Tony Williams

How I came to be working at The Dartmoor Centres

Career wise I've come from a youth work background. Whilst in that role I'd worked with a wide range of young people and agencies, which allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills with people.  Getting the young people out and about, seeing the local area around them, was one of my favourite aspects of the job.  A time came though, when I decided to set up my own mountain bike business, as biking has always been one of my main passions.  I knew Brendan from my time as a youth worker and told him what I was planning on doing, we hatched a plan and as they say "the rest is history!"  I've had the pleasure of providing lots of mini mountain bike adventures, for the hundreds of children who have their school residentials at Pixies Holt & The Dartmoor Training Centre for approximately 10 years now.

My favourite thing about Dartmoor

Dartmoor as a whole is stunning, I love the solitude you can gain from taking the effort to walk or ride for no more than 30 mins from your van. One of my favourite spots is Hameldown Tor, early in the morning.  The 360 degree view is amazing, you're unlikely to see anyone before 11am and the descent back down is epic!

What makes me happy

Being outdoors makes me happy, if I'm in a city or a town, as soon as I leave the suburbs, I feel my mind lift when I'm surrounded by some hills or rolling Devon countryside.  Being on my mountain bike either by myself or more so with my friends, is one of the best feelings ever for me, I feel like a 10 year old still exploring the world around me, something I'm aiming to do for as long as I can.