Gina Carter

Gina Carter has danced with Freddie Mercury, driven across the Sahara Desert, driv

en at a G7 summit and has now found her place on stage at Dartmouth’s Food Festival and

Shakespeare Week.

She’s lived around the town for 18 years and now works with Mitch Tonks, organising events at The Seahorse and Rockfish from small dinner parties to weddings and large events like the Dartmouth Crab Festival this year on Sunday August 2nd.

She comperes for the annual food festival. “I guess I’m the Ainsley Harriet of the festival,” she laughed. “I’ve also compered at various regional food festivals and events. I’ve taken naturally to compering, I like talking and being the centre of attention!”

Gina was born and bred in Surrey and moved to London in the early 80s, where she worked in the music industry for 15 years. Her father died when she was just 18 and she admitted she went a little “off the rails”.

She said: “At the age of 20 I answered an advert in the Evening Standard asking for someone ‘blonde, beautiful and bubbly’ so I gave it a go!   “I worked in A and R – artists and repertoire - for independent record labels, also worked in various recording studios in London booking in bands, engineers and producers.  They were mad, bad and dangerous times!

“I was working in the Maison Rouge studios when Queen recorded their One Vision single. They invited my best friend and me in to ask our opinion and we ended up dancing with Freddie and the crew - fantastic times.  “We were very lucky to be there. The artists were their happiest and most relaxed in the studio and we were part of their gang.

“Music has always been very important in my life. My first single was She Loves You by the Beatles and then I was hooked, I was a big fan of The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and David Bowie and still am to this day.  I was a part-time punk at school and secretarial college having pink hair at weekends!”

Gina said she never had to pay for gigs or CDs at that time and saw many gigs from VIP seats including Robbie Williams in Hong Kong, The Stones in Toronto and REM in Sydney.  “I remember Queen’s last gig at Wembley Stadium -  80,000 people all clapping to Radio Ga Ga - it was magical.”

Despite moving to Devon “for a quieter life” in her 30s, Gina retains her youthful party sprit.  She said: “I’ll never grow up and will always be free, like a butterfly. Today is the oldest I’ll ever be.”

Gina moved to Dartmouth after visiting an old friend who’d moved down, “I stayed for a weekend and then visits became more and more regular,” she said. “I met a like-minded bunch of people and decided it was time for a change.  

“I was 34 and realised I wasn’t quite young enough for London anymore. It was getting very expensive and more friends were settling down. My Mum was from Devon and having grown up in rural Surrey I am used to the countryside.  I decided to find a nice man and cottage and live by the sea. I’ve found the cottage but am still looking for the nice man!”

Gina hasn’t lost her travel bug and regularly shoots off on adventures. Every summer she drives in her old trusty, convertible Saab to see friends in Italy and France where she lived for a couple of years.

She said: “I’m happy when I’m in a hot country, particularly driving with loud music on or lying on a beach with a cocktail in hand and I love exploring. When I was younger I drove 30,000 km around Australia for six months with a friend, we travelled in an old banger with a tent and neither of us had camped before but we learned pretty quickly how to cope with possums and redbacks.

Gina also drove an old banger in the Plymouth to Banjul race ten years ago – through Europe, over to Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and on to The Gambia in a car that cost £200!  She added: “Driving through the Sahara is one of the most extraordinary and amazing experiences. It’s like driving on black ice but without the risk of crashing into something. Totally and utterly exhilarating.”

Although she admits to getting her “city kicks” from frequent trips to London and Bristol, Gina is very settled here and has discovered a love of the arts. Her first job in Devon was PA to artist Paul Riley at Coombe Farm Studios.

She said: “Through the Rileys, who I consider my family, I discovered a love and appreciation of contemporary arts – sculpture and paintings. There are so many local artists’ works to love including James Stewart, Kate Marshall and Sarah Gillepsie and I am lucky to have a few on my walls.

It was while working at Coombe that Gina sent a press release to the Sunday Times magazine and was delighted when they printed it. She set up her own PR company, Badger PR, for food and art and she continues to write PR for various clients.

“I worked at Baxters Gallery in Foss Street after Coombe and it always staggered me how people spend thousands of pounds on bathrooms and taps but dither over spending less money on a picture which gives so much more pleasure over a lifetime  My love of arts is something that’s happened since being in Devon. We live in such a beautiful place here, one of stunning seas and landscapes.”

“I have a deep love of good food which was started by my mother who was a great cook and she made us try everything. She always grew all her own vegetables and fruit and kept chickens and ducks, following in the footsteps of my grandma in Devon who grew everything and kept bees and my grandfather who went a hunting, shooting and a fishing.

“I love eating and drinking, walking, talking, art, cinema, theatre and my life now includes all of these things on a regular basis.

“I grew up loving and exploring food. I’ll sit in any restaurant or bar in the world on my own to enjoy a good meal or drink and I have wonderful memories attached to food experiences, such as the most amazing guacamole on the beach in Mexico with a cold beer, extraordinary ceviche in the Cook Islands, giant steaks in New York and the freshest ever sushi in Lamu.

“I love working with Mitch Tonks and Mat Prowse - they are two inspirational people and we are so fortunate with the extraordinary amount of local high quality produce to hand.  Within a twenty mile radius of Dartmouth we have everything, Brixham fish and shellfish, Dartmouth crab, Salcombe lobster, scallops from Slapton, an abundance of meat, pheasants and wild fowl from Dartmoor, wine, fizz and cheese from Sharpham. We live in nature’s larder.”

Being on stage is another interest Gina has explored since moving to Dartmouth. “My first role was Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream. I told my Mum and she said I was just like my father who was a barrister and then a judge and as a student was in the Footlights at Cambridge - which I never knew - and I think the courtroom was his stage too - he was also a party animal just like me!”

She is now a regular actor in Dittisham Players, Dartington Playgoers and the Inn Theatre Company, Dartmouth.  “When I’m on stage I feel the adrenaline rush. And I love the bond with fellow actors during the months of rehearsals and learning lines, you make extraordinary friendships.”

“I feel sick with nerves before going on but it’s such a powerful and addictive thing, when you see people enjoying themselves and you think ‘we’re doing this’.  Dartmouth Shakespeare week is August 4th to 8th outside at Dartmouth Castle and this year we are performing the Merry Wives of Windsor and I am very honoured to be a merry wife…. though I’m still looking for a merry husband!

First published By The Dart July 2015 Issue

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