As my friend and I were walking down a quiet country lane in Sheepstor, in West Dartmoor, England, a man stopped and asked us, “Would you two ladies happen to be from Sarawak?”
We smiled and said, “No, but we are from Malaysia.”
Patrick opens and closes the local church, Saint Leonards, where generations of Brooke, including the three Rajahs of Sarawak – James Brooke, Charles Brooke and Charles Vyner Brooke – are buried. That’s how he knows about this East Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. He’s clearly met a lot of visitors from there, for whom the church is a key attraction.
A touch of Sarawak in Saint Leonards
Within the church are gifts from Sarawak. A giant “pua kumbu” (Iban ceremonial weave) hangs on the wall, a gift from a former Tourism Minister, while smaller pieces decorate the organ and altar. In the stained glass window, there’s a flag of Sarawak.
It feels surreal to see a slice of Sarawak in this small 15th century Dartmoor church in a village with a population of (I am told) about 45 people.
I am staying nearby at Burrator Cottages, on the 34-acre estate once owned by the first Rajah, Sir James Brooke, who ruled Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1848, he was presented with Burrator Lodge “which was paid for by public subscription”. (That’s similar to today’s crowd funding, I am told.)
It stayed in the family a few generations, changed hands couple of times and a few years ago, Jason, grandson of Anthony Brooke, the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak before World War 2, bought the estate and runs it under the Brooke Heritage Trust, a non-profit organization set up to “bring the Brooke history and legacy to life through storytelling, record and artefact preservation and imaginative historical projects”.
Jason, and wife, Katie, and their two young children live in the main house, Burrator Lodge; they run the farm as well as let out the cottages for rent to visitors like ourselves.
The Coach House, our home for a few beautiful days.
They’ve kindly given the four of us The Coach House, a lovely cottage with four bedrooms, a huge kitchen, an even huger parlour and a gorgeous garden at the back. It’s exactly the kind of place you imagine when you think of a holiday in the Devonshire countryside.
Across from us, in The Stables, are two young Kiwis who came upon Burrator on a website called Workaway, described as “the largest and safest community for cultural exchange, working holidays, volunteering and house sitting in 170 countries”.
In return for labour, they get room and board. Hailing from Hawke’s Bay, in the North Island of New Zealand, the two are clearly excited and thrilled at the opportunity to “see the world”. “It’s so quiet where we are, in Hawke’s Bay,” said the girl. I didn’t want to burst her bubble by saying this seemed quieter than Hawke’s Bay, where I’ve been. Who am I to dash young dreams? Then she added, “We have two years to do what we like. We’ll probably explore Europe, maybe even Japan.”
I wished there had been such a website when I was in my 20s. Jason had posted an opening on Workaway. “It’s not easy finding people to work on the farm,” he said.
Social media has helped. He introduced us to Jake, a 17-year-old boy who saw an ad that Jason had posted on Facebook. Determined to get the job, he worked part-time jobs and earned enough money to buy a used tractor and now, he helps Jason with odd jobs on the farm.
Taking us on a walk through his fields, Jason introduced us to his flock of badger face sheep – not that I’d know one sheep from another, to be honest – but these are quite distinct with the black on their faces and their sure mountain-goat-like gait on the hills. Indeed, trekking up to the peak of Sheeps Tor one morning to get a 360 degree view of the Dartmoor landscape, I felt embarrassed to be following them like sheep, rather than the other way round.
Me on top of Sheeps Tor along with a lone sheep.
Back on lower ground, I managed to look one straight in the eye, they are not shy, used to people, even urban Asians who’re only used to seeing them on plates.
“We have AI-ed them,” said Jason.
“What? AI? How? What prompt did you use?” I asked.
“Artificial Insemination, silly,” laughed Jason.
When you’ve just come from a travel tech conference in Barcelona straight to a sheep farm, it takes a while to switch vocabulary.
Up here in Sheepstor, there’s very weak mobile connectivity. Airalo, Roaming, Data Passport – whatever, they all didn’t work. The wifi wasn’t working too when we were there – I think Jason did that on purpose. After a while, I switched off and tuned in to the nature around me.
Burrator Reservoir with trails everywhere
Which is not difficult. There’s nothing but nature around. Wildflowers abound, in all shapes, varieties and colours. There are walking trails everywhere. The Burrator Reservoir is a popular spot and on warm, beautiful days like we had, a mobile van selling Devonshire ice cream is one of the highlights.
The English love their walks, and dogs. You see more dogs than humans in these parts. Here, dogs run free, unleashed, and they are so well-behaved and friendly, bounding up to you and begging for hugs. In Singapore, they have to be leashed and they yap all the time. I wonder if there’s a co-relation here.
Ponies roam freely on the moors.
The landscapes are so picturesque, especially the drive through Princetown to Ashburton, where wild ponies roam and sometimes they come right up to you in your car, and you wonder why the English would ever leave – until you visit the 700-year-old Buckland Abbey, which was home of 15 years to Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, and are reminded of the spoils and spices he brought home to enrich the Empire and himself, of course.
There is so much history here, in the soil, rocks, hills and pubs. We ate at a 17th century pub called Walkhampton Inn. The fries were burnt, the bubble and squeak too salty, but who cares – the waitress was so friendly and it is exactly the kind of local, authentic experiences we holiday makers from Asia want.
And the best part of the holiday – shopping at local markets, lugging our fresh spoils home, cooking in that huge kitchen and eating in our own private cottage – and imagining what it must have been like for the early Brookes, spending their time between the two contrasting worlds of Sarawak and Sheepstor.
For young Jason, Burrator is his way of preserving the Brooke legacy and maintaining the connection with Sarawak. The Brooke Trust, set up in 2010, runs several projects in Sarawak including the Brooke Gallery in Fort Margherita in Kuching and actively works with local communities on social enterprise programmes.
Said Jason in one of his media interviews, “I’ve been interested in the Sarawak part of my family’s history for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, we had Bornean artifacts, swords and shields, Sarawak flags, and the like around our house.”
Well, his home in Burrator is filled with Sarawakian artifacts, I felt right at home. Welcoming us to dinner one evening, he brings out a small sape, the Sarawak guitar, which he’s keen to teach to his two young boys. “There are four male Brookes left, and three of them are in this house,” he says. He also has two cats and occasionally, deers appear on his estate. “It’s not too shabby here,” he smiles.
