The Menopause Retreat Day
with Olivia Cliff, Medical Herbalist and Tara Kelsall, Life Coach & Wild Swim Guide

Open to women of all life stages

The menopause is a transition that all women face at some point in their life. Whether sudden or slow, it can be littered with unpleasant and sometimes debilitating symptoms which are not always acknowledged or understood. Our Menopause Retreat Day is an opportunity for pre, peri or post menopausal women to come together to enjoy time out of routine to relax, nourish and replenish in a safe,supportive and beautiful environment.

What to expect:
• A warm welcome with light refreshments
• An overview of what actually happens in the body during the menopause and what
symptoms can arise and why.
• The opportunity to speak about our own experiences in a small supportive groups
• Discussion of tools which can be utilised to smooth transition including a balanced
approach to nutrition, herbal hacks and the importance of psychospiritual aspects.
• Supported cold water dip in a natural pool
• Wood fired sauna
• Tea and cake and a closing circle

At the end of the day, we want you to leave a little more empowered and ready to embrace your menopause as a potentially powerful rite of passage.

However, please remember that all activities are invitations and there is no expectation for everyone to
participate if they feel not to.

Morning Session

We will be demystifying what actually happens in the body
during the perimenopause, looking at some of the symptoms which can arise and exploring
simple, effective self-help techniques and herbal approaches you can use to support
yourself throughout this time. There will be the opportunity to share some of our own stories
and experiences in smaller groups, because all our journeys are unique.

You will:
• Gain an understanding of what is happening in the body during this time and the
symptoms which can arise.
• Learn nutritional and herbal strategies to help improve common symptoms such as poor
sleep, foggy thinking, rage and/or anxiety, joint issues and hot flashes.
• Explore psycho-spiritual aspects of aging and the wisdom, liberation and reinvention this
time can bring.

Lunchtime
We'll gather together round the huge farmhouse table to share delicious and health supporting
food, created with love and incorporating ingredients grown on site at Vallis Farm.

Afternoon Session 
The second half of the day invites you into the healing powers of cold water and wild
swimming, paired with the deep relaxation of sauna heat therapy. This combination is
profoundly regulating for the nervous system and offers a sense of clarity, vitality, and
emotional spaciousness.

You will:
• Receive a full safety briefing and gentle education about cold water immersion
• Have space to ask questions and share any worries
• Be guided through a fully supported, safe, and empowering cold water immersion in
the crystal-clear natural pool
• Sink into the soothing warmth of the sauna, allowing your body to unwind and
integrate everything from the day.

We will finish with a hot drink, cake and a closing circle.

We are offering this workshop at three price points. Please select the one most aligned with you on the booking platform.

Morning Chorus Bird Walk with Rob Frith

Join us for a relaxed and informative morning at Vallis Farm, timed to coincide with the early bird activity without the pre-dawn start.

We’ll meet at 7:30am at the farmhouse entrance. After a hot drink to get us going, we’ll head out on a guided walk around the farm with ecologist and bird expert Rob Frith, exploring the land and listening to the morning chorus as it builds.

Rob will help us identify the birds we hear (and hopefully see), explain what’s happening ecologically at this time of year, and share insights into how the farm supports wildlife. With a bit of luck, we may also spot barn owls that regularly hunt over the fields.

After the walk, we’ll return to the farmhouse for a cooked breakfast made with locally sourced ingredients, including eggs from our rescue hens. We’ll eat together around the table, with time to ask Rob questions and chat more broadly about birds, farming, and the wider landscape.

The morning will wrap up at 10:30, leaving you well fed, well informed and hopefully feeling a little more connected to the land around you.

This is one of two Morning Chorus Bird Walks. If you can’t make this date, the event will also run on 24th April.

Cost: £28 per person

A thoughtful, unhurried way to start the day, for anyone curious about birds, ecology, and the rhythms of a working farm.

And why not extend your experience by spending the night in one of our Shepherd’s Huts?

Blue Lotus & Cacao Ceremony

An embodied gathering of breath, movement & seasonal ritual

Come together in the peaceful ceremonial space of the Vallis Farm Lounge for an intimate afternoon of slowing down, reconnecting with your body, and marking seasonal change with intention and peaceful presence.

This gathering offers gentle, embodied practices and rituals designed to help you tune in to both inner and outer rhythms, nurturing your heart, body and spirit.

Over the course of 2½ hours, we will:

• share blue lotus & ceremonial cacao, inviting ease, openness, and heart-centered connection

• awaken the body and nervous system through breathwork and somatic movement

• offer guided reflection, journalling and prompts for noticing what nourishes you

• create a simple fire ritual to leave winter behind and release what no longer serves

• close in circle with a time of sharing, connection and grounding

This event is designed to be inclusive, relational, and gentle, welcoming you as you are - no experience necessary, just curiosity, desire for self-care and a willingness to be present.

You’ll leave with:
✨ a felt sense of groundedness, inspiration and openness
✨ clarity around personal intentions
✨ embodied awareness
✨ deepened sense of self love and acceptance 
✨ connections with others who value slowing down and real connection

Whether you’re new to ceremonial gatherings or familiar with rituals and embodied practices, this afternoon offers space to pause, reflect, and realign with your own inner compass.

No mud, no lotus: let’s come together to honour our emergence from winter and nourish what is quietly beginning to bloom.

Practical Details:
Date: Sunday 15th February
Time: 12:00–2:30pm
Location: Lounge, Vallis Farm, Egford Hill, Frome, BA11 3JQ

Investment:

🎟 Early Bird £25 (limited)

🎟 Standard £30

🎟 Supporter £35

Accessibility & What to Bring:

• Comfortable clothing for gentle movement

• A journal and pen

• Optional cushion or mat for sitting

• Water bottle

All are welcome. No prior experience required.

Night River Presents: Zach Thompson

A magically intimate micro concert for just 34 lucky guests featuring Zach Thompson and a short opening set of two songs by your host, DG Solaris.

We are very excited to welcome Zach Thompson. For fans of early Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch and John Martyn. In an age where everything appears ever more disposable, Zach Thompson’s music has the rare feeling of being called down from the fires of heaven. Born and raised in West Yorkshire, but now based in London, he’s long been making his mark in the burgeoning South-East London folk scene.

A truly enigmatic songwriter, one who almost appeared to arrive fully formed, Zach moves between intimate folk and freewheeling jazz at a moment's notice. Upcoming EP 'On Platt's Eyot' - via Breakfast Records - is a rolling, ruminative body of work whose symbolic lyrics bounce between the universal and the local, resisting any straightforward interpretation.

Don't miss your chance to see this fantastic act perform in the most intimate of venues. Only 35 seats available. There is no bar so BYOB.

Doors 7pm, music starts at 8pm. Punctuality is cool!

Silver Clay Jewellery Workshop

Make your own nature-inspired silver pendant

Join jewellery designer Rebecca Lucy for a relaxed and creative workshop where you’ll learn how to make your own fine silver pendant using silver clay – a magical, eco-friendly material that turns into real silver when fired.

You’ll use natural textures like leaves, shells and twigs to create beautiful impressions, then shape and mould your pieces. Rebecca will then take them away to fire them, and you will receive your finished jewellery by post one week later in a gift bag.

What’s included:

• 7g of silver clay (enough for 1–2 small pendants)

• Use of tools and equipment

• Natural materials to imprint

• Tea & coffee

Workshops are small and friendly (approx. 2.5 hours). No experience needed – perfect for beginners or anyone curious to try something new!

You’ll create a beautiful silver pendant to wear or gift.

£65 per person

Join The Intuitive Chef (Frome-based private chef and food event curator Kate Foster) for an evening of celebration in honour of Scotland’s great bard. This is Burns Night, Westcountry style, combining ceremony, conviviality and an abundant feast that nods to Scottish traditions while incorporating a few of our own from closer to home.

Each course is accompanied by optional wine pairings, especially selected by our friends at Givino. There’s also an opportunity to join a pre-dinner whisky tasting with our local whisky expert!

Menu

Drinks and nibbles

Sparkling wine or Islay gin Bramble

Arbroath smokie croquettes

Smoked salmon baby oatcakes

On the table

Oat and molasses bread, whipped tablet butter

Whisky pickles

To start

Green leek and tatty velouté, crispy haggis (+ v alternative)

To follow

Pan-roasted venison loin with blackberry and bay sauce, oat and hazelnut skirlie

Cheddar, roots and ale stovies (v)

Mashed neeps, Vallis Farm greens

Smoked salt potatoes

To finish

Craquelin choux puffs with whisky caramel cream and raspberry compote

…and of course, a wee dram

Welcome drink and 3 course menu £60/person

Welcome drink and 3 course menu + wine £75/person

Pre-dinner whisky tasting £20/person

Spaces are limited! Email kate@theintuitivechef.co.uk to reserve your space. Most dietaries can be accommodated with prior notice - please get in touch with Kate to find out more.

Start your week feeling nourished by mindful movement with breath awareness.  These Hatha Yoga classes are rooted in cyclical wisdom and with an emphasis on meeting yourself with acceptance, exploring postures with a playful attitude and finding pleasure in both movement and rest.

Following a gentle warm up, the class will build to strengthening poses and end in short relaxation, aiming to leave you feeling refreshed and re-energised and connected both to yourself and a circle of support.

Cecilia has been teaching yoga for over 12 years and practising for over 25 years and offers adaptations so that every body feels welcome.

Find out more about your practitioner here: https://www.yogawithcecilia.co.uk/about-cecilia

From £10 per session, booked in 6 week terms (ie £60)

This term run’s every Monday from 5th Jan for 6 weeks.
(5th, 12th, 19th, 26th Jan and 2nd, 9th Feb)

Solstice at Sunrise : A Silent Disco Celebration

Sunday 21st December | 7.30–9.30am (Arrive in twilight – we’ll dance together as the sun comes up)

About the event

Come and welcome the turning of the seasons with a magical sunrise silent disco at the stunning Vallis Farm. Hosted by Mojo Moves, with 3 channels of music beamed straight to your headphones – from uplifting disco classics to energising beats and soulful grooves and maybe even the odd festive track.

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. From this point, the light returns – a time for renewal, fresh energy, and looking forward with hope. Where better to honour this shift than in a landscape designed in harmony with the seasons?

Expect a life-affirming, immersive experience: dancing in nature, breathing the crisp morning air, moving from darkness into light as the sun rises. Bond with your tribe, set intentions for the year ahead or not, there's no pressure here to be anything but present in the moment, enjoy the ride, and feel the earth beneath your feet.

Remember to wrap up warm!

🎟 Tickets £15 (plus booking fee) – available here www.mojomoves.co.uk/event-details-registration/solstice-at-sunrise

🚲 Parking is very limited, so please walk, cycle, share a lift or get dropped off where possible

☕ No refreshments provided – but feel free to bring your own

🚻 Toilet facilities available

🔞 Over 18s only

Rare Species CIC Mojo Moves

Frome,

Somerset

07878328253

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