Make Do and Mend: The UK’s Best Creative Retreats
We’ve toured the UK’s most stylish creative retreats – from low-energy campsites where carpentry is the order of the day to renovated country piles replete with pottery studios and candle-making workshops – to bring you a tight edit of our favourite places to get creative.
08 September, 2020
- Words by
- Robbie Hodges
An
An
instant sense of gratification, a sense of calm, a clutch of
new friendships and a souvenir that won’t instantly be cast asunder
like the novelty fridge magnets and polyester slogan tees of
yesteryear; there’s nothing better than picking up a new skill on
your travels, and after a turbulent year, it’s safe to say we could
all do with taking some time out to make (do) and mend. We’ve
toured the UK’s most stylish creative retreats – from low-energy
campsites where carpentry is the order of the day to renovated
country piles replete with pottery studios, art workshops and candle-making classes – to bring you a
tight edit of our favourite places to get creative.
Seven of the UK’s best creative retreats
hotel
Campwell
Bath, England
Here’s a place that does what it says on the tin. At the
intersection of wellness and camping sits Campwell, an earthy
retreat just outside
Bath. Once you’ve booked your cabin, make sure to nab a spot on
one of its supplementary courses. There’s Forage to Fork, in which
campers are taken on a two-hour walk into private woodland, picking
all manner of flowers fruits and mushrooms which are eventually
rustled up for lunch, or try its Woodcarving Workshop a two-hour
introduction to the craft which culminates in guests designing
their own coaster. Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find yoga classes,
outdoor fitness sessions and massages. Tick, tick and tick.
hotel
Fforest
Cardigan, Wales
You want wholesome? Look no further. This ultra-rustic farm in
Wales is paving the way for a new genre of design-led, glamping
retreats. Pitch up in a dome, a “Garden Shac”, a whopping great
farmhouse or
cosy cabin; each is decorated with a mixture of rickety old
furniture and of-the-moment designer fixtures. For those who prefer
seeing rather than doing, the National Wool Museum and
Llanerchaeron (a 1790s villa designed by John Nash) are close by.
Otherwise, you can learn bushcraft, float out to remote bays by
kayak or forage for dinner. Every year it hosts Fforest Gather, a
two-week festival for crafty types. Expect sewing, ceramics,
flower-crown classes and more.
thingstodo
Archipelago Folkschool
Hebrides, Scotland
What did you do on your holiday? I built a canoe and rowed it
around Scotland’s Hebridean islands, naturally. Whether you’ve
booked a full week off work or you simply fancy getting your hands
dirty for a couple of days, Archipelago Folkschool has you covered.
Its weekend courses include paddle-making, blacksmithing and
signwriting, while those who commit to a week in the workshop can
expect to walk (or row) away with a kayak or canoe made from marine
plywood and fibreglass.
hotel
The Newt
Somerset, England
For something altogether more traditional, why not try The Newt
in Somerset? This working farm is the place for foodies with flair.
Turn your hand to cider-making by having a go on its apple press,
glean some expert insight into honey-making from its beekeeper or
simply book yourself in for breakfast, lunch and dinner at each of
the restaurants and feast exclusively on a diet of farm-to-table
fare. Pockets of interiors inspiration are found in every corner of
this 17th-century house which opened to paying guests in the summer
of 2019 with a fresh lick of paint and a sharp new outfit of modish
fittings.
thingstodo
Welsh Academy of Art
Cwmdu, Wales
If you’re a frustrated portraitist or a tired landscape painter
looking for a fresh jolt of inspiration, book onto a class at the
Welsh Academy of Art, a retreat based in the hamlet of Cwmdu where
classes in oil painting, anatomy, portraiture and more are taught
by professional artists both in the studio and out in the
surrounding countryside. This one can get a little technical, so
might be a tad tiring to complete amateurs. While you can choose to
stay off-site, there are plenty of rooms available in the farmhouse
behind the workshops – each finished with homely, but luxurious
flourishes.
hotel
Glen Dye
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
We’ve been fans of Glen Dye for a while now. Why do we keep
coming back? Yes, for the aesthetics (this luxurious cluster of
cabins up in the forests of eastern Scotland is infinitely
‘grammable) but also for its packed schedule of outdoorsy,
food-focused activities. Keep your eyes peeled for outdoor feasts
and pop-up culinary events. Its Wild Food camp, a mini-festival
kicking off on 30 October, is filled with tutorials on fermenting,
curing, herbal medicine and more, interspersed with spots of wild
swimming and group hikes.
hotel
Birch
Hertfordshire, England
This converted country manor, set among 55 acres of nature just
north of London is fast becoming the go-to spot for frazzled
urbanites looking to catch a break. It has all the amenities you’d
want from a five-star hotel and then some. Aside from the obvious –
a sprawling gym, restaurants to suit all palates and bars to match
– you’ll find a pottery studio, an interactive bakery, a music room
and art studios, along with a packed schedule of classes. We’re
making aromatic bath salts with Earl of East. Bauhaus plate painting? Don’t
mind if we do.
Address
Lieutenant Ellis Way, Cheshunt, Goff’s Oak, Waltham Cross EN7 5HW