As part of Wessex Community Asset’s work to develop the bioregional economy in SW England, we held a workshop on hemp fibre with 30 participants at our workspace in West Dorset. The process begins with separating (“decorticating”) the outer bast fibre from the woody core (the shiv), either manually with a hemp break or with READ MORE
Category: Enterprise
A Review of 2020-21
During the year we progressed the Wessex Community Housing Hub, supported by funding from Community Led Homes. We established and supported an Advisory Panel, employed a Community Housing Advisor, Colin McDonald, and supported 25 projects. Because of COVID, public meetings were not possible, but we delivered a series of online workshops attended by or subsequently READ MORE
Changing Chettle
A radical plan for community ownership and regenerative farming. The Chettle Estate in North Dorset consists of nearly 900 acres of arable and pasture land including 60 acres of woodland. It has a thriving village shop, a well-respected restaurant with 8 rooms (the Castleman Hotel) and 33 dwellings in the village of Chettle. The estate, READ MORE