Brian Lamb

Brian Lamb originally planned a career in journalism but the dearth of jobs in media at the time he completed his training, persuaded him instead to join Birmingham City Police as a cadet - a decision which led him to Africa, before returning to the UK and eventually retiring to Bere Ferrers.

After finishing his national service and serving in a specialist branch of the  police in Europe, Brian continued his career by applying to join the Colonial Police. He soon found himself posted to Northern Rhodesia where he joined 1000 other European officers as a detective.  The camaraderie of the force was superb and fellow officers thought nothing of driving 200 miles to help each other out. However, probably one of the most important events during his time there was a ball at the local mine club. Brian went as a motorbike stunt rider and persuaded a girl dressed as a bareback rider that they should do an act together. They won a prize for the most daring act and have photographic evidence to prove it! However the greatest prize was the fact that the bareback rider later became his wife, Kay.

In 1964 Northern Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia and a significant number of officers were asked to stay on initially. However a couple of years later as Brian was beginning to consider his future, an opportunity arose for a secondment to run the Zambian Outward Bound School on Lake Tanganyika. Brian had always loved sailing and climbing and leapt at the chance to work full-time running outdoor activities in such a beautiful, if remote part of the world. The outward bound school was used to promote leadership and teamwork and catered for 60 students every month; it provided an opportunity for people drawn from different tribes to work together, such as trainee managers in the  mining industry, officer cadets and large numbers of school children.

Kay was a trained nurse and ran the school's clinic; the operation was soon extended to become the site clinic and as word spread further she found herself running 2 clinics a day to cover the inhabitants of the local area as well, since the nearest hospital was 20 miles away. Kay also earned the name of 'Sister Land Rover' as it fell to her to collect the monthly meat ration for the school each month. The task involved driving 30 miles of dirt track in a Land Rover to select a beast for slaughter and then transporting it back to the school. Anyone needing a lift had to sit on top of the beast for the return journey.

In 1971 the couple and their three children returned to the UK where Brian trained at Newcastle University to become an outdoor education and geography teacher. He worked in a local high school for a while and then took up a post in Calshot on the Solent at one of the largest outdoor adventure centres in Britain. He eventually became director of the centre and worked there until his retirement in 2001, when Brian and Kay moved to Bere Ferrers. Retirement has not left him idle though and Brian is now chairman of the Bere Ferrers Parish Council and also chairman of Tavy and Tamar Apple Group, which has just organised its 13th highly successful Apple Fest.