New Life

Pilsdon's "Hay Field" with the manor house and church in the distance beyond the polytunnel.

My third sojourn, and my third winter, at Pilsdon Community is drawing to an end. On Monday I’ll be stuffing my car and trailer full of luggage and seed potatoes and driving north back to Wales to pick up where I left off last November.

The difference from last year’s migration north is that this time (a) I don’t know where I’ll be living on my return, since a planning officer has decided that I am “in breach of planning control” by living in my caravan on my land, and (b) a girl is waiting for me in Wales. For it is true, shortly before I headed south last November, I began to date an Irishwoman, another veg grower near Machynlleth who I found myself spending quite a bit of time with over the last two growing seasons. I suspect we will find even more time to hang out together amongst the runner bean frames this year.

The blackboard is used for broacasting important messages to the community.

The winter has been a good one. This place has been buzzing, full of energy, laughter, comradeship, good food and Scrabble. To be back amongst these friends during the cold months, sharing my joys, hopes and planning woes, and getting to know new folks recently joined, has been a privilege. 

I have been helped in innumerable ways - Frank* has fixed my trailer door hinge, put my greenhouse heater up for sale using his EBay account and gave me a book on how to speak Welsh. Kyle got my chainsaw running a bit better. Bernie gave me a nice large carry-bag as he saw mine was falling apart. Arnold gave me a brand new single duvet cover that was going spare, and his wife gave me some tent pegs she found. Two people have given me lots of seed potatoes they didn’t need or want (Casablanca and Winston varieties, if you are a potato geek.)  Nathan lent me a copy of an RS Thomas anthology, the great 20th century Welsh poet. Alfonso gave me two bags of rather good coffee beans, and when I admitted I didn’t have a grinder he let me use his top-of-the-range electric burr machine which instantly zapped them into powder. Others have helped in all sorts of little ways. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve or can do to repay all these generous gestures, but people seem to like me to play the piano. Which thankfully I also love doing.

The denuded oak tree

Not only do we live communally but sometimes there are large tasks which we achieve communally. This winter was no exception - the removal of the huge fallen oak tree (or its many branches at least); clearing and burning all the brambles that had covered much of our stock fencing so we have access to replace the rotted stakes (still ongoing), and clearing out Brook House to name but three. Brook House was Pilsdon’s “Halfway House” until recently, a large residence in Dorchester with up to ten bedrooms which had a zero-alcohol policy and shared evening meals. For the last fifteen years or so people have had the option to move there from Pilsdon, and so retaining community life whilst getting reintegrated into the world through local work. Unfortunately it had been chronically under-utilised for some time so Pilsdon was unable to keep it going financially. The last remaining residents have been re-housed and we are making trip after trip there to empty it of furniture and clean it before handing it back to the landlord, who has in fact already sold it on. 

I’ve saved the best bit of news until last. In the early hours of Monday night Mary and Matt rushed off to Dorchester hospital, leaving the whole community on tenterhooks. Just after 2pm the call came through - it’s a boy, eight-pounds-worth, and they’ve named him Rowan.  She stayed in hospital last night so we have yet to meet the young chap. Welcome to the world, Rowan, and to Pilsdon Community! Congratulations to his exhausted mother. And ok Matt, you can be congratulated too.  May God's blessings rest on the three of you.

This being my last post from Dorset, if you want to follow my progress up in Wales check back next week on my other blog : mattswanoffgrid.blogspot.co.uk. 

*all these names are made up (except those in the penultimate paragraph!)