RRW44

March 22, 2024

A beautiful sunset welcomed us to Bicton College for the first Residential Rural Week of 2024. Six HighGrounders – 5 Army and 1 Royal Navy – travelled from as far as Edinburgh (!) with CEO Jamie Crisp and Simon Carafi (Chair of Trustees) also at the college to welcome everyone.

With the sun shining on Monday, Chris Shepherd our Course Leader welcomed everyone and outlined the rhythm of the week.  The first visit was to Pullhayes Farm to meet Jim Pyne to learn about dairy farming, agriculture and working for yourself before heading to Clinton Devon to meet John Wilding, Deputy Chief Executive who introduced us to Forestry Management on a private estate. Back at Bicton, Ed Parrish enlightened the group about technology in Agriculture, which was followed by a visit to Woodbury Park to meet Terry Perkins and Andy George and have an excellent introduction to Greenkeeping .(The evening talk was by Pete)

A busy Tuesday (sun still shining!) started with a visit to Rodney Hall’s organic farm to talk veg and crop production, followed by meeting Toby Taylor at RSPB Aylesbeare Common for an Environmental Conservation discussion. A return to Clinton Devon after lunch allowed the group to meet Tom Garner and learn about his Wildlife Management role. Back at Bicton, Zoe Elliot ____ gave an insightful talk on the Horseracing industry and careers in racing This was followed by online presentation by Ross Hocking who shared his reflections of the resettlement process and exploring entry routes into employment in the land-based sector. He joined us for a Rural Week in 2019 and now works for PGL  one of the largest providers of outdoor education – a fascinating and inspiring journey. To round off a busy day, Josey Field gave an  insight into the opportunities within the National Trust

With Wednesday dawning bright again, the group headed to Killerton House , meeting Karl Emeleus who gave a tour explaining Heritage Gardening and working for the National Trust. It was then on to Forestry England Haldon Forest Park to meet Josh Stephen and learn about the public side of Forestry Management. Back on the minibus, they headed for the Outdoors Group to meet Nick Murphy and learn about Forest School before heading back to Bicton. Matt and Kirsty from Hi Line delivered another fun and informative Arboriculture session in the park. The evening saw Alastair McGoldrick  give a talk on his journey from Royal Marine to business owner, giving much food for thought.

An early start on Thursday saw the first visit of the day to South Yeo Farm West where Debbie Kingsley gave a valuable insight into smallholding during a tour of her lovely farm. This was followed by a very popular visit to Gotland Gin providing a fascinating discussion on diversification and Mark and Dawn’s journey upon leaving the military.

The afternoon involved a visit to meet Tom Rich on Sir Harry Studholme’s Perridge estate to talk about Tom’s journey into Estate Management providing a useful contrast to visits earlier in the week.

Back at Bicton, we again welcomed Jamie Ranson for his Self-Employment session. Jamie joined us for a Rural Week in 2017 while he was still serving in the Army and now he runs his own business, Langore Tree Services in Cornwall. It has been quite a journey for Jamie and his family and we are always grateful to him for his generosity in sharing experiences with our HighGrounders both at Bicton and during our Virtual Rural Weeks.

To round off a very full and thought-provoking week, Robert Honan, Estate Manager for the Ascott estate in Bedfordshire delivered his excellent online presentation about Estate Management and the many routes into it. Finally, after Chris, Heather and Jamie talked through next steps and gave a debrief, it was time to say goodbye and wish safe journeys to our HighGrounders.

Thank you so much to our wonderful hosts, presenters and evening speakers for their continued support and generously sharing knowledge, time, contacts and inspiration which makes these weeks so valuable. Thank you also to everyone at Bicton for again looking after us so well.

We gratefully acknowledge support from Greenwich Hospital for the Royal Navy beneficiary and to others whose generosity have made this week possible.

Photos from the week can be seen here

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