October 2008
Yoga and Massage
3 – 5 October • £114
Yoga works not only on the body but also calms and sharpens the mind and leads to all-round alertness.
Iyengar Yoga will be taught in a way that is suited to beginners and more experienced practitioners. The classes will focus on postures to improve flexibility, strength, and balance, and exercises to improve breath awareness.
The weekend will also include sessions on ways of giving and receiving a relaxing and toning massage, covering different areas of the body and incorporating shiatsu techniques.
There will also be an opportunity for a walk in the Wiltshire countryside.
Fungus Foray
10 – 12 October • Adult £114 • Child £66
with Dr Patrick Harding and Jean Binney
Mushrooms. Toadstools. Champignons. Fungi. Whatever you like to call them, there are as many as 3,000 different species in this country alone. In the woods, on the downs, and in the fields of north Wiltshire we have found over 100 different kinds.
We shall explore fungi habitats, identify the big and little beauties, discover innumerable medicinal and culinary uses (ie. fantastic fry-ups) see them on seductively shifting slide shows, and simply enjoy finding, seeing, and touching them by the score.
We operate on the principle that the miracles of mycelia and the fables of fungi instruct as they delight. And they do!
Apple Celebration
Wednesday 22 October • 10am – 2pm
Come to the Wednesday Café and taste a selection of apple dishes, play a choice of apple games, and watch and help apple juice being made! Appletastic!!
Autumn Activities
24 – 26 October • Adult £114 • Child £66
As the season turns and nights draw in, we mark the change by getting together to make and do autumn things. We shall carve and hollow pumpkins and fill them with light, decorate little lanterns to shine brightly and drive away the darkness, light fires and make fire sculptures to remind us of the sun, create shadow plays that tell stories in silhouette, build campfires and tell stories that warm the heart, and play autumn games that fan the flames of human imagination.
A weekend for all ages to get together and be imaginative, in autumn!
Writing Weekend
31 Oct – 2 Nov • £114 • with Maria McCarthy
helped by John Richardson on poetry, and Matt Holland
Writing is generally a self-taught and solitary business – but not this weekend!
Here is an opportunity to do it together, with other writers and kindred spirits, in a relaxed, creative, and supportive setting.
A chance to do all sorts of writing-related things: get started, assess work in progress, ask questions, solve writing problems, get new ideas, find out how to get published, and enjoy one another's work and company!
Writers in residence will be Maria McCarthy (see www.mariamccarthy. co.uk) writer of features for national magazines and newspapers, tutor for path to publication workshops, and author of useful hand-books; John Richardson, poet, who writes poetry as an aid to explore and understand himself and the world; and Matt Holland, organiser of the Swindon Festival of Literature. All three like to work and play with written and spoken words while taking them very seriously.
