Fitz in the community Episode 2 - Dartmoor Zoo & RAF Odiham

Listen to the latest episode of Fitz in the community here, or through Spotify, Amazon music or Google play.

This Week Fitz travels to Dartmoor Zoo to meet the new arrivals, up to RAF Odiham to meet a few fellow Devonians and asks that question, how far would you travel for a rugby match?

Click play now above to listed or view the full transript below:

00:08 - Fitz (Host)
Well, a new venue and a different day, but it's still the community of Devon. Now, normally when you squint through the hedge-rows. I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of breath, this is a very steep hill, but normally when you squint through the hedge-rows you see, I don't know, a belted galloway, a herd of sheep, maybe the odd duck. Well, I can see some Canada geese, two tapia and some emus, what oh, and a Patagonian mara and Capabara and a freeloading Muscovy duck. I'm at Dartmoor Zoo and they've asked me to drop in because they have a very special new visitor. I'll find out from the experts in a moment what it is and where it's from. Capabara are ridiculous looking things. They're sort of giant South American hamsters, and I mean huge the size of Labrador's, and one, two, three, four, five of them are staring at me at the moment and they're probably looking at me thinking "what a ridiculous looking creature. Well, I said we have one new visitor at the zoo. In fact we've got several and Coral is with us at the moment. Coral, your role within the zoo.

01:32 - Coral (Guest)
So I'm the Chief Operating Officer of the zoo.

01:34 - Fitz (Host)
Well, first of all I can see Dik-Dik, which are so sweet little antelopes. But who stood between us and the antelope?

01:42 - Coral (Guest)
Oh, so we have got Derek, which is our great crowned crane very difficult to say at times and Derek has been joined by his new girlfriend called Sheila. Oh, Sheila, she's just right there.

01:58 - Fitz (Host)
Oh, I'm with you. Yeah, sheila, you're very pretty, so why new girlfriend?

02:04 - Coral (Guest)
So Derek was matched with a female called Marge and unfortunately Marge passed away recently and their, monogamous, they stayed together for life. So he was quite upset and he was mourning, so we thought we had to quite quickly find a new match for him. So it was a bit of a dating mission and in the meantime he was given a mirror to help with his recognition of other cranes around him, which kept him very happy.

02:32 - Fitz (Host)
And personal grooming yeah personal grooming, yeah.

02:35 - Coral (Guest)
And then we managed to match him really quickly with Sheila and Sheila came in from another collection in the UK and it is Love at First Sight and they have been absolutely superb together. Literally from the moment they met each other they fell in love, so it's been a really lovely love story oh brilliant, of course animals do.

02:55 - Fitz (Host)
Some animals do pair for life, and they can suffer from all sorts of trauma if one passes away. You've got some beautiful birds in here. That's a roller, isn't it?

03:06 - Coral (Guest)
Yeah, a lilac breasted roller up there. And then we've got the white cheek turacose, along with the infamous Dik-dik.

03:14 - Fitz (Host)
Dik-dik, yeah, which have gone, gone. Years ago I was in Kenya and a Dik-Dik had been mauled by one of the local leopards, but they managed to rescue it and it was living in a little shed in the garden of this hotel. Love it. Shall we press on through the zoo, because I think Ben Mee is wandering in the wild? That's the noise of a happy amour leopard. I'm not sure Ben, Ben Mee, the owner of Dartmoor Zoo, is that animal happy.

03:49 - Ben (Guest)
He's just telling us he's here, I think, and he's saying where's the food? If you're going to come into my house, at least have the decency to bring me something. It's just, you know, a normal dinner party etiquette, right.

04:00 - Fitz (Host)
What a beautiful creature. As I say, I've got a 15-year-old Siamese who makes the same sort of noise, but there was a different ratio aspect there with this animal, the paws alone.

04:12 - Ben (Guest)
Oh, he's huge and he's actually only about 45 kilos underneath all that fur, because a lot of the fur is there because he's from the Amur region of Russia, which is sort of basically in the middle of Siberia. So he's a Siberian leopard, effectively, and he's got slightly longer legs than an African leopard for dealing with snow drifts and and slightly webbed paws as well for the same reason. But he moves differently from all the other cats here We've now got every, all five of the big cats. He's a combination of them all.

04:47
You know there's a bit of tiger you can see in him occasionally when he's stalking. He looks like one of the, he looks like a cheetah and he's got the eyes of the Lynx. He's a kind of beautiful mixture of everything. But what's good about leopards or many things, is that they're they're not the apex predator, so they've got Things above them that can take their food off them and that keeps them on their toes. So they're extremely versatile cats. I think they've got the Leopard all together have the widest range of any cat because they have to adapt to lots of different niches. He's perfectly adapted for the snow. He's already bred on part of the critically endangered breeding program and we're hoping that we can breed him again.

05:29 - Fitz (Host)
Well, he's just venturing outside at the moment. He's got his own Wonderful area that has been designed to keep him happy.

05:36 - Ben (Guest)
It has indeed, and it's been carefully planted, among other things, by our sister charity grow for good Southwest. So Dave Sharp from there carefully selected Siberian larch trees , which these little ones you can see in front, and cherry trees, which also grow, native in Siberia. So if he does have offspring, they'll grow up surrounded by sights and smells that are familiar to them.

06:03 - Fitz (Host)
Well, you say offspring, what are the chances of finding Another amour Leopard, eBay pretty rare. I checked before I came out.

06:11 - Ben (Guest)
Well, there's a, There's a zoo dating site called Zims where he's registered and we've been swiping away to find him a mate. But it's entirely up to the stud book and for us to Fundraise actually for a breeding facility to go alongside this, we just need a sort of a cubbing den. Part of the infrastructure is already here, as you can see. We accepted some fantastic donations like meddings group steelworks came see, these overhangs are Twice as big as a normal overhang because these are particularly jumpy big cats. We've had a few other key donors. The arc steel came and did all the steel work for the glass completely for free, and it's meant that this enclosure is now. It's gone from being a sort of dis, almost disused quarry to One of the be most beautiful and well appointed enclosure on the site and of course, this is not just Come and stare at the cat.

07:09 - Fitz (Host)
This is a breeding program, this is a preservation program. I know you put your heart and soul into this place. It's, it's truly magical when you walk through those gates the hill nearly killed me to get here, but I must admit, it's great to be here.

07:23 - Ben (Guest)
Yeah, no, this, this really is the culmination of so much hard work, of Site-wide. You know it's not just getting this one animal site itself has to be in a, you know, healthy position to be able to cope with looking after a creature like this. We've got the most amazing team of keepers with depth of knowledge and, and all the support staff, the volunteers and, you know, every aspect of the zoo is now up to us, is up to a Point where we can hold our head up high and say, yes, we can, we can have amour leopard leopard, which really is a badge of honor. You see, just a just next door to him, if Separate, or a couple ten meters away, it's Kimmy the lioness who's looking over here, thinking. The last time an animal came into this enclosure it was my boyfriend and this boy does not look anything like him. She's extremely interested in the new arrival. You can see now that we're just getting a walk past from Fredo's he pads past us.

08:21 - Fitz (Host)
Ben's to got a wonderful red bucket. Oh, and this animal, the. He is so beautiful. He's now on his back paws. Oh, did you have too much there?

08:35 - Ben (Guest)
Have.

08:36 - Fitz (Host)
I heard a leopard burp. Is he captive bred?

08:53 - Ben (Guest)
Yes, oh yes, he's actually fairly easy to handle. Yes, I mean, he's parent reared but captive bred, so he's not you know, he's picked up his social cues from his mum and dad, but he's, you know, almost nothing. In zoo captivity has been caught in the wild. The idea is to put them back as much as you can. We've actually, the new binterong we've discovered was probably caught in the wild because he was rescued from the pet trade and we've chased it back. His subspecies is only found in a particular area where there's a high trafficking rate for those animals, so that's one of the reasons why he's so shy and freaked out is that he's literally been snatched from the jungle in Thailand probably.

09:41 - Fitz (Host)
Can we explain what a binterong is?

09:43 - Ben (Guest)
Not really, really difficult to explain. Think of a black climbing womble. He's a bear cat. He's a civet. He's a large civet really. But that doesn't really help, does it? It doesn't Designed by committee. Designed by committee. Beautiful, yeah well put. He climbs really well, but slowly. He's like a raccoon dog, but then not anyone else. He's like a climbing raccoon dog, but anyway, he's a nice guy and he's a nice guy.

10:14 - Fitz (Host)
He needs love.

10:15 - Ben (Guest)
He does need love and we've been on Zim's looking for some friends for him. But again, because his subspecies is so rare it's hard to find. But as soon as we do we'll get him a female and ideally hope to try to redress the balance of him being taken from the wild by putting something back.

10:33 - Fitz (Host)
I think there was a grumbling lion there as well, oh, lioness.

10:37 - Ben (Guest)
Yes, she's now just complaining that he's clearly had his food. He's the new favourite. Where's my dinner? Listen to that.

10:45 - Coral (Guest)
Good.

10:48 - Fitz (Host)
Have you ever had any complaints from the neighbours?

10:52 - Ben (Guest)
I think if you get a house near here, you tend to know that this is part of the deal. We do hear that the golfers on the golf course opposite often bring faint-hearted people to play here so that they have an advantage, because people are usually put off in a large roaring distance. So you're about to take your swing.

11:11 - Fitz (Host)
Ben, thank you so much for what you do for the community, and he's gone.

11:18 - Ben (Guest)
He got some gore left, but that'll be handy for getting him into sleep tonight. First few nights you definitely want him in, and there's a bit of a storm tonight, I think I think so.

11:32 - Fitz (Host)
That was an incredible experience. You suddenly realise the size and power of these animals and also, I have to say, the dedication and love that Ben Mee has put into this zoo. So I'm now going down the hill, past the tapir who's just being fed, and there's a. Is that an emu or an ostrich? One of the two, squinting through the fence at me, doesn't like the look of me at all. Another day out with Fitz in your community. Where to next? Again, I have no idea. But will it top being stared down by an amour leopard who was grumbling at me because he wanted just a bit more meat? Let's find out. The community is outside of my community, your community. At the moment we're not in Devon, we're in Hampshire, but I am at least with Devonians.

12:50 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
First of all, flight left tenant Matt Dudley, born and raised in Ivybridge, and.

12:55 - Fitz (Host)
Andy Parker, born and raised in Barnstaple. We're all a long way from home. Today. I was going to say we're beside a runway is that a proper term, because helicopters don't need runways.

13:04 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
It's a pan, it's beside the pan. I'd say I do what I reckon.

13:06 - Andy Parker (Guest)
That is indeed a pan. It's a very wet pan with not a lot of tunic activity going on. The fact that it's the same size as Barnstaple alarms me.

13:15 - Fitz (Host)
What helicopters, what things can you tell us about that operate from here?

13:19 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
So we're currently at RAF Odiham. We're at the home of the tunic force. I've been stationed here since 2019. And it's gone into. Parker, you've been here.

13:28 - Andy Parker (Guest)
Since 2013,. So a little bit longer which for an? Engineer is ridiculous amount of time.

13:33 - Fitz (Host)
What made you come here? What made you leave?

13:36 - Andy Parker (Guest)
So I actually left when I was 17 to join the Air Force and I've been around a fair bit, but obviously always going back to my roots when I can. And then I've flown around and ended up at Odiham, loved it and stayed here for the last seven years, and this will be my last tour as well, so looking forward to going back to Barnstaple.

13:53 - Fitz (Host)
I know both of you are leaving the force, but tonight we've got a special award. What is happening in the huge hangar behind us?

13:59 - Andy Parker (Guest)
So this is the Royal Air Force Odiham Promise and Fulfill Awards, which effectively celebrate the outstanding achievements from the servicemen and the community and the civil servants that support both the opportunities across Odiham and the community and also the operational side of what Chinooks can achieve. And it's also a celebration of the last 12 months of what we've achieved on station.

14:22 - Fitz (Host)
What we should explain what a Chinook or a Chinook is. It's probably the largest helicopter that flies in Great Britain.

14:29 - Andy Parker (Guest)
Yeah, I believe it is. Yeah, twinrotor, I'm pretty sure most people from Devon have seen them fly over at some point because they do a lot of training down there and I think before you see them you definitely hear them.

14:40 - Fitz (Host)
The traditional, shall I say wakka wakka sounds, sound, I remember 1987 in the Falklands, the door fell off the back of one and killed a prized sheep. It's amazing how many farmers lose their top animals when the RAF are involved. Let's move on from that controversial comment. Do You miss Ivy Bridge?

14:58 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
I do in a way. Yeah, it's nice to go back to it. So, leaving it a number of years ago, it's always exciting to drive back to Devon, so it's nice to be able to go home and definitely going to get back there at some point in life. It's funny that you spend a lot of time with a kid thinking I want to get away. Second, you get away, you want to go back. So, yeah, I definitely want to go back at some point, going back over Christmas, so I'll see you there.

15:19 - Fitz (Host)
Back in Ivybridge. I won't see you in Barnstable, though. You're not Well you never know.

15:23 - Andy Parker (Guest)
Well, yeah, actually we're going home for Christmas. I can say home now, because that's where we're going to move to. So, yeah, and hopefully the weather will be better than in Is at Odiham, sunny Devon and all that Well yeah, it's pretty cold and there's not a helicopter in sight.

15:34 - Fitz (Host)
What's what's happened?

15:35 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
I'm not sure there's something on the far side. That noise in the background is not a helicopter, but I think, that's the jazz band turning up.

15:42 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
That's the jazz band.

15:44 - Matt Dudley (Guest)
Looking good. There's something on the far side turning, but nothing in the immediate area.

15:50 - Fitz (Host)
Better tune than the van.

15:52 - Andy Parker (Guest)
That sounds a bit more like a Chinnok to be honest.

15:58 - Fitz (Host)
Right, I'm off to see a rugby match Devonport services versus Lonsdon the All Blacks. I go most weekends when I'm in the city, but I know there's a couple that always sit behind me and they have travelled miles to go to Devonport. Let's go and talk to them.

16:19 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
Jeffrey Goldworthy.

16:20 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Margaret Goldworthy.

16:22 - Fitz (Host)
This is Devonport services rugby club. Where are you from?

16:26 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
Barnstable North Devon.

16:28 - Fitz (Host)
Why come all this way? This is your club, though, by the looks of it, I played down here from 1968 to 1973.

16:36 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
I was Royal Air Force Chivner. We're still there.

16:40 - Fitz (Host)
And you drag along with him.

16:41 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Well, yeah, this is my hometown. I was born in Plymouth and left here when I was 21. So this is coming home for me.

16:49 - Fitz (Host)
So North Devon, does it compare to Plymouth?

16:54 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Yes, it's very nice in North Devon. I don't think I'd like to live in Plymouth again. It's too big because you know Barnstable is so much smaller. But that's life, isn't it? As long as you can visit now and again, that's fine.

17:07 - Fitz (Host)
So what did you do for a living? I take it you're retired now, of course.

17:12 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Firstly, I worked for a chartered accountant, a friend of yours.

17:20 - Fitz (Host)
Who shall remain nameless?

17:22 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Then I went to work for his dad for a while as secretary to the sales manager, and one morning I had this instinct to go into town and join the Air Force. Are you joined as well? So I did, and that's where we met.

17:39 - Fitz (Host)
Oh how long have you been married?

17:42 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
61 years. 61 years.

17:46 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
Try and look a little more happy about that.

17:51 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
He doesn't need a medal for that. And three children. So, yes, we've had a happy life, really Moved around various places, lived in Germany for three years, which was lovely, yes, and really enjoyed it.

18:06 - Fitz (Host)
I'm just looking at people in the community. Devon is a unique community. It's a wonderful place, do you agree?

18:12 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Definitely, definitely. Yes, I love it. So many places I was taken to when I was a child, you know, to the beach when dad was home from the war. You know it was lovely yeah.

18:25 - Fitz (Host)
Your father served as well.

18:26 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Yes, he was in the army.

18:28 - Fitz (Host)
Well, thankfully he made it.

18:30 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
Yes he did yes, bless him, yes. Good days when we were young.

18:35 - Fitz (Host)
Well, we're taking on Lonston today. Is that a player or a ball boy? I would have thought Lonston would be taller. It's a ball boy, Both of you. Thank you very much indeed for travelling how far to get here.

18:48 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
Oh, it's about 97 miles.

18:51 - Fitz (Host)
To watch rugby.

18:53 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
And meet friends.

18:54 - Fitz (Host)
Yeah, that's the main thing, isn't it?

18:56 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
That's right, that's right, yeah it is that song that when the boys are back in town? That brings back memories for me, because when the Marines were, you know when I was playing with some Marines here. Two of them are dead now.

19:12 - Fitz (Host)
That is the way of things, especially when it comes to the military family.

19:16 - Jeffrey Goldworthy (Guest)
Suddenly, they've gone, they've gone. Whenever he plays it, it brings back a lot of memories for me.

19:22 - Fitz (Host)
Thank you so much for talking to me today. Both of you Very welcome, Very welcome Prediction on the score today.

19:30 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
A draw, I think.

19:31 - Fitz (Host)
Do you know? I think it's going to be close. I think it's going to be close.

19:35 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
They're running just below us, aren't they in the lead, so a draw would be good. That'd be fine.

19:41 - Fitz (Host)
Thankfully the pitch has held up. We've had so much rain, the crowd's building behind us. Thank you very much indeed both of you.

19:48 - Margaret Goldworthy (Guest)
It's OK.

19:51 - Fitz (Host)
Well, the match is in full flow at the moment, launston, the All Blacks, strangely playing in white against Devonport Services, and you know. There's another story that I'd love to look into because and I've never seen this written down one of the very first New Zealand rugby teams supposedly came over to Great Britain to play a match and unfortunately they got separated from their kit. So the rumor is Launston lent them their black strip, their All Black strip, and they've played in All Black ever since. Is that true? Listen Fitz in the community. I'll be wandering around very soon, not too sure where.

20:37
Well, we're going to finish this week's podcast with a little bit of music. I know it doesn't sound quite right. At the moment we are rehearsing. We, not me, I am the host for a very special concert in Beer on behalf of the Salamanca band and bugles of the rifles. They will be entertaining us this evening. It's a very special event. I do this every year and every year I think It can't get any better, but it does. But, as you can hear, several of the band are just tuning up for, I think, a cross-section of folk music. I notice there are theme tunes from Star Wars coming up and, of course, regimental Marches. But the main man that I would love to meet tonight is the vicar here in Beer with an incredible career. Let's go look for him.

21:37 - Justin Montague (Guest)
I'm Reverend Justin Montague and also beer branch of the Royal British Legion Chairman and also honorary chaplain for the Royal Marine Association. Related to my previous Royal Marine history.

21:51 - Fitz (Host)
Well, I was going to ask you look very military, you are a former Royal Marine.

21:55 - Justin Montague (Guest)
That's correct. Yeah, I served 11 years as a regular Marine and I included op Herrick, Afghanistan 2006 to 2007,. Left in 2016 to begin my ordination journey to a priest in church of England.

22:11 - Fitz (Host)
That's an incredible switch. How did Herrick go for you?

22:14 - Justin Montague (Guest)
Yeah, I would say hi-highs, low-lows. You know I lost friends. I did come back, but not perfect myself, shall I say. You carry those hidden wounds yourself, but we were out there for seven months and the outposts now was out and sang in. But very formational for me and my own spiritual journey, shall I say.

22:38 - Fitz (Host)
Through you to the church. You say your spiritual journey. You have faith. By the sounds of it I can feel it, in fact.

22:45 - Justin Montague (Guest)
I was a Christian when I joined the forces. I have to say the chaplaincy in and around the Marines and the Navy were a great support to me. But I have to say it was particularly during the, the dark valleys. I say that I walked a tour of Afghanistan was really forming for me. I felt the call into ministry, perhaps not that long after I returned from Afghanistan, but it was a call I kind of wrestled with for a number of years. People talk about that call like it's a loud call from God, from a heavenly microphone, but it's not kind of like that. It was like a pressing in your heart. And yeah, here I am.

23:21 - Fitz (Host)
And you questioned why you were in Afghanistan.

23:24 - Justin Montague (Guest)
No, I wouldn't say that I believed we were there for the right reasons, and my own position within that. But then I felt a call in from moving from fighting their physical battles, shall I say, to the spiritual battles, shall I say.

23:39 - Fitz (Host)
This podcast takes a look at community and you are the centre of the community here. I'm hoping Community is good within beer and within the entire region?

23:47 - Justin Montague (Guest)
It's absolutely tremendous. It was a bit of a dream to come back to Devon after studying in Oxford for a couple of years and then, when I was ordained, I served four years in Tiviton, mid Devon, and then the opportunity came to apply for Seaton and beer. Two beautiful coastal parishes and something that we prayed long about, myself and my wife Melissa, and we come here to these wonderful, unique communities. Seaton and beer are very, very different but tight communities and we're in beer this evening. I absolutely love this place.

24:20 - Fitz (Host)
Thank you for what you do, especially within the community, wouldn't change anything in your life?

24:26 - Justin Montague (Guest)
Not at the moment. Yeah, I have my wonderful wife Melissa, three adorably chaotic cats and living in this place in Seaton and beer it's amazing and we do a bit of crazy ultra distance marathon running and to boot as well.

24:38 - Ben (Guest)
Oh great.

24:39 - Fitz (Host)
We're so alike.

24:41 - Justin Montague (Guest)
I think, not I like to ease the cake burden and I enjoy my cake. Oh right, oh, a cake. Confessional, lovely, favorite? Angel cake. That is delicious, but I'll have everything. They're sweet. My mum's fruit cake, it's great.

24:57 - Fitz (Host)
Well, that's it from another episode of Fitz In the Community I've met big cats and little antelopes and was surprised that somebody would travel half way across Devon to see a rugby match but drove to Hampshire to meet somebody from Ivy Bridge. This is my community. I'll speak to you soon.