This week, I had a wonderful, heartwarming stay at Eden Fold – a peaceful off-grid retreat in North Yorkshire, where wild meadow meets ancient woodland and time really does slow down – and that is difficult for me to normally do.
Just outside York, Eden Fold has three beautiful wooden cabins and four bell tents. It is the beautiful passion project of Gemma and Dan, and you can feel their love feeding through in every well thought out detail within the cabins and on site.
The hand-built cabins nestle into the landscape, with the most wonderful luxurious, warm, earthy tones enveloping inside and out, allowing them to blend beautifully with their natural surroundings. Nothing feels imposed upon the land. Instead, everything is considered, natural and connected to it. The aim of the site is about sustainability, but it doesn’t feel like sustainability has simply been added as a feature or a selling point. It is woven through the whole place to give an off grid stay with everything you need for comfort.
I was welcomed by Gemma with a huge handmade soda-and-honey loaf of bread, her homemade jam and her own honey and a beautiful bunch of dahlias. Dan carried up 25 litres of drinking water for the outdoor kitchen. Those little acts of kindness immediately made me feel that I had arrived somewhere where people really care about what they had created and care about the experience of the visitor.
I’ve wanted to stay somewhere off-grid, close to the land, to step away from home for a little while – to become more aware of the world around me — and of my own footprint upon it – as I did when I lived in Shetland.
I also wanted space and time to work and think creatively: to develop the colours for my next knitting project and to read. I am currently resurrecting my book about the time I lived in Shetland, so having somewhere quiet enough to read, think and reconnect with that work was incredibly important to me.
And here I was at Eden Fold.
There are three cabins, four bell tents, outdoor showers and well thought out washing facilities for both the kitchen and the accommodations make staying – both natural and luxurious. The little cabins are powered by solar energy, which generates the lighting and provides USB charging for your phone.
It is a wonderfully simple way of living for a few days — comfortable and thoughtfully designed, but without all the invisible infrastructure and consumption that we normally take for granted.
Gemma offered me the Geo Dome, which is usually a communal space for everyone staying at Eden Fold, so that I could knit under natural day light. It is quite breathtaking.
There is something very different about sitting somewhere like this with your knitting, surrounded by meadow and woodland, rather than sitting at home surrounded by all the things that normally compete for my attention.
I knitted. I read. I thought about colour. I watched the light change. I noticed things. I plaited sweet grass. I lay down in the long grass.
And then there was the owl.
This was, without doubt, my biggest highlight.
On my second morning, I was standing outside my cabin at dawn, watching a barn owl hunting for its breakfast.
I had already been completely captivated by watching it fly around the meadow. But then it came around the bottom of the meadow and flew straight over my head, looking directly into my face.
I have never experienced anything quite like it.
For that brief moment, I saw that bird look right into my eyes – something I will never forget.
I stood there completely still, watching it fly away, and I knew immediately that this was a memory I would carry with me forever.
There was something else I loved about being at Eden Fold too.
It felt good to stretch my solo wild-living muscles again.
I have always loved the feeling of being close to the land — of having to notice the weather, the light, the animals, where your water comes from and how much energy you are using. I love being outside – It makes me feel more present.
And being there alone gave me the space to reconnect with that part of myself.
I went to Eden Fold wanting to step away from home for a little while.
I left feeling that I had stepped a little closer to myself.
I am already a bit in love with Eden Fold
It is one of those places where the experience isn’t just about the accommodation. It is about the land, the thought that has gone into creating a mindful stay away from home, the people behind it, the simplicity, the sustainability, the quietness — and all the unexpected moments that can happen when you give yourself enough time to notice them.
And sometimes, apparently, an owl flying directly over your head at dawn.
If you are looking for somewhere to slow down, reconnect with the natural world, spend some time off-grid, get creative, read, think, walk, knit, breathe — or simply do absolutely nothing for a while — take a look at Eden Fold
It really is a special place. see the link below to find out more.
Eden Fold – Off Grid Retreat Near York with Cabins & Bell Tents
And if you do go, tell them Tracey sent you. ❤️
