Local People

My biggest Dartmoor challenge ever

Photo by Chris Bunney

Chris Bunney is planning to hike 400km across the whole Dartmoor Ordinance Survey map, visiting 170 tors and rocks during the 14-day expedition in aid of Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team (Tavistock), starting at Yelverton Rock on 2 August.

Although Chris lives in Plymouth, Tavistock has become almost a second home for his frequent walking expeditions. After 41 years working for a communications company with a fairly sedentary career behind a desk and commuting long distances, he took early retirement at 60; his new-found freedom opened up possibilities with walking trips on Dartmoor coming high up the list. As a licentiate member of Master Photographers Association, Chris excels in wedding photography, as well as landscapes - in fact, it was photography that first introduced him to moor walking, when he started volunteering to instruct young people in photography as a new skill for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE). Before long, he had been co-opted onto helping with expeditions, and ended up leading the silver award group. Safety was always a key element to ensure his DofE group knew how to operate in the changing moors environment and Chris spent an increasing amount of time exploring Dartmoor, challenging himself to walk the same three-day routes he expected his group to complete.

FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS • OVER 60 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Find your dream park home in the picturesque countryside of Devon.

From completely bespoke builds to fully-sited, ready to move into homes, our team are here to help make your dream home a reality in Devon.

Glenholt Park Honicombe Park New Park

Established and sought after location north of Plymouth city centre.

• • • Flanked by woodlands. Pleasant walks. Close by Park & Ride offers easy travel links. Set in the Tamar Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

• • • Nearby shopping facilities. Pets considered. St. Ann’s Chapel has a post office and store. Woodland surroundings with views of the rolling hills of Dartmoor.

• • • Good shopping facilities. Plenty to explore. Dartmoor is only a 10 minute drive away.

Book a contactless park viewing or a design appointment today. Call us on 01935 862079 or visit berkeleyparks.co.uk

Photo by Chris Bunney

Chris now takes up the story, explaining how he ended up taking on his biggest Dartmoor challenge ever! What’s the challenge?

It started as a 60-tors-at 60-in-60-hours challenge to celebrate retiring and hitting 60 – that had a certain ring to it. But then Covid put paid to that so I needed another option. Basically, it got out of hand - I told a few people and before I knew it, I had committed myself to a very long walk! It got so difficult to choose, I decided why not just include everything on the Ordinance Survey map - yep, every tor and a few well-known rock stacks.

What inspired me to take the challenge?

Well, a sort of paying it forward. I intend to spend a lot of time on Dartmoor and it’s possible I, like many others, may need help one day. So, when I saw a Facebook post asking for volunteers to join the DS&RT Tavistock team to support fundraising, it was a perfect match. Then the small issue of a Covid pandemic crushed plans for fundraising events and I decided to use the time to plan and train for a charity challenge to help raise funds. Why?

To raise £20,000 to help DS&RT Tavistock achieve £50,000 to replace its failing operations vehicle. So, a target and a hike on a scale I have never achieved before! DS&RT probably needs little introduction - a team of highly skilled and very professional volunteers who train every week and respond at the drop of a hat to provide emergency help when contacted by the police. DS&RT is critical in locating, treating and extracting casualties from Dartmoor, as well as supporting urban searches for lost and vulnerable people. It also relies totally on donations. What’s the plan?

Training – I need lots of that so I started a challenge within a challenge: step-ups with a 65-pound backpack, one hour a night, five nights a week – it’s mentally tough as well as physically. Being in a garage doesn’t help much either! Staying within a local area during lockdown, I walked the Devon lanes, averaging 15km a day; I couldn’t wait to get back on the open moor and build up to walking with a 65-pound backpack. Hopefully I’ll be fit enough by the time I start! I also need to complete some ‘test’ walks, and I’ve never been wild camping so that’ll be an experience - plus route planning, de-risking, kit preparation, as well as publicity, giving talks and maybe writing an e-book. The reality of the challenge is starting to hit home! figure: please scan the QR code and make a donation, or sponsor me (if you already have then a huge thank you), and share my challenge with friends and on social media. It’s a tough ask in the current circumstances, however as we come out of lockdown Dartmoor is set to see a huge influx of visitors and locals, and any of them may need DS&RT. Can you be someone who has helped keep the search teams operational? I’m really excited and maybe a little scared about the challenge, but proud to be part of a team that could be the difference between life and death for someone.

Thank you, Chris

Donations: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ mybiggestdartmoorchallengeever Blog: www.bunneyphotography.co.uk/ blog Facebook: www.facebook.com/chris. bunney.750 Or scan the QR code below

Lockdown has had its difficulties for all of us, but for Ben Stevens it has been a very eventful year, leading to a brandnew venture - ‘Enchanted Woods’ outdoor dining experience at Horrabridge.

As 2020 got underway, Ben had recently started working at The Green, a luxury wedding venue in Cornwall. With a strong background in hospitality catering and business management, he had been appointed to develop complementary services for the venue, and was just about to launch a new health and wellbeing package when the pandemic struck. Redundancy followed swiftly, and with only five months in his current employment he became one of the people who ‘fell through the cracks’ in the emergency job and income protection schemes, leaving him with no income. Having moved into Tavistock ten days before the first national lockdown, Ben found himself in a new town with no local family or friends and no work. He had never previously been out of work and couldn’t remember ever really spending time on his own; as his mental health started to suffer, he signed up for online therapy and so began an incredible soul-searching time of self-discovery. Ben says that out of the many communities he has lived in, the people of Tavistock have proved the most friendly and supportive. One day he posted on a local Facebook group page that he was new to the area and wondered if anybody was interested in talking, making friends or even going for socially distanced walks. Replies flooded in, his Facebook connections grew exponentially overnight, and the wealth of support made a huge difference. Soon after, Ben started sharing pictures of his cooking at home and this Facebook audience suggested he cook for them. While exploring ways he could create his own new job, he was offered an opportunity to take over the Lemon Grove Café in the evenings when it was normally closed. And so, in the summer of 2020, Ben’s Bystro came into being, graduating from take-away meals to a sit-down evening menu that was fully booked for 11 weeks. Ben is no stranger to knock-backs, hard work and thinking on his feet. He has worked his way up the hospitality career ladder, ever since he was attracted to its variety and

Thinking of letting your holiday property?

Speak to your local holiday cottage specialist...

Our experienced team of property managers have the knowledge to ensure that your investment fulfils its potential throughout the year. Call us now for free and honest advice.

unpredictability during school work experience at a Newquay hotel. After studying hotel management at Cornwall College, Ben spent over ten years working front-of-house, and managing several restaurants for other people, but always aspiring to run his own venue. In a bid to expand his experience, Ben chose to move into the kitchen, managing to get a position with Kevin Viner, recipient of the very first Michelin Star in Cornwall. Over the next few years Ben worked in several other hotel and restaurant kitchens around Cornwall often putting in 80 to 90 hours per week. Whilst working as an area manager with Chartwells, Ben gained an immense amount of business knowledge, helping the Cornwall school meals contract go from £1 million loss per year to £1 million profit. This enabled him to set up a successful consultancy specialising in marketing, branding and coaching for hospitality SMEs, and motivated him to launch three restaurants of his own. This led to an amazing first year, followed by an incredibly challenging second year where he was working an unsustainable 120 hours per week to keep the business afloat. In the end he chose to close the businesses. The experience took its toll both physically and mentally, but he slowly picked himself up and took up management positions at Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar and Grill and then at The Theatre Royal Plymouth, before being sought out for the role at The Green.

Despite the challenges of the last year, Ben has seemingly flourished. As well as settling into his new town and launching a new pop-up restaurant, he has also fallen in love. Introduced through a mutual friend on Facebook, Leanne is a massage therapist studying for a master’s degree in psychology, and together they are launching a brand-new and exciting project, Enchanted Woods. When I went to meet Ben, we sat and talked in the small meadow which is now the site for Enchanted Woods, complete with a huge wood-fired oven, a bath-tub barbeque, a hardstanding for a small marquee, a composting toilet, and a firepit surrounded by massive logs to sit on. The idea is that with the ease of lockdowns people will probably want to eat outside in the fresh air, and the concept is already proving popular as three of the first five Sunday lunch feasts are already sold out. Longer term plans for the rustic venue include outdoor weddings, private events, teambuilding and coaching sessions, and even a mini-folk festival when rules allow, but for now you can bring your own wine and enjoy a relaxed Sunday feast in these idyllic surroundings.

Rosemary Best

Sunday lunch costs £20 per person; for more details and to reserve places go to www.enchanted-woods.co.uk

You can also try Ben’s street food outside Stannary Brewing Company in Tavistock on Saturdays.