Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: all together again

Saturday 3 September 2011

all together again

So the Baker's are back. Its been a tough old second half of the summer but with some beautiful moments which we'll treasure.

While we were away we got a text inviting us to Barracane beach. This is a gorgeous little secluded beach situated between Woolacombe and Morthoe. There is a beach hut there owned by a couple Stacey and Sumith. Sumith is Sri Lankan and so on inheriting the hut from Stacey's parents they decided to try selling true Sri Lankan curry dishes, alongside the ciabatta sandwiches, home-made soup and salads. We had heard about this and so this was our first night to give it a go.

The beach was packed! We found out that this was the last of Sumith's curry nights (they only run from April-1st September when a crane comes and lifts the hut off the beach to a more sheltered location. Apparently it used to be a gorgeous wooden hut but that was washed away by the high tide one winter)

The curry on the beach proved to be so successful that it runs from wednesday - Saturday in season and they also cook 'spicy devil chicken and beef' on a Sunday night which I have heard is absolutely delicious.

The whole experience was just completely surreal. I was sitting on the rock eating food that took me straight back to my honeymoon (guess where we went?!) on a china plate and proper cutlery, drinking wine from a lovely big glass with good friends, watching the sun setting and the children having a great time swimming in the sea.

After this summer and all that it brought, it felt like it was a really special, magical moment in time which needed to be remembered.

As the sun was setting, the moon appeared. What a welcome home.

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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".