-RETREAT-

During the current Covid period, we are obviously not hosting any events at High Grange. However, it has highlighted for us the importance of self-care and sucking the marrow of life while we can, so I’ve been spending this period planning and working towards a number of wellness events in late 2020 and 2021. This has meant fulfilling our “good life” dreams, building our veggie garden and areas for our chickens and pigs to make us more self-sufficient. It has meant contacting brilliant local artists, yoga teachers and florists to talk about hosting masterclasses and retreats. And it has meant creating little oases of calm within our grounds - hammocks and comfy chairs, wildflower meadows and bird baths. We want to be somewhere where you can come, drink and be merry, but also relax and listen to the birdsong. We have owls and swallows, wrens, goldfinch, warblers, robins and yellowhammers, as well as wandering deer, rabbits and squirrels, and a springing spaniel called Huck too.

For us wellness means connecting with people and talking. Sharing how you feel, opening up and letting it out. Being in surroundings that make you calm and happy. We married under giant redwood trees and always found being in woodland incredibly calming. Being in nature generally - in the wilds of the Scottish highlands or the middle of the New Forest - always made us happy. We realised we love being close to water, the fresh air and the lapping waves. We moved to the East Devon/ West Dorset border for that reason - the proximity to beautiful coastline and rolling hills - and we bought High Grange and its woodlands for its wonderful views, its calm and peace. Thirdly, being active in a way that makes you happy. For me, its yoga - the grace and calm it brings me. For Luke that’s cycling and wild swimming. And finally, eating and drinking well. For us that means local, fresh ingredients, cooked simply and with love.

So when normality returns, we will open the doors of High Grange to those who seek retreat. We know this means different things to different people. It might mean eating fresh fish round a camp fire and having a negroni. It might be doing a woodland yoga class or attending a writer’s retreat. You might need stillness and calm, or you might want hedonism and laughter. Whatever wellness means to you, we will help you find it.

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