IN Good Company
These are the people we know and love. We have worked with them, we trust them, we recommend them.
Two Fields Zakros
Small batches of olive oil produced in harmony with nature.
Single origin, small batch, extra virgin olive oil; produced with a respect and knowledge of ancient craft and with a focus on soil and microbes.
Founded by brothers Harry and Will, Two Fields Zakros produce small batch olive oil using regenerative farming methods. When Harry fell in love and moved to Zakros, he discovered a community producing some of the worlds finest olive oil. But they saw a beautiful generational craft, strained by a broken food system and conventional farming.
They believe in another way. A small scale, regenerative approach producing small batches of delicious olive oil in harmony with nature.
So, with no farming background but a deep desire to learn from the land and guided by the patient hand of honed farmers, they became unlikely apprentices and self taught regenerative farmers.
Will has spoken about his journey to Two Fields and of regenerative agriculture at The Good Life Experience. You can find their incredible olive oil at The Farm Shop on Hawarden Estate.
Some other good businesses.
Village Circus
Creative event producers, designers of unique tiny spaces, canvas canopies, camper vans and vintage restorations.
Based on the Welsh Borders, Village Circus are creative event producers, designers of unique tiny spaces, canvas canopies, camper vans and vintage restorations.
With a truly unique offering, Village Circus is a bounty of creativity. They sold us the Showman’s caravan, an original 1950’s Pilot (that was first owned by the touring circus troupe, Duo Russmar) and eventually lovingly restored by Village Circus duo, Willo and Lex. The Showman’s caravan now resides at Glen Dye and is available to guests.
They made a bespoke canopy for Hawarden Estate Farm Shop and hand-made canopies for Glen Dye, too. They’ll also be making one for Summer Camp. Trusted by us, Village Circus supports British manufacturing and sustainable production.
Contact them for brilliant ideas, perfectly executed.
Some other good businesses.
The Italian Ghillie
Federica Bertolini takes groups on walking expeditions around the Aberdeenshire countryside, provides delicious picnics of wild and foraged foods. She has extensive knowledge of the land and teaches her guests about the local environment.
Federica Bertolini takes groups on walking expeditions around the Aberdeenshire countryside. She provides delicious picnics of wild and foraged foods and teaches her guests about the local environment and the surrounding flora and fauna.
Federica previously worked as the General Manager for The Fife Arms. Federica’s passion for the Scottish landscape and the produce it has to offer is infectious. Since founding The Italian Ghillie, she works to share her knowledge of the local environment and small businesses doing good work, whilst removing Scotland’s stereotype of the land of deep-fried Mars bars! Contact Federica via the link below.
Some other good businesses.
Tristan Gooley
Author and expert natural navigator.
Author and expert natural navigator.
Tristan set up his natural navigation school in 2008 and is the author of award-winning and internationally bestselling books, including The Natural Navigator, The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs, How to Read Water and Wild Signs and Star Paths, some of the world’s only books covering natural navigation.
After decades spent hunting for clues and signs in nature, he regularly gets called the “Sherlock Holmes of nature”. He has written for the Sunday Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC and many magazines.
Tristan has led expeditions in five continents, climbed mountains in Europe, Africa and Asia, sailed small boats across oceans and piloted small aircraft to Africa and the Arctic. He is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Geographical Society. In 2020 he was awarded the Harold Spencer-Jones Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of Navigation. It is the Institute’s highest award, given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to navigation.
Tristan is, to say the least, an expert.
We are lucky enough to know Tristan and to have worked with him. He has worked with two of our sister businesses The Good Life Experience and Camp Glen Dye.
Read more about the outdoors.
Hawarden Castle Pavilion
Our sister business; a beautiful wedding and events venue set in historic parkland.
Our sister business. A beautiful wedding and events venue set in historic parkland, in Hawarden, North Wales.
Hawarden Castle Cricket Pavilion was built in the 1920s on what has often been described as ‘Wales’ most beautiful cricket pitch’.
With its views of two castles and set in rolling historic parkland it’s easy to understand why the pitch was so loved by the Hawarden’s cricketers, but in 2016 the club moved to a new site half a mile away.
The Pavilion has now been beautifully renovated to become one of Wales’ most unusual and beautiful events spaces and wedding venues. With two large events rooms, amazing views, full access to 2.75 acres of cricket pitch, a fully-equipped kitchen, a separate bar in the score hut and brilliant showers and loos the venue is available for hire.
Hawarden Cricket Club was established in 1865 with Prime Minister William Gladstone playing his first match in 1867. In the early days of the cricket club a tent was used as a pavilion which was soon replaced by a corrugated iron structure. In the 1920s the current building was built by the Gladstone family and given to the club.
The building has been renovated to the very highest standards without losing any of its storied past and is a place that your guests will never forget.
Image: Department TwoSome good people for you to meet…
The Good Life Society
Our sister business. Intimate events in some of the most beautiful locations in the UK.
Intimate events focusing on the great outdoors, community, food, craft, culture and music in incredible locations.
The Good Life Society is our sister business. At The Good Life Society we run intimate events focusing on the great outdoors, community, food, craft, culture and music in incredible locations on two of Britain’s most beautiful private estates. Each of our events aims to be the most friendly and inspiring anywhere.
Currently we run The Good Life Experience which is an annual festival for around 2000 guests on the storied Hawarden Estate in North Wales. We also run Camp Glen Dye, an occasional event for around 30 guests on the Glen Dye Estate in Kincardineshire. And now we have Summer Camp too, which is an annual two week event for up to 60 guests on the Hawarden Estate.
Each of our events helps our guests to live The Good Life. Each is different in scale and focus but they all bring people together to learn new skills and savour new experiences with proper experts. These are events that will change your life. Expect learning, excitement, fun, new friends, amazing food, knock-out drink and in the most beautiful countryside anywhere.
Image: Heather BirnieSome good people for you to meet…
Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages
Our sister business. Luxury accommodation set in the heart of the Highlands.
A sister business to Some Good Ideas. Luxury cottages and cabins in an amazing place. Hot tubs, camp fires and 30,000 acres of freedom.
Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages was founded and is run by our co-founders Caroline and Charlie Gladstone. Glen Dye is a magical place, it pulls you in and wraps you in a warm, gentle, inspiring embrace. That’s easy to write, but it’s true. The Cabins and Cottages sleep 2-7 people, depending on where you book.
Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages is where The Good Life Society hosts Camp Glen Dye.
Image:Department TwoSome good people for you to meet…
Isabella Tree
Award-winning author who is running a re-wilding project of nearly 20 years.
Award-winning author and travel writer, who has run a re-wilding project for nearly 20 years.
In 2002 Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie made a controversial decision to surrender their 3,500-acre estate to nature. Almost twenty years later, the land has been transformed entirely from its struggling conventional farming past into natural wilderness, teeming with life. In response to the huge success of her book Wilding, a beautifully descriptive telling of "the return to nature of an English farm", Isabella is currently writing The Wilding Handbook.
Image:Department TwoSome good people for you to meet…
Vivienne Rickman
Artist, educator and outdoor swimmer.
Artist, educator and outdoor swimmer.
Viv is an artist, educator and outdoor swimmer who has lived in the mountains of Snowdonia for 15 years. Her project #swimsnowdonia was listed amongst 'The 10 most inspiring adventures' in The Guardian and has been the focus of several short films including a music video for the band Elbow. Her film 'Afterglow' won Best Woman in Adventure Gold Award at Sheffield Adventure Film Festival.
Viv is a long time friend of our sister businesses The Good Life Society and Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages, and has taught many of their guests and customers the joys and tricks of outdoor swimming.
Image:Department TwoSome good people for you to meet…
Roger Phillips
Roger Phillips is a mushroom maestro and one of the most respected foragers in Great Britain.
A mushroom maestro and one of the most respected foragers in Great Britain.
In 1975 he began his life’s major work, photographing an encyclopaedic collection of world plants and he has since written 20 additional volumes with combined sales of 4.5 million copies worldwide.
We’ve worked with Roger for years. He’s the very best there is.
Image: Patricia NivenA few good articles on The Great Outdoors.
Franchi Seeds
Heritage seeds, grown in Italy.
Heritage seeds, grown in Italy.
Franchi Seeds of Italy sell heritage, endangered and ethical varieties of seeds.
They are one of the oldest seed company in the world, established in 1783 in Bergamo Italy. The company is still run by the Franchi family.
Some good recipes for you to try…
Businesses of The Great Outdoors.
Sapling Vodka
100% carbon neutral vodka.
100% carbon neutral vodka.
Sapling Vodka, founded by Ed Faulkner and Ivo Devereux, is 100% carbon neutral vodka made in London.
There are two things Sapling loves: great spirits and the natural world. When you choose Sapling you will enjoy both a delicious homegrown vodka and making the world a better place.
Made in the heart of London, Sapling use local ingredients to reduce transport emissions. It is four times distilled from 100% British wheat with charcoal filtered, de-ionised water. The high starch content of the wheat leaves the fresh finish and a hint of natural sweetness that makes Sapling so easy to drink.
The team at Sapling ran a bar for our sister business’ festival The Good Life Experience in 2019, which was a very popular spot serving great cocktails and playing good music.
Image: Sapling VodkaSome good recipes for you to try…
More food related businesses.
The Wild Bushcraft Company
Provider of outdoor, bushcraft and survival skills courses and activities.
Provider of outdoor, bushcraft and survival skills courses and activities.
Sheena and Jamie Corry are the couple behind The Wild Bushcraft Company, as well as The Forge. This is a unique combination offering both bushcraft activities and luxury glamping accommodation in the heart of beautiful North Wales. As well as the usual luxury camping facilities, guests are encouraged to engage in a wide range of bushcraft activities, ranging from lighting their own campfires to wild food foraging and star gazing, all with the aim of helping people step off from the modern world and find a deeper level of relaxation and purpose. Jamie has over 20 years’ experience working in the outdoors as a countryside ranger, deerstalker and bushcraft instructor and is passionate about wild, sustainable food. Sheena combines her love of the great outdoors with a corporate career in Diversity and Inclusion and loves to see the benefits that nature and being out in the wild can have for people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Sheena and Jamie have come to our sister business’ festival The Good Life Experience for many years to show and teach their skills.
Some good people for you to meet…
The Forge
Luxury glamping accommodation in the heart of beautiful North Wales.
Luxury glamping accommodation in the heart of beautiful North Wales.
Sheena and Jamie Corry are the couple behind The Forge, as well as the Wild Bushcraft Company. This is a unique combination offering both bushcraft activities and luxury glamping accommodation in the heart of beautiful North Wales. As well as the usual luxury camping facilities, guests are encouraged to engage in a wide range of bushcraft activities, ranging from lighting their own campfires to wild food foraging and star gazing, all with the aim of helping people step off from the modern world and find a deeper level of relaxation and purpose. Jamie has over 20 years’ experience working in the outdoors as a countryside ranger, deerstalker and bushcraft instructor and is passionate about wild, sustainable food. Sheena combines her love of the great outdoors with a corporate career in Diversity and Inclusion and loves to see the benefits that nature and being out in the wild can have for people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Some good people for you to meet…
Natasha Lloyd
A Medical Herbalist and Forager, based in the heart of Cairngorm National Park in Scotland.
A Medical Herbalist and Forager, based in the heart of Cairngorm National Park in Scotland.
Natasha has been teaching foraging and herbalism for over 15 years through guided walks, talks and workshops.
We’ve worked with Natasha at Camp Glen Dye, where she inspires and educates guests on the abundance of wild foods found all around us.
More good people.
Botann Boots
A new and innovative rubber footwear company that's based in Dumfries, Scotland.
Bòtann is a new and innovative rubber footwear company that's based in Dumfries, Scotland.
Michael Nicholson decided to launch a mission to get wellies made in Scotland again. And Botann Boots was born.
Botann’s first rubber boot launched with a Kickstarter campaign in March 2019. This helped them to find their customer base.
Bòtann is committed to ethical and responsible practices and to creating sustainable jobs in Scotland. They are inspired by heritage, progressive design and doing things in the right way – for people and planet.
Micheal spoke at our sister business’ festival The Good Life Experience in 2019. Our co-founder Charlie has a pair of the boots and can vouch that they are a great piece of kit.
Some good people for you to meet…
The Whittlings
Unique handmade tableware using traditional green wood working craft.
Unique handmade tableware using traditional green wood working craft.
The Whittlings was founded and is run by David White.
David eats, sleeps and breathes wood. He can either be found out roaming the hills and forestry of the Clywdian Range in North Wales or deep below the Snowdonia hills gathering oak from disused Slate mines. With his finds, David makes beautiful and practical tools, tableware and vessels with just the traditional whittling tools. And some imagination of course.
David filmed a whittling workshop for our sister business The Good Life At Home, and has run workshops at The Good Life Experience for several years. We love working with David.
Some good people for you to meet…
The Level Collective
Outdoor supplies for balanced living, for the commute and wilderness pursuit.
Outdoor supplies for balanced living, for the commute and wilderness pursuit.
The Level Collective creates outdoor supplies for balanced living, for the commute and wilderness pursuit. Their beautiful waxed organic cotton backpacks are handmade in the UK along with their tools and accessories from hats to hatchets.
They also have a collection of unisex organic t-shirts and sweaters featuring designs inspired by their love for mountains, waves and forests.
All ethically made and hand screen printed in Sheffield using environmentally-friendly water-based inks.
Meet more expert craftspeople…
Our Isles
Our Isles is a project that celebrates and preserves the rural life, food, drink, landscape, art, craft and heritage of the British Isles.
Our Isles is a project that celebrates and preserves the rural life, food, drink, landscape, art, craft and heritage of the British Isles.
Angus Birditt, a poet and photographer and Lily Hedley, an illustrator and printmaker are both awarding winning food producers through their company, The Bridge Lodge. They are also founders of Our Isles, a project celebrating and preserving the rural life of the British Isles, exploring its food & drink, landscape, nature, art, craft, heritage and community. They have recently published 'Our Isles', a poetry and print book which beautifully portrays life in the British countryside.
Articles on culture.
Black Mountain Honey
Founded in 2015, run by Laurence Edwards. Black Mountain Honey produces delicious raw honey, local to our Farm Shop and festival in Hawarden, North Wales.
Laurence Edwards founded Black Mountain Honey in 2015 when he came across a colony in his garden. Laurence now has many hives, and helps us to look after our bees in Hawarden, North Wales, too.
Black Mountain Honey is raw, organic honey, grown and sold locally to the hives. Laurence manages all elements of the production of his honey, from looking after the bees to bottling the different honeys. Once you’ve tried it, you won’t go back!
Black Mountain Honey was founded in 2015, when a swarm of wild honeybees landed in Laurence Edwards garden near Birmingham City Centre. Laurence was in awe at the magnificence of the swarm. The sky had turned black with bees and the insane humming of tiny flapping wings filled the air. Laurence instantly set about making a home for the colony of bees that ‘found him’. Fast forward to 2020 and Black Mountain Honey is now far more than a single urban swarm.
We stock Black Mountain Honey at Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, and Laurence helps us to maintain our own bee hives at Hawarden.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
Chefs, farmers, foragers, suppliers and all things food.