A co-creative writing journey into deeper Nature connection

Get up close and personal to the land at the beautiful and biodiverse 10-acre Willows Lakeside Retreat in Pulborough, West Sussex on the border of the South Downs National Park to develop your observational skills, embody deeper ecological awareness, refresh your descriptive powers and kick-start a creative dialogue with wildness, inside and out.

If you would like to visit the ground breaking Knepp Rewilding Project we will be visiting on Monday. This is an additional activity and Nicola will lead a tour to speak about rewilding. The afternoon will be back at the Willows for you to continue with your writing.

Facilitators: Dr Helen Moore with Nicola Peel (bios below)

Retreat Timings and Essentials

We invite you to arrive on Friday afternoon to join us for a guided walk around the land at 6pm and a shared meal at 7.30pm. The course itself starts at 10am Saturday morning but we prefer that you are already on site Friday evening for orientation so we can start promptly on Saturday.

Retreat overview

On this wild writing retreat, we will work together to develop our ability to observe, hear and respond to many of the beings resident in the wetlands, hedges, meadows, woodland and veteran trees on site. Aiming to develop a practice of embodied co-creation with the more-than-human world, which you can continue beyond the programme, we start by learning to get more in touch with our own wild ‘creaturely’ self. This enables us to drop into an extra-ordinary mode of perception, where we’re freed to pick up on the signals, signs, wild language around us, and to record them without judgement as an act of co-creation.

Bringing low-tech writing tools, open minds and hearts, and the intention to open to what Life wants to show us, we may at times choose to cross a threshold to enter consciously into sacred time for nurturing and expressing Soul – our own and the ensouled world we inhabit. But before we even get to any writing, our exercises begin with gentle movement, letting mental chatter subside, softening our bodies so that we notice the breeze on our skin; scents in our nostrils; the taste of the air; sounds in our ears; colours, shapes before our eyes. And we observe what may be at the edges of our consciousness, allowing any uncomfortable emotions to surface, breathing with them, honouring, and releasing them as we feel ready.

We also honour our five ways of knowing – sensing, feeling, imagining, intuiting, thinking. Through these we can open to wild voices and natural sign languages, acknowledging the mirror that Nature holds up to our ‘humanimal’ nature, and remembering our interbeing with the Web of Life. Then our wild words can rain onto the page and subsequently evolve through the crafting process, where we consider form, imagery, language, music.

Throughout the retreat, our experience will be enhanced by a variety of ecocritical perspectives, such as how language can limit or amplify the perception of our embedded relationship in ecology. Group practices will also include a Social Dreaming matrix* and a Council of All Beings to inspire our writings. There will be plenty of free time too, plus opportunities to share our words around the campfire.

* Social Dreaming is the practice of coming together as a group to share dreams in an often rich and powerful morning session. Dreams may include messages from the land and more-than-human beings present around us, and they are received as collective resources. Whatever emerges in your dreaming is welcome.

More about Dr Helen Moore’s Wild Ways to Writing programmes

Testimonials from participants

‘A wonderful journey of peace bathed in words; the weekend was beautifully structured with meditations starting each phase to bring us together with the place and with each other.’  Anthony

‘Spending time in the company of some wonderful people on the beautiful land, off grid, was an inspiration. I found the structure of the retreat to be spacious and supportive, gentle and containing.’ Sarah

‘I’d never been to such an event before and was blown away. The retreat is beautiful, with nature allowed to develop around that lovely lake, complete with kingfishers, a heron, fish and all kinds of insects. The facilitation was all-embracing with varied and interesting activities to stimulate our writing. A weekend to treasure. Thank you.’ Pat

Your investment for Weekend Intensive

£245 or £345 if you are able to,  If you would like to reserve your place with a deposit of £80, then pay in two further instalments please let us know. 

*Price includes refreshments and a vegan lunch each day. You are welcome to bring cake to share with the group 8-)   Breakfast and evening meals not included. We do ask everyone to bring food to share for the Friday and Saturday night feasts.

1 Bursary (pay what you can) price is available. Please email contactnicola@pm.me. This does not include camping.

These prices do not include accommodation. Please see below.

Optional Extras 

Thursday 27th August / Friday  28th August To extend your retreat experience you could choose to arrive on the Thursday evening or Friday morning and enjoy solo time to attune to the land before the retreat. N.B You would need to pay for additional nights accommodation

Monday 31st August Visit to the Knepp Wildlands

Knepp is a 15 minute drive from The Willows and is a trailblazing 3,500 acre rewilding project that has changed the way we think about Nature and how we can heal our planet. Nicola will lead a tour speaking about rewilding and what Knepp has achieved

For more see https://knepp.co.uk

What to expect from the Wild Ways to Writing retreat:

· This retreat is tailored for all levels of creative writing skill and experience. Please bring writing materials, including a pocket notebook for use outdoors, and everything you might need to be comfortable writing outdoors, such as waterproof clothing, walking boots, sun protection, a water bottle, daypack and your own sit mat/portable chair.

· The programme includes guided writing and Nature connection exercises outdoors, reading from other writers, plus free time to develop new writing, whether poetry or prose

· You will also have the opportunity to share your work and receive constructive feedback

What you may gain from attending:

· Some nourishing time away from everyday responsibilities to develop/refresh your writing skills

· The opportunity to build confidence your ability to explore and observe the natural world, to embody a deep ecological sensibility and to find the language and imagery to express it

· Take away a creative writing practice that will continue to open you to dialogue and encounters with the other-than-human 

Bios

Dr Helen Moore is a pioneering British ecopoet, writer and academic based in Bristol. She has published three internationally acclaimed ecopoetry collections and co-authored INTATTO. INTACT: Ecopoesia. Ecopoetry with Massimo D'Arcangelo (Italy) and Anne Elvey (Australia).

Helen offers an online mentoring programme, Wild Ways to Writing; curates ECOPOETIKON, an online showcase of global Ecopoetries; and teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at AUB. In 2021, Helen collaborated with Cape Farewell on ‘RiverRun’, a cross arts-science project, which culminated with gallery-based exhibitions between 2021-23 and the publication of river / run, an ecopoetic trilogy (2024). Her fourth ecopoetry collection, The Last Lighthouse in Rising Seas, is forthcoming from Palewell Press in May 2026. www.helenmoorepoet.com

Nicola Peel is an environmentalist, solutionist and public speaker. She has been working in the Ecuadorean Amazon for over 20 years initiating a number of social and environmental projects. Nicola is an expert for the Design Council, Ambassador for One Planet and a trustee for Rainforest Saver where she has introduced a successful agroforestry project to teach farmers in the Amazon how to regenerate their soil to prevent deforestation. As a lover of trees and life Nicola is a true biophilic who loves to help others connect to the awe and wonder of the natural world. http://www.nicolapeel.com

Accommodation options:

Camping and Campervans are available on site for £15 per person per night.

On a first come first serve basis, there are 5 available glamping sites.

The Shepherds Hut (double) £150 for 2 nights or £200 for 3 nights,

The Lodge (double) £150 for 2 nights or £200 for 3 nights,

The Kingfisher Cabin (single) £130 for 2 nights £160 for 3 nights and

2 simple single canvas Luna tents £90 for 2 nights or £120 for 3 nights.

Bedding is only included for those coming by public transport.

Contact nicola@nicolapeel.com to book

The site is off grid with compost toilets and solar showers. There is an inside kitchen and the course will be held in a beautiful large gazebo. For more information see www.thewillowslakesideretreat.com

There are numerous local Airbnb's around Pulborough to choose from. The nearest local hotels are the Chequers, The Labouring Man and the Roundabout Hotel.

There is a farm shop on-site and convenience and supermarket stores in nearby Pulborough.

Travel to the site:

As this is an ecological retreat we invite you to consider carefully your mode of transport and to slow travel in the spirit of pilgrimage.

Train Pulborough Station is 2 miles away (Taxis do need to be pre ordered) Direct to London Victoria in 1 hour 15 minutes. There is a bus from the station.

Bus No1 runs from Worthing to Midhurst (good for connection to Brighton) and stops right outside

Bus 100 also runs from Burgess Hill and the stop is at the end of the road

By Car The Willows Lakeside Retreat, Dyke Farm, West Chiltington Rd, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2EE

We would like for drivers to please contribute a carbon tax to https://rainforestsaver.org/

Car Sharing - if you are intending to drive to the site and could offer a lift to another participant, please let us know and we'll endeavour to put you touch, if someone else is coming your way. Equally, if you'd like to be notified of lift-sharing options, let us know that too.

Whilst this course is ideal from people attending from around the UK and northern Europe, we ask that you do not fly to come to us, due to the high carbon cost of doing so. As an alternative, you may like to consider enrolling on Helen’s online programme Wild Ways to Writing.

Refund / Cancellation policy

We are unable to offer a refund on accommodation within 3 weeks of the retreat.

Up to one month prior to the retreat, we can offer a partial refund on the course of 50%. Within 2 weeks of the retreat, there is no refund available except to carry your place over to another course or to the following year. There is an admin fee of £25 for any changes.

And time to just be..