history

EASTER 1972 – JULY 1976

I HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF THE P.E. STAFF AT CENTRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM AND OFTEN ESCORTED SCHOOL GROUPS TO THE SCHOOL COTTAGE AT BRYNTAIL FARM, NEAR CLYWEDOG DAM, LLANIDLOES. I QUALIFIED AS AN RYA SENIOR SAILING INSTRUCTOR AND TAUGHT...

I had been a member of the P.E. staff at Central Grammar School, Birmingham and often escorted school groups to the school cottage at Bryntail Farm, near Clywedog Dam, Llanidloes. I qualified as an RYA Senior Sailing Instructor and taught sailing to the pupils on Clywedog Reservoir.

In 1976 I was appointed Head of the P.E. ,Department at George Dixon School, Birmingham and decided, prior to interview, that if I got the job, although I loved teaching, I would not want to be in schools for another 35 years, and that my next move would be into a new career, still associated with children, but not actually in a school. In my new job I missed my visits to Bryntail Cottage, and Clywedog.

JUNE 1978

1ST YEAR FOR: LEOMINSTER JUNIOR SCHOOL

We set up a company called Youth Outdoors. The name was suggested by Jennie Austerberry, my Mother-in-law and was to be changed to Red Ridge Holidays at a later date when we realised that much of our work was not with youth! Leominster Primary School were our very first customers. Lorna Firth, the group leader gave a simple brief: “I just want tent accommodation in a rough field for 50 pupils each weekend, for two consecutive weekends” Rosie Smith, Head of Girls’ P.E. and myself erected family frame tents at Bryntail Farm, Llanidloes, for 50 pupils, working all through the night on Thursday evening, returning to Birmingham just in time to teach at George Dixon School on Friday. They returned to Bryntail just in time to repair the storm damage before the pupils arrived on Friday evening. Rosie and Pete then dismantled all tents on Sunday evening and repeated the same process the following weekend. It poured with rain and the wind howled for all of both weekends. A toilet tent flew over the hills at one point leaving a very embarrassed ten year old sitting on a Elson toilet in the middle of the field. It was a tiring nightmare. Leominster Primary School continue to use Red Ridge to this day. In fact, the teacher leading the group since 2002 is one of the ten year olds from that first visit! Rosie and Pete had spent several months chasing every family frame tent advertised second hand in the Birmingham newspapers.

JUNE 1979

FREE CAMPING IN EXCHANGE FOR PONY TREKKING DEAL!

We negotiated with Mike and Meg Oliver of the Cefn Coch Inn. They allowed us to camp with our groups on one of their fields. We could also have free use of the toilet block on their caravan site in exchange for all of our customers paying to use their pony trekking facilities. We attracted various school groups and we sat on boards, balanced on blocks, at trestle tables for our meals.

1980

A LEAP OF FAITH! PETE & SUE JUMP IN AT THE DEEP END AND DECIDE TO BUY AN OLD FARMHOUSE.

We were pony trekking with Peter and Deanna, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law from Canada. We rode down the lane towards what is now the Red Ridge Centre, and saw an old farm house for sale. They were beautiful stone buildings but in a very poor state and roof looked as if it might to cave in. The owners were abandoning it to move to a modern house in Llanfair Caereinion, although they would continue to farm the land. Being from the city, and not seeing the potential, we took one look at it and said “What sort of person is ever going to buy that”. One month later Sue and I rang Peter and Deanna in Canada and told them that we now knew the sort of person that would buy it. It was us! We bought Plas Y Drain, with about an acre of ground. We had a mile long trench dug from the main road and brought in mains water. A number of our new neighbours also drew water from this pipe. We rebuilt the house, whilst living in an old mobile home, and gradually purchased more acreage until we had a total of 7 acres. I left my teaching post at Christmas 1980. The first winter we lived in an old mobile home at the back of the house whilst we began to rebuild it. It was a very cold winter with weeks of snow and ice. Our water froze and we had to boil water from the stream which was covered, for the most part with a foot of ice. Our two children slept on a mattress in the tiny bathroom of the mobile home, from which we had removed the bath and wc. It was the worst winter for many years and the lane was totally blocked for weeks on end by many feet of snow. Snow drifted over the roof of the mobile home and was excellent insulation against the cold.

1981

YOUTH OUTDOORS CHANGES IT'S NAME TO RED RIDGE AND BECOMES A LIMITED COMPANY.

On 27th August 1981 we became a limited company called Red Ridge Holidays Ltd. I had charged a friend with finding a new name for our business. After 3 months we sat chatting and decided that if we could not find a name we would have to call it after something locally. Perhaps take something like ‘Cefn Coch’ and translate it I said without thinking. Our very limited Welsh was sufficient to have us understand that ‘Cefn Coch’ translated as ‘Red Ridge’. That’s it we both shouted, in unison. The two ‘rs’ gave us alliteration, ‘Ridge’ sounded appropriate for an outdoor centre, so ‘Red Ridge Centre’ it became. We built just a toilet block at Plas Y Drain using the plans that Mike Oliver had used for his toilet block at the caravan site. We gradually increased the electricity supply, which had only been sufficient for an old cottage, up to the 3 phase connection we have today. Initial quotes for this were in access of ￡12,000 and kept reducing until Manweb offered us the connection for ￡640.00. We accepted and signed instantly!

1982 - 1983

1ST YEAR FOR BNEI BRITH & MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY

Kitchen and dining room were in a large marquee
Groups slept 8 in each tent on relatively comfortable thick yellow plastic mattresses.

1984

1ST YEAR FOR HABONIM DROR & HAMILTON INDUSTRIAL UNIT

When Neil arrived to start his first day working at Red Ridge the dining room had just 3 sheets of tin on the roof and the walls were only up to window height. We finished the roof and used the old white marquee sides as walls to complete the walls above the windows. We called this very basic building “the permanent marquee” and used it as a kitchen and dining area. The groups still slept in tents.

1985

1ST YEAR FOR WIGMORE HIGH SCHOOL AND BNEI AKIVA

Rob Baldwin starts work.

We are still in tents this year

1986

BUILDING THE LAKE.

We had initial plans drawn up to build a lake for kayaking upstream of the Red Ridge Centre. Hywel and Brenda Benbow came to see us, as they often would, in an evening, and they looked over the plans and listened intently as we explained what we would would be doing with the new lake. As Hywel rose to leave he said simply, “why do you want to put it there?” He sat down again and told us that he and Brenda had always wanted to look at a lake from their window. “Did we mind where the lake was constructed?” We scrapped our own plans and Hywel and Brenda built the lake which we have used for kayaking ever since, in view of their bungalow. Hywel and Brenda had alsways been the most friendly, helpful and supportive neighbours that we could have wished for. The lake was constructed and we opened the pipe to fill it with water on the day of Abi’s christening, Saturday 9th May 1987. Brenda was Godmother to Abi. Abi was christened by Sidney, her grandfather, an archdeacon, on the front lawn, next to a pen containing two very noisy peacocks. Over 100 members of the Jones family attended the christening, which was part of a Jones family reunion, weekend. My father was one of a family of 8, Phyliss, Gwen, George, Jim, Ethel, Kate, Christopher.

1988

WORK ON THE FIRST FLOOR BEGINS.

The beginning of the 1st Floor. Davies Bros, Builders, constructed 6 new bedrooms upstairs. Initially they had been jacking up the old roof and attempting to build underneath. Unfortunately we had a gale and the entire roof blew off just as Rob and myself were leaving to teach skiing to a disability group in Aviemore, Scotland. Incredibly, we were able to dismantle the apparently smashed roof and re-install it when the building had been completed. Everything was re-used (The roof has since been replaced fully).