BEECHHILL COMMUNITY - AUTUMN 2004

Around the first of december we are staying at the Beechhill community near Crediton in Devon. Thats just half an hour north of Exeter in a large scale argriculture area. In the middle of the countryside on a lonely hill we find the little settlement with the big manor and small cottages of Beechhill. In the big manor we find the community and in the small cottages a number of people in their own houses. The people dont have a connection with the community but they get along very nicely.

We stayed in the big manor and we had our own big room with 5 beds. The rest of the members had their own rooms mostly upstairs while we were downstairs. We shared the shower with some other guests but that was ok. The kitchen was something special. The first day we arrived we found the leftovers from the day before still on the table. The washing up hadnt been done either and we were carefull where we walked. Later we understood that there was a system to this and that this was something normal and would resolve itselfs in time and so it did.

Our own room was very large and could hold all of our lugage. It didnt take very long for our big room to get a very big mess. Specialy with Evelien playing there alot because the rest of the house was just too cold. It didnt take long before she had her second cold. This one was to last for quit some time and caused some troubles getting to sleep. Thank goodness there was a powerfull heater in our room.

The daily life on Beechhill was a bit chaotic or organic if you like. People come and go on their own times and there apears to be little shared cohesian. But after some time we found out that the people know or feel very well when to be where at what time. They know eachother for quit a while and there not many people moving out. Its a place where childeren grow up and you can find a couple of teenagers now. All the members rent their rooms from a holding and pay according to their occupied space.

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