Dave and Cobby Lad raise £1,500 living off the land

A hot cup of coffee and a cooked breakfast: Those were the luxuries awaiting fab fundraiser Dave Ellis yesterday after 12 days travelling by horse and cart, and living only off food he could forage.

The 65-year-old has been on an expedition from his home in Shropshire to Dolgellau and back, and all to raise funds for the Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital’s Bone Cancer Centre Appeal. He aimed to make £600 but, with money still coming in, the final tally is set to smash £1,500.

Dave was eager to raise funds in memory of his late wife Chris, who died of bone cancer on New Year’s Eve 2013. And he dreamed up his ‘living off the land’ challenge as an adventure with his much-loved horse Cobby Lad.

“I planned to do 10 days but we were away for 12 in the end,” he revealed. “And I loved every second of it. During the course of the trip it almost became a way of life.

“I’ve had some meat that we found as roadkill, like hedgehog and squirrel, but I’ve mostly lived off the land, foraging for things like nettles, hawthorns and dandelion roots. I’d wake up some mornings to find things like potatoes and carrots had been left for me, and apples for Cobby.

“I stayed off all alcohol during the trip as you need to be totally alert to drive the horse and cart, but Cobby has always enjoyed a pint; and on the trip he did have a couple of ciders.

“I learned how to make nettle root coffee and it was okay – though I really enjoy my proper coffee so I’m looking forward to that again, and I had a breakfast at Lime Kiln Café this morning which was absolutely brilliant.”

Dave was delighted by the total he has raised, which far exceeded his expectations. It adds to the thousands already raised by the Ellis family since Dave’s wife passed away. Much has been collected at the family business, Beaverz Ally Reclamation Yard in Froncysyllte, while son Ben has run numerous half marathons for the hospital charity.

“I would have been thrilled with £600, but people have been so generous,” said Dave. “We had a lot donated online and I had people making donations throughout the trip. In Chirk on the way home, people were coming up to me to hand over £5 or £10 notes and it was absolutely amazing.”

The funds raised are going towards the Bone Cancer Centre Appeal at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The appeal is aiming to raise £500,000 to provide dedicated bone cancer facilities within the new £15.1 million theatre and ward development currently being built at the hospital.