near Teignmouth, Devon, but in 1981 the partners decided to return to Gloucester, and they were forced to sell up. With Stephen having started at the local primary school and Tim having joined the Teignmouth Chess Club, they had put down roots, and as they wanted to stay in the village, they purchased the Manor Inn. To help with the income, Tim decided to fall back on his other love of cookery, and started by making a few pasties on the kitchen table and selling six a day to the village butchers nearby.

From that small beginning they built up a home-based business called the Pasty Mine that employed 14 people. To expand further would have meant acquiring an industrial premises, and this they were not prepared to do,so the Hays kept the business at a level they were happy with, and so it continued this way until 1998.

During this 17 year spell, Tim got involved in village affairs, playing in the village cricket team and serving on the Carnival Committee, and was elected as Liberal Democrat member for Kingsteignton on the Teignbridge District Council. At the chess club he helped found the annual Teignmouth RapidPlay Tournament, which still runs today. As his son reached the top end of his junior school, he went in to take a weekly chess club. From this he was appointed Team Manager of the South Devon Primary Schools Chess Association, taking teams to national tournaments all over the country. The young players all responded to his leadership, which culminated in