Resistance Festival to help save Monkton Wyld Court
A resistance festival of free workshops and music is taking place at Monkton Wyld Court, nr Lyme Regis. This is in support of the community that has run Monkton Wyld Court for the last fifteen years, and is now threatened by incoming charity trustees. Monkton Wyld Court is the site of a microdairy which dates back to 1941, and the base of The Land, a highly respected journal.
You can find more at the site: Monkton Wyld Court Case.
The resistance festival will be held in a marquee and side tents, with free camping and camper vans; self catering in covered outdoor kitchens.
The full programme is listed below – but please do get in touch to let them know of your intention to attend.
PROGRAMME
Events start at 10 am unless otherwise stated
Saturday 26th August
Family event (2 DAYS – DAY 1 OF 2) – Ida Fabrizio
Ida hosts her family wild movement and games workshop on this first day of our family event. Lots of learning about nature in the beautiful Monkton Wyld surroundings.
Sunday 27th August
Family Event (2 DAYS – DAY 2 OF 2) – Ida Fabrizio & Miles Irving (Foraging)
Ida and Miles team up for the second day of our family event. They will be hosting a wild family forage and cooking day. Hopefully with cooking on an open camp fire!
WET system of Waste Water Purification (Starts at 2pm) – Jay Abrahams
Monkton Wyld Court is more than pleased with the regenerative wastewater purification system that replaced our overloaded reedbed. It’s designer and builder Jay Abrahams of Biologic Design conducts a tour explaining how it works using permaculture design principles.
Hand Tools (2 DAYS – DAY 1 OF 2) – Kevin Austin and Simon Fairlie
This two day course is suitable for people whose education and upbringing failed to give them a good grounding in the use of outdoor manual tools; but will also benefit people who have some experience. It covers a wide variety of manual outdoor tools, both traditional and modern (no electric or petrol motors): gardening tools including hoes, drills, mattocks and wheeled instruments; forestry and hedging tools; fencing and simple gate and hurdle manufacture; general tools, rope work, pulley and hoist use, repairing handles etc etc. The course is open to all reasonably fit adults. Youngsters over the age of 12 are welcome, provided that they actively want to do the course and are not being pressured into it.
Monday 28th August
Hand Tools (2 DAYS – DAY 2 OF 2) – Kevin Austin and Simon Fairlie
See Sunday
Permaculture & Forest Gardening (2 DAYS – DAY 1 OF 2) – Philip Gamble and Aranya
This first day will concentrate on permaculture gardening. Including –
*Soil basics. Jar test. Soil food web.
*Permaculture gardening: factors & techniques.
*Building soil & fertility; composting, liquid feeds, compost teas etc.
*Small scale forest gardens. Fruit trees: choosing, planting & care.
Tuesday 29th August
Scythe Course – Simon Fairlie and Jared Hills
Setting Up, Mowing, Sharpening and Basic Peening. Starts at 9.00 Scythes and accessories can be bought at the end of the course.
Permaculture & Forest Gardening (2 DAYS – DAY 2 OF 2) – Philip Gamble and Aranya
The second day of Philip and Aranya’s course will cover gardening skills, along with demonstrations and practicals, including –
*Propagation (all kinds)
*Pruning
*Tree planting, support and aftercare, mulching etc.
*Crown lifting?
*Tool care
French cheese making & Soft cheese making – Julie Rubiella and Jasmine Hills
Julie shows how to make a Tomme, a hard French cheese, and can answer questions about other French cheeses, while Jasmine makes a soft cheese or two.
Wednesday 30th August
How To Please Dairy Cows – Simon Fairlie
Buying, Feeding, Inseminating, Calving, Rearing, Milking, Marketing, Healing, Aging, etc.
Willow weaving – Emma Finch
Food growing – Jasmine Hills
A tour around the kitchen and fruit gardens with Jasmine, Head Grower. Conversing and knowledge sharing on the whys and how’s of getting growing, basic composting, planning, and a chance to do some harvesting or garden maintenance.
Thursday 31st August
English Cheedar Style Cheese, Halloumi Style Cheese and Butter – Simon Fairlie and Jon Hill
Demonstrating how to make all of these with our own Jersey milk.
Wood carving – Lloyd Newman
From log to spatula – Learn the skills to make a kitchen implement from green / unseasoned wood. Covering material choice, splitting/cleaving and use of hand tools to carve what could become your favourite kitchenware!
Friday 1st September
Dairy Goat Course – Kerry and Oli Goolden
Kerry and Olly keep Golden Guernsey goats at Fivepenny Farm, two miles away and make some startlingly good cheese.
Heritage Grains – John Letts
John Letts explains about how to grow resilient populations of different varieties of heritage grainswheat, spelt, rye and oats etc.
Evening Music – Joli Blon Cajun Band
Saturday 2nd September
Foraging – Mayla Westward
Mayla’s workshop will include a short introductory talk about the history of foraging, safety and sustainability, its relevance today and how Mayla got into foraging; followed by a walk to look at the local plants, trees and fungi and discuss their anthropogenic uses and dangers, such as edibility, medicinal value and which species are poisonous. Mayla’s workshops are based on the local biome.
Wool spinning & processing – Bec Briar, Jared Hills & Elena Warby
Learn to hand spin wool using a wheel or drop spindle. Covering all the steps to process wool from fleece to yarn, carding, spinning, plying and finishing.
Leather work – Ruth Pullan
Sewing – Keren CorneliusSunday 3rd September
Planning Permission – Simon Fairlie
Simon Fairlie answers questions about getting planning permission.
WET system of Waste Water Purification (Starts at 2pm) – Jay Abrahams
Monkton Wyld Court is more than pleased with the regenerative wastewater purification system that replaced our overloaded reedbed. It’s designer and builder Jay Abrahams of Biologic Design conducts a tour explaining how it works using permaculture design principles.
Fermentation/preserving/pickling – Simon
Panel discussion with Jyoti Fernades & Simon Fairlie
Double-bass-oon (7PM)
Laura Murphy who plays double bass in the London Philharmonic and Patrick Bolton, bassoon player give a talk about what it is like being young musicians in the top classical orchestras these days, and play Mozart’s Sonata in Bb for Bassoon and Cello, K92, followed by some more quirky material.
Evening Music – Rootweave
ONGOING
Haymaking
Early mornings, weather dependent
Yoga
Daily with Jasmine Hills
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL
To book on a workshop, or to get more information:
[email protected]
www.monktonwyldcourtcase.co.uk.
The views expressed in our blog are those of the author and not necessarily lowimpact.org's
5 Comments
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1Tom Barron August 17th, 2023
Wow, that's quite a programme. It proves to me that The Monkton Community has skills, contacts, energy and a desire to do what they said they would do. Help and educate. This is going to be a hard act for wussy "woke" trustees to follow.
Go Monkton Community hang in there.
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2Dave Darby August 17th, 2023
I can't comment on the characters of the individuals involved. But after 15 years of living in an intentional community, I know that you can't take a group of people from different parts of the modern world, and they'll live together harmoniously. They won't. Ask anyone who's lived in an intentional community, and they'll tell you the same.
Which is why I'm working on the commons now - https://stroudcommons.org/.
Your own front door, within a supportive community, socially and economically.
But - the Land is without doubt, the best magazine there is. Everyone should know about it and read it. I wish Simon Fairlie, and people like him, had more influence in the world. These actions damage the Land, and any enemy of the Land is an enemy of mine.
Simon - please, if there's anything I can do, let me know.
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3Chris Evans August 18th, 2023
Having co-facilitated 7 full residential permaculture design courses at Monkton Wylde between 2003 and 2009 I came to appreciate the roses and thorns of living in community and especially in an old dwelling that leaks energy and money. I was really happy to learn that Simon became resident in 2010, having been inspired by his work historically and subsequently, and that was borne out in the success of the community, its educational programs and the land work (especially the micro-dairy). I felt that the community was thriving with the security of good management and ethical approach. Having learnt recently about the extraordinary behaviour of new trustees and apparently disaffected individual member-in-waiting it saddens me to think that such actions can so easily threaten a well-functioning community and its diverse enterprises. From the evidence presented (and knowledge of the place, process and people) I encourage the residents and volunteers and whole support community to fight their corner, I'm just so sorry that their considerable resources of knoweledge and committment are being diverted from where it's needed (i.e. demonstrating regenerative and ethical social practice) to have to fight such unethical and destructive (and quite frankly unfathomable) agendas as are being pushed by the new trustees. Power to the people and common-sense process!
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4tom August 18th, 2023
Well said Chris
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5Phyll Hardie August 26th, 2023
My friend Christine, who sadly recently departed this life, introduced me to The Land magazine as a birthday present. She had been a subscriber since the magazine's birth and would have been devastated to know what is happenng to Monkton Wyld Court now, as I am now too. It sounds as if the remaining trustees are hoping to make money out of it by letting it as holiday accommodation. As the song goes: 'Money is the root of all evil'. Too true! I hope to hear better news soon.
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