IN Good Company
These are the people we know and love. We have worked with them, we trust them, we recommend them.
Steve Guinness
AKA The Brick Consultant and LEGO builder extraordinaire.
AKA The Brick Consultant and LEGO builder extraordinaire.
Steve was a secondary school Design and Technology Teacher for 18 years, but in 2017 her entered and won the Channel 4 TV competition “Lego Masters”.
This was a fantastic experience, and ultimately it gave Steve confidence to give up teaching and set up his own business.
Today he is self-employed, making bespoke models with LEGO bricks, as well as running workshops and activities to educate and inspire with hands on learning.
We worked with Steve at Summer Camp bu The Good Life Society in 2021, where he helped guests build their own models of Hawarden Castle’s Walled Garden!
Image: Department TwoSome good recipes to try.
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.
Wye Valley Meadery
The oldest alcohol in the world, brewed to suit a modern palette, created in harmony with nature and utilising the flavours of the local landscape.
Combining their love of nature with their interest in brewing, brothers Kit and Matt founded Wye Valley Meadery.
Wye Valley Mead has taken the word’s oldest form of alcohol and given it a modern twist. Creating an innovative drink; light, refreshing and rich in flavour, but also steeped in history.
The mead is brewed in their purpose-built meadery in Chepstow, with honey from their bees from the Wye Valley, an area well known for its natural beauty and excellent biodiversity.
They have created a mead that you can enjoy in the same way as a beer, cider or sparkling wine, brewed to a lower alcohol level than a typical mead and bottled to achieve a delicate sparkle. Their infusions of seasonal flavours provide something truly unique and a real flavour of the local area.
Some other good businesses.
Grace Regan
Grace is the founder and owner of the critically acclaimed SpiceBox curry house in Walthamstow. A homage to British Indian curry-house cuisine and traditional, Indian home cooking.
Grace Regan is the founder and owner of the critically acclaimed SpiceBox curry house in Walthamstow.
Grace’s first street food stall was opened in 2016 in Druid St Market with the aim of bringing meat-free lunch to the masses. She earned a cult following thanks to the comforting dhals and tandoori cauli steaks. Later she joined Kerb and traded at street food markets across London and food festivals around the country.
She opened the first SpiceBox curry house in Walthamstow in Jan 2019. Her plan to pay homage to British Indian curry-house cuisine and traditional Indian home cooking in equal measure, bringing a vibrant sustainable dining option to high streets up and down the country.
Grace’s writing has been published in the Guardian and Huffington Post and she was longlisted for the BBC Food Rising Star Award. She now lives in Margate so she can swim in the sea every day. Grace is opening a second SpiceBox early next year, along with a retail range of SpiceBox products, which will be hitting shelves nationwide.
Some other good businesses.
Romy Gill MBE
Romy Gill MBE is a chef, food writer and broadcaster who appears regularly on some of Britains best-loved cooking shows.
Romy Gill MBE is a chef, food writer and broadcaster. A chef on BBC Ready Steady Cook and makes regular appearances on Sunday Brunch, BBC The One Show, BBC Country Life and BBC Celebrity MasterChef.
Romy is a force to be reconded with, extremely talented and infectiously positive.
Her debut cookbook released in September 2019, Zaika - vegan recipes from India, is still one of our strong favourites.
A well-loved regular to The Good Life Experience, Romy famously joined us for the virtual ‘At Home’ 2020 edition, where she demonstrated her cooking skills on a campfire within Hawarden Old Castle.
Some other good businesses.
The Glynne Arms
A 200-year-old, award-winning pub and restaurant in the centre of Hawarden village
Our sister business. An award-winning pub and restaurant set in the centre of Hawarden village.
The Glynne Arms is our sister business.
The Glynne Arms is a 200-year-old, award-winning pub and restaurant in the centre of Hawarden village. The driving force behind the pub is our desire to serve the most delicious, fresh, local and organic food and drink possible.
Some good people for you to meet…
Hawarden Estate Farm Shop
Our sister business; an award-winning Farm Shop.
Our sister business. A Farm Shop, cafe and restaurant on Hawarden Estate.
Hawarden Estate Farm Shop is another of our sister businesses.
Hawarden Estate Farm Shop sits within thousands of acres of working farmland, providing world-class food and drink via a traditional butchery, deli, café and food hall laden with the very best, locally-sourced produce – much of which is grown and produced in the orchards and fields that surround the shop.
Some 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…
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.
Sandy Kenneway
Sandy Kenneway has around 25 years of experience in the world of quality drinks, from managing Scotland’s largest wine shop to helping with the opening of Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh and striking out with his own businesses 10 years ago.
Sandy Kenneway has around 25 years of experience in the world of quality drinks, from managing Scotland’s largest wine shop to helping with the opening of Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh and striking out with his own businesses 10 years ago.
Sandy is passionate about promoting Scotland’s amazing whiskies – with gins, cocktails, rums, beers and all other things fermented close behind. Sandy hosts fun, informative tasting events across Britain, including the hugely popular ones at Camp Glen Dye and The Good Life Experience.
Image: Department TwoSome good recipes to try.
Harriet Coleman
Harriet was an international model, working in the fast paced fashion world for over 10 years. She yearned for a more sustainable lifestyle and a slower way of living. So she turned her career towards becoming a herbalist.
Harriet is a Herbalist and founder of West Apothecary.She hosts workshops and runs herbal consultations encouraging a reconnection with nature and the seasons.
Harriet has a deep understanding of the plant world that enables her to utilise botanical combinations for their effective results.
From the ancient art of Herbalism to contemporary interest in conscious living, Harriet created West Apothecary to provide a direct link to a more natural world.
Image: Patricia NivenEnjoy a recipe by Harriet Coleman.
Good businesses of the great outdoors.
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.
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.
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.