A New Chapter…

I started this blog five years ago to record our journey towards an off-grid lifestyle… It’s taken various detours along the way but hopefully provided an interesting read to our handful of followers…

So although I haven’t written anything for a while, this year has seen us take a potentially huge leap forward in that journey and I wanted to attempt to document it in some way… because “going off-grid” is actually pretty hard!

So many people want this same dream… their own little plot of land to hide away from the hustle and bustle… growing food and living in harmony with the earth. I wrote just that back in 2017 but making dreams a reality is another matter. Even if you win the lottery you can’t just buy land and do what you want with it… a mistake many have discovered the hard way.

However, earlier this year we met Tracey and Matt at Enchanted Hill in Cambridgeshire who have managed to do just that… they bought a bare agricultural field and set about making it their forever home. Through sheer hard work, determination and an appreciation of planning law, they’ve created an off-grid small holding that runs mostly off solar and rain water and have just been granted planning permission for their dream eco-house. Their journey is far from over but, being several steps ahead of us, getting to know them this year has been a fantastic opportunity.

As I write this, I’m sat in a field surrounded by a few pigs, chickens and a handful of sheep… the rural landscape spans out for miles and miles – we hadn’t been to Cambridge before meeting these guys so, compared to living in Yorkshire, we can’t get over how FLAT everywhere is!!!! It’s August and we’re having a heatwave… the sky is completely blue but there’s a little shade and a gentle breeze. Next to me is our bell tent, home for the next few weeks as Tracey and Matt are generously letting us stay here in exchange for some help around the farm.

So how does this fit in with our own dreams?

Well last time we were here Dave was making furniture and running his tools entirely from solar… we’re learning how we could potentially run our business off-grid.

Tracey’s long-term plan for Enchanted Hill is that it will have glamping pods and offer wellbeing retreats but also, and perhaps more importantly, opportunities for visitors to learn about off-grid living and how we can all reduce our impact on the planet. Finding like-minded people with a shared vision has given both parties a much-needed surge of enthusiasm to keep going even though sometimes the road seems long.

Finally, as some of you already know, last year we bought a horsebox to convert into our new home (the caravan as previously mentioned is on it’s last legs!!) Well progress on that has been slow, it’s going to take more work than we first anticipated… but it’s staying here at Enchanted Hill while we work on it and after that… well who knows!

Certainly, we’ve had a wonderful welcome here both from Tracey and Matt but also the local community, so if we can build up some work around the area perhaps we’ll stay a bit longer.

As I said at the start… it’s a new chapter… another step on our journey and we thank you all for following us so far. Stay tuned if you’d like to see how things develop.

Until next time….

Jac.x