What does the word “collective” mean to you? Maybe it could be a commune or a community-wide version. good life? Perhaps it evokes a nightmarish Stalinist proposal for a new approach to farming? To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect as I approached the village of Woolsery in North Devon. I wonder if I came? The signs were vague. There was a Woolfardisworthy, but there was also a Woolsery; these turned out to be the same place (apparently due to a 17th-century pronunciation quirk). The strangeness had begun.
And it didn’t end there. For the last hour I’ve been driving through miles of open fields and tiny ramshackle villages typical of North Devon – tiny cottages, a church, sometimes a small country pub or a worn-out village shop struggling to stay open, but usually neither. However, a few minutes into Woolsery there was a noticeable change.
Suddenly a stylish, perfectly manicured little bar appeared (the kind that serves craft cocktails); an upscale village shop with a post office; a gourmet fish and chip shop; and an elaborate Georgian villa (Gothicly named Wulfheard Manor). There was also an adjacent 150-acre organic farm and a neat portfolio of historic cottages intended to welcome visitors.
Here in the Devon wilderness was a little place of almost Stepford-like perfection; like some kind of pristine toy town or a movie set. There was not a crooked slate tile, no sagging beam, no crumbling chimney breast anywhere. At first I wasn’t quite sure what to make of all this.
But when you learn that all of the above — now renamed The Collective at Woolsery — is owned by a social media multimillionaire from California’s Silicon Valley, things start to make a little more sense.
Far from being a brash businessman looking for a pet project, Michael Birch, who founded the hugely successful social networking site Bebo with his wife Xochi in 2005, has a deep connection with Woolsery. In fact, his was a circular journey: his great-grandparents built the original village shop, and his grandmother was born on top of it. Most of his family still lives in the village, and for him it is a place full of happy childhood memories, even from his distant base in San Francisco.
“The main motivation was The Farmers Arms pub,” he explains. “It had been vacant for a few years and there were plans to convert it into flats. For me the pub is the heart of the village and for Woolsery it would be unthinkable not to have the pub I have known all my life. Xochi and I were in a position to help, and that’s where it all started. “There was no plan for the Collective from the beginning, it snowballed as other buildings in the village were offered to us in various states of disrepair.”
They are definitely no longer in need of care. The Old Forge, where I stayed, was filled with every possible modern convenience as well as neat little touches (exposed beams and brickwork, two wood-burning stoves – one, quite nice, in the bedroom). A turndown service is available when you order breakfast, which is delivered in a wicker basket the next morning. And it’s unlike any hotel breakfast you’ve experienced before: mine was nettle-centric, served as a fritter with spicy fermented vegetables, nuts and seeds, plus a side order of sweet clover and vanilla yoghurt.
The farm-to-fork concept is certainly nothing new; but rarely has it been taken as seriously as it is here. Not content with just having their food be “organic,” The Collective grows their food in a way that mimics nature. For example, an edible forest adopts a natural growing environment with densely planted root crops, ground covers (like herbs), fruit-bearing shrubs, vines, low-canopy fruit trees, and high-canopy nut trees that fix nitrogen that nourishes the soil.
Visitors are welcomed and no doubt surprised because this is not like any normal farm. Crops (they also have animals – The Collective may be eco-friendly, but they’re not vegetarian) grow all together, as well as abundant flowers (used in cooking, drinks and desserts) and plenty of foraging.
This might all be starting to sound a bit like The Village. prisonerbut perhaps strangest of all, the overall result is just the opposite. Woolsery, a long way from Stepford, is a happy, thriving little place; a place buzzing with a sense of purpose and community, one that has managed to stem the exodus of locals unable to find work that many of its neighbors have experienced.
The Woolsarians are genuinely cheerful and welcoming (no “See You” grin here), chatting to visitors and guiding them through a field of small streets when they inevitably get lost. Local gardens open to the public every year; There is a small primary school; the village hall holds local arts and crafts shows; and Street Faire is held every year. Miss Marple would feel right at home.
According to the Birches, the village was always improving, and they want to point out that the Collective certainly did not “save” Woolsery. It definitely helped keep it that way though. Local producers (vegetables, cakes, honey) have a point of sale in the Kolektif’s beautifully renovated village shop and post office; It is basic amenities that are fast disappearing in South West villages. And since the Collective’s accommodation can only accommodate 20 people at a time, there’s little chance of the Woolsery being overrun by tourists. You might say it’s the perfect balance.
And if you start craving a bit of natural chaos at a rural retreat in pristine Woolsery, you can easily find it. North Devon is a wild, windswept landscape perfect for supporting winter walks. Just a few kilometers from Woolsery, the coastline is as impressive as it gets, with sand dunes, waterfalls and coastal cliffs.
At Hartland Point, you embark on a rollercoaster ride out to sea, where spectacularly twisted layers of rock serve as a fitting backdrop for smugglers and subversives both real and fictional (they last appeared in the 2020 film). rebecca). Wildlife is full of positivity. Rock pools filled with crabs, birds wading along the shoreline, porpoises and gray seals swimming along the shore, murmurations of starlings filling the sky, and wild orchids blooming in the surrounding fields.
By contrast, after a day in the wilderness, Woolsery feels extremely relaxed; Cleanliness and attention to detail provide pleasant comfort. This is an experiment that maybe shouldn’t work, but it still does. I can certainly imagine other struggling villages doing the same: They could start by checking the district registries of Silicon Valley-based philanthropists.
Fundamentals
Anna Selby was a guest at Woolsery Collective (01237 431 238), which has rooms from £275 per night, suites from £325 and cottages from £450.