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