August 20, 2025 • 46 mins
Paul & Sarah Rutter co-founded Kensey Woodland Sanctuary, a place for healing in nature located in Cornwall, England. Paul has a passion for the outdoors & hands-on skills in bushcraft, woodworking & nature-based teaching; Sarah brings warmth, organization & deep caring for people's well-being. Hear why they created a Woodland Sanctuary & experiences of healing. Open to all, from former military service members to others impacted by trauma, a typical day is a mix of learning, community & peace.
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It's Your Voice is broadcast live Wednesdays at 8PM ET Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). It's Your Voice is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
It's Your Voice Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions express in the following show are
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We make no recommendations or endorsements radio show, programs, services,
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Y Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or
comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you
(00:20):
for choosing W four c Y Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's speech, Let's break show in lot than Let's Breech
in Lot's.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Lot, Let's Breech and lot Let's.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Lot, Hello, and welcome to It's Your Voice, the show
that hosts and riching conversations and diversity. My name is
Bihia Jaxon. I am a core alignment coach and a
diversity educator. I coach and train individuals and organizations and
learning to identify patterns that may not be serving them
well and better than that, we practice stepping out of
(01:17):
them and cultivating new patterns of thoughts and behaviors that
align better with your values and create more belonging and
inclusion which makes everybody happier.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
And if you want to.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Check out some sample workshops or courses I teach, you
can find them on my website which is called Know
what you Want Coaching dot WordPress dot com. Thanks for
joining us today. I'm super excited. We're going to be
talking to two guests today from Cornville, England, and I
just absolutely love what they do and what you're about
(01:52):
to be introduced to. And I'm going to read a
little bit of information and Paul and Sarah Rutter, thank
you so much much for being our guests, and you
can bring them on camera now while I read about
them so people can see your bright and beautiful faces.
It's so nice to have you, and thanks for We
(02:12):
have an eight hour time difference and I love that
we coordinate it with our engineer Rebel. Thank you, yes,
and thanks your son for helping set things up. So
the title is called From Trauma to Tranquility Our Woodland
Healing Journey. And just for little information, Paul and Sarah
Rudder are co founders of Kinsey Woodland Sanctuary, a sanctuary
(02:37):
for healing in nature located in Cornwall, England. Paul has
a passion for the outdoors and hands on skills and bushcraft,
woodworking and nature based teaching, and Sarah brings warmth, organization,
and a deep care for people well being. Hear their
story now about how and why they created the Woodland Sanctuary.
(02:57):
It's an amazing, powerful story. I'm grateful that you're here
willing to share it. And then we'll hear more about
the healing power of nature and bushcraft for mental well being,
how you support former military services service members and others
impacted by trauma, and we'll get into what a typical
day looks like and the unique mix of learning community
(03:20):
that you have that you facilitate, and the piece that
such a place offers. And we'll also talk about how
to build partnerships with charities and how people can connect
with you. So welcome again, so good to have you here.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well, we'll try and talk with slow as we.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
Can because we are very cornish, so those people that
dear Americans spikes struggle to slightly with me, but will.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Do all very best.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And I don't know if you want to jump into this,
but when we met on a just a what's up
Carl a week or so ago, I asked you why
you know what was the motivation, what compelled you to
create actual sanctuary in the woods. And I don't know
if you want to start right there that were.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
I mean, it starts really from my childhood slightly was
in a way that I lived in a very rural
little village, so being outdoors was just part of our
natural life. We're fifty five, so we're of a different
generation where people were very much outdoors and so that
(04:35):
second nature to me, hunting, fishing, general, learned to play.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
And I'm not sure whether modern children do.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
This now, but we were just a generation where constantly outside,
building camps and just experimenting with being outside. And then,
unfortunately a few years ago, I experienced quite a vicious attack.
Sarah and I were in our local town to mind
your own business, and we were attacked, and four young
(05:05):
men attacked me, and I was left in quite a
serious condition. So part of that needed some quite serious
facial injury. So the attack was I was eventually beaten
and then I was kicked so hard the face that
(05:25):
it broke my skull clean in half.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I was broken from here right through here through here.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
And my lower face had dropped and then was pushed
back in. Needless to say, I was very fortunate to
have a fantastic surgeon on an emergency basis down from
London to rebuild the impact injury, which meant that he
the surgery was done from the insight and I was
pushed back out, reconnected, vaulted my head back together. Here
(05:54):
across here, I have two plates here, eight screws and
at my nose and my eye socket.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And do you know that that left us in quite
a traumatic state for quite a while.
Speaker 6 (06:09):
It was a big thing for me to go through
the court process because after a period of time, we
had these people and brought them to justice. But that
took five years, and that in itself was highly complex
because it had to go to a quite a big
court process. And eventually that that process went through and
(06:32):
the main guy that was the main injury was basically
prosecuted for a tempted murder, so he went down for
ten years. But for anybody who's been through trauma or
was a victim of those sort of brutal attacks, it takes.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
It took me a long time, a long time to
try and get.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
My head around the emotions that I was going through
just the physical injuries, but the things were going on
in my head. I'm not a vengeful person, but I
was struggling. I was really struggling. But thankfully I was
training by some good friends and it took me a while,
but they said, look, let's just let's get you out.
I mean, I ran my own business for twenty five years.
(07:18):
I'm a prediction maker joiner. So they said, let's just
get let's get you out of this and get you
outdoors and do the things we did when we were younger.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So we let not go on to Dartmoor, which is
a small national park in Down, which is the next county,
and we.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
Got back into doing the things that we did when
we were younger, and made a huge difference, very huge difference.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
To me. I have those mats of.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Seeing everyone and it being an everyday conversation because this process,
like saying, it five years for us to get our justice, and.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It left us.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
As five men that were well in our forties just
sorroughly enjoying just reliving those things that we did.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
When we were younger.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
Yeah, And the experience of just having that campfire and
just actually being a little bit daft, you know, it's
just nice. Sometimes it takes just a childlike yeah, these labels,
you know, husband, business owner, lots of things, parent and dad.
Just to sit down with men that you trust and
you've known for many years, just to let your head
(08:22):
down a little bit and sort of try and drop
your shoulders.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And I was shocked, really how.
Speaker 6 (08:28):
Quickly by the end of the first evening, once that
fire was lit and looking away another conversation, just the
whole tone of voice changed. You know, they think us
TV that fire does. It's almost flightly hypnotic. It's a
beautiful process just to sit there. And my background was
my hobby background is weightlifting, an hout of it. And
(08:50):
I'm always known as Little Pool because my best think
was Big Poorn. He's a huge guy, and he was
with us another friend John, who's six to five and
twenty five stone, a big man, and we all just
started opening up, you know, the pressures of everyday life,
and we were having these really in depth, meaningful conversations
and it was just kind of lovely because you sometimes
(09:12):
you're left too much in your own thoughts and you're
the only person.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Going to this and you're almost embarrassed to talk about it.
Out loud because you don't know how people going to react,
you know. I was really struggling.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Yeah, especially for men.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Yeah, you know, because like I said before, I'm I'm
not a violent person.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
I don't have those those tendencies, you know, even though
I have a physical background, you know, with my weightlifting
and things. It's a harder sport, but that's not who
I am to have those This thing was going on
all the time.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You know, it's an awful.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Thing to admit that someone who did something so bad
to you you wanted to do it back.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And I didn't like that. That's not who I am.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
And thankfully after the court process and I had justice.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And I'm not sure now all these years on, now.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
I'm fifty five, how I feel about that. I'm a
little conflicted, if I'm being honest, because.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I'm okay, let me, I'm going to interrupt, can you
because this is so important. I'm still and appreciate how
you're sharing. I just wanted to be clear what it
was exactly that you felt conflicted about in retrospect. What
was the part you were feeling conflicted about.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Mostly I think my best times were in my twenties
that period have been twenty to thirty. I think for
most people it's a really exciting time. It's your most
creative time, hopefully not too overwhelming and fairly carefree. You're
going through your next chapter, You're coming at your teen
years and living your twenties. So I was fortunate to
(10:45):
have the best time ever in my twenties. You know,
I was developing my company weightlifting, doing competitions.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Every year, and I was just thoroughly enjoying life.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
Had a good social life, a great friends, and that
this young man who was in his early twenties then
in prison ten years.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
M hm, this is something that's over the past five years.
Speaker 6 (11:05):
I was sorry to think about it and see whereas
I'm not sure whether it's justice, I can't quite even now.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I question many things that go on whether that is justice?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
What have I got out of it?
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Whereas the help that he needed for him to do
something like that, I often think there's there's something, you know,
he needed, probably somebody, someone, some support, because you don't
go out and do that sort of thing. You know,
he was an intelligent guy and he found out he
used to go we went to university, was in Spain.
You know, he was an intelligent guy. He wasn't a
(11:43):
guy I would imagine that would normally do this sort
of thing.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Unfortunately, I think it was you know, they.
Speaker 7 (11:48):
Get into sort of things they shouldn't get into, the
drug and drink and things, you know, but what.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Takes them on that path as well? Then you know
to do that.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
So I think I feel the same as Paul now,
I think a complete waste. But you know, there has
to be there has to be a process, and there
has to you know, when you do something like that,
if you commit a crime, you do have to pay
the penalty.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
But we do talk about that.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Yeah, Yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
Was living in very difficult ten years as well. You know,
I'm sure his was highly complex as well.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
I think that's a discussion for lots of people about
the different views on that, and we're still trying to
get our heads around it a little bit.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
And thank you for sharing clarifying that and sharing. Yes,
that's an important question and so compassionate. You know you're
thinking that, you know, both of you are also very
much thinking about the perpetrator so to speak.
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, and then you know,
this is what leads you on to things and in
that process of being going away with my friends sort
of opened up that in her child me again, that
longing just to be a little bit free. And then
we were lucky enough to have a company that you know,
we had for many years and then eventually it came
(13:09):
to its natural ende and we sold business and.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
It freed us up. Suddenly.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
I've gone from being very focused on a business for
you know, nearly twenty five years, have suddenly being semi retired.
And there's nothing worse than the Paul that's doing that.
I'm not very good at doing that. I like to
be busy, that's wy therapy. I'm always busy.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So we just literally was on.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
The internet one day, you know, Woodan's for sale came
up and we went, oh, it's great, that's fantastic. That'd
be somewhere where my friends can go and enjoy being
in the woods. Because unlike the United States, Britain is
so small, you know, so these areas are belong to
the National Trust or they're a national park, so you
(13:53):
were very restricted to what you can do with them.
And I'm not too sure what it's like in America,
but here, you know, lighting fires and just generally what
they call bushcrafting, you have to have a lot of
permissions to do that.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So we suddenly saw this opportunity to buy this woodland,
thought right, we'll do that. Let's do that.
Speaker 6 (14:10):
And initially it was just about it'll be great for us,
my son and our friends to just go.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
In there and get it. Yeah, to be free and
just like fires and do what you like, you know,
no restrictions really, but.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Also obviously understand to look after a lot and make
it better. And within a short time, you know, obviously
there we bought the woods and then I've.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Gone do my thing, and within within.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Two or three weeks, I've gone, well, actually, this is
a wonderful environment. And I felt very proud that we
own this little only three acres Cornish woodland, a lot
of hardwood trees. It's got oaks and beach and things
in it. And that's something in fact, this need to
sort of share it. I just wanted to share it
with other people, and I thought this would be a
great environment to just let people come in and just
(14:57):
hear in nature. Because we're in a very private wood
we're part of what was a quite a bigger state,
which was originally four hundred acres have been broken up
into three long little woodlands, and we were lucky have
to buy one of those. So it's very private. You
can't people just don't can't stumble across our woods.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
It's got quite access so and he's very safe, YEA, anybody.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
That's struggling with certain things, if your mental health isn't
that great, the last thing you probably want to be
is a stranger something walks past a couple of docks.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
So we thought this, I think this will suit a
lot of people.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
And within a couple of weeks the ball side rolling
and we were sort of to plan how we were
going to change the sort of backs of the woods.
So I was putting sort of therapy paths in, building ponds,
letting a bit more light and opening up certain sections
of the wood and we were trying to make different
tones of.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Voice within the woods.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
So certain areas we've got for camping, which is quite
tree canopies are still quite thick, so the light is
slightly heavier, maybe makes some people feel a little bit safer.
Other areas we've opened right up natural light coming through.
Other areas there a stream, so they've got that sort
of back track of water.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
And then Amongst all.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
This, you've got nature doing it things, the birds, and
you know, we've got the eleven o'clock wood packer, which
is hilarious.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
When we first bought it, it's.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
Our coffee time. It's back on eleven o'clock. Wood backer
would start, God, that must be talking about a coffee.
It's nature saying so dample, you've gone a bit mad
out of coffee.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But it's wonderful. You know.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
We were lucky enough to have a young lady that's
also getting a little bit involved in what would. She
had her first that will stay over with her dog
last week and she had owls all night, just owls.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Doing their thing, you know, And she said, at first
it was it woke her up and it was like, man, that's.
Speaker 6 (16:50):
That's nature really doing its thing, one owl shouting to
the other. You said, after about half an hour, she said,
it was just hypnotic. You almost felt part of this
conversation that was going on. And that's what we haven't
experienced that yet because we haven't stayed overnight, and my
son was there the other week. His friends are going
this weekend, so it's already starting to develop.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
And we're getting feedback.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
From these little groups that start because we're not officially
open yet.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
We won't be fully open.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
Until early spring next year because we're having a cabin
built as well, and part of that cabin process so
we can get counsels and counselors and therapists in to
have private sessions, but hopefully offer we'll offer guest speakers
as well, because I've only you know, to me, this
is a hobby. I'm not an expert, you know. I've
(17:37):
got no tngstling experience whatsoever. I'm not a bushcraft expert,
you know. I told I'm the sort of guy that
told all the time multitudes of knots until eventually it
becomes darted, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
You know, And the irony of that is, I've been
out for twenty five years, you know.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
But I enjoy that process. I enjoy sharing the fact
that I don't know everything. That's part of the fun.
And with the military guys that come in and the
ladies that come in with military backgrounds, their skill sets
are huge, you know, and I think it's nice for
them to come in and maybe with their confidence for
(18:19):
whatever reason, may be a little bit low, and maybe
lead and I'd love to give them opportunity to just
sit with us and say, look, Paul, that's actually not
how to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And I go, all right, show me that again, you know.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
And it's just sort of things like setting up you
can't correctly, how do I fire us correctly? And I've
got all those skill sets, but I'd love to share
those because everyone's got their own way and everyone sees
things different.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
It might be my background is woodworking.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
So I look at trees in a completely different way
than a lot of other people, especially my boat building background,
and any boat builders out there will understand that our
oak trees are beautiful, and they're looking at the branches
in a.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Completely different way. There's stems and bow stems and knees
and looking at it. So we look at it slimed away,
which seems a bit awful really, and you look at
and think, oh, I'm harvesting those that that is what
we do, you know, it's not what I do.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Now we've we've planted seven hundred trees and I went
to at the moment to a mixture of rowing birch,
and then we've got hedging trees that have gone in
which are blackthorn and.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Hawthorn, and we've planted a lot of boats, but.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
In the process of that also had to take out
a lot of holly trees, which are just wild and
look awful because they've taken all the light and they're
reducing the light coming to the base that woods. So
we've taken out well over two hundred of those.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
Did you say holly trees?
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Holly? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Sorry, Oh that's okay, because I'm familiar with the other
ones that you named, but I'm not familiar with that.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I'll have to look up with holly tree because I'm
not a.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Tree that will be on a Christmas card.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
So you get the oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
And when they're in there, all sort of left the
land state.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
They're a beautiful tree, but when they're fighting for light,
they just go straight up and they get they go
quite chaotic, and then we'll have a sort of detrimental
effect on everything else. So we've had to reduce those
a lot. So I've been fighting quite a few of those.
I've got to confess. And then I realized that halfway
through the winter, being fifty five, that I'm not twenty
five and cutting trees down, and part of our woodland
(20:24):
is some quite a steep hill, so you know you're
constantly fighting nature, fighting the slate, fighting the rain, and
you know, I needed to lose a bit of weight,
and so I said to anybody who wants to lose
a bit of weight on woodland, because it's very physical.
We're kind of eighty percent there now. We're hoping that
(20:46):
the capital we finished the end of next week and
then we can start dressing that part of that is
going to be kind of like an L shape. So
one section has a decking space which is covered.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I'll have a woolworking bench there.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
Another section a decking space which would be in front
of the cabin to also have a covering on it.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Sarah will be doing cooking and sort of more.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
You have to set up a sort of table and
just have people having coffee, little meat and greets there.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
We're alsoone to can collaborate with a few other people
that are doing different projects.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Anyway, we're in contact with x Army.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
Actually she is who wants to set something up for
ex military ladies actually veterans and also ladies of domestic
violence because almost she wants to sort of start something
almost like a spa type of environment, but obviously forest bathing,
(21:40):
you know, being in the woodland.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Being in nature, Like she's sort of explained to.
Speaker 7 (21:45):
Me, usually the people that really need the sort of
time out and spa days can't really afford them. So
she wants to be able to provide something. And she's
been to the woodland a few times and absolutely loves it.
She came the other day with her dog, who she
the dog is obviously quite a difficult project. He is
quite nervous around people and other animals. So she was
(22:08):
able to go into the woodland just her and the dog,
and he just raced around at a wonderful time, felt
so free, and she said this, this wonderful video of
him just literally smiling. It looked like he was because
he was just was good and she could never you know,
it's the first time he was able to do this,
you know, So let him off somewhere and she felt
(22:29):
safe to do it.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
So that was that was wonderful. That was that.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
So it's not just people, I think it's even animals
her problems are gonna enjoy it. So so yeah, one
of basically collaborative people like them that want to come
in and they've got their own idea so they can
be in certain spaces in the woodland's big enough to
have different zone areas.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Or for us to be on there on different days.
But yeah, I think it's going to evolve. I think,
you know, it's definitely going to evolve.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
Once we get the cabin up, that will be another
safe space, or it can be so.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Many it can be used for so many things.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
It can be like a therapy cabin, but also it
can be somewhere where we can just all gather around
the log burner and chat, have a coffee or whatever. Really,
so I think it is definitely going to evolve once
that happened.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Really, I'm really excited, Yeah, really excited.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
So one of your fortes is to like collaborate a network.
It sounds like, yes, that build relationships.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yeah, which has already happened.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Actually, I mean, as you already know, broh, we're not
very good with the social media.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Thing, not very technically minded.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
But we've obviously been thrown into the Instagram world slightly.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
But actually it's been so positive. We've had just.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
Nothing but positivity that's come back to us and we've
made some really really lovely friends through that, of which
we've met numerous times now that have come to the Woodland.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
They shared their stories.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
And what I find which is really fantastic about it
is you start to talk to people and then they
start talking, especially to me. I am quite a nurturing
sort of person. I think I've always been the sort
of person that I don't know if I've got.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
One of those faces.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
But the people will open up to me, even though
I don't ask them to, which.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is a compliment obviously.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
I feel they must feel comfortable that this happened recently
where I started to talk to someone that came to
the Woodland and she was really opening up and then
she said, why am I.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Telling you this?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
And I said, well, you know, which was lovely actually
because she said I said, well, I don't know, but
you know it's everything is confidential, Nothing would ever be
spoken outside of this wouldland ever.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But she said no, I felt so relaxed and comfortable.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
I felt that I could, you know, share with you,
and I said, well, I just feel quite honored that
you did.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
So.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
This is another thing about being in nature, isn't it
that you do you just you just tend to I think,
relax and you just feel more ease.
Speaker 7 (24:56):
I think maybe, but yeah, it's being just positive, just
really positive.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
So Instagram, thank you Instagram. It's actually being really positive.
That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Well, you do have a very strong listening presence, Like
the expression on your face is is very open, like
your your nature is open. And I can see I
can see why people try. Before we move on, can
you say out loud that your Instagram name so people
(25:27):
can find your Instagram.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Yeah, it's just ken Zie Woodland. So just at Kensley Woodland.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Yeah, okay, so k e n s e y k
e n s e y and then just Woodland okay.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
And would this be a good time to show some
of the I got to see some photos and it
just looks gorgeous. And you're also Paul's joinery. I don't
know if I saw them through my sister or but
it's beautiful, beautiful, incredible woodwork furnitures.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You would have seen it if you would have seen
it through Dawn. Yes, that's right, the course, because I
thought the game of the brochure, didn't it I'm not sure? Yeah,
I mean he did.
Speaker 6 (26:07):
I mean my woodworking background, yeah, I mean I'm just
so blessed really, I mean, I ended up doing an
apprenticeship in Crawley in Sussex. So I had to move
out of my beloved Cornwall for four years and I
worked for the most traditional company that was just incredible.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I was so blessed.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
It had been going for one hundred and twenty five
years and had his own school in house. And when
you initially were full time in its own school one year,
then you went into the drawer shop and then you
were under tuition for the rest of your term. So
we had a thing called a man and boy bench.
So the old gentleman that was looking after me, it
was a gentleman called Gilbert Ellis. So the woodworking bench
(26:50):
was twenty six feet long and had two vices opposite
each other, so he would always keep an eye on you.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
And I didn't need that. I didn't need keeping an
eye on Things changed. I was a little bit lively
and but the standard of workmanship was incredible. I mean
I was just humbled. Every day.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Are these fantastic gentlemen with these fantastic half roomed glasses
and their waistcoat and ties that George's say, they came
into work immacula every day every day, you know, And
it was it was actually quite frightening because you were
you were seventeen year old boy at the time, thinking
I'm never going to be able to do this.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
You know, these.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Gentlemen are the absolute elites of woodworking. You know, we
will working on Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle, you knows,
some incredible projects. And I was just sort of a
little bit daunted. But great teachers calm you down. And
Gilbert was a fantastic teacher.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You know. He was just the best kept me down.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Of course, being a cornish lad living just on the
experts of life under the time.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I was called pasty for four years and no one
even knew my first.
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Name, so you know, it would to say less haste
or speed passy. Got a bit of work in an
environment which is tidy and organized, and he got me.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Working in a way that you know, I was so
proud of all my tools that I have them.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
All laid out, and he would look at them all,
don't need that, don't need that, don't need that, move
them away, these are ones you need put them there.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Everything must be where it should be. You don't have
to walk all over there again, and they should be
right here.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
And he taught me about being efficient about being tidy
and respectful of what it is you're training to do.
So you when you were around those sort of gentlemen,
it's just infectious. And by the time I finished my apprenticeship,
I was twenty.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Still not learning. Of course we're still learning.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
But I left Crawley because I didn't enjoy living in
Crawley at the time. I needed to come home and
I went into straight into super yacht building. I was
there for million nine years working on luxury super yacht
So that passion for woodworking in the highest order, so
harvesting trees for me to they need that respect, you know.
(29:10):
So if you've got to take the beautiful tree down
that may have taken two, three or four hundred years
to grow, you've got to do something special with it. It's
about legacies for me, having the pride to make something
that's going to last for hundreds of years.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
And those in touris of Yusup Yachts, we did the
very very.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
Highest of working. Once again, I was working with elite craftsmen.
And then when eventually then I left my business partner Ground,
we started Unique for Etant Jewlery and we took that
same will and want to do the very best to
everything we did for the next twenty years, but it
was all about nurturing these beautiful trees.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
So even with my woodworking, I said to Graham, my
business partner.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Right, let's let's not use any landfill, none of our
waste product to ever go into the ground and be buried.
So it's we saved spent a lot of money on
putting a huge cycling planting.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Effectively, everything was ground up in the house, All wood
chains were ground up.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
It was all popped up, put into a huge machine,
compressed and turned into wood fuel. So then we got
into making sure that we then supplied the cheapest a
kiln dried woodworking, you know, briquetting for log fires and wood.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Burners in the cantia.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
So if you're on our rage pension, we're doing forty
ki lays of woodfield.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
For ten pounds, which was unheard of, and that.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
Was ridiculously cheap, but it was a way of, you know,
once again nurturing the product. So all these years on
now I'm blessed warm and woodland. I'm looking at want
fantastic trees. We've got beach trees where if you and
I were cuddling. We wouldn't get around them, you know,
fantastic mature trees that are well over two three hundred
years old, So you look at.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Them in a different light, and clearly you have respect
for the earth and nature, and you probably have a
deeper appreciation of tree than those of us who have
not worked so closely with them.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
I may look at them slightly different.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
I'm not sure that I appreciate them any more than
anybody else, because I think we all understand how vital
they are and how wonderful they all are.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Maybe I just look at it slightly differently. I've seen
the whole thing and what it is right through.
Speaker 6 (31:17):
But now I'm really fortunate that i can just sit
there and just admire them. And I've got actually no
interest in cutting these beautiful trees down now, and that's
my career has ended. I've sort of retired from that.
I'm just already enjoying just planting them, you know, getting
the woodlands as healthy as possible. So I watched these
trees continue to grow, and with all our little saplings,
we hope, We've had a very very dry summer here actually,
(31:39):
so I'm not sure how well our saplings are going
to do, but you know.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
We can we can only hope that they do. All
mature and part of our legacy.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Again, really, and it sounds like the sanctuaries definitely eco friendly,
as we say.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Ecology and you.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
You know, sorry.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
One of the main thing is is trying to let
people leave their technology home.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
And I've never had a mobile phone.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
As you have witnessed, my computer skills are non existent, so.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
I can't tell well, trust me.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So we're trying to encouragement.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
I believe Sarah mentioned it though, So we were.
Speaker 6 (32:23):
Trying to encourage people they turn up if they're happy
to just put their phone in a little box and.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Leave them there. Save here, you know, let's film verse
and learn the.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Art of conversation again. Let's meet strangers and enjoy that
process of getting to know each other and really enjoy
the conversation. And everyone's got a story, and everyone's got
the right to be heard. And I think it's very
important for people to have their opportunity to speak and
not be judged. There are Woodland, there's no judging. It
(32:55):
doesn't matter what you think. We're about to discuss it
out loud. If you want to do for the right
to do that. I think that's very important. And we
may disagree and everyone, you know, we of course we
don't all think to say, but what's said in around
that fire will remain there. We hope that people enjoy
that process because I think in this day and age
(33:16):
of maybe since COVID, we've started to really appreciate what
it's like to be with people again that period where
we add that it's awful time, wasn't it where we
weren't allowed to connect with people and have these conversations,
whereas I think now we crave it. We're most how
important is to share our worries and realize that we
aren't on our own. And then maybe if you're having
(33:37):
a day when the anxieties aren't quite right or you're
not firing awful cylinders, someone's there and saying no, it's
all right, ark and support.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Let's let's wonder in the words and do something together,
you know.
Speaker 6 (33:48):
And I think that that in itself, just sharing somebody's
going to be up when someone else is down. In
most cases, that's what's what happens. That person's just happened
on those days and it just feeling it. Hopefully someone
else can just step in, so too fancy, let's just
cook some socies.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
On the far out a couple and we're wonder into
the woods and come up with something. I mean.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
I think also, I think distraction because sometimes not everyone
can do the literally face to face and open up
and feel comfortable doing that, and that is quite a
difficult thing I think for a lot of people, to
be fair, I was having a conversation with my close
friends the other day and she said her best conversations
with her children or boys is when she's driving a
(34:31):
passenger so they don't have to look at each other.
And I thought that just really resonated with me.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
I thought, you were so right.
Speaker 7 (34:38):
You can have these really difficult conversations. Really gets the
crux of what.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Might be going on in their lives when you're not
actually looking at each other.
Speaker 7 (34:46):
And I think what we're trying to do at the
woodland with especially having all these like you know, whether
we'll do some little wood working projects or like some
of the people are going to collaborate.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
With and do other things.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
If you have an activity, I think it does bring
people straightway together together anyway, but they don't feel that
they have to be coming straight out with it straight away.
They can do something and you before you know it,
you do start to talk about.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Certain things and you're there.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
You're almost sort of they're getting counsel without even realizing it.
I think, because you go away and what we want
to do is maybe especially if they make something which they.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Were even like light in the fire.
Speaker 7 (35:19):
I mean, you know, most children, not even children, adults
don't know how to even light a fire. So things
that you go away and you think, I've actually achieved
that today, I actually did that all you know, all
my own.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
It was fantastic. We cooked on it, which is my
favorite thing.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
We all just sat around, we chatted, and I think
that is just so valuable.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
You know, that's my most favorite thing.
Speaker 7 (35:43):
I think about about the books, trying to get people
together just feel relaxed and feel that they can chat
without realizing it, you know, without feeling that they're under.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
The spotlight if you were, you know.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So that's so true and and something very powerful about
cooking on fire, and especially if you start you create it.
You start the fire and you cook together and you
prepare together, then that's your purpose.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
It just tastes different as Well's fantastic. My favorite part
of thing. So I'm definitely going to be able to
offer that as well.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
I think hopefully, Oh, absolutely, you must.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
It's so appealing, so appealing, and you're both really creating
the sense of being surrounded by nature because it is
so true we forget that we are a part of nature,
like ourselves too, are part of the natural world, and
it's so important to just drop all other things, things
(36:44):
not people, and go into the woods and sometimes might
be people too, but and just feel the vibrations from
the trees and smell all the earth and the and
the all the plants, and think.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
There's things.
Speaker 7 (37:01):
You're so distracted during your day to day lives because
we're so busy, all of us doing what we do.
When you go into the woodland and there's just peace
and then the sensors are so heightened that you just
zone in onto certain things.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Well, what was that?
Speaker 5 (37:15):
You know?
Speaker 7 (37:16):
That's the thing I've really found because I've not really
experienced being in a woodland, not really, not since I
was a child, and that's been one of the things
I've really really sort of found.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
The smell is an interesting way, and that's god observation
because if you get on an Armquite often they're very
very early, so you if we're there at past five,
six o'clock in the morning, the moisture that's still in
the woodland, it's just starting to breathe, especially in the
spring in the summer, So that's a completely different smell.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
To what it's like if you just if you just
turned up in the middle the afternoon, you know.
Speaker 6 (37:51):
It's almost breathing and expanding that you can fill the
trees and everything that's doing this thing. But then in
the evening, once again, another different smell comes in and
with that becomes your sort of five senses. We're trying
to do these. We're hoping to do some full moon walking.
I'm trying to encourage people to walk in woodlands in
(38:12):
the dark, because I.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Think a lot of people through through cinema over the years.
I've got a little bit. I've never walk in the
woods of the dark. You know the horror movies.
Speaker 6 (38:21):
That little thing we watched when he was a child,
and its spooked you out a little bit.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Fantastic and dark. You know, if you look, you have
to have a clear sky and a full name. It
is just incredible.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
That sounds so appealing. Let me let me ask it.
Can we show your photos now? And we only have
about we only have about six minutes left, so I
want to make sure people get to see the pictures.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Right, Yeah, I have no idea. What's a week in
control of this?
Speaker 4 (38:53):
Rebel will show the pictures fantastic if you could just
tell us a little bit about this well.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
This this area.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
When we first moved into the woods, we play a
gazebo up just because it rained so heavily, so because
we bought it in November, so the first three months
it was just raining continuously, so we had to put
a quick shelter and we had a little far a
bit outside, so that was our main thing.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
That was the most important thing to get most of
the time slipping over in the.
Speaker 7 (39:22):
Mud every single Wellies always fell over, and Wellies invented wellies.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
They are absolutely useless there.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
That's my excuse.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Every day I fell over. But it was a very
very wet November.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Are there other pictures? I'm not sure how if Rebel
was able to access any other photos.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
I'm not sure that was part of our brochure, but
I'm not sure you can get into that or not.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Okay, it looks like looks like that's what we have.
But well it's a nice tease. It's a nice teas.
That's okay, get this going.
Speaker 7 (40:00):
So they're worries, they can if they if they follow
us on Instagram at like Kenzie Woodland, they'll be able
to see there's actually lovely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Photos and there's a few odd videos.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
Of me doing tensionly hazardous things with There has been
add conversation about health and safety and how to take
trees down safe and the way I've been doing.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
But sometimes you just do what you got to do.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Well, and we need some videos of Sarah cooking.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
There are few the legendary burgers have going quite the thing.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Now, Yeah, this is a fantastic farmer that's just got
a huge organic farm literally two acres away. Everything's grasp
fed mainly mainly sheep and beef. So they're already saying, well,
you know it will come to you from me by
directing you absolutely, so put your all room whenever you want,
(40:57):
you can bring your guests down.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
I'll explain to how.
Speaker 6 (41:00):
Modern farming, you know, good quality farming is done the
way we nurture our animals.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
This is the great thing. Once once I think people
are in that mindset, doesn't it.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
The world comes to use almost that bit of positivity.
People come to you and you're drawn to it. So
just little things like that prop up all the time.
At the moment, just get on board. It's lovely.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yes, you will be.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
You already are attracting a lot of people, and you
more will come. I wanted to ask really quick. We
have like about three minutes. I want to give you
a chance to say your closing thoughts. But beforehand, I
wanted to just find out how big.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Is the cabin?
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Like, what is you mentioned a couple of ways it
could be used.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
I'm just curious. Is it a cabin?
Speaker 6 (41:41):
Yeah, effectively it's three ten by five foot units. A
cabin is no bigger than someone's small lounge or double bedroom.
That's what we really need because those spaces are really
to be a little bit more into it. So if
we have a counseling session, they can do one to
once in there.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
The other build zone, the other decks.
Speaker 6 (42:04):
And these wilworks students it's finished, will upload these videos
and photographs so I can go by unerstigd And what
we're trying to do.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Are recreational areas.
Speaker 6 (42:12):
And then the other small deck area have my woodworking
bench on which is enough room for like six people
to work around it, and I'll be teaching people how
to make walking sticks and hooks and little weird things
that they'll just see in the woodland.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And we'll say, right, well, let's remember, let's take a
coat hanger, you know.
Speaker 6 (42:30):
For somebody who's never ever done anything that would work,
never used tools.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
I've got to we've got a project that's going to
be quick, hoping they can take away with them.
Speaker 7 (42:40):
And then with the other side, we want to have it,
like we were talking earlier, I want it to be
probably more of an open sort of area where we
can bring in so we're doing mindful nurse and doing
some reiki, some outside massage. So that'd be a bit
more of a sort of different zone again, a bit
different fear, different ambiance. I think that would be a
(43:00):
slightly different way from the cabin as well, so again
private and where we want to hopefully some of the
to come up and try that as well.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
I can feel the vibrations from across the sea, so
thank you, thank you. I think, I will, I imagine
I will. I was just describing it to my daughter
and she was like, oh, you must come here. Well,
(43:34):
let me let me give you a chance to just
say your closing remark before I think everyone and I'm sorry,
I want to split out one more thing. I love
that you have a focus on women military feeling. Also
in domestic violence. There's not enough sanctuary for anyone. But
it's love that you're you're so inclusive, You're so inclusive.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yeah, definitely, it's got to be for everyone. It's got
to be for everybody. Comes in so many different you know.
Speaker 7 (44:02):
It can be you know, grief, grief of a family member,
you know, a divorce, you know. Trauma comes in so
many forms, you know, and we all get affected by
different in different ways. So this is open to everybody, anybody.
So that's what we're trying to achieve, trying to get involved.
My mum was a foster parent for many, many years,
(44:25):
so we're looking to work with local foster agencies as well,
bringing foster families and children. There a lot of children,
like I say, don't.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
Have to play.
Speaker 6 (44:33):
I've never built a den, never built a little thing
in the woods, and I think it would be lovely.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Like that little dog. We're just running around, just thoroughly
enjoying the space.
Speaker 6 (44:42):
There's nothing better than watching a young person just running
around kicking the leaves in autumn, picking up branches and
seeing where they can make a little shelter. These are
really important things. And then they'll start to appreciate and
they'll have the memories that I've had, so when they're
our age, they'll hopefully pass those things on.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
Just enjoying playing.
Speaker 6 (45:03):
It is a really really important thing to all us
on our culture, you know, as us as the older
people now, should make these spaces for people. That's all
I'm going to say. Really, it's a lovely thing. We
should share these spaces. It's not I own this and
it's mine. We're looking after it however long we're here,
(45:23):
and hopefully you will leave it in a better condition,
and we found it, and then whoever has it after
us continue to do something with it.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
That's so beautiful. Well, I mean, thank god you're you've recovered.
I think I give Sarah. Thank god Sarah has you
and that you have created this beautiful sanctuary for the world.
And wow, it sounds incredible and I love all of
your compassion and thinking of so many different you know,
people young and old, from all kinds of backgrounds, and
(45:54):
it's wonderful to meet you.
Speaker 5 (45:56):
You sing well, me too.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
It's been great. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Oh what a pleasure, What a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (46:05):
And I just also want to thank our listeners and
viewers for joining us today and to say please tune
in next Wednesday at eight pm Eastern Time on talk
for TV or W four c Y and thank you
Rebel and our producer Dean, and may we all have
enriching conversations in diversity this week.
Speaker 5 (46:22):
Thank you again, thank you so.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Much very much.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Let's beech, Let's beak shore in lot, let's speech in lot,
Let's beach all, let's
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Beach, lot, Let's breech
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(00:20):
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's speech, Let's break show in lot than Let's Breech
in Lot's.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Lot, Let's Breech and lot Let's.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Lot, Hello, and welcome to It's Your Voice, the show
that hosts and riching conversations and diversity. My name is
Bihia Jaxon. I am a core alignment coach and a
diversity educator. I coach and train individuals and organizations and
learning to identify patterns that may not be serving them
well and better than that, we practice stepping out of
(01:17):
them and cultivating new patterns of thoughts and behaviors that
align better with your values and create more belonging and
inclusion which makes everybody happier.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
And if you want to.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Check out some sample workshops or courses I teach, you
can find them on my website which is called Know
what you Want Coaching dot WordPress dot com. Thanks for
joining us today. I'm super excited. We're going to be
talking to two guests today from Cornville, England, and I
just absolutely love what they do and what you're about
(01:52):
to be introduced to. And I'm going to read a
little bit of information and Paul and Sarah Rutter, thank
you so much much for being our guests, and you
can bring them on camera now while I read about
them so people can see your bright and beautiful faces.
It's so nice to have you, and thanks for We
(02:12):
have an eight hour time difference and I love that
we coordinate it with our engineer Rebel. Thank you, yes,
and thanks your son for helping set things up. So
the title is called From Trauma to Tranquility Our Woodland
Healing Journey. And just for little information, Paul and Sarah
Rudder are co founders of Kinsey Woodland Sanctuary, a sanctuary
(02:37):
for healing in nature located in Cornwall, England. Paul has
a passion for the outdoors and hands on skills and bushcraft,
woodworking and nature based teaching, and Sarah brings warmth, organization,
and a deep care for people well being. Hear their
story now about how and why they created the Woodland Sanctuary.
(02:57):
It's an amazing, powerful story. I'm grateful that you're here
willing to share it. And then we'll hear more about
the healing power of nature and bushcraft for mental well being,
how you support former military services service members and others
impacted by trauma, and we'll get into what a typical
day looks like and the unique mix of learning community
(03:20):
that you have that you facilitate, and the piece that
such a place offers. And we'll also talk about how
to build partnerships with charities and how people can connect
with you. So welcome again, so good to have you here.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well, we'll try and talk with slow as we.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
Can because we are very cornish, so those people that
dear Americans spikes struggle to slightly with me, but will.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Do all very best.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And I don't know if you want to jump into this,
but when we met on a just a what's up
Carl a week or so ago, I asked you why
you know what was the motivation, what compelled you to
create actual sanctuary in the woods. And I don't know
if you want to start right there that were.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
I mean, it starts really from my childhood slightly was
in a way that I lived in a very rural
little village, so being outdoors was just part of our
natural life. We're fifty five, so we're of a different
generation where people were very much outdoors and so that
(04:35):
second nature to me, hunting, fishing, general, learned to play.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
And I'm not sure whether modern children do.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
This now, but we were just a generation where constantly outside,
building camps and just experimenting with being outside. And then,
unfortunately a few years ago, I experienced quite a vicious attack.
Sarah and I were in our local town to mind
your own business, and we were attacked, and four young
(05:05):
men attacked me, and I was left in quite a
serious condition. So part of that needed some quite serious
facial injury. So the attack was I was eventually beaten
and then I was kicked so hard the face that
(05:25):
it broke my skull clean in half.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I was broken from here right through here through here.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
And my lower face had dropped and then was pushed
back in. Needless to say, I was very fortunate to
have a fantastic surgeon on an emergency basis down from
London to rebuild the impact injury, which meant that he
the surgery was done from the insight and I was
pushed back out, reconnected, vaulted my head back together. Here
(05:54):
across here, I have two plates here, eight screws and
at my nose and my eye socket.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And do you know that that left us in quite
a traumatic state for quite a while.
Speaker 6 (06:09):
It was a big thing for me to go through
the court process because after a period of time, we
had these people and brought them to justice. But that
took five years, and that in itself was highly complex
because it had to go to a quite a big
court process. And eventually that that process went through and
(06:32):
the main guy that was the main injury was basically
prosecuted for a tempted murder, so he went down for
ten years. But for anybody who's been through trauma or
was a victim of those sort of brutal attacks, it takes.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
It took me a long time, a long time to
try and get.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
My head around the emotions that I was going through
just the physical injuries, but the things were going on
in my head. I'm not a vengeful person, but I
was struggling. I was really struggling. But thankfully I was
training by some good friends and it took me a while,
but they said, look, let's just let's get you out.
I mean, I ran my own business for twenty five years.
(07:18):
I'm a prediction maker joiner. So they said, let's just
get let's get you out of this and get you
outdoors and do the things we did when we were younger.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So we let not go on to Dartmoor, which is
a small national park in Down, which is the next county,
and we.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
Got back into doing the things that we did when
we were younger, and made a huge difference, very huge difference.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
To me. I have those mats of.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Seeing everyone and it being an everyday conversation because this process,
like saying, it five years for us to get our justice, and.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It left us.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
As five men that were well in our forties just
sorroughly enjoying just reliving those things that we did.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
When we were younger.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
Yeah, And the experience of just having that campfire and
just actually being a little bit daft, you know, it's
just nice. Sometimes it takes just a childlike yeah, these labels,
you know, husband, business owner, lots of things, parent and dad.
Just to sit down with men that you trust and
you've known for many years, just to let your head
(08:22):
down a little bit and sort of try and drop
your shoulders.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And I was shocked, really how.
Speaker 6 (08:28):
Quickly by the end of the first evening, once that
fire was lit and looking away another conversation, just the
whole tone of voice changed. You know, they think us
TV that fire does. It's almost flightly hypnotic. It's a
beautiful process just to sit there. And my background was
my hobby background is weightlifting, an hout of it. And
(08:50):
I'm always known as Little Pool because my best think
was Big Poorn. He's a huge guy, and he was
with us another friend John, who's six to five and
twenty five stone, a big man, and we all just
started opening up, you know, the pressures of everyday life,
and we were having these really in depth, meaningful conversations
and it was just kind of lovely because you sometimes
(09:12):
you're left too much in your own thoughts and you're
the only person.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Going to this and you're almost embarrassed to talk about it.
Out loud because you don't know how people going to react,
you know. I was really struggling.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Yeah, especially for men.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Yeah, you know, because like I said before, I'm I'm
not a violent person.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
I don't have those those tendencies, you know, even though
I have a physical background, you know, with my weightlifting
and things. It's a harder sport, but that's not who
I am to have those This thing was going on
all the time.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You know, it's an awful.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Thing to admit that someone who did something so bad
to you you wanted to do it back.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And I didn't like that. That's not who I am.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
And thankfully after the court process and I had justice.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And I'm not sure now all these years on, now.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
I'm fifty five, how I feel about that. I'm a
little conflicted, if I'm being honest, because.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I'm okay, let me, I'm going to interrupt, can you
because this is so important. I'm still and appreciate how
you're sharing. I just wanted to be clear what it
was exactly that you felt conflicted about in retrospect. What
was the part you were feeling conflicted about.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Mostly I think my best times were in my twenties
that period have been twenty to thirty. I think for
most people it's a really exciting time. It's your most
creative time, hopefully not too overwhelming and fairly carefree. You're
going through your next chapter, You're coming at your teen
years and living your twenties. So I was fortunate to
(10:45):
have the best time ever in my twenties. You know,
I was developing my company weightlifting, doing competitions.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Every year, and I was just thoroughly enjoying life.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
Had a good social life, a great friends, and that
this young man who was in his early twenties then
in prison ten years.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
M hm, this is something that's over the past five years.
Speaker 6 (11:05):
I was sorry to think about it and see whereas
I'm not sure whether it's justice, I can't quite even now.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I question many things that go on whether that is justice?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
What have I got out of it?
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Whereas the help that he needed for him to do
something like that, I often think there's there's something, you know,
he needed, probably somebody, someone, some support, because you don't
go out and do that sort of thing. You know,
he was an intelligent guy and he found out he
used to go we went to university, was in Spain.
You know, he was an intelligent guy. He wasn't a
(11:43):
guy I would imagine that would normally do this sort
of thing.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Unfortunately, I think it was you know, they.
Speaker 7 (11:48):
Get into sort of things they shouldn't get into, the
drug and drink and things, you know, but what.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Takes them on that path as well? Then you know
to do that.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
So I think I feel the same as Paul now,
I think a complete waste. But you know, there has
to be there has to be a process, and there
has to you know, when you do something like that,
if you commit a crime, you do have to pay
the penalty.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
But we do talk about that.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Yeah, Yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
Was living in very difficult ten years as well. You know,
I'm sure his was highly complex as well.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
I think that's a discussion for lots of people about
the different views on that, and we're still trying to
get our heads around it a little bit.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
And thank you for sharing clarifying that and sharing. Yes,
that's an important question and so compassionate. You know you're
thinking that, you know, both of you are also very
much thinking about the perpetrator so to speak.
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, and then you know,
this is what leads you on to things and in
that process of being going away with my friends sort
of opened up that in her child me again, that
longing just to be a little bit free. And then
we were lucky enough to have a company that you know,
we had for many years and then eventually it came
(13:09):
to its natural ende and we sold business and.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
It freed us up. Suddenly.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
I've gone from being very focused on a business for
you know, nearly twenty five years, have suddenly being semi retired.
And there's nothing worse than the Paul that's doing that.
I'm not very good at doing that. I like to
be busy, that's wy therapy. I'm always busy.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So we just literally was on.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
The internet one day, you know, Woodan's for sale came
up and we went, oh, it's great, that's fantastic. That'd
be somewhere where my friends can go and enjoy being
in the woods. Because unlike the United States, Britain is
so small, you know, so these areas are belong to
the National Trust or they're a national park, so you
(13:53):
were very restricted to what you can do with them.
And I'm not too sure what it's like in America,
but here, you know, lighting fires and just generally what
they call bushcrafting, you have to have a lot of
permissions to do that.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So we suddenly saw this opportunity to buy this woodland,
thought right, we'll do that. Let's do that.
Speaker 6 (14:10):
And initially it was just about it'll be great for us,
my son and our friends to just go.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
In there and get it. Yeah, to be free and
just like fires and do what you like, you know,
no restrictions really, but.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Also obviously understand to look after a lot and make
it better. And within a short time, you know, obviously
there we bought the woods and then I've.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Gone do my thing, and within within.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Two or three weeks, I've gone, well, actually, this is
a wonderful environment. And I felt very proud that we
own this little only three acres Cornish woodland, a lot
of hardwood trees. It's got oaks and beach and things
in it. And that's something in fact, this need to
sort of share it. I just wanted to share it
with other people, and I thought this would be a
great environment to just let people come in and just
(14:57):
hear in nature. Because we're in a very private wood
we're part of what was a quite a bigger state,
which was originally four hundred acres have been broken up
into three long little woodlands, and we were lucky have
to buy one of those. So it's very private. You
can't people just don't can't stumble across our woods.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
It's got quite access so and he's very safe, YEA, anybody.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
That's struggling with certain things, if your mental health isn't
that great, the last thing you probably want to be
is a stranger something walks past a couple of docks.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
So we thought this, I think this will suit a
lot of people.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
And within a couple of weeks the ball side rolling
and we were sort of to plan how we were
going to change the sort of backs of the woods.
So I was putting sort of therapy paths in, building ponds,
letting a bit more light and opening up certain sections
of the wood and we were trying to make different
tones of.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Voice within the woods.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
So certain areas we've got for camping, which is quite
tree canopies are still quite thick, so the light is
slightly heavier, maybe makes some people feel a little bit safer.
Other areas we've opened right up natural light coming through.
Other areas there a stream, so they've got that sort
of back track of water.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
And then Amongst all.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
This, you've got nature doing it things, the birds, and
you know, we've got the eleven o'clock wood packer, which
is hilarious.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
When we first bought it, it's.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
Our coffee time. It's back on eleven o'clock. Wood backer
would start, God, that must be talking about a coffee.
It's nature saying so dample, you've gone a bit mad
out of coffee.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But it's wonderful. You know.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
We were lucky enough to have a young lady that's
also getting a little bit involved in what would. She
had her first that will stay over with her dog
last week and she had owls all night, just owls.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Doing their thing, you know, And she said, at first
it was it woke her up and it was like, man, that's.
Speaker 6 (16:50):
That's nature really doing its thing, one owl shouting to
the other. You said, after about half an hour, she said,
it was just hypnotic. You almost felt part of this
conversation that was going on. And that's what we haven't
experienced that yet because we haven't stayed overnight, and my
son was there the other week. His friends are going
this weekend, so it's already starting to develop.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
And we're getting feedback.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
From these little groups that start because we're not officially
open yet.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
We won't be fully open.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
Until early spring next year because we're having a cabin
built as well, and part of that cabin process so
we can get counsels and counselors and therapists in to
have private sessions, but hopefully offer we'll offer guest speakers
as well, because I've only you know, to me, this
is a hobby. I'm not an expert, you know. I've
(17:37):
got no tngstling experience whatsoever. I'm not a bushcraft expert,
you know. I told I'm the sort of guy that
told all the time multitudes of knots until eventually it
becomes darted, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
You know, And the irony of that is, I've been
out for twenty five years, you know.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
But I enjoy that process. I enjoy sharing the fact
that I don't know everything. That's part of the fun.
And with the military guys that come in and the
ladies that come in with military backgrounds, their skill sets
are huge, you know, and I think it's nice for
them to come in and maybe with their confidence for
(18:19):
whatever reason, may be a little bit low, and maybe
lead and I'd love to give them opportunity to just
sit with us and say, look, Paul, that's actually not
how to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And I go, all right, show me that again, you know.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
And it's just sort of things like setting up you
can't correctly, how do I fire us correctly? And I've
got all those skill sets, but I'd love to share
those because everyone's got their own way and everyone sees
things different.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
It might be my background is woodworking.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
So I look at trees in a completely different way
than a lot of other people, especially my boat building background,
and any boat builders out there will understand that our
oak trees are beautiful, and they're looking at the branches
in a.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Completely different way. There's stems and bow stems and knees
and looking at it. So we look at it slimed away,
which seems a bit awful really, and you look at
and think, oh, I'm harvesting those that that is what
we do, you know, it's not what I do.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Now we've we've planted seven hundred trees and I went
to at the moment to a mixture of rowing birch,
and then we've got hedging trees that have gone in
which are blackthorn and.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Hawthorn, and we've planted a lot of boats, but.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
In the process of that also had to take out
a lot of holly trees, which are just wild and
look awful because they've taken all the light and they're
reducing the light coming to the base that woods. So
we've taken out well over two hundred of those.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
Did you say holly trees?
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Holly? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Sorry, Oh that's okay, because I'm familiar with the other
ones that you named, but I'm not familiar with that.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I'll have to look up with holly tree because I'm
not a.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Tree that will be on a Christmas card.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
So you get the oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
And when they're in there, all sort of left the
land state.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
They're a beautiful tree, but when they're fighting for light,
they just go straight up and they get they go
quite chaotic, and then we'll have a sort of detrimental
effect on everything else. So we've had to reduce those
a lot. So I've been fighting quite a few of those.
I've got to confess. And then I realized that halfway
through the winter, being fifty five, that I'm not twenty
five and cutting trees down, and part of our woodland
(20:24):
is some quite a steep hill, so you know you're
constantly fighting nature, fighting the slate, fighting the rain, and
you know, I needed to lose a bit of weight,
and so I said to anybody who wants to lose
a bit of weight on woodland, because it's very physical.
We're kind of eighty percent there now. We're hoping that
(20:46):
the capital we finished the end of next week and
then we can start dressing that part of that is
going to be kind of like an L shape. So
one section has a decking space which is covered.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I'll have a woolworking bench there.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
Another section a decking space which would be in front
of the cabin to also have a covering on it.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Sarah will be doing cooking and sort of more.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
You have to set up a sort of table and
just have people having coffee, little meat and greets there.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
We're alsoone to can collaborate with a few other people
that are doing different projects.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Anyway, we're in contact with x Army.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
Actually she is who wants to set something up for
ex military ladies actually veterans and also ladies of domestic
violence because almost she wants to sort of start something
almost like a spa type of environment, but obviously forest bathing,
(21:40):
you know, being in the woodland.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Being in nature, Like she's sort of explained to.
Speaker 7 (21:45):
Me, usually the people that really need the sort of
time out and spa days can't really afford them. So
she wants to be able to provide something. And she's
been to the woodland a few times and absolutely loves it.
She came the other day with her dog, who she
the dog is obviously quite a difficult project. He is
quite nervous around people and other animals. So she was
(22:08):
able to go into the woodland just her and the dog,
and he just raced around at a wonderful time, felt
so free, and she said this, this wonderful video of
him just literally smiling. It looked like he was because
he was just was good and she could never you know,
it's the first time he was able to do this,
you know, So let him off somewhere and she felt
(22:29):
safe to do it.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
So that was that was wonderful. That was that.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
So it's not just people, I think it's even animals
her problems are gonna enjoy it. So so yeah, one
of basically collaborative people like them that want to come
in and they've got their own idea so they can
be in certain spaces in the woodland's big enough to
have different zone areas.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Or for us to be on there on different days.
But yeah, I think it's going to evolve. I think,
you know, it's definitely going to evolve.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
Once we get the cabin up, that will be another
safe space, or it can be so.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Many it can be used for so many things.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
It can be like a therapy cabin, but also it
can be somewhere where we can just all gather around
the log burner and chat, have a coffee or whatever. Really,
so I think it is definitely going to evolve once
that happened.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Really, I'm really excited, Yeah, really excited.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
So one of your fortes is to like collaborate a network.
It sounds like, yes, that build relationships.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yeah, which has already happened.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Actually, I mean, as you already know, broh, we're not
very good with the social media.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Thing, not very technically minded.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
But we've obviously been thrown into the Instagram world slightly.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
But actually it's been so positive. We've had just.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
Nothing but positivity that's come back to us and we've
made some really really lovely friends through that, of which
we've met numerous times now that have come to the Woodland.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
They shared their stories.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
And what I find which is really fantastic about it
is you start to talk to people and then they
start talking, especially to me. I am quite a nurturing
sort of person. I think I've always been the sort
of person that I don't know if I've got.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
One of those faces.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
But the people will open up to me, even though
I don't ask them to, which.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is a compliment obviously.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
I feel they must feel comfortable that this happened recently
where I started to talk to someone that came to
the Woodland and she was really opening up and then
she said, why am I.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Telling you this?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
And I said, well, you know, which was lovely actually
because she said I said, well, I don't know, but
you know it's everything is confidential, Nothing would ever be
spoken outside of this wouldland ever.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But she said no, I felt so relaxed and comfortable.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
I felt that I could, you know, share with you,
and I said, well, I just feel quite honored that
you did.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
So.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
This is another thing about being in nature, isn't it
that you do you just you just tend to I think,
relax and you just feel more ease.
Speaker 7 (24:56):
I think maybe, but yeah, it's being just positive, just
really positive.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
So Instagram, thank you Instagram. It's actually being really positive.
That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Well, you do have a very strong listening presence, Like
the expression on your face is is very open, like
your your nature is open. And I can see I
can see why people try. Before we move on, can
you say out loud that your Instagram name so people
(25:27):
can find your Instagram.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Yeah, it's just ken Zie Woodland. So just at Kensley Woodland.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Yeah, okay, so k e n s e y k
e n s e y and then just Woodland okay.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
And would this be a good time to show some
of the I got to see some photos and it
just looks gorgeous. And you're also Paul's joinery. I don't
know if I saw them through my sister or but
it's beautiful, beautiful, incredible woodwork furnitures.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You would have seen it if you would have seen
it through Dawn. Yes, that's right, the course, because I
thought the game of the brochure, didn't it I'm not sure? Yeah,
I mean he did.
Speaker 6 (26:07):
I mean my woodworking background, yeah, I mean I'm just
so blessed really, I mean, I ended up doing an
apprenticeship in Crawley in Sussex. So I had to move
out of my beloved Cornwall for four years and I
worked for the most traditional company that was just incredible.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I was so blessed.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
It had been going for one hundred and twenty five
years and had his own school in house. And when
you initially were full time in its own school one year,
then you went into the drawer shop and then you
were under tuition for the rest of your term. So
we had a thing called a man and boy bench.
So the old gentleman that was looking after me, it
was a gentleman called Gilbert Ellis. So the woodworking bench
(26:50):
was twenty six feet long and had two vices opposite
each other, so he would always keep an eye on you.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
And I didn't need that. I didn't need keeping an
eye on Things changed. I was a little bit lively
and but the standard of workmanship was incredible. I mean
I was just humbled. Every day.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Are these fantastic gentlemen with these fantastic half roomed glasses
and their waistcoat and ties that George's say, they came
into work immacula every day every day, you know, And
it was it was actually quite frightening because you were
you were seventeen year old boy at the time, thinking
I'm never going to be able to do this.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
You know, these.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Gentlemen are the absolute elites of woodworking. You know, we
will working on Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle, you knows,
some incredible projects. And I was just sort of a
little bit daunted. But great teachers calm you down. And
Gilbert was a fantastic teacher.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You know. He was just the best kept me down.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Of course, being a cornish lad living just on the
experts of life under the time.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I was called pasty for four years and no one
even knew my first.
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Name, so you know, it would to say less haste
or speed passy. Got a bit of work in an
environment which is tidy and organized, and he got me.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Working in a way that you know, I was so
proud of all my tools that I have them.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
All laid out, and he would look at them all,
don't need that, don't need that, don't need that, move
them away, these are ones you need put them there.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Everything must be where it should be. You don't have
to walk all over there again, and they should be
right here.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
And he taught me about being efficient about being tidy
and respectful of what it is you're training to do.
So you when you were around those sort of gentlemen,
it's just infectious. And by the time I finished my apprenticeship,
I was twenty.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Still not learning. Of course we're still learning.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
But I left Crawley because I didn't enjoy living in
Crawley at the time. I needed to come home and
I went into straight into super yacht building. I was
there for million nine years working on luxury super yacht
So that passion for woodworking in the highest order, so
harvesting trees for me to they need that respect, you know.
(29:10):
So if you've got to take the beautiful tree down
that may have taken two, three or four hundred years
to grow, you've got to do something special with it. It's
about legacies for me, having the pride to make something
that's going to last for hundreds of years.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
And those in touris of Yusup Yachts, we did the
very very.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
Highest of working. Once again, I was working with elite craftsmen.
And then when eventually then I left my business partner Ground,
we started Unique for Etant Jewlery and we took that
same will and want to do the very best to
everything we did for the next twenty years, but it
was all about nurturing these beautiful trees.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
So even with my woodworking, I said to Graham, my
business partner.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Right, let's let's not use any landfill, none of our
waste product to ever go into the ground and be buried.
So it's we saved spent a lot of money on
putting a huge cycling planting.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Effectively, everything was ground up in the house, All wood
chains were ground up.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
It was all popped up, put into a huge machine,
compressed and turned into wood fuel. So then we got
into making sure that we then supplied the cheapest a
kiln dried woodworking, you know, briquetting for log fires and wood.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Burners in the cantia.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
So if you're on our rage pension, we're doing forty
ki lays of woodfield.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
For ten pounds, which was unheard of, and that.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
Was ridiculously cheap, but it was a way of, you know,
once again nurturing the product. So all these years on
now I'm blessed warm and woodland. I'm looking at want
fantastic trees. We've got beach trees where if you and
I were cuddling. We wouldn't get around them, you know,
fantastic mature trees that are well over two three hundred
years old, So you look at.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Them in a different light, and clearly you have respect
for the earth and nature, and you probably have a
deeper appreciation of tree than those of us who have
not worked so closely with them.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
I may look at them slightly different.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
I'm not sure that I appreciate them any more than
anybody else, because I think we all understand how vital
they are and how wonderful they all are.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Maybe I just look at it slightly differently. I've seen
the whole thing and what it is right through.
Speaker 6 (31:17):
But now I'm really fortunate that i can just sit
there and just admire them. And I've got actually no
interest in cutting these beautiful trees down now, and that's
my career has ended. I've sort of retired from that.
I'm just already enjoying just planting them, you know, getting
the woodlands as healthy as possible. So I watched these
trees continue to grow, and with all our little saplings,
we hope, We've had a very very dry summer here actually,
(31:39):
so I'm not sure how well our saplings are going
to do, but you know.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
We can we can only hope that they do. All
mature and part of our legacy.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Again, really, and it sounds like the sanctuaries definitely eco friendly,
as we say.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Ecology and you.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
You know, sorry.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
One of the main thing is is trying to let
people leave their technology home.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
And I've never had a mobile phone.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
As you have witnessed, my computer skills are non existent, so.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
I can't tell well, trust me.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So we're trying to encouragement.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
I believe Sarah mentioned it though, So we were.
Speaker 6 (32:23):
Trying to encourage people they turn up if they're happy
to just put their phone in a little box and.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Leave them there. Save here, you know, let's film verse
and learn the.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Art of conversation again. Let's meet strangers and enjoy that
process of getting to know each other and really enjoy
the conversation. And everyone's got a story, and everyone's got
the right to be heard. And I think it's very
important for people to have their opportunity to speak and
not be judged. There are Woodland, there's no judging. It
(32:55):
doesn't matter what you think. We're about to discuss it
out loud. If you want to do for the right
to do that. I think that's very important. And we
may disagree and everyone, you know, we of course we
don't all think to say, but what's said in around
that fire will remain there. We hope that people enjoy
that process because I think in this day and age
(33:16):
of maybe since COVID, we've started to really appreciate what
it's like to be with people again that period where
we add that it's awful time, wasn't it where we
weren't allowed to connect with people and have these conversations,
whereas I think now we crave it. We're most how
important is to share our worries and realize that we
aren't on our own. And then maybe if you're having
(33:37):
a day when the anxieties aren't quite right or you're
not firing awful cylinders, someone's there and saying no, it's
all right, ark and support.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Let's let's wonder in the words and do something together,
you know.
Speaker 6 (33:48):
And I think that that in itself, just sharing somebody's
going to be up when someone else is down. In
most cases, that's what's what happens. That person's just happened
on those days and it just feeling it. Hopefully someone
else can just step in, so too fancy, let's just
cook some socies.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
On the far out a couple and we're wonder into
the woods and come up with something. I mean.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
I think also, I think distraction because sometimes not everyone
can do the literally face to face and open up
and feel comfortable doing that, and that is quite a
difficult thing I think for a lot of people, to
be fair, I was having a conversation with my close
friends the other day and she said her best conversations
with her children or boys is when she's driving a
(34:31):
passenger so they don't have to look at each other.
And I thought that just really resonated with me.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
I thought, you were so right.
Speaker 7 (34:38):
You can have these really difficult conversations. Really gets the
crux of what.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Might be going on in their lives when you're not
actually looking at each other.
Speaker 7 (34:46):
And I think what we're trying to do at the
woodland with especially having all these like you know, whether
we'll do some little wood working projects or like some
of the people are going to collaborate.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
With and do other things.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
If you have an activity, I think it does bring
people straightway together together anyway, but they don't feel that
they have to be coming straight out with it straight away.
They can do something and you before you know it,
you do start to talk about.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Certain things and you're there.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
You're almost sort of they're getting counsel without even realizing it.
I think, because you go away and what we want
to do is maybe especially if they make something which they.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Were even like light in the fire.
Speaker 7 (35:19):
I mean, you know, most children, not even children, adults
don't know how to even light a fire. So things
that you go away and you think, I've actually achieved
that today, I actually did that all you know, all
my own.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
It was fantastic. We cooked on it, which is my
favorite thing.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
We all just sat around, we chatted, and I think
that is just so valuable.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
You know, that's my most favorite thing.
Speaker 7 (35:43):
I think about about the books, trying to get people
together just feel relaxed and feel that they can chat
without realizing it, you know, without feeling that they're under.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
The spotlight if you were, you know.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So that's so true and and something very powerful about
cooking on fire, and especially if you start you create it.
You start the fire and you cook together and you
prepare together, then that's your purpose.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
It just tastes different as Well's fantastic. My favorite part
of thing. So I'm definitely going to be able to
offer that as well.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
I think hopefully, Oh, absolutely, you must.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
It's so appealing, so appealing, and you're both really creating
the sense of being surrounded by nature because it is
so true we forget that we are a part of nature,
like ourselves too, are part of the natural world, and
it's so important to just drop all other things, things
(36:44):
not people, and go into the woods and sometimes might
be people too, but and just feel the vibrations from
the trees and smell all the earth and the and
the all the plants, and think.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
There's things.
Speaker 7 (37:01):
You're so distracted during your day to day lives because
we're so busy, all of us doing what we do.
When you go into the woodland and there's just peace
and then the sensors are so heightened that you just
zone in onto certain things.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Well, what was that?
Speaker 5 (37:15):
You know?
Speaker 7 (37:16):
That's the thing I've really found because I've not really
experienced being in a woodland, not really, not since I
was a child, and that's been one of the things
I've really really sort of found.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
The smell is an interesting way, and that's god observation
because if you get on an Armquite often they're very
very early, so you if we're there at past five,
six o'clock in the morning, the moisture that's still in
the woodland, it's just starting to breathe, especially in the
spring in the summer, So that's a completely different smell.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
To what it's like if you just if you just
turned up in the middle the afternoon, you know.
Speaker 6 (37:51):
It's almost breathing and expanding that you can fill the
trees and everything that's doing this thing. But then in
the evening, once again, another different smell comes in and
with that becomes your sort of five senses. We're trying
to do these. We're hoping to do some full moon walking.
I'm trying to encourage people to walk in woodlands in
(38:12):
the dark, because I.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Think a lot of people through through cinema over the years.
I've got a little bit. I've never walk in the
woods of the dark. You know the horror movies.
Speaker 6 (38:21):
That little thing we watched when he was a child,
and its spooked you out a little bit.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Fantastic and dark. You know, if you look, you have
to have a clear sky and a full name. It
is just incredible.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
That sounds so appealing. Let me let me ask it.
Can we show your photos now? And we only have
about we only have about six minutes left, so I
want to make sure people get to see the pictures.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Right, Yeah, I have no idea. What's a week in
control of this?
Speaker 4 (38:53):
Rebel will show the pictures fantastic if you could just
tell us a little bit about this well.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
This this area.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
When we first moved into the woods, we play a
gazebo up just because it rained so heavily, so because
we bought it in November, so the first three months
it was just raining continuously, so we had to put
a quick shelter and we had a little far a
bit outside, so that was our main thing.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
That was the most important thing to get most of
the time slipping over in the.
Speaker 7 (39:22):
Mud every single Wellies always fell over, and Wellies invented wellies.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
They are absolutely useless there.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
That's my excuse.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Every day I fell over. But it was a very
very wet November.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Are there other pictures? I'm not sure how if Rebel
was able to access any other photos.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
I'm not sure that was part of our brochure, but
I'm not sure you can get into that or not.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Okay, it looks like looks like that's what we have.
But well it's a nice tease. It's a nice teas.
That's okay, get this going.
Speaker 7 (40:00):
So they're worries, they can if they if they follow
us on Instagram at like Kenzie Woodland, they'll be able
to see there's actually lovely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Photos and there's a few odd videos.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
Of me doing tensionly hazardous things with There has been
add conversation about health and safety and how to take
trees down safe and the way I've been doing.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
But sometimes you just do what you got to do.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Well, and we need some videos of Sarah cooking.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
There are few the legendary burgers have going quite the thing.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Now, Yeah, this is a fantastic farmer that's just got
a huge organic farm literally two acres away. Everything's grasp
fed mainly mainly sheep and beef. So they're already saying, well,
you know it will come to you from me by
directing you absolutely, so put your all room whenever you want,
(40:57):
you can bring your guests down.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
I'll explain to how.
Speaker 6 (41:00):
Modern farming, you know, good quality farming is done the
way we nurture our animals.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
This is the great thing. Once once I think people
are in that mindset, doesn't it.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
The world comes to use almost that bit of positivity.
People come to you and you're drawn to it. So
just little things like that prop up all the time.
At the moment, just get on board. It's lovely.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yes, you will be.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
You already are attracting a lot of people, and you
more will come. I wanted to ask really quick. We
have like about three minutes. I want to give you
a chance to say your closing thoughts. But beforehand, I
wanted to just find out how big.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Is the cabin?
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Like, what is you mentioned a couple of ways it
could be used.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
I'm just curious. Is it a cabin?
Speaker 6 (41:41):
Yeah, effectively it's three ten by five foot units. A
cabin is no bigger than someone's small lounge or double bedroom.
That's what we really need because those spaces are really
to be a little bit more into it. So if
we have a counseling session, they can do one to
once in there.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
The other build zone, the other decks.
Speaker 6 (42:04):
And these wilworks students it's finished, will upload these videos
and photographs so I can go by unerstigd And what
we're trying to do.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Are recreational areas.
Speaker 6 (42:12):
And then the other small deck area have my woodworking
bench on which is enough room for like six people
to work around it, and I'll be teaching people how
to make walking sticks and hooks and little weird things
that they'll just see in the woodland.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And we'll say, right, well, let's remember, let's take a
coat hanger, you know.
Speaker 6 (42:30):
For somebody who's never ever done anything that would work,
never used tools.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
I've got to we've got a project that's going to
be quick, hoping they can take away with them.
Speaker 7 (42:40):
And then with the other side, we want to have it,
like we were talking earlier, I want it to be
probably more of an open sort of area where we
can bring in so we're doing mindful nurse and doing
some reiki, some outside massage. So that'd be a bit
more of a sort of different zone again, a bit
different fear, different ambiance. I think that would be a
(43:00):
slightly different way from the cabin as well, so again
private and where we want to hopefully some of the
to come up and try that as well.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
I can feel the vibrations from across the sea, so
thank you, thank you. I think, I will, I imagine
I will. I was just describing it to my daughter
and she was like, oh, you must come here. Well,
(43:34):
let me let me give you a chance to just
say your closing remark before I think everyone and I'm sorry,
I want to split out one more thing. I love
that you have a focus on women military feeling. Also
in domestic violence. There's not enough sanctuary for anyone. But
it's love that you're you're so inclusive, You're so inclusive.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yeah, definitely, it's got to be for everyone. It's got
to be for everybody. Comes in so many different you know.
Speaker 7 (44:02):
It can be you know, grief, grief of a family member,
you know, a divorce, you know. Trauma comes in so
many forms, you know, and we all get affected by
different in different ways. So this is open to everybody, anybody.
So that's what we're trying to achieve, trying to get involved.
My mum was a foster parent for many, many years,
(44:25):
so we're looking to work with local foster agencies as well,
bringing foster families and children. There a lot of children,
like I say, don't.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
Have to play.
Speaker 6 (44:33):
I've never built a den, never built a little thing
in the woods, and I think it would be lovely.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Like that little dog. We're just running around, just thoroughly
enjoying the space.
Speaker 6 (44:42):
There's nothing better than watching a young person just running
around kicking the leaves in autumn, picking up branches and
seeing where they can make a little shelter. These are
really important things. And then they'll start to appreciate and
they'll have the memories that I've had, so when they're
our age, they'll hopefully pass those things on.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
Just enjoying playing.
Speaker 6 (45:03):
It is a really really important thing to all us
on our culture, you know, as us as the older
people now, should make these spaces for people. That's all
I'm going to say. Really, it's a lovely thing. We
should share these spaces. It's not I own this and
it's mine. We're looking after it however long we're here,
(45:23):
and hopefully you will leave it in a better condition,
and we found it, and then whoever has it after
us continue to do something with it.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
That's so beautiful. Well, I mean, thank god you're you've recovered.
I think I give Sarah. Thank god Sarah has you
and that you have created this beautiful sanctuary for the world.
And wow, it sounds incredible and I love all of
your compassion and thinking of so many different you know,
people young and old, from all kinds of backgrounds, and
(45:54):
it's wonderful to meet you.
Speaker 5 (45:56):
You sing well, me too.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
It's been great. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Oh what a pleasure, What a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (46:05):
And I just also want to thank our listeners and
viewers for joining us today and to say please tune
in next Wednesday at eight pm Eastern Time on talk
for TV or W four c Y and thank you
Rebel and our producer Dean, and may we all have
enriching conversations in diversity this week.
Speaker 5 (46:22):
Thank you again, thank you so.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Much very much.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Let's beech, Let's beak shore in lot, let's speech in lot,
Let's beach all, let's
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Beach, lot, Let's breech
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