Connecting with nature is proven to be one of the healthiest ways we can look after our well being and that’s our priority here at Welsummer. It helps you and us, and it helps our environment.
Den making has to be the top activity for kids here. Our 3 acre woodland is kept mainly wild, with just one cabin and 4 pitches. The rest is left up to the wildlife and the kids to share. Alongside Badgers, dormice, rabbits and owls, the flora and fauna should be observed and protected but there’s plenty of dead wood lying around to make dens with and we actively encourage playing in the woods. But we do ask children and parents alike to be aware that the dead wood must be left in the woods to eventually rot down and create a balanced eco-system and healthy habitat for the bugs and all else who reside here. There’s also an old fallen down tree that has been The place to congregate for kids since even I was a kid, before it fell in the storms in 1987.
Herbs and medicine have been a passion of mine for a long time and the herb gardens are growing bigger every year. I am happy to show you around and I run tours and workshops where you can learn about foraging safely, the wonderful world of self-sufficiency in herbal medicine, as well as making your own remedies.
At the back of the woods you will find a private gateway to the rest of the world. The national footpath network goes right past as you step out, and leads not only to the local pub but to miles and miles of beautiful footpaths past ancient orchards, churches, woodlands and wildflower meadows.
At Welsummer we are so lucky to have a wide variety of native and traditional fruit and nut trees. When fruit is in season, ‘pick your own’ can be organised and apple pressing has been a firm favourite in the past.
We also keep bees and our resident experts run workshops for new and aspiring beekeepers.
