Christmas Grotto - 1st December, 1-4pm & 2nd Dec, 10am-6pm

Kick off the Christmas season and meet Father Christmas by the fire in a traditional grotto, in the Georgian Schoolhouse.

Decorate and hang a Christmas decoration, share your Christmas wishes with Father Christmas and take your festive family pictures around a real roaring fire!

Reflect on how the festive season has been celebrated over the centuries through snippets of cards, recipes and traditions from our archive.

All children will receive a pre loved book and treat as a Christmas gift!

Age 2-11

Past Events

Wild Foraging - Saturday 6th April, 10am-12pm

Learn how to identify edible plants (what to avoid!) and find out what's available seasonally with expert forager John Noble. Please wear sturdy footwear and dress for the weather. Suitable for all ages but under 16s must be supervised by an adult at all times.

SOLD OUT - Stool Making - Saturday 23rd March, 10am-4pm

Saw, slice and chop fresh wood with traditional carving tools and methods, into a beautiful three legged seat under the expert instruction of Tom Jennings!

This course will introduce you to the basics of wood carving, including about the crucial tools and how to use them. You will leave with a piece of your own work to keep. All tools and materials provided.

Bring your own lunch or pop over to 'The Yard Cafe' and enjoy a delicious and homemade (with 10% discount).

Orchard Wassail - Saturday 20th January, 5-7pm

Join us for the ancient tradition of wassailing this winter, to ward off evil spirits and bless the trees in the hope of a good harvest later in the year! Dress up warm and experience a night of folklore stories and songs by candlelight in the gardens and orchard of Cotesbach Hall.

Bring along a drum or tambourine, pots pans and spoons, or anything that makes a noise as we attempt to scare off those pesky evil spirits. We will be lead in song by the Wassail King and Queen (AKA the renowned Hatstand Band) who will lead traditional songs in a good old group singalong. It's all good fun and you will certainly feel like your New Year has started with a bang!

We will be running a limited bar selling both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and mulled beverages.

This event is outdoors on uneven ground, and it will be dark so is unfortunately not suitable for buggies or wheelchairs. Please wear sturdy footwear or wellies!

Pretzel Workshops 2nd December, 11am & 1pm

Get some German Market Vibes in The Glasshouse at Cotesbach with a Pretzel Making Workshop. During this 45 minute - 1 Hour session you will shape, dip & bake your own Giant Pretzel. Choose whether to top yours with rock salt, seeds or crunchy sugar. You'll leave the session armed with all the knowledge you need to make your own delicious Pretzels plus a full recipe & your own hand-shaped, freshly-baked Pretzel - perfect to enjoy with a huge glass of German Pilsner (or something soft!)!

Age 12-Adult

Christmas Storytelling - 1st December, 12pm

Join us for Christmas stories by the fire in the Georgian Schoolhouse in this 45 minute session.

Enjoy stories old and new, reflect on Christmas past and present and join in with actions and games!

Suitable for children aged 2-5, with their grown up.

Screening of ‘The Oil Machine’ - 12th October, 7pm

How can we break our addition to oil? Join us for a screening of the new film The Oil Machine on for an inspiring screening and conversation on our energy future.

The Oil Machine explores our economic, historical and emotional entanglement with fossil fuels by looking at the conflicting imperatives around North Sea oil & gas. This invisible machine at the core of our economy and society now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change. Is this the end of oil?

The film brings together a wide range of voices from oil company executives, economists, young activists, oil workers, pension fund managers, and considers how this machine can be tamed, dismantled or repurposed.

After the screening, we will be having a question & answer session with the executive producer, James Marriott.

Doors open at 18.45. Screening begins at 19.00, discussions afterwards.

Hedgerow Infusions and Winter Mindfulness - 16th November, 7-9pm

Winter warming mindfulness - in the cosy old schoolhouse. Come along for an evening of comfy indoors nature connections, festive forest crafting and hedgerow concoctions - all by the warmth of a roaring fire.

All materials will be provided and each participant will make a Christmas craft / or decoration to take home, sample hedgerow infusions (boozey and non alcoholic) and hear the winter tales and foraging folklore behind them.

Alongside their decoration all participants will get to take home winter infusion recipe cards, heritage recipe cards and tips to make their own at home this winter.

Autumn wild foraging - 30th September, 10-12pm & 1-3pm

Join expert forager John Noble on a walk along hedgerows and meadows to discover nature's free food for the Autumn season.

Learn how to identify edible plants (and what to avoid) and find out what's available seasonally. Please wear sturdy footwear and dress for the weather. Suitable for all ages but under 16s must be supervised by an adult at all times

Pigments & Inks from the hedgerow - 23rd September, 10-4pm

Come and learn how to make beautiful paints from what we can forage in nature and find in our neighbourhoods.

In the session set in the beautiful grounds of Cotesbach we'll:

- make some ‘hedgerow’ inks from found organic materials and from waste matter like discarded bricks and roof slates.

- process some London earth into pigment

- create some hand made paint from our pigment

- experiment with the inks and paint on various hand made plant papers using brushes and hand made Reed pens.

- participants will go home with a completed London Pigment colour chart, their own hand made paints, inks, pigments and all their colour experiments.

The day will include a delicious lunch from 'The Yard Café' and all course materials.

Carrifran Wildwood Talk - 21st September, from 6.30pm, talk starts at 7pm

The Wildwood project was set up in order to re-create a valley of wooded wilderness in the Southern Uplands with most of the rich diversity of native species that existed there thousands of years ago before human activities became dominant.

Through the hard work of a dedicated team of volunteers and the help of many generous supporters the restoration of the Carrifran Wildwood was the first ecological project of it's kind.

John Goodacre is going to tell us more and the importance of this amazing project.

Doors & Bar open at 18.30. There will be a selection of alcoholic/non alcoholic beverages available to purchase on the evening (cash & card payments accepted).

Talk starts at 19.00.

Pork Pie Making with Vince Howard - Saturday 17th June, 12 - 3.30pm

Learn how to make your own pork pies from award winning pork pie maker Vince Howard. This course will cover pastry making and how to make and fill your pork pies. No prior experience necessary.