Gimme Some Space!
Inside Purple Mountain Observatory’s community camp-out - ‘At Last Light’
A few weeks ago I attended ‘At Last Light’, a community camp-out with Purple Mountain Observatory exploring what happens when design, hospitality and the natural world are allowed to coexist without one trying to dominate the others. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but the PMO team pulled it off, with the help and support of some brilliant brands and collaborating partners.
Content sat second to good conversation and the family behind Loveland farm became a big part of the week bringing energy, character, a great kilt and copious amounts of incredible produce to the table.
What is Loveland Farm?
It’s difficult to categorise. Part working farm, part eco-retreat, part utilitarian fashion archive and part outdoor playground. It’s a six-acre plot of land about a mile from the North Devon coast run by fashion designers Jeff and Karina, the couple behind the British fashion label Griffin.
It’s as joyful as it is unconventional, blending communal barn areas with big blown-up editorial campaigns, while an indoor pool sits next to a semi-outdoor garment showroom.. I love spaces like this. They feel multifunctional but completely cohesive due to the headstrong design language of the people shaping the space. The geodesic pods (new word unlocked) that we stayed in were decked out in camo, sheepskin and orange rip-stop and also housed a bottle of freshly pressed apple juice on arrival. We were delighted to find enclosures full of pigs when we got there too, a breed called Sandy Wieners that look almost leopard print with their orange and black markings. In a way, they added to the array of textiles and patterns already on exhibit.
Gimme Space!
Arguably the highlight of the trip was an evening in good company spent under the stars. The farm is on the Hartland Peninsula, an international dark sky reserve within the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere area. What did this mean for us happy campers? Bundled into PMO down jackets and Helinox chairs, heads tilted back to the heavens. It meant that rather than just a faint grey smudge, the Milky Way was a bright band spanning the sky, its full structure visible against the darkness.
Mike and co, a mechanic by day and celestial celebrant by night talked us through some of the constellations on show with a very exciting, possibly illegally strong laser. He had a telescope too and showed us stars with different hues, one blue, one red and a few of the crew got a glimpse at the rings of Saturn which were visible for just a few minutes before disappearing behind cloud.
What We Ate
Produce on Loveland farm is simple and beautiful and meals are an outdoor, communal affair. We sat on benches overlooking polytunnels of veg eating charred corn, bean stews and beautifully cooked sausages and bacon for the meat eaters.
Later in the trip we had a visit from a local chef called Bjorn Moen. Bjorn’s cooking is rooted in Devon’s landscape, and he describes himself as both a chef and a forager (more on the foraging later). He created a three course feast for us on the last night, lit by candles and the moon we ate tartar, root vegetables and steak (being the solo veggie I had a three-day-aged watermelon steak!). Followed by a duck egg custard tart with rhubarb and a shot of gin and pineapple weed to finish. The meal was meaningful and delicious. Later PMO Joe had us descend into giggles and madness with a pub quiz that began at ten and ended at three in the morning with toe wrestling. I lasted till about two thirty and never found out the final scores.
The next morning, Bjorn took us out into the woodland to forage. We tasted sweet and sour Sorrel, learned about hidden uses of ivy and balsam flowers and started to notice just how much goes on beneath our feet.
After this summer's extreme heat, the plants seemed confused. Half the species already going into autumn, the other half convinced it was spring. It was a small but poignant reminder that the landscape is constantly adapting, flexing and reconfiguring around us.
Space to notice
That brings me round to what has stayed with me most, two weeks out from ‘At Last Light’. Nothing felt separated. The food was the landscape, the landscape was the buildings, fashion sat alongside farming and an evening spent star-gazing rolled straight into breakfast and meditation the next day.
Nothing felt manufactured either. We mingled, made content, shared our favourite conspiracy theories, our default sleeping positions, huddled around fires and laughed when our dinner got momentarily rained on. We were simply given an opportunity, and some space, to notice the nature we were already in.
Gimme Some Space hitting on a lot of levels here. Well done team PMO.
Thankyou also to:
loveland_farm @merrell_1trl @darkartscoffee @grownalchemist @tinyrebelbrewco @bin96wines @andthatstudios @matchbox_sauna @bjornmoenchefproject @helinox @chillys
