Of all the seats on the train from London Paddington to Bodmin Parkway it just so happened that I found myself sitting next to a fellow retreater on her way to The Pig Hotel for a Grounded and Grow weekend in partnership with Cabilla Cornwall.
We shared a taxi ride together to St Merryn where the hotel is situated and talked about what we were looking forward to during the weekend.
© Amelia WindsorAs soon as we arrived and were greeted by the team, I hurried down to Harlyn Bay Beach, only a ten-minute walk away, to say hello to the sea and feel the salty air on my skin before going to my cosy and luxurious loft room for a bath and refresh before dinner.
© Jake EasthamThere is something exciting about arriving at a retreat, knowing that you are about to spend a weekend with people you have never met before, a chance for newfound learning and connection. We were greeted before dinner by Arran from the Pig and Pippa from Cabilla Cornwall, who were to be our hosts for the weekend and who took us through the schedule for the next few days. We were also lucky enough to be joined by the explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison and Lizzie, his daughter-in-law from Cabilla who told us all the story of how the project started and some of the history behind the farm and their land on Bodmin Moor.
Lizzie and her husband Merlin Hanbury-Tenison set up Cabilla Cornwall in 2019 after coming to realise the mental benefits of being surrounded by the trees in their rare surviving patch of temperate rainforest and wanting to share their unique space with others as a place for listening and healing.
© Amelia WindsorOur first dinner together was a winter vegetable broth with ingredients all sourced from the kitchen garden at The Pig, followed by black bream with butter beans and wild mushrooms. After getting better acquainted with one another whilst digging into exquisite food, we finished our first evening with a talk by the author Lucy Jones about her book Losing Eden, Why Our Minds Need The Wild: the perfect way to start the weekend.
Lucy spoke about how spending time in nature helped her in difficult periods in her life, whether that be spending time in her garden or even pushing her baby around in a buggy and stopping to admire tiny flowers growing on the pavement.
Lucy explained that as humans we have a physiological resonance with fractal patterns (repeated natural patterns) that occur throughout nature and when we come across them we immediately boost our parasympathetic nervous system. I held her words in my head throughout the weekend.
© The Pig HotelAfter a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, we set off to the Cabilla site on Bodmin Moor passing by wild horses on our way. We started with a grounding and moving meditation led by the wonderful Pippa, who guided us through stillness and postures to the accompaniment of a cellist and violinist who serenaded us all into a state of complete bliss. It took a moment or two for us all to peel ourselves off our mats and for our minds to enter back into the room before we set off on our guided tour.
Our guide was Izzy who was a fountain of knowledge, passionately and excitedly explaining to us the magic and importance of the temperate rainforest, of which we have lost 99 per cent of in the UK due to deforestation. Lizzie and Merlin have set up the Thousand Year Trust, the UK’s first and only charity dedicated to the protection and expansion of temperate rainforest in Britain, one of Britain’s most diverse habitats and an incredibly efficient sequestrator of carbon. Izzy explained to us how oak trees are extremely generous creatures and allow lots of other plant life to grow on and around them and have support networks with other trees: sharing nutrients and giving warnings of danger.
© Amelia WindsorAs we walked through the ancient oak trees covered in lichen and mosses, we breathed in the magic of the forest and all its benefits, leaving the outside world behind for a short while. There was something otherworldly about our surroundings and it was easy to feel completely enveloped and transported to a fairy tale world where human intervention was at a minimum.
Lizzie and Merlin Hanbury Tenison are in the process of planting 100,000 trees and we each did our tiny bit that day by planting our own saplings that will eventually be rehomed in the rainforest when they are ready. We warmed up in the Cabilla barn HQ and were treated to a spoiling picnic prepared by the kitchen at the Pig: big wholesome salads that had me coming up for umpteen helpings.
© Jake EasthamStorm Isha was making herself welcome by the time we were back on our way to The Pig and so it felt even more cosy that evening as we had our last dinner together. The 25-mile menu featured big sharing plates of roasted celeriac and pumpkin, golden beetroot, leafy greens, as well as delicious local Cornish hake and chicken that we passed around with glee whilst endlessly chatting and laughing as the little gang we had become.
Despite the whistling wind of Storm Isha the next morning, we all made our way down to the beach for some cold water therapy. Harlyn Bay was filled with families making the most of their Sunday, no matter the weather, with dog walkers and surfers alike. The trepidation quickly wore off and in a second we were all running towards the sea together like a merry band of sisters and counted to three before we lowered ourselves into the ice-cold water. The serotonin hit had us all filled with happy energy as we ran back up to the top of the beach where our session in the Sauna By The Sea awaited us. I can think of no better way to have ended the weekend than a dunk in the Cornish sea followed by a sauna with a view of the crashing waves we’d just braved.
© Jake EasthamI was very lucky to stay one more night and by that point, I really did feel right at home at The Pig. I made the most of the charming Potting Shed Spa in the Kitchen Garden where I thoroughly enjoyed a bespoke deep tissue massage whilst the storm outside rattled the window pains. Feeling perfectly lethargic, I slept like a baby that night regardless of the gusty winds.
© Amelia WindsorMy last morning at The Pig was spent with one last smashed peas on sourdough bread with poached eggs from their hens just yards away from the dining room. I quickly wandered down to the beach to watch the surfers make the most of the waves and was astonished by the sudden sunshine and downpours I experienced in a short space of time before making it back to the hotel. I was reminded of a quote attributed to John Ruskin that I had seen on the wall whilst at Cabilla stating, ‘Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather’. I felt the wind and rain on my face and embraced it, feeling incredibly blessed to have been part of this retreat where so much wisdom had been shared.
The kitchen kindly prepared me a packed lunch for the train of my favourite salads from the weekend, just one of the many thoughtful touches by the incredible team at The Pig and Cabilla who went above and beyond to make us all feel comfortable. Cabilla Cornwall and The Pig Harlyn Bay is a partnership made in heaven. Both having the same planet-focused ethos of caring for the soil and the land that they're caretakers of and providing a place for people to come and retreat, as well as rest and reset whilst appreciating all the outstanding beauty and delights that this part of Cornwall has to offer. I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for the future.
Book your own THE PIG X Cabilla Cornwall weekend escape here.
