The first step of our journey, not including a sneaky little holiday on the North Devon Coast, landed us up at Windsor Hill Wood, a community in Somerset.
Windsor Hill Wood is just a family who live a large house with their own small farm and woodland. But they’ve done a very selfless thing, they’ve opened up their home to anyone who needs help. Whether they’re needing help with rehab, dealing with grief, homelessness or depression, anything where they’re in need of kindness and support.
We spent a long weekend with the Jones family and we all really loved it.
There was always something to do, a constant hub of business and new people going in and out. The men sat round the stove, drinking tea and discussing the design of a woodland shelter, the women laughed and talked in the lovely kitchen, cooking the next meal we’d all eat together, us kids sat in the sitting room writing songs and comparing musical instruments. Either that or we’d be outside by the goats or the chickens. Maybe on the trampoline doing tricks or in the dusty workshop pottering about.
They had three really nice kids, all roughly our ages, Benny, Emma and Leo. We had such fun together, forming a band called L’enigma, with Evan on his uke, Emma as our incredible pianist, Irys playing her recorder, Benny and I singing, and Leo dancing.
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Evan in costume
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Irys
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Me!
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The singers
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From left to right: Evan, Irys, Emma, Gracie, Benny, Leo. L’enigma!
We smoothed them off with sandpaper and oiled them ’til they shone a dark bronze colour. Benny made S & M and I made C & W: Shepton Mallet Community Woodland!
A bit later we took a walk through the woods to the shelter. We cut long poles and helped the men put the roof on by pushing and shoving. It worked. Now me and Benny had the trickiest job, but we couldn’t give it to anyone else. We had to do the honours.
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Helping with the roof
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Concentrating.
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Benny’s turn.
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Ev and Leo, off to feed the chickens.