We saw the old year out with a wedding, 100 guests enjoyed up to three days of celebrations with the beauty of Dunfield making it a really special event.  An opportunity to celebrate marriage within a limited budget without compromising the chance to be in a beautiful house, in a beautiful setting, with fantastic food and surrounded by family and friends.

Check out these photo’s on:

http://blog.waynerowephotography.com/2011/12/31/karen-jack-dunfield-house-wedding/

January has been  a busy month with new groups, returning groups and music in the house, be it jazz, rock, pop or African drumming, a  European conference gathering, graduate  and volunteer training…phew!

Something for everyone, adaptable group accommodation  to meet the needs of the diverse number of groups that visit the centre, a recent Facebook message from James says it all……… Dunfield is beautiful all year round – I miss the cosy fire and the wonderful people that I’ve met there and the staff who make Dunfield the most amazing place on earth – miss you guys x

Aldridge School, West Midlands,  has a long and proud tradition of outstanding music provision and we are also proud at Dunfield to have been associated with the school since 1984.   The school  brings two music courses to Dunfield each year and this means we have many students visiting Dunfield, who exemplify the very best in the  outstanding talent that they bring to the school and to Dunfield.

Joe has been on school group visits to Dunfield for the past 10 years, firstly as a student and then as a mentor and staff member – he clocked up his 20th visit earlier this month.

We look foward to Aldridge school visiting  in March & October 2012.  Happy to share their music video of one of their rehearsals, bear with us as we get this set up on youtube.

In the mean time, please contact Sue & Paul on info@dunfieldhouse.org.uk or 01544 230563  and we can send you a link.

We were able to put Angela and Joyce in contact with each other and they have rekindled a childhood friendship.  Angela very kindly accepted our request to write about her visits to Dunfield,  her feelings and memories of Dunfield are the same as those we try to foster today for everyone that visits.

MEMORIES OF DUNFIELD IN THE 1950’S - Angela Holyoak July 2011

I was about seven or eight when I first visited Dunfield with my parents. My father was an Antiquarian Bookseller and so was Mr Smith, whose wife ran the house as a guest house.

I remember a rambling grey and white old house with lots of gables, like a building out of a fairy tale. I loved it at first sight and felt very much at home within its walls and gardens and eating all the delicious home-produced food post rationing. I used to tumble down the terrace in front and go off to explore, especially the spring with the pump which supplied the water to the house. I also remember tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle having lived in the house at some stage, and imagining a dog from ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ baying in the marshes beyond the house as the mists enveloped the mountains. Scary stuff for an eight year old!!

I lived in a town, so the country was an adventure ground to my young mind. As an only child, I was introduced to the children at the Home Farm behind the house; this belonged to the Watkins family. I made friends with Joyce, who was my age and the oldest, and her siblings, Dorothy and Dilys, also a younger brother called Philip. I was in heaven running around the farmyard, helping with the sheep and no doubt collecting eggs and climbing up the adjacent mountain to bring in the cattle and sheep.

I remember the thrill of being on horseback for the first time in my young life, on Pedro, the family’s pony, with Danny the terrier trying to tidy us up. The farmyard sported a hand-held pump with another one in the kitchen next to a huge white belfast sink. Bacon joints hung from hooks in the ceiling, which was yellow with age from years of frying hearty farmer’s breakfasts.
At some stage Mr and Mrs Watkins very kindly suggested I stay with them on the farm; I felt so grown up and don’t remember feeling home-sick at all. Joyce came to stay at our house in Bournemouth when and she remembers she found our town life rather strange. It had theatres, big shops, cinemas and the sea!!

For years all I ever wanted to do was to marry a farmer and have six children. That never happened, but it was the completeness I experienced at Dunfield that gave birth and nurtured the idea. On being reunited with Joyce recently, thanks to Sue and an excellent web-site, the farmer’s daughter assures me that she enjoyed an idyllic childhood. Thank you Dunfield for opening my eyes and heart to a rural way of life. I can honestly say that visits spent there were the happiest times of my childhood.

Thank you for an outstanding residential last week ! The children loved it and so did the staff!
Therefore…. to get in early could we please book next year ..

Helen Cole, Cambridge writes:

I brought a school group to Dunfield House for 22 years and enjoyed every one of them. As a family my husband, daughter and son-in-law have stayed and always been treated like royalty. With a large school group our days were filled with visits to museums and Forestry centres and plenty of beautiful walks.

We always knew we would come back to a good meal and endless fun in the grounds.
The children loved the fun of rolling down hills after the flat of Cambridgeshire.Our last evening was always a bonfire and camp songs except for my retirement year when I was treated to a Ceilidh – thanks Sue.

I watched Dunfield House develop to the comfortable place it is today. I admire what you have done.

Jill and Linda from Nuneaton said it was a wonderful experience, even for those with limited mobility, thank you

We have limited midweek and weekend dates available in September, October, November & December 2011 still available – plan some time away with family and friends, have something to look forward to over the autumn/winter period.

Get out and about with some amazing walks to suit all ages and abilities, have fun [or some exercise] in our indoor heated pool, play football, volleyball, table tennis, chess, or board and box games indoors and then relax in our cosy lounge with its woodburner.

Once onsite you can leave the car in the car park and we suggest that you won’t want to leave at the end of your stay.

Catered or part catered option available on request.

Contact Sue or Paul for more information by phone 01544 230563 or email: info@dunfieldhouse.org.uk

St Aldates Church Group from Oxford arrive on Friday evening and had a wonderful weekend of fellowship, prayer and praise – the weekend exceeded their expectations.   The Stables is also popular as a centre for school group accommodation either to remain onsite and use the facilities we have or use the centre as a base to explore the area. 

The Stables is also a very popular centre for family holidays. The level access facilities, swimming pool and 15 acres of grounds promote something for all ages from the very youngest in your family to the grand and even great grandparents, there is nothing better than all members of the family being together – lasting memories are made of times like this.

The picture below is a taster of the work that has been carried out  - please see our Flickr album for more photographs of the Stables. If you would like to book the Stables please do not hesitate to contact us on 01544 230563 or email on info@dunfieldhouse.org.uk

Please click on the link below for an amazing video into what can be achieved

in one weekend at Dunfield

It has been a busy February, with groups in every weekend, the builders beavering away in the Stables and it is looking really good and our staff alternating between their day job and our ‘team building days’ of decorating and spring cleaning.

At the end of January we held a young adult training weekend and it was brilliant to see so many committed young adults wanting to make a positive difference in the world – why do we never have guys like that on the news????

Please download the pdf at the bottom of the page for a little about our Christmas activities.

Paul and I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2011. We trust it will be a year of joy, love, hope and peace and that you will continue to make a difference in the community that you find yourself in. We also look forward to a busy year and welcoming all of our guests for 2011, those making a return visit or new guests who will be visiting Dunfield for the first time, a place that people can come to and call it home.

Dunfield News December 2010

Onsite with have 15 acres of grounds for art, science, geography projects, an indoor heated pool, campfire sites, football and volleyball nets and games room and chapel for worship……but most of all, the opportunity freedom and safety to play and explore. 

This makes us an ideal centre for school group accommodation, we have some schools who have been visiting for more than 20 years.

However, we also respond to lots of other enquiries and on Saturday we provided our venue for a one day event for a group of churches from Hereford to come together for a day to remember.  It was an opportunity for 5 church parishes to meet together for worship,  drama workshops, crafts, football, playing in the grounds, desert island discs, a coast  to coast walk slide show and reflective worship along with just being able to take a step back busy lives and just relax!

With arrival for tea/coffee, soft drinks and homemade biscuits, a lunch meal and tea and homemade cakes the celebration day was rounded off with soups and hotdogs and a firework display – brilliant

Jeremy, one of the organisers wrote that…….Relationships have been strengthened and new friendships made, and I am sure that our churches will greatly benefit in all sorts of ways.

Please contact Sue and/or Paul if you would like more information or would like to discuss the option of running a day event or residential course at Dunfield House.