David Rothwell, House Manager at the RDYC
I caught up with the Royal Dart Yacht Club’s House Manager while he was preparing to host the Cross Channel Regatta (CRAB) – with more than 70 traditional old gaffers and crabbing boats sailing in from Brittany.
David Rothwell has been in charge of everything involving food and drink at the club, including bar, catering, events and the function room, since May 2014.
Having run The Laughing Monk at Strete for 16 years he’s no stranger to working long hours and hosting crowds.
David said: “It’s a great little team here at the yacht club. There’s bar manager Lauren and new chef Paul, who’s just replaced Alistair. The CRAB weekend will be a bit of a baptism of fire for him, but will give him a good taster for Dartmouth Regatta.”
During regatta the club is open to everyone and David is in charge
of up to 15 casual staff in the bar and kitchen. The riverside terrace is lively and often full to bursting.
“My first regatta was exhausting and extremely busy but I thoroughly enjoyed it, there was such a buzz around the place,” added David. “We had a bit of chaos on the Friday when the cellar and card systems went down but we ploughed on through and, by 8am Saturday morning, we were all fixed to enjoy the rest of the weekend.
“It’s all about preparation and planning. You work to get ahead of yourself and, that way, you can always put things right.
“I thrive in this atmosphere and enjoy being busy. Success comes from putting people at ease, ensuring if they’ve got a problem it’s put right and if they’ve got a request you provide it.
“I worked seven days a week when I started at the yacht club, to sort everything out and be on site as ‘mein host’. I can delegate more now I’ve settled in and got everything in place.”
Before taking up position at the yacht club David managed a complex of luxury beachside apartments at Bigbury-on-Sea for four years, including 29 apartments, a leisure club and brasserie.
And before that he ran the popular The Laughing Monk restaurant with wife Trudy. For 16 years they lived above the restaurant, with David as chef and Trudy front of house.
The couple met when Trudy was working front of house at The Hungry Horse in Harbertonford and David was managing Salcombe’s Marine Hotel.
They married in 1986 and lived in Kingsbridge. Within two years they were running their own restaurant.
He said: “We decided to work for ourselves, as we were basically ships passing in the night working all hours.
“The opportunity came to buy the Monk, which had been closed for nine months. The plan was to buy it, develop it, sell it and move on.
“But we moved in above the restaurant and became part of the community. We enjoyed the way of life, were totally committed to Strete and stayed. Our children grew up there and went to Stoke Fleming Primary School and Kingsbridge Community College. Because of the hours we worked I was able to pick them up and drop them off at the bus stop in the mornings and evenings – it was perfect.
“The kids also worked in the restaurant. Socially, it was such a good upbringing for them. They were very at ease in the company of adults and always around people.”
With David and Trudy at the helm the Monk twice won the South Hams District Council Best Restaurant awards.
“When we had it, it was all terracotta and stone walls, fireplaces and full of locals,” he added. “Our ethos was for the food to be fun and people to enjoy visiting the restaurant. The same was for our staff too, as a business is only as good as its staff. We embraced the whole thing and wouldn’t ask our staff to do anything we wouldn’t do. We had one lady who stayed with us for 11 years.”
The Laughing Monk is still in the hands of Ben and Jackie Handley who made an offer to David and Trudy six years ago.
David said: “The current owners offered to buy and we didn’t know what to do. It was in the old village school so we couldn’t do anything with the building and I was cooked out. We decided to sell but stay in the village and buy another property.”
Their children are now grown up and have moved out. Chris, aged 26 and a former Dartmouth Royal Naval College student, is now a Navy Lieutenant. And recent graduate Pippa, 22, works for a global food production company.
Trudy now works as a housekeeper for a luxury bed and breakfast. She also makes and sells desserts.
David enjoys playing golf and walking, especially on the moors and along the coastal paths. He also enjoys spending time with Trudy in Brittany.
He added: “On the agenda for next year is to get a boat. I like the look of the Cornish Crabbers with a cabin, so we can set sail and stay over somewhere.”
David has sailed since childhood. His parents moved to Salcombe when he was six.
His parents are from Bolton, Lancashire and, after being born in Spalding, Lincolnshire, David spent his early childhood in Altringham, Greater Manchester.
He said: “They bravely moved down to Salcombe in the days before the motorway and A38, when it took forever to get here from Manchester.
“They moved down with me and my sister, who now lives in Canada as a doctor.
“I sailed in the summers and played rugby in the winters and didn’t go anywhere else.
“When I was at Kingsbridge Community College I worked shifts at the Marine Hotel in Salcombe and really enjoyed being in the kitchen and restaurant.”
David studied catering management in Torquay and worked his way up through the hotel business – in Scotland, Channel Islands, London and Bristol. While in Bristol he was headhunted to run the Marine Hotel in Salcombe and so returned there as the general manager.
“My ambition was to be a general manager of a four star hotel by the age of 30 and I got there at 29,” he added.
David’s father was a planning officer and chairman for South Hams District Council. He’s followed in his father’s footsteps as a member of Strete Parish Council, now in his second term.
A chance meeting in Sainsbury’s with friend Kit Noble, of Nonsuch House, resulted in David being appointed house manager at the Royal Dart Yacht Club.
The club has more than 1,100 members and is very busy at weekends, especially in the summer.
During the quieter off-season, when a lot of members are away, the club is being made more available for non-members. David said they’re looking to expand this side of the business – and encourage more outside companies, groups and societies to make use of the facilities when they’re not in use by the club.
For more information see www.royaldart.co.uk
First Published in By The Dart August 2015 Issue
