Next on the life stories trail are Lauren and Dave. I first met them around 10 years ago in Chester through church and they have now become close friends of both myself and the wife. Below is their story of the big move to Scotland and what they get up to. Enjoy.
What are your full names?
David Beresford and Lauren Beresford
How old are you both?
Dave is 25, Lauren is 22.
Where are you from and where do you live now?
We are both from Chester, and now live in Elgin, Northern Scotland.
What do you do for work?
Dave: I am a serving member of the RAF Regiment, we are responsible for the security and Force Protection of the RAF, it’s personnel and assets. We do this by employing infantry skills and tactics to protect the RAF from a vast variety of threats.
Lauren: I’m an Early Years Practitioner and work with pre-school children. It began as a temporary job and 4 years later I’m still working with kids!
What is your average day?
Dave: Often I am required to make up a team of people who are on call to respond to incidences on station and further afield. Thankfully we aren’t often needed so the days can be quite slow at times. At other times we can find ourselves very busy on training exercises where we practice and test ourselves, or at a variety of different types of ranges where we hone in our shooting skills.
Lauren: My day consists of teaching, serving lunch, cleaning and then home – it’s more challenging than it sounds on paper! Once at home, I catch up with Dave, read, go for a run or speak to family/friends. In the summer, we’ll often go to the beach for a walk. I’ll cook something yummy for dinner before watching TV and heading to bed.
What is your favourite thing you have discovered in Lossie/Scotland
Dave: When I was first posted after basic training I hated the idea of living in Scotland. All my dear friends and family were in Chester and where I live now is a little over seven hours away in the car. However, when I got here I quickly fell in love with the scenery. The Highlands are beautiful and for someone who does enjoy a good wander up in the hills, this was great.
Lauren: Hiking! I’ve never been outdoorsy and the thought of a long walk or camping sounded like torture. Since visiting Dave in Scotland, I have discovered a love for the hills and mountains and some of our best days out have been travelling around the Highlands for hikes. We received a new tent for Christmas last year so we could travel further but unfortunately Covid19 has meant we’ve only been able to get it out once.
What is the best hidden gem you have found?
Dave: I’ll give you two, the first isn’t in Lossiemouth but I can’t pass up the opportunity to share it: Sandwood Bay. There are loads of gorgeous beaches up here but few come close to this. It’s almost as far North as you can go, and you have to hike about 3 miles to get there, but trust me you won’t regret it. Secondly is a brewery called Windswept Brewing Co. It’s a local beer company situated just outside the main gate of RAF Lossiemouth and was started by a pair of ex-RAF Pilots who loved the outdoors and named the company after the ‘windswept beaches here in Lossiemouth’. The brewery do have a tap room where you can sit and enjoy their delicious beer after a hard days work, or a nice easy one too!
Lauren: We recently got a book called ‘Walks in Moray’ and the book itself has proved it’s a hidden gem! Not being allowed to travel further than our county, we’ve found some amazing walks and views through it.
Where’s the best grub?
Dave: For Lauren and I, finding good food is a slight challenge due to dietary restrictions. However, one of our favourite places to eat when we can is a small cafe just a stones throw away from Lossie Lighthouse called Twenty Nineteen Coffee. Originally called Aroma, the cafe renamed two years ago under new management but the top quality food and drinks didn’t change. Not much beats a long walk on the beach followed by a gorgeous toasted baguette. They also have a great range of desserts and cakes that are made fresh that day.
Lauren: Unfortunately being a Coeliac and us both choosing to be a vegetarian limits where we can eat! Despite this, we’ve found an incredible Indian (Qismat) that does all their curries gluten free, a pizza restaurant (Scribbles) that has good options and a plant based cafe (Planta) that does the best fresh smoothies and avocado dishes a girl could want!
What inspired the move?
Dave: At 19 I joined the RAF and was stationed at RAF Lossiemouth.
Lauren: Getting married – Dave and I got married in November 2019 and moved up that December. We’re incredibly blessed to have a house through the air force and have loved making a home together.
Why should people visit?
Dave: The biggest reason not to come to Lossie is the drive. People put the IV31 post code into Google Maps and see just how far away it is and are put off, I know I was. However, Lossiemouth is a truly lovely little town with plenty of outdoors to explore. Five minutes down the road there are some coastal cliffs where I have been taken to go rock climbing, about thirty minutes south is Ben Rinnes, our local Corbett where you can go for a walk. If you go as far south as Aviemore with the right weather, you can even go skiing. Or you can stay right here in Lossie, go to the beach and go surfing. And at night, you might be lucky enough to see the aurora borealis (northern lights).
Lauren: The scenery! Being based in Elgin, we can drive 10 minutes down the road to Lossiemouth for beaches and coastal views, or 10 minutes the other way for forests and woodland. It’s a much slower and peaceful pace of life, but with lots of options if you’re looking for fun and excitement. Paddle-boarding, surfing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, horse riding, skiing….choices are endless.
What do you do for fun?
Dave: Lauren and I love the outdoors. As Christians we love being outside and being able to see God’s creation. And up here there are plenty of options and opportunities to do so. Recently we have gone on walks near Braemar, where we saw herds of deer and stags. But we have also gone wild camping, wild swimming, canoeing, waterfall hunting, and that not the end of the list. In terms of walking, for those who like to challenge themselves, there are plenty of Munro’s nearby.
Lauren: Finding new hikes and beauty spots is always fun for us. Being in Scotland, you really can experience all four seasons in one day so you never know how the day is going to go! We’ve had some great experiences that we never planned on but just fell into. I also really enjoy reading and have found great escapism in a book whilst being stuck in the house during lockdown.
What makes Lossie/Scotland unique?
Dave: Scotland as a whole is beautiful and for me the thought of having it on my doorstep is amazing! I think what makes it unique for me is the fact that we are so isolated yet have so much opportunity to have an adventure.
Lauren: You never know what’s going to happen next. The weather can be wildly unpredictable – some days I’ve started in suncream and shorts and had to change into a coat and scarf by the end. RAF Lossie is home to an active military runway so we constantly have jets flying low near the houses and interrupting conversations. And of course the Scottish accent – I’ve had to ask more than one work friend to slow down because they’re talking so fast I can’t understand them!
What is your top tip for travelling?
Dave: There will always be reasons not to go, much like going to the gym, just getting your trainers on can be challenging enough! Also there will always be reasons not to go, but if you can learn to work around these problems and find solutions, you really can have a wonderful day out! One tool I use is an app called ViewRanger which allows you see where you are on a map in real time making it almost impossible to get lost.
Lauren: Between getting engaged, saving for a wedding, getting married and moving across the country, I haven’t had much time for international travel! For local travel, I’d say to just go for it. If you want to visit somewhere (and have no pandemic, travel restrictions etc) then get organized and make plans to go. Life is too short!
Where do you want to go next?
Dave and Lauren: We’d love to finally go on our honeymoon – if it still counts as that! We booked to go to Greece so that is near the top of our list. Due to Covid we have several ‘where next’ plans depending on travel restrictions, including Ireland, Italy and Norway.
195wanderer.com 