Ray Benson
Ray Benson, the Landlord of the famous Ferry Boat Inn at Dittisham
How long have you been the FBI’s publican?
6 years now, but Cathy and I had been visiting Dit’sum for 15 years before that whilst on holiday from Essex and we soon fell in love with the place. Previously, Cathy was working for a shipping company and I ran a Royal Mail Depot in East London. Having fallen in love with the village, we decided to up sticks and buy a house here. I then happily settled into a form of lazy semi-retirement but when the FBI came up for sale, we were soon persuaded to buy it.
What persuaded you?
We weren’t really looking to buy and run a pub but as visitors to Dit’sum we had quickly come to adore this pub. We heard it was up for sale and a friend suggested we invest in it. I really wasn’t planning this sort of life but for fear that someone else would buy the pub and change it, made me decide pretty quickly.
Many of the large chains of pubs spend a fortune to make their establishments look old, dingy and decrepit – with the FBI you don’t have to try! Seriously, its charm is being an olde world style pub with a real character and one of the best views I know.
But isn’t it more than just looks that makes a difference?
Absolutely – we are lucky that we have a very low staff turnover. We all get on well and the pub runs like a well-oiled machine. Most importantly, it’s the atmosphere created by customers and staff. We are fortunate that we have a great bunch of locals and regulars and this mixes well with the many visitors we have from off the yachts or the local Dartmouth ferries or just over from Greenway. My philosophy is that you should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
What proportion of your business is from tourists? Roughly half of our trade comes up the River Dart from Dartmouth particularly during the summer. Greenway is just opposite and in the height of the season we can be extremely busy. In the quieter winter months, we tend to rely more on our local residential market
Getting to the FBI is not easy by car so presumably the Ferry Boat from Dartmouth must be key?
Indeed it is, to all local businesses! Together with The National Trust, here at Greenway, we are all very conscious of our carbon footprint so it’s been important to promote the Riverlink, ferry boats and river taxi services to cut down on the number of people driving to Greenway or Dittisham – “green tourism” is I believe what it’s called. Nonetheless, I think Dartmouth residents sometimes overlook what’s on offer up here. The scenery is truly spectacular and this is one of the places to bring visiting friends and make them extremely jealous.
The FBI is very much the heart of the “Dit’sum fringe” during the Dart Music Festival. Is music a big part of the FBI? Definitely, although it’s not necessarily on set dates. I have posters and cards, which say ‘an impromptu night of music and merriment’. People often ask when the next impromptu musical evening will be and I just tell them it will happen when it happens otherwise it can’t be impromptu! However on the first Sunday of every month throughout the summer, we are having a BBQ on the beach with live musical entertainment.
Do you play a musical instrument?
Being a frustrated rock star myself it has been known for me to join in and play my guitar and sing.
As a publican, can you escape and get time off?
We don’t really get away much, the last holiday we had was 4 years ago. We occasionally have a weekend away and leave our staff to run the place but we are open all day, everyday although just for lunch on Christmas Day. I daren’t have a lie-in because if I’m late to open the doors, there’s a danger the pub will be liberated by the locals!
How old is the FBI?
We think 200-300 years. We found a painting years ago of the pub when it was called ‘The Passage House’ which apparently ran under this name in 1880-1890’s. It would have been a popular place in Victorian times when the big passenger ferries ran all the way up here to Dittisham.
There must be a wide cross-section of clientele?
We have customers of different backgrounds, ethics, status and personality; from actors and pop stars to young families and yachties. My saying is ‘leave your guns at the door’. As you can see this isn’t a pretentious place and we all get along well.
What plans for the future?
We’ll stay here and one day retire. Although running this pub is a 24/7 commitment, I wouldn’t change it; in what other job can you sit by the fire in the afternoon with a glass of wine and look out the window at that kind of view? People ask us if we realise how lucky we are and I tell them “Yes we do and we couldn’t be happier”.
First published June 2008 By The Dart
