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