Painting by Chris Turland
Community Restoration at Orchard Barn
Now entering year 10, OBee CIC reviews progress.
When we started in 2007 our primary objective was to provide environmentally sustainable indoor and outdoor facilities for community activities. Well, with input from over 2000 students and volunteers we’ve successfully brought a 17th century timber frame barn back from the brink of ruin and use it as a traditional carpentry workshop. The barn now has a lovely shingle roof, repaired walls and beaten earth floors. We even made the doors. However some folks do say that the barn is still more of an ‘outdoor’ space. With this in mind we have a plan for a cosier indoor space that we hope to be able to tell you about soon.
If you’d like to visit, volunteer or take part in a course, please phone 01473-658193, email sarah@orchardbarn.org.uk or check out our website www.orchardbarn.org.uk
OBee stands for Orchard Barn environmental education. CIC means we trade as a Community Interest Company. Our rural training centre is in an old orchard (hence the name) in the north-west corner of Ringshall. With some very exciting restoration plans in the ether, we’re looking forward to the next 10 years of community building.