The History of Red Ridge

    (under construction - please help us with dates and photographs if you have them!)

Easter 1972 - July 1976  I, Pete Jones, had been a member of the P.E. staff at Central Grammar School, Birmingham. I often escorted school groups to the school cottage at Bryntail Farm, near Clywedog Dam, Llanidloes. I qualified as a Senior Sailing Instructor with the RYA and taught sailing on the Clywedog Reservoir. I became Head of P.E. at George Dixon School, Birmingham in September 1978. I decided prior to interview that if I got the job, although I loved teaching, I wanted to get out of teaching after 5 years and seek a new challenge. I missed my visits to Bryntail. Sue, my wife, had been an acting deputy head and left teaching in January 1978 when pregnant with Becky, our first daughter.

June 1978
Instructors:
Domestic staff:
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
Instructors:
Domestic staff:
1st Year for: Tenterfields Primary School
1st Year for: Somers Park
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
Instructors:
Domestic staff:
I was 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. The buildings were in a very poor state and roof looked about 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 idiot is ever going to buy that". One month later Sue and I rang Peter and Deanna in Canada and told them that the idiots had been found. It was us! We bought Plas Y Drain, with about an acre of ground. We had trenches dug and brought in mains water from the main road just over a mile away. We offered water to others in the road for a payment of £1050.00 per connection. 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
Instructors:
Domestic staff:
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 withou 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
Instructors:
Domestic staff:

1983
Instructors:Roger Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff:
1st Year for: Bnei Brith
1st Year for: 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
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Roger Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff:
1st Year for: Habonim Dror
1st Year for: Hamilton Industrial Unit
April - Neil Richardson starts work.
June - Kay Morris starts work
When Neil arrived 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 winddows. We called this very basic building "the permanent marquee" and used it as a kitchen and dining area.

1985
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob. Roger Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff:
1st Year for: Wigmore High School
1st Year for: Bnei Akiva
Rob Baldwin starts work.
We were still in tents this year.

1986
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Roger (Freelance)
Domestic staff:
1st Year for:

1987
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Roger and Jamie Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff:
We had initial plans drawn up to build a lake for kayaking upstream of the Red Ridge Centre. Hywel Benbow came to see us and after listening intently to our plans 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. The lake was filled with water on the day of Abi's christening, Saturday 9th May 1987. Brenda was Godmother to Abi.

1988
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Roger and Jamie Drummond (Freelance)

Domestic staff:
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).

1989
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj.
Neil and Kay get married October 28th 1989. We nearly lynched Andy Houlston when he removed the wedding dress via a small window, in the dark, at the dead of night! (Luckily the dress was not marked.) The electricity for the area failed an hour or so prior to the wedding and only came back on just in time for the organist to play Kay down the aisle. Red Ridge instructors provided escort from the Church on white ATV motorcycles.
We moved the entrance road to its present position.
Rob spent the year in Australia

1990
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Glenys H, Glenys B, Trichia, Kay
1st Year for: Anglia University
1st Year for: St James R.C High School
April 1990 - Neil and Kay move from their flat in the centre into their new house near the entrance to the centre
Their old flat is converted into a drying room and new bedroom. We believe that the Zip Wire was constructed this year. We think we finished sailing on Clywedog this year.

1991
Instructors: Neil, Kay, Rob, Matt, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Glenys H, Glenys B, Marj.
Office staff: Sue, Pete.
1st Year for: Exeter House Special School, Wolverhampton University

1992
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Tim, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie.
Office staff: Sue, Pete.
1st Year for: Widney Junior School

1993
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Tim, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Sue, Pete.

1994
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Tim, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Fiona, Sue, Pete.
Fiona was a lecturer in Business studies and and brought her college group to us on many occasions. She wrote to me asking if we were busy in the office and could we utilise her skills. I wrote to her 3 months later explaining that my tardiness in getting back to her perhaps suggested that, indeed, we did need her help and her skills! We built the new kit store on the end of the house.

1995
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Fiona, Sue, Pete.

1996
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Fiona, Sue, Pete.
Joe Parker came on work experience.
Games room being completed. 8 new bedrooms being completed

1997
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Roger(Freelance),Jamie Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Fiona, Sue, Pete.

1998
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Roger and Jamie Drummond (Freelance)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
Jude started as Office Manager in June 1998.
Jay started work again in the Autumn after her near fatal brain haemorrhage
We are all thrilled when, at the Staff Christmas Dinner, Rob confidently announces that Carolyn his partner, is pregnant. He had only just been told and had promised not to spread the news just yet! George was born in August 1999.

1999
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance), (Becky)
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
September - Ross starts work. Ross had previously been to Red Ridge on work experience with Caereinion High School.

2000
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt G, Tim, Matt Nunns, Ross, Joe, Becky, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance),
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Jay.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
April - Joe starts work. Joe had previously been to Red Ridge on work experience with Welshpool High School.

2001
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Tim, Ross, Joe, Becky, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance).
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Nic.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
We laid a tarmac surface for basketball and football
New artificial caving area constructed.

2002
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Ross, Joe, (Becky),(Nic), Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance),
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Nic.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
New instructor bedrooms constructed and new classroom. Tennis court constructed.

2003
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Matt, Ross, Joe, Mike, Martin, Nic, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance),
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Nic, Wendy.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
Mike Lewis arrived in June to replace Matt Griffiths who left us at the end July, having found a long term partner. Tracy had been a teacher bring groups to us from Birmingham and she had succesfully applied for a teaching job in the Lake District. Matt left us after 14 years to set up home with her. New visitor lounge constructed.
The dining room was refurbished with new attractive lighting, round dining tables and new dining chairs.
We stopped using go-karts this year.

2004
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Ross, Joe, Mike, Nic, NeilJ, Martin, Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance).
Domestic staff: Marj, Marjie, Nic, Wendy.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
February - Neil Jackman First day as Head of Care and Instructor. Neil previously worked at Red Ridge for one year, some ten years ago, and has been Head of Care at Churchtown, the Scope centre.
Our orienteering wood/forest was chopped down.

2005
Instructors: Neil, Rob, Ross, Joe, Mike, NeilJ, Henry Rogers,(Martin), (Tim), (Dom), Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance),
Domestic staff: Marj, Marji, Wendy, Susan Richards,
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
February - Fudge, the well loved crazy centre cat jumped off the roof onto a board which flicked up and smashed her against the wall. She died from her injuries.
June - Rob fitted his new retrieval system on the zip wire. It comprises an old bike bought from the local scrapyard and works brilliantly.
August - Joe has a new idea for the brake at the bottom of the Zip wire. We adopt his idea. This also works brilliantly.
September - Wendy sadly died suddenly just two months after her wedding to Alan Oliver.
September - The Hot Tub was installed and work started on the new fitness room and Sauna.

2006
Instructors: Neil Richardson, Rob Baldwin, Joe Parker, Henry Rogers, Mike Cornish, Dan Morris, John Deacon, Ian Blessley, (Tim), (Ross), Roger, Jamie and Alistair Drummond (Freelance), Rob Miller and Conor Brown (Freelance).
Domestic staff: Marj Oliver, Marji James, Susan Richards, Rachael Smylie, Emma Richardson.
Office staff: Jude, Sue, Pete.
February - The new fitness room was completed.
February - We formally close the Childrens' Home and the rent it out.