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Tucked away above the river Severn is the Grange Village - a working community of around 80 people live here in 10 different houses. The Grange is part of the Camp Hill Village trust, where adults with learning disabilities and special needs live, work and have the opportunity to study in a harmonious environment. Community workers, residents, volunteers, house parents – all share the responsibility of the daily work that falls upon in order to run an almost fully self sufficient community. The activities range from the science of bio-dynamic farming and gardening, it is possible to take part in an apprenticeship program in either direction, given a diploma when completed. Tony the head of the garden likes to share his knowledge with everybody – interesting talks not only about gardening but also about the wider meaning of life. There are other education programs available, where the residents can gain and/or deepen their skills. The community also runs a pottery and basketry, woodwork, bakery and a successful theater group. The monthly assembly in the Hall invites every member to discuss the various aspects at the Grange.
The days start at 7.45am for breakfast together followed either by working on the farm, garden, workshops or bakery. Jokes, discussions, affections and sometimes even farts and burps are a funny highlight during work. Lunch is prepared by the residents and the co-workers, the plates and cups used are home made in the pottery. The afternoon is destined to continue working or for studying. Evenings are spend individually, activities ranging from guitar lessons to singing, play rehearsal, dance sessions in the village. The residents often go out in the evenings to see a play or to meet friends in the pub down in Newnham. Cinema is a preferred activity, the bus ride is only 25min to Gloucester – perfect for a night out. For the weekends the residents go home or stay at the Grange, lunch is eaten at the George Pub in Newnham which is part of the village.
The Grange is not only a good place for people, the animals rights for a decent life are as highly respected as the human ones. The goats are grassing under the oldest oak tree in the forest. They all have names – Coffee, Basil, Ash etc. and they are allowed to be animals, clearly showing their different characteristics. Pigs like to have their back scratched with the shovel, the cows roam through the fields, and the cockerel alarms all his hens when the hawk comes in sight. Old CD’s are used as a hawk defense, nothing gets thrown away at the Grange, recycling is the credo and for most of the things is a second usage found. Summer time means hay making time for the livestock – a physically intense work, the grass is cut with the tractor the rest is done in old manner with hands and wooden tools.
Love is in the air, of course, at a closer look you discover that there are several couples living in the village, enjoying the time together, planning and going on extensive holiday trips through Europe; the pictures taken are properly stored, ready to be shown any time on the computer and the route is re-created on Google earth… sweet memories…
The realization of this project was only possible with the generous help of everybody from the Grange Village. Special thank goes to David Herman, who has kindly introduced me to the community. I was able to stay at the Grange for a longer period, I had the utmost warm welcome, curiosity and a great interest and support in the project.
The speakers are (in chronological order):
Tom Andrew Tony Ashley Teodora Tom Daniel
The Beach Boys Surfin’ USA was performed by Judah.
Further appear:
Gill M., Marina, Lauri, Julia, Mark, Gill H., Douglas, Jerry, Marina, Daniel, Fiona, Angela, Carol. Geffrey, Jessica, Alex, Jude, Dave, Ian, Tamas, Stefan, Lea, David and Norman.
The Grange Village by Natascha Sturny is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at sturny.co.uk.
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