IN Good Company
These are the people we know and love. We have worked with them, we trust them, we recommend them.
Spry Workwear
Traditional work wear, reimagined for modern women.
Traditional work wear, reimagined for modern women.
Spry Workwear is a collection of hard-wearing women’s clothing,
inspired by workwear and re-modelled for modern, style-aware women.
Our sister business The Good Life Experience have worked with Spry Workwear to produce uniforms for staff at the festival, and they have proved to be very popular.
Images: Department Two + Christian BanfieldSome good people for you to meet…
Jen Goss
Co-author of Do Preserve and founder of catering company Our Two Acres.
The co-author of Do Preserve and founder of catering company Our Two Acres.
Jen Goss moved to West Wales in 2010 after a career in hospitality in London. She lives with her family on a smallholding, growing fruit and vegetables and raising chickens and pigs.
The produce of Jen’s land and surrounding hedgerows provides supplies for Jen’s catering company, Our Two Acres. She helps run the kitchen at Bara Menyn and caters for The Do Lectures.
Images: Patricia NivenSome good food related businesses.
Yarmouth Oilskins
Yarmouth Oilskins design and produce high quality workwear clothing in Britain, using traditional methods.
Yarmouth Oilskins design and produce high quality workwear clothing in Britain, using traditional methods.
Yarmouth Stores Ltd has designed and manufactured quality workwear garments to the highest standards in Great Yarmouth, Great Britain for over 100 years. Their traditional workwear garments, originally designed for practical use in the workplace, are being reimagined for the 21st century.
Today, they still create our collection in the same factory using traditional methods using many of their original patterns. Yarmouth Oilskins is made up of a team of 20 craftspeople, many of whom have been working with them for 25 years.
We love what Yarmouth Oilskins do. Like us, they have a focus on British craft.
Our sister businesses Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages and The Good Life Experience have partnered with Yarmouth Oilskins for several years.
Images: Yarmouth Oilskins + Department TwoSupport small businesses.
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.
Billy Tannery
A micro tannery focused avoiding waste from the British food industry.
A small batch tannery with a growing range of goat leather goods, entirely made in Britain.
Jack is the founder of Billy Tannery. Having discovered that every goatskin left over from the British food industry was going to waste, Jack decided to do something about it. Today his micro tannery produces a growing range of leather goods.
Some good people for you to meet…
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…
Nellie and Eve
Nellie and Eve is an independent dye business run by founder & maker Helen Hickman.
Plant dyed yarns and wool workshops by Nellie and Eve founder, Helen Hickman.
Helen is an expert with all things wool. With her material source visible from her kitchen window in the Carmarthenshire Hills, she is a true example of the homegrown and homemade craft movement.
Mindful of the environment, Nellie and Eve’s yarns are dyed in small batches and produced using natural ingredients and minimal waste.
Nellie and Eve have come to our festival The Good Life Experience for several years, running workshops in our Makers Row tent, which are always hugely popular.
Image: Heather BirnieSome good products for you to buy…
Gail Bryson
Gail is a textile, graphic and product designer.
Gail is a textile, graphic and product designer.
Gail Bryson is a textile, graphic and product designer. She specialises in simple and graphic prints that complement a wide range of home styles. Trained at Edinburgh College of Art, she developed her design skills at The Conran Shop and The Nest before subsequently becoming co-founder and creative director of Bryson Loxley. Amongst her clients, there are John Lewis and Jamie Oliver. She has also collaborated individually with Pedlars and Future and Found on a wide range of projects over the years.
We worked with Gail on our Some Good Ideas pencils, mug, notebook and tea towel which you can buy here.
Gail has been running workshops and freelancing for our sister business The Good Life Experience for years, and we truly think she’s one of the best.
Image: Department TwoGail designed some of these products.
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.
The Ethicurean
A restaurant in Bristol that celebrates seasonality, sustainability and flavour.
A restaurant in Bristol that celebrates seasonality, sustainability and flavour.
The chefs and founders have cooked at our festival, The Good Life Experience, for several years.
Founded by brothers Iain and Matthew Pennington, The Ethicurean celebrates seasonality, sustainability and flavour. Their first site, opened in 2010, sits within a beautiful Victorian Walled Garden, overlooking the bucolic Mendip Hills near Bristol. The second -opening soon- is positioned in an equally beautiful setting, a vineyard in Padstow, Cornwall. Iain and Matthew are committed to growing their own and sourcing as locally as possible, supporting the community and eco-systems.
Image: Patricia NivenSome food related articles for you to enjoy…
Some excellent food businesses.
Gill Meller
Chef, award-winning food writer, author and cookery teacher.
Chef, food writer, author and cookery teacher.
Gill has spoken and cooked at our festival The Good Life Experience, and at Camp Glen Dye.
Gill Meller is a chef, food writer and cookery teacher, who has worked closely with the River Cottage team for 11 years. Gill leads a gentler style of cooking, in tune with nature and its seasons. His new book, Root, Stem, Leaf and Flower -launching in May- thoroughly represents his style, cooking good food that has a positive impact on the world we live in.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
More good businesses.
Henrietta Inman
Pastry chef, author and cookery teacher promoting seasonal, local and sustainable cooking.
Pastry chef, author and cookery teacher promoting seasonal, local and sustainable cooking.
Henrietta Inman is a pastry chef, author and cookery teacher promoting seasonal, local and sustainable cooking.
After gaining a distinction in the Professional Pâtisserie Scholarship at Westminster Kingsway College, she worked in a number of award-winning kitchens including Heinz Beck’s Michelin-starred Apsley’s formerly at The Lanesborough Hotel, and for Skye Gyngell. Henrietta grew up in Suffolk, understanding the importance of local and seasonal food from a young age. More recently, she had a popular one-year residency at Yardarm, London and then went on to opening Stoney Street as head chef.
Henrietta is now the pastry chef at Wakelyn’s Agroforestry farm in Suffolk where she is known for her delicious baking with heritage and whole grains such as einkorn and YQ wheat.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
Other good and trusted businesses.
George Blower
Leith-trained chef and founder of Blower’s Place supper club.
Leith-trained chef, supper-club founder, and chef at zero-waste restaurant Silo.
Leith-trained George Blower started his culinary career learning the ropes from eco-chef Tom Hunt with seasonal, minimal waste cuisine at Poco. Then, after some time with Nuno Mendes at Taberna Do Mercado and Origin Coffee, George created his ever-growing supper club, Blower’s Place, offering a seven-course vegan-by-default tasting menu for 30 guests roughly every 8 weeks. Alongside founding Blower's Place, George is also a chef at award-winning zero waste restaurant, Silo, in Hackney Wick.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
Small Beer Brew Co.
Small Beer Brew Co. is the world's first dedicated 'small beer' brewery. They have reinvigorated the tradition for lower alcohol beers, without compromising on flavour.
Small Beer Brew Co. is the world's first dedicated 'small beer' brewery. They have reinvigorated the tradition for lower alcohol beers, without compromising on flavour.
Small Beer Brew Co. is the world's first dedicated 'small beer' brewery. The founders, ex Sipsmith duo Felix and James, are determined to transform the way we consume and think about beer, having reinvigorated the tradition from the 18th century to produce lower alcohol beers without compromising on flavour.
We stock Small Beer Co at our Farm Shop and they are going to run a bar at our festival in 2021. We can vouch for it - give it a go!
More food businesses.
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.
Natural Born Wine
Natural Born Wine is a small company dedicated to distributing and celebrating delicious natural wines made with respect the environment.
Set up by Oli Hudson and Sam Rogg, Natural Born Wine is a small company dedicated to finding, importing, distributing and celebrating delicious natural wines made with respect for consumer health and the environment.
Natural Born Wine is fast becoming a house name across our businesses. Sam and Oli supply our Farm Shop’s wine, gave a live tasting at our virtual festival The Good Life At Home in 2020, and are coming to our festival in 2021.
Oli and Sam set up Natural Born Wine up in 2016, and they look for fully natural wines that reflect the people and places that made them. They sell a diverse range of handcrafted wines, mainly from Italy for now. Each bottle comes with its own story about the origins and celebrating the growers, not just for their tasty wines but for the environmental, ethical and holistic choices they've made in creating them.
If you have tried natural wine, or if you want to get into it, this is the place to start.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
More food businesses.
Karen O’Donoghue
Karen is an activist for fibre, and founder of The Happy Tummy Co.
Karen is “an activist for fibre” and founder of Happy Tummy Co.
Not only is Karen one of the nicest people we know, but she is always up for helping someone in need of some tummy advice. Karen has founded the Happy Tummy Co, whose ethos is built around how to use food as both preventative and prescriptive medicine.
Karen has run workshops at our festival The Good Life Experience, and has spoken on panels too.
Some food related articles for you to enjoy…
Olia Hercules
Ukrainian chef, author, food writer and food stylist.
Ukrainian chef, author, food writer and food stylist.
Ukrainian chef, author, food writer and food stylist. Olia began as a chef after completing a course at Leith's School of Food and Wine in 2010, and ensures her heritage runs through everything she does. Olia has spoken and cooked at our festival The Good Life Experience for several years.
Olia was introduced to us by our friend the mushroom expert Roger Philips.
Good food related businesses.