Welcome to Villageways!

Working from their home in Martley, Worcestershire, Anita and Mark describe themselves as country bumpkins – loving the rural life and “keeping it simple”. They absorb their environment like a sponge, they look, they listen, they nurture.

Who the hen-pecked are we???? 

Our passion is smallholdings and a self-sufficient lifestyle. We’re not rigid in our thoughts. We’re real in what we know we can achieve and how to achieve it, and we’re happy with that.

In an ideal world we would love to have 5 acres or more and have sheep, pigs, chickens, goats, llamas and a dairy cow; make our own cheese and sell our own wool – but life isn’t that simple. We have to live within our means … and that isn’t very much! So we are happy to do what we can with what we have, and there lies our philosophy. There’s no need or point in beating ourselves up over our not-so-perfect self-sufficient lifestyle, but rather to embrace and enjoy what we do have and are proud to have achieved so much, with so little and at the same time strive to build on that … however small.

In fact, we have just under an acre of land. Not a lot, you might think, but it is more than enough for our needs and we still have plenty of room for bigger and more ventures if we choose. So, you might actually be surprised what you can do with a little bit of land and careful planning and design. Obviously the more land you have the bigger your own plans can be. All the knowledge gained from our smallholders courses can be transposed to your own personal circumstances, just on a larger, or even smaller scale.

We believe that accepting and working with what you have is a nice and comfy road to be on and can be very rewarding indeed.

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Note – Scarecrow image – when we saw this Alex Clark print we just had to buy it as it reminds us of us so much! Click the image, or click here to be taken to the Alex Clark website where you’ll find lots more lovely prints.