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We moved to Weymouth in 2003 after my husband Ian, landed his dream job at The Tank Museum at Bovington. I continued commuting to London, working part-time as a community nurse in Putney, where I had worked for the past 16 years. I knew that I would have to seek a local job in Weymouth as the constant travelling was very tiring, not to mention time consuming and my car would not stand for it much longer. |
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The trouble was that I did not know what I wanted to do. Then one day the idea came to me as I was strolling along the beach. I remember saying to Ian 'We have such a lovely beach, I wonder why we don't have donkeys'. |
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In fact, donkeys had been a part of Weymouth's history. The Downton family had been keeping donkeys and operating rides for generations until John Downton retired in the year 2000. It was a much missed tradition for many locals. |
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Guess which one is the donkey!
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And so the idea of 'Maggies Donkeys' was born.
I can still remember the excitement and exhilaration when, as a child I enjoyed donkey rides. I now wanted to bring the same feelings to the children of today.
I have owned horses in the past and have always enjoyed my furry four legged friends.
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Mark Kerr (Donkey Sanctuary Representative and John Downton (Previous Operator), Sooty and Maggie |
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I attended courses at the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary which is open to anyone interested in donkeys. I learnt quite quickly that keeping donkeys is very different to keeping horses. I also had a huge amount of help from my friends Sue and Bart Kelly from Clovelly in Devon. Sue has been a donkey lady for some 25 years, so her help and advice has been invaluable. |
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You can visit Sue's site 'Clovelly Donkeys' if you click here
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It took 18 months to plan, research and initiate this venture and we had our first rider on 7th May 2005. |
