RRW 46
October 04, 2024
What a wet, wild and windy welcome to Rural Week 46 for 9 intrepid travellers joining Chris, Pete and Heather at Bicton on the Sunday evening. A broad group of 4 Army (including one former reservist), 2 RAF, 1 Royal Navy and 2 Royal Marines made for a lively discussion with plenty of banter flowing.
Monday morning started with an introduction to the week by Chris, followed by a Technology in the Land-based sector presentation by Ed Parrish, Director of Land-based at Bicton College. This is a rapidly growing area of importance across all sectors and Bicton College have launched a pioneering Agri-tech Engineering Centre and HighGround is delighted to be able to make use of the expertise on the rural week.
The first visit of the week took the group to meet Pete Wastenage on his dairy farm at Tidewll Barton, a familiar environment for some of the group who had grown up on dairy farms before joining the military.
The afternoon’s first visit was to Clinton Devon to meet John Wilding, Deputy Chief Executive, a great supporter, who introduced them to Forestry Management on a private estate.
A varied day was rounded out by a visit to Woodbury Park to meet Terry Perkins and Andy George and have an excellent introduction to Greenkeeping, an area of work not often at the forefront of careers thinking and the enthusiasm and knowledge shared is always eye-opening for HighGrounders. The evening talk was by Pete who took the group through the Wheel of Life, a thought-provoking tool to help identify areas of importance in each persons life and encourage individuals to think about what they value and what they want life post-military to look like.
A chilly Tuesday morning started by meeting Toby Taylor at RSPB Aylesbeare Common for an Environmental Conservation discussion. It was then on to Forestry England Haldon Forest Park to meet Josh Stephen and learn about the public side of Forestry Management which was an interesting comparison to Monday. Exeter Racecourse was a new visit which allowed the group to understand the breadth of opportunities available on a racecourse and in the racing industry. A visit to Rodney Hall’s organic farm to talk veg and crop production followed with useful insights into the realities of crop production. A fascinating evening talk by Dave Wright, Forest Ranger on the Crown Estate at Windsor rounded off a full day.
Tom Garner, from the Clinton Devon Estate started Wednesday with a talk about his Wildlife Management role. The group then headed to Killerton House , meeting Karl Emeleus, who gave a tour explaining Heritage Gardening and working for the National Trust, always much enjoyed given Karl’s progression through different roles within the organisation. After a much needed lunch back at Bicton where the Trustees had a chance to meet with the group and find out more about where our beneficiaries come from, they headed for the Outdoors Group to meet Nick Murphy and learn about Forest Schools. A very informative visit with Chris Bolton of Tony Benger Landscaping gave the group a chance to learn about horticultural landscaping which rounded off another busy day. Our evening speaker was Geoff Green, a dry stone waller and former Group Captain.
Thursday’s early start fuelled by another delicious breakfast, took the group to South Yeo Farm West where Debbie Kingsley’s always warm welcome provoked interesting discussion into smallholding. The always popular visit to Gotland Gin followed, with Mark and Dawn hosting a fascinating discussion and their journey upon leaving the military. To start the afternoon, Matt and Kirsty from Hi Line delivered another fun and informative Arboriculture session which. Ending the day, Robert Honan of Ascott Estate gave a fascinating talk on rural estate management and the routes into the profession which prompted questions and discussion especially around the skills service leavers bring to the sector.
Jamie Ranson (and Bramble) of Langore Tree Services in Cornwall joined us for breakfast and chat before an always useful insight into Self-Employment and portfolio working. Drawing the week to a close, Chris rounded up the learning from the week, Pete and Heather talked through next steps and support. After a full, engaging, and thought provoking week we wished wish safe journeys to our HighGrounders.
As always, we are incredibly grateful to our wonderful hosts, presenters and evening speakers for their continued support and for generously sharing knowledge, time, contacts and inspiration which makes these weeks so valuable. To all at Bicton, once again you have looked after us so well – thank you.
We gratefully acknowledge support from Greenwich Hospital for the Royal Navy beneficiaries and to others whose generosity have made this week possible.
Photos from the week can be viewed here
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