Laya Point

Laya Point started as a Permaculture (ad)venture situated at The Old School in the Cumbrian Lake District hamlet of Ulpha. Established in 2012 by Tom Dennison and Nicole Hermes, it is the creative offshoot of a Permaculture design that was crafted in 2010.

After two years in South-East Asia, Tom and Nicole made the decision to put down some roots and their understanding of Permaculture ethics and design principles to the test. In 2012, they moved back to England and set about transforming an old school playing field into their own ‘Garden of Eden’. The Old School has been an amazing place to discover, experiment and implement all the good stuff that comes along with Permaculture, such as annual and perennial food production, small space and high yield systems, poly-culture forest gardening, homesteading skills, natural building and so much more. Little by little, their aim of turning this one acre site into an enchanting, fun and productive example of Permaculture in practice has grown and evolved.

The aim behind Laya Point was to create a space where people, friends and teachers are able to exchange knowledge, skills and support through a variety of residential courses and weekend workshops.

Laya Point runs an eclectic mix of different workshops each year, in line with what is most inspiring at that time. These range from Permaculture Design Courses, calligraphy intensives and yoga retreats to willow, stone or wood sculpture workshops. Each year amazing foraging weekends are held and more recently the space has been opened to the exquisite world of tantra and shamanic ceremonial practices.

In 2016, Rosie Moss took over the managing of the site and courses, along with her brilliant right hand man, Hedley, which has allowed Tom to spend a year studying to be a master craftsman furniture maker.