To stay the same everything must change
Read about our 2024 plans from Glen Dye co-founder Charlie Gladstone.
To stay the same, everything must change. I love that, from the beginning of The Leopard, by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. On first reading it might seem like paradoxical nonsense, but it isn’t, it’s the opposite, it makes total sense. Put it another way, inertia is slow death.
At Glen Dye, 2024 is going to be a year of evolution as we make several changes in our attempt to get better and better. When we launched, we aimed to be the best self-catering cottages in the UK. And we’re not far off. But one of the things that we’re aware of is that we need to offer more and more for our guests to do once they are with us. That seems to be what you -our loyal supporters- want. So, here are some changes that we’re working on.
The Sawmill, reimagined
We have closed The Sawmill as a residential site. This was initially a result of significant storm damage and flooding caused by Storm Garrett. Some big trees came down and some considerable damage was done. Anyway, this prompted a review and an idea….
We’ll be converting The Sawmill into a permanent School of Wild Wellness, Bushcraft, Craft, Nature and Food. It will be open seven days a week, sometimes supervised and sometimes not but always engaging and fun. There will be a sauna and ice baths and a library and lots more. Details will follow. We’ll launch in May.
Food expansion and improvements
We’ll be opening an occasional restaurant, probably called The Seedstore. It will be small, and the food will be rooted in Glen Dye. The plan is to open it three nights a week for
around 25 weeks a year. British/Indian chef Romy Gill MBE, will be our launch chef in July.
We’ll be expanding and improving our Garden Campsite, which has a wonderful new kitchen and dining room and will include more permanent and pitch-your-own sites. This will
launch in time for the summer.
The Woodshed events space
The Woodshed has had a complete redecoration and is available immediately for private hire. We had our daughter Xanthe’s wedding there in October (pictured). It was a blast and with underfloor heating and brilliant loos etc, the room worked really well. Please find more details about weddings here. We don’t host very many each year but when we do, they’re good.
Speaking of good things… we’ve also bought some wonderful new games, including Archery Tag.
New Art incoming…
The famed KEEP GLEN DYE A SECRET wall is going. It’s time for a change and in February
master signwriter and friend Rob Walker will be at Glen Dye working his magic on something new.
And we have another monumental piece of art being installed as I write. This is by Adam Bridgland and will be temporary….and sensational.
So, there’s a lot going on. We continue in our pursuit of excellence so that you can have the best holiday imaginable with us. We very much hope that you’ll come and see us this year.
All the best Charlie, Caroline and the Team.
Bryn Morgan-Hughes shares his experience as Artist/Maker in Residence at Glen Dye
Bryn Morgan-Hughes shares his experience as Artist/Maker in Residence at Glen Dye from February 2025.
On my culture radar this month for April
What’s new on the cultural radar for April 2025. Written by Charlie Gladstone. Including books, audio and music.