Cotswold Herb Centre is a community-led enterprise to promote the recognition, use and enjoyment of herbs.
Based in Cam & Dursley we’re shining a light on the wealth of plants that naturally live in and around us and the many ways they can support our daily lives.
Plants with a purpose
Herbs can be described as plants with a purpose. They include hedgerow staples, garden favourites, pernicious weeds and towering trees, as well as the pots of tasty greens you can buy at a supermarket, or their dried form in little jars.
The purposes they lend themselves to are just as varied. Herby plant power brings vitality to our food, inspiration to our creative activities, practical materials for crafting and making, and they are our ready-made guide to the seasons helping us live in tune with the natural world.
Permanent providers
Our plant allies have always been with us. But as a culture we’ve grown so used to the daisies and dandelions, the peppermint and parsley, and all their friends, we’ve forgotten the many ways they can help us.
Not so long ago our ancestors relied on plants for so many of their needs and would know just what grows, where and when, how to make best use of it, and how to ensure it was there for the future. Plants were important resources to them. And they are to us too, though we may have forgotten.
Getting to know the plants on our doorstep not only connects us to nature, it can be a free resource of health and happiness.
Coming together to share that knowledge not only connects us with our neighbours, it can create the understanding that means we look out for, and look after our local environment. And the plants will thank us for that.
What does Cotswold Herb Centre offer?
Events
On the Cotswold Herb Centre calendar page, you’ll find all the plant-related local activities highlighted.
The events list includes monthly Herb Walks (on the first Saturday of each month, weather permitting). With different leaders and destinations you’ll get to know a host of different options for your own forays.
There’s also the regular weekly ‘Thyme to Read’ sessions, brought to you by Cotswold Herb Centre. A chance to wind down with a good book and a cup of herbal tea.
Sign up for the monthly Cotswold Herb Centre newsletter to get a reminder of what’s going on delivered straight to your inbox.
Workshops
By connecting with local experts, and local venues, we’ll bring plant-based workshops to you, so you can get hands-on with herbs.
- Fancy learning how to blend herbal teas?
- Or what about making your own plant-based skincare?
- Would you like to be guided in taking inspiration from our local scenery to write a poem or story?
- Or are you ready to stock your larder with seasonal produce and need a bit of help learning how best to preserve, juice, bottle, dry, or ferment?
If you’re getting the Cotswold Herb Centre newsletter, you’ll be among the first to know which workshops are coming up so you can grab your place.
Gardening and Growing
Cotswold Herb Centre is supporting Dursley Town Council’s efforts to look after our Green Spaces and native species. As part of this we’re making plans to give visitors to the town a green and herby welcome. There’s plenty of opportunity for volunteers to get involved, so if you’d like to get your hands dirty while learning about herbs and how to grow them, look out for our volunteering days in the calendar and updates in the newsletter.
Herbal wisdom
With the ‘herb of the month’ feature in the Cotswold Herb Centre newsletter you can gradually get to know your local herbs one by one.
The blog pages on the Cotswold Herb Centre website can become your treasure trove of herbal inspiration.
And if you’ve got a herby question, we’re just here, ready to help.
Why is the Cotswold Herb Centre based in Cam & Dursley?
Right across the Cotswolds, from east to west, north to south, there are opportunities to engage with plants, but we think Cam & Dursley is a little bit special.
The area around Cam & Dursley is, arguably, one of the most varied landscapes in the Cotswolds sitting, as it does, on the very edge of the Cotswold escarpment. This means it encompasses not only the Cotswold rolling hillsides, calcareous grasslands, open commons and wooded steep sides of valleys, but also the broad vale of the River Severn and its silty deposits, a landscape of lanes and pastures, orchards and hedgerows: a forager’s paradise.
It’s known as ‘The Edge’, and edges have long been recognised as places with potential. Edges are where habitats meet, cultures merge and where traditional can blend with new in exciting ways. You never quite know what you’ll find at the Edge. Edges area worth exploring.
Come to the Edge
We might fall
Come to the Edge
It’s too high!
COME TO THE EDGE
And they came
And he pushed
And they flewChristopher Logue
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