Escape the city and head to the picturesque surrounds of Hampshire for this upcoming event series at Heckfield Place
Set just over an hour away from London, with woodland, walled gardens and a duo of delicious restaurants, this historic hotel is a sculpted haven of both peace and luxury.
Taking place from this September, Heckfield Place is hosting an event series with themes spanning across food, farm, wellness and even space travel.
Part of The Assembly, which places creativity, sustainability and nature at the heart of its ethos, there’s plenty of interesting ways to engage with all things rustic in Hampshire.
1 Home Farm Tour with Jane Scotter – 10.30 and 2pm on the 21st September
Join Jane Scotter, co-founder of Neals Yard Dairy and author of Fern Verrow: A year of recipes from a farm and its kitchen alongside Tom Petherick, author of Heligan: A Portrait of the Lost Gardens and Sufficient: A Modern Guide to Sustainable Living, on a tour of Home Farm.
Following biodynamic principles explore the importance of compost, and get to grips with why it’s the time to grow real food and real community.
2 Teatime chat: Better Health with author Alys Fowler – 3.30pm on the 21st September
Over tea and cake join gardener, writer and presenter Alys Fowler in conversation about her new book, A Modern Herbal (a copy is included in the ticket price).
Offering a fusion of botanical, practical, cultural and historical information, A Modern Herbal reveals how common herbs are the simple, cleansing way to better health and happiness.
It includes guides for how to use and grow more than 100 herbs – for example, how to use fennel for indigestion, camomile for anxiety and nettle for hay fever.
3 Journey into Space with NASA Director Paul Hill
4.30pm on the 21st September
Perfect for aspiring astronauts, NASA Director Paul Hill will be exploring how rockets work as well as how spacesuits are designed to keep astronauts alive.
You’ll also learn how to survive some of the traps/disasters that the cosmos can throw at you whilst journeying through space.
4 Qigong with Tiffany Bown
4.45pm on the 21st September & 10.30am on the 22nd September
Qigong is a Chinese art that brings together mindful movement, breath and focused awareness.
Tiffany is a teacher of Qigong and Yoga, with a particular passion for helping women thrive by reconnecting to and embracing their cyclical feminine reality (but this event is open to all!).
She’s helping guests to align their inner world with the seasonal shift this Autumn Equinox with gentle Qigong movement by the lakes at Heckfield.
5 Skye Gyngell Equinox Dinner
8pm on the 21st September
One for the foodies! Skye Gyngell, Alys Fowler, Jane Scotter, Tom Petherick and other guest speakers will be hosting a delicious five-course Equinox supper on communal long tables in the Sun House.
Guests will dine on Skye’s exquisite dishes creating by ingredients sourced from Home Farm and the wider estate, the evening will also showcase Heckfield’s Assembly events from cocktail making to flower arranging. Who’s hungry?
6 Cake-decorating class with Sarah Johnson
2.30pm on the 21st September
If you’re a baker, mark your calendar for this sweet treat workshop. Spring Restaurant’s Head Pastry Chef and Heckfield’s pastry consultant Sarah Johnson will host a hands-on cake decorating workshop, over culinary stories and tea and cake.
Sarah’s role includes collaboration with farmers in order to create desserts and cakes that are fresh, innovative and celebrate the fruits of the seasons. Even better, you’ll take your finished creation home – if it lasts that long, of course.
