Courses

We had a great time with our themed weekend and courses last year and are planning to build on our successes!   Coming up in June we have a great birding event and in September a full moon night-walking weekend and a weekend exploring the theme of Sanctuary.  

If you're a keen or aspiring birdwatcher, you'll want to sign up for our new course in June on Bird Identification.  We're really excited to be working with Suffolk's foremost bird expert Steve Piotrowski to bring you this event. We're perfectly situated here - in the heart of the Suffolk countryside and close to estuary and sea, farmland and heathland - to offer an birdwatching week that takes in a range of different environments and birds. The birdwatching course is aimed at those who are relative beginners to understanding birds as well as those who are more experienced but still keen to know more and will combine talks and an introduction to key bird books, binoculars and Apps, alongside walks, boat trips, visits to key bird habitats (including nearby RSPB Minsmere) and perfectly situated pubs.  Click on the tab below for more details.

For anyone who missed out on our first Moonlit Night Walk with Dixe Wills, there's an opportunity to participate this year. We're running the event on Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd September to take advantage of the early evening dusk and the full moon. Judging by last year's enthusiastic response from participants, the weekend combines both the fun and excitement of walking at night - when even familiar places look completely different - alongside developing some new skills.  See below for more details or email or call us on 07802 456087 if you want to discuss or need more information.

Take a weekend out of a busy life to explore ideas around Sanctuary.  Event organiser Joanna van der Hoeven will lead a weekend retreat focused entirely on the idea of Sanctuary from Friday 27th September through to midday on Sunday 29th.  There will be talks, workshops, great vegetarian and vegan food - as well as your "own time" for you to explore the surrounding countryside through walks or even borrowing one of the bikes to cycle down the country lanes!  Everyone needs Sanctuary every now and then - a safe place where they can simply "be".  The aim of this weekend is to explore the many definitions of sanctuary and how to create that in our everyday life.  We will look at our own personal "space", as well as the other spaces that we create, such as our home space and sacred space.  We will learn to acknowledge all the times in our lives when we are given sanctuary, thus establishing a deeper relationship with the concept and furthermore being able to bring it to the forefront of our lives.  

Booking for this retreat weekend is £150 per person, which includes all activities, accommodation and food.  Ivy Grange Farm is delighted to be hosting this event which is organised through Joanna van der Hoeven - for more information, please see http://www.autumnsong.org/talks-workshops-retreats or email autumnsong@hotmail.co.uk

If you are a keen potter or want to learn, local potter Mark Titchiner is running a 5 day Ceramic Course from 22-26th July at his pottery in Chediston, just 5 miles away.  If you fancy it and want to come by public transport, we can collect you from the station and you can borrow bikes during your stay to pedal through the country lanes (which are stunningly beautiful in July) to get to Mark. Check the Courses section on Mark's website for details and booking.  

Please let us know if there are any courses you'd be keen to see us hosting here or if have expertise in an area you think might appeal - we’d be pleased to hear from you.