Muddy Matches country-minded roadshow comes to Exmoor for pub grub night

MUDDY Matches, the online community for country-minded people, is bringing its national roadshow to Exmoor on Thursday, November 8.
The two sisters behind the scheme, Emma and Lucy Reeves, are holding a pub grub night in the Royal Oak public house, in Winsford, from 7 pm.
The idea behind a Muddy Matches Pub Grub night is to for some like-minded, muddy people to come together to grab a bite to eat in a nice country pub.
It is open to anybody to attend and is intended to be a relaxed affair with each person paying for their own food and drink, and having an opportunity to meet some new people in the area.
Anybody who wants to go along should call Lucy on 07901 865283 beforehand in order that she has an idea of the number of people attending.
Lucy said: “We loved the sound of this country pub in the Exmoor National Park and thought it would be a great place to have a Pub Grub night.
“If anybody is feeling sociable but skint, they can still pop along for just a drink later.”
The Muddy Matches co-founders are in the middle of a two-month tour of Britain in a motor home and are spending six days in each region of the country to put on events and immerse themselves in all things ‘muddy’, from the traditional to the completely bonkers.
Lucy said: “We want to get out there and find out what makes other country people in Great Britain tick.
“Everybody experiences the countryside in different ways and we really want to embrace that diversity and showcase both its wonderful and whacky sides.
“We also plan to put on some great parties along the way.”
It was Lucy and Emma’s understanding of the countryside and being ‘country minded’ meaning different things to different people which led them to develop their concept of ‘muddiness’ in the first place.
“We had to figure out the one underlying thing that unites country-minded people from all walks of life,” said Lucy.
“The answer was obvious - mud. It does not matter whether you like walking or shooting, whether you grew up in the countryside, or are just hoping to move there, whether you actually live in the countryside or just like to spend time there, if you think you are country-minded, the only thing you cannot have is an aversion to mud.”
Lucy and Emma intend to film their journey and document it all in their Muddy Marathon blog, which went live on their website in October.
More details about the tour can be found at www.muddymatches.co.uk/muddy-marathon.
Anybody who would like to get involved or who has any suggestions can email lucy@muddymatches.co.uk.

• Our photographs show (top) Lucy and Emma Reeves with their camper van, and (below) the camper van painted to resemble a country cottage. Photos submitted.