. houses in Manor Road, Country’s pharmaceutical which had previously industry, who realised the potential for a wholesaler on been used as the Preston Indoor Bowling Centre. e the peninsula. With his wide experience of supplying two-storey building comprised 12,000 square feet on each products to pharmacists and chemists for many years, oor and now provided all the extra space required. John set up the rst ever pharmaceutical wholesaling From the outset of his new company Jack had business supplying nearly all Devon and Cornwall’s announced he would only supply products he deemed chemist shops from a small store at the rear of his home in “ethical” while also promising a next day delivery service Kings Road. to clients. His promotional literature repeated the promise,

Born in 1906 in India, John was a son of army parents ‘Everything for the pharmacist - we supply only ethical who eventually brought the family to Britain to reside products and give next day delivery’. It was a winning in Preston. He now attended Torquay Boys’ Grammar formula and the business now grew rapidly and became one School and when his education was complete in 1930, he of the rst in the UK to stock and supply (from Preston) started as an agent for the pharmaceutical industry, which – ‘folic acid preparations’ previously obtainable only from

doctors in America. e business thus became a major supplier to most of the chemists in Devon and Cornwall and soon to many towns and cities beyond. e third expansion came when the company purchased and converted two private houses in Manor Road into commercial o ces. e growth of the rm was such it now supplied chemists in no less than twelve counties around the South of England, whilst occasionally even ful lling orders from independent shops in London. But World War II intervened and Jack was called up. He joined the RAF, leaving his business in the hands of his father and brother Bert. en Bert also enlisted but sadly he would never return as he died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Meanwhile, Jack became an RAF Commissioned O cer until in 1941 his troop ship was torpedoed o North Africa. Safely recovered from the sea, Jack was landed in Tunisia and became part of the British First Army until he was returned home on a hospital ship and then discharged from active service in 1943.

It was not until 1945 that he returned to the company now under the control of his father, and helped by a new director - Leonard Tucker. By now the business had widened its territory extensively, although keeping to Jack’s next day delivery ethos and founding principles. Deliveries were now made daily to places as far a eld as Oxford and Cheltenham and involved a eet of nine lorries from Preston. With its licensed refrigeration room now installed even ‘Dangerous Drugs’ like vaccines and serums could be stored and supplied from Preston while still retaining that ‘ethical’ products ethos.

By 1948 it was clear that a new depot was needed and so Jack moved into Bristol and eventually acquired the established druggist - Ferris and Co Ltd. With a Mr By eld appointed Director and Manager at Bristol, the storage capacity of all the Gibbs Company now exceeded a staggering 64,000 square feet. Modern machinery was introduced to both mix and pack products while the o ce sta even enjoyed a new invoicing and accounting system called Power-Samas. e nal stage of this family connection came when a new factory and warehouse was built at Kenn Road in Bristol, before in 1959 the whole empire was sold to British Drug Houses Ltd. Although remaining Managing Director, Jack commented, “ is I did in perfect harmony until I decided it was better to retire while I was still young enough (he loved squash and golf) or at least not too old - to continue to enjoy myself”.

Jack nally retired in 1965 when another name change came, this time to Vestric Ltd. In 1983 Jack celebrated 50 years of marriage to Enid and two years later on April 1st 1985 he died at his home in Cli Road, Paignton. Survived by Enid and the two children Carolyn and Peter, Vestric had become part of Glaxo PLC and then AAH Holdings and nally AAH Pharmaceuticals emerged in 1985. e rm became a subsidiary of the German rm Celesio AG in 1995, and oh by the way AAH today stands for ‘All About Health’.   torbaycivicsociety.co.uk