.

Eleven (and later a twelfth) of us had a works outing to Hilldrop, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex to meet friends and colleagues of Dan, Duncan and Olly: John and Fiona Little, and see their house and garden, also the site of his Grass Roof Company.

.

John (left) and Dan (right) with others in the garden

.

Fiona (left) and Naomi (right) in the garden looking up towards the house

Despite it being a somewhat overcast day, the garden was in gorgeous full bloom with an abundance of wildflowers, insects and birds.

.
.

A small corner of this space had until recently been used as a yard for Green Roof Shelters assembly before their move to a larger site. At Hilldrop, John and Fiona live in a 30+ year-old Jon Broome designed self-build house with sweeping views over the garden and towards the Thames estuary. 

.

View down from the house and across the garden

.

View from the garden back up to the house

After tea, coffee and very tasty flapjacks (thanks Fiona!) John took us on a fascinating tour around the garden.

.

John leads the way through wildflower meadow heaven!

.

Empty gourds hang from a tree as insect houses

.

Building rubble expertly repurposed into a dry stone wall

We said our goodbyes to Fiona and John, re-boarded the coach and headed to Barking Riverside where Green Roof Shelters and Front Yard Company are now based.

.

Part of the yard at Barking with shelters in the process of assembly

At Barking we saw shelters under construction and shipping containers transformed into well-organised tool, office and storage spaces. Dan describes this new place as like the child of two parents: one parent being the convivial space that is Workplace Co-operative 115, the other being the wildlife inclusive, ecologically diverse workplace that is Hilldrop.

.

Another view of shelters in the yard

.

Shipping containers-cum-office/storage spaces and Olly getting the beers out!

The expedition was organised by Dan who also drove the coach and made meals-on-wheels (packed lunches en route). A fire and the opening of packets of crisps, nuts and several beers rounded off the day nicely.

Thanks to Jack, Liz, Lucy and Naomi for photos