French Garden Retreat with The Land Gardeners
For gardeners and garden lovers alike, this retreat will take you to the beautiful Loire region with Bridget and Henrietta, founders of The Land Gardeners. Stay at Bridget’s home at Château de la Rongère, along with a maximum of ten other guests. By day you’ll tour some of the most beautiful private and historic gardens in the area, including the serene 13th century cloister gardens at Mont Saint Michel and Villandry with its large-scale organic vegetable gardens. In the evening there will be talks on gardening, cut flowers and all things green. Book here.
The Arniano Painting School, Tuscany
There are still a couple of rooms left this April and May if you’d like to join the painting weeks amongst the rolling Tuscan landscape at The Arniano Painting School. 30 minutes’ outside Siena, spend a week at the easel with the help of artist, William Roper-Curzon – both artists and enthusiasts are welcome. Delicious meals are provided by Amber Guinness, whose family home you’ll be staying in (and whose book about Arniano, A House Party in Tuscany is out now). There’s also time to enjoy the gardens as you laze about on the daybeds along with a maximum of 10 other guests. Book here.
Creative Retreats at Clayhill Arts, Somerset
A series of former farm buildings and cattle sheds have been renovated to create the shiny new space for Clayhill Arts. Set amongst 140 acres of Somerset countryside, it’s a bespoke centre for creativity with workshop rooms, a cinema barn, converted granary and rooms for up to 16 to stay on-site. The range of courses is diverse; most run for 3 days and you can either stay at Clayhill or organise your own accommodation. Coming up there’s Making Paper Garments with Jennifer Collier, Childrens Book Illustration with Alexis Deacon, Japanese Embroidery with Rob Jones and lots more. Book here.
A Little Bird Loves
