Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: Holiday Guests

Sunday 31 July 2011

Holiday Guests

I don't know how we manage it, but these days we seem to have a continual stream of gorgeous people coming through on holiday.

The weather has been so good here that we ate our cream tea, with the guests, on the Terrace in blazing sunshine.

Most days have followed a pattern of all the children playing together in the morning...then out with their own families to the beach...and then meeting up and playing until 10.30pm at night, as the evenings have been so warm.

A group of the girls all came to me one day and asked if they could completely re-design the games room! I heard their plan and then together we began moving things around to how they wanted it.

They did a fab job, including the creation of a comments and suggestions box for our future games room which will be relocated within the grounds this winter. Thank you to Maddie, Izzy, Tilly, Grace, Trinity, Liza, Loulou, and Grace.

The rabbits have gone down a storm this summer. They have been given so much love they are really tame. Our rabbits have just produced another batch...we weren't quite quick enough at separating them, and had no idea they bred so quickly. NOW i know where the expression comes from!

Zac has been supervising the wittling of sticks (with parental permission of course)and the boys have had a great time peeling off all the bark and making a proper weapon to take back to London...! Really hope they dont get stopped on their way home.

As evening falls the children all gather together again which means the parents can relax, read a book or enjoy a barbeque in the garden. One evening I went to find Zac, as he had been playing 'IT' in the woods, when i found these lovely people..

It does generally follow that if the kids are happy then the parents are happy, right?! These guys seemed particularly happy when i found them having a barbeque next to the bog garden..

This is our 'bog garden', it was built as a memorial to the last owners' wife. It is quite something with its giant stones imbedded into the ground. There is a decking area nearby which we have designated as one bbq area. You get to it by following a path through the woods.

A couple of the girls dropped something onto our kitchen table before they left... It was quite sad to say goodbye on Friday! x

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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".