RALEIGH ESTATE
come down from sussex twice a year in the 1930s and stay at the Royal Castle Hotel.
“The estate continued under the watchful eye of an estate manager until our mum and dad decided in 1974 to move down from sussex – to do the ‘Good Life’ thing! Dad had a furniture factory, which he relocated to Newton Abbot and they moved into Hole Farm overlooking Old Mill Creek. At that point Hole Farm was still being farmed with horses, there was no electricity and there was just one cold-water tap from the well. Rob and I were desperate to move out as soon as we moved in!”
Their sister Helen was born after
they moved to Hole Farm and they all learned to love the country way of life and have fond memories of idyllic summers – climbing trees, sailing, playing in the woods – “doing all the things kids should do!” Duncan and sarah continue to look after the farms on the estate and also manage around 40 moorings in Old Mill Creek.
All three children attended the local primary school in Dartmouth before going off to boarding school in Plymouth.
After school, Nik taught sailing and watersports in the Mediterranean for seven years and then lived in Plymouth managing training and development for China Clay producer Imerys. Rob went to university in London and worked for the book publishers HarperCollins, travelled the Americas, and worked for the BBC in Bristol. Helen moved to London to train as a nanny, following in her mum’s footsteps – sarah worked as a Norland Nanny in London, including a stint working for the speaker of the Houses of Parliament – before settling back at Hole Farm. Rob and Nik moved back to Hole Farm eight years ago to bring up their own families. Along with their sister Helen they have seven children between them, all at local schools: “We
fill up half the local school bus!” Rob is running a web design and
marketing company from the estate and Nik divides his time between management consultancy, outdoor education and running a firewood business.
Rob said: “Nik and I always dreamt about building a business from the estate and now we are building a collection of them. The more we can diversify, the more we can ensure the sustainability of the estate” “For the last few years we have been
focussing on developing the estate as a centre for outdoor education in partnership with a company called young spirit. We also work with other local companies such as sea Kayak Devon, Monty Halls Great escapes, Dart Adventures & alternative hen weekend organisers, Babes in the Woods. We’ve also just started working with disaster relief charity shelterbox to provide corporate training. The forestry side of the estate is
also very active - with around 250 acres of mixed hard and soft wood, . The commercial crop of softwoods are currently due for harvesting. sadly, the discovery of Phytophthora Ramorum (sudden Oak Death) has accelerated this process. On orders from the Forestry Commission to reduce the spread of this disease , they have so far had to fell about 20 acres. Work is also being undertaken to improve sandquay Wood with all softwoods being cleared to be replaced with broadleaved woodland. Nik said: “We recognise that the true value of the woodland is in the activities we can do in them and this is driving our business strategy. We are keen to let managed access to this wonderful resource, and have permissive footpaths through some of the private woodland. The school residential trips are a real hit - the children canoe in from Dittisham and approach the estate from the water. It’s another world for a lot of them
and they love their stay here – using bushcraft to develop valuable life-skills. “We’re very proud of what we’re
achieving here. We aim to make it sustainable to live on the estate and generate employment for others so people can earn an income from its resources.
At all times we try very hard to
keep a sustainable approach to the estate that fits our ethos – low impact activities on the environment.” For more information on the estate visit
www.raleighestate.co.uk By Kate Cotton
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