Electric innovation

A love of engineering puzzles and tinkering with electronics in his shed led a North Devon farmer to create a world-leading, eco-friendly, all-terrain vehicle brand

- CATHERINE COURTENAY

Eight hundred years ago, a ship was wrecked on the shores of North Devon. Two members of the family on board survived and, in recognition of prior ‘services to Scotland’ the Crown gave them a farm near Ilfracombe. That farm is Keypitts and still belongs to the same family.

Having an eighth-century legacy behind you is one of the reasons, possibly the strongest reason, why Fred Chugg has always been determined to keep Keypitts Farm, no matter what disasters were thrown at him.

Fred was born on the farm, took it on at 13 and has been running it for 40 years. He’s married to Wendy, a farmer’s daughter who grew up about two miles away.

Like so many farmers, coping with BSE, foot and mouth and endless financial pressure, the Chuggs saw the need to diversify in order to survive, so they set up a riding stables.

“When their wives were out riding, the men would be wanting a go on our quad bike,” says Fred. Latching on to this fascination for the off-road agricultural vehicle, he very quickly launched a quad bike experience, running alongside the stables. “We were offering rides across open terrain; it was what no one else was doing.”

It was the late 1990s and by 2009, the Chuggs were running one of the UK’s first and largest quad bike experiences, employing over 40 people and operating over 100 quads of various types.

But Fred had other interests too; he’d always adored tinkering around with bits of machinery in his shed. He says his “engineering tendencies” are “what all boys do”, but Fred certainly seems to have taken things further. He set about making his farm as ‘green’ as possible regarding its energy needs, installing windmills and solar panels.