JOHN RIDGWAY
“Leave people and places better than you fi nd them”
Atlantic. This is the memory that has haunted Ridgway every day for the last 40 years. “How easily that could have been us,” he refl ects.
After his successful 93-day trip, Ridgway’s life was changed forever. The John Ridgway School of Adventure, set in the rugged beauty of the almost inaccessible Ardmore Peninsula, opened in 1968 with three principles: self-reliance, positive thinking, and “Leave people and places better than you fi nd them”. It was started with the help of his beautiful Irish wife Marie Christine, whom he met over a game of roulette and soon married, when she was just 20 years old. It was in this harsh environment of paraffi n lamps and peat fi res – no electricity for the fi rst 18 years – that Marie Christine, who had worked at the Arts Council in London, found herself, surrounded by macho escapists, marathon runners, round-the-world yachtsmen, rock climbers and fi tness fanatics of every stripe. “I decided to beat them by joining them,” she has explained. “I’ve learned survival the hard way. I cooked, administrated and smoked salmon, as well as being a very keen gardener and a full-time wife to a formidable, hard-driving but vulnerable man. I have accompanied John on his tough and always demanding adventures over the years.”
On one of these, the family, including daughter Rebecca, decided to adopt Elizabeth, a six-year-old Quechua Indian girl from the Peruvian jungle whose murdered father had saved John’s life on the Amazon 15 years earlier (the story is told in his book Road to Elizabeth). One memorable TV programme documented a multinational company’s team-building week for some of its ‘precious’ employees. Their arrival at Inverness airport was noted with interest by Ridgway and they were bundled into the back of his ancient Land Rover for the uncomfortable two-and-a-half-hour ride to that track. Their Boss suits and Gucci shoes did not look so good after the ‘stroll’ to his house where their dinner and accommodation were waiting for them – on board his 57ft (17.3m) Holman & Pye ketch English Rose VI, anchored in the loch about half a mile off. He gave them
48 CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2012
one waterproof bag each, and told them to strip off and swim. “Leave your crocodile suitcases in the shed over there, you won’t be needing them.” That was a typical start to one of his courses. He has sailed extensively and around the world three times: a Whitbread in 1977/8, the non-stop record in 1983/4 and lastly in 2003/4 – the Save the Albatross voyage with his wife. In 1992 his daughter Rebecca became the fi rst woman to kayak around Cape Horn – she now runs Ridgway Adventure. Born on July 8, 1938, John Manfi eld Ridgway never knew his parents. Maybe this unfortunate start as an orphan contributed to the determination and resourcefulness that have served him so well in his life. Now at the ripe age of 73, he still has that formidable presence. Mentally as fi t, he has an ever-enquiring mind and a quick eye for the ladies. In our last communication I said I’d be up next spring to do some aerial photography of the outer islands. Quick as a fl ash he said, “Great, bring up the delightful Joanna. I’ll look after her while you do a few days fl ying about.” Now was I born yesterday?
RELAUNCHED ADVENTURE SCHOOL Retirement is not a Ridgway word. Having loosened the reins a few years back he is busy adapting to these diffi cult times. With his elder daughter Rebecca he successfully relaunched the Ridgway Adventure School just over a year ago.
After our visit Ridgway offered to take us back to the track by dinghy – but not quite to the landing stage. We were deposited on a steep slippery bank; it then took a further 30 minutes of walking through sharp terrain and stinging insects to reach our car. Our last view of him was a wave and a laugh as he retreated in the pale green boat across the water to Ardmore. Maybe it was our penalty for forgetting the biscuits.
Ridgway Adventure Ltd, Ardmore, Rhiconich by Lairg, Sutherland IV27 4RB. Tel: (+44) 01971 521006
www.ridgway-adventure.co.uk;
www.johnridgway.co.uk
Above: The cover of Ridgway and Blyth’s account of their Atlantic row
John, left with English Rose III, and, right, Marie Christine Ridgway at Ardmore
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PATRICK ROACH
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