Welcome to Westacre
This is our dream for a home and a way of life. Our vision is to create a place of peace and beauty where we can live lightly on the Earth. We dream a rich life of creativity and connection that uses a minimum of resources and is as self-sufficient as we can make it. And we would like to share it with you.
The Westacre property is an extended 1930’s house that was built in a mature orchard. It has been Alex’s family home since 1972. It sits on the Staffordshire-Shropshire border, on Kingswood Common near the village of Albrighton. The orchard is now a garden with many seasonal delights, surrounded by tall trees.
In the next couple of years, we intend to renovate the house and make it very efficient to run as well as beautiful. This will involve a lot of planning and hard work. At the same time, a start will be made on implementing a permaculture garden design.
In the longer term, Westacre will become a place of spiritual education and retreat.
You can lean about our evolving design ideas and renovation processes by following our adventures on The Project blog. Some courses and services from the Spiritual Centre are available now. As plans evolve, more courses and information will be added to this section.
Hilde Liesens
Hilde is a Druid in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Her passion is creating ritual space where people can celebrate the cycles of life and explore their spirituality. At Westacre, she intends to run a centre for individual retreat and group courses in Earth-based spiritual traditions. She travels to lead rituals celebrating the changing seasons and cycles of life. She also offers Tarot readings.
Hilde’s background is in adult education. She has many years’ experience teaching Dutch at the City Lit and private language schools in London. As a co-ordinator at City Lit, she has gained valuable experience to help her set up an education centre that reflects her passion.
Her personal blog can be found here.
Alex Tingle
Alex is the creative force behind the Westacre design and building process. After 20 years as a software engineer, he is looking forward to a change. He enjoys designing living spaces and implementing his ideas.
