GILLIAN:
Gillian was brought up in north west England. An only child, she lived with her parents in a 300 year old cottage in a secluded valley where the water supply is still pumped from a well; open fires are used to cook on and light comes from candles and oil lamps. Set in two acres of land, with a river forming two sides of the boundary and a stream running through the garden, her early years were spent exploring and observing the woods and fields around her home, and helping her mother, (a keen plants-woman and herbalist) to create and maintain an extensive garden there.
Gillian also travelled extensively as a child and was introduced to widely varying cultures and forms of spiritual beliefs.
By the age of 22, Gillian had gained her Honours Degree at Lancaster University and trained to be a teacher. Later she started her own business as a craft worker making miniature period furniture for the collectors market and also ran her own specialist magazine.
For many years Gillian has lived with the debilitating condition M.E., but views all “illness” as a challenge, a guide and an ultimate blessing. While in recovery, she began looking more deeply into her spiritual life and beliefs and started the druid teaching grove of Cylch Blodeuwedd. Later she retrained as an Holistic Aromatherapist. Believing passionately in the importance of family and community, Gillian also supported the local farmers market by running a cake, pie and bread stall for several years.
Ultimately, it is the natural solitude and companionship of Gillian’s childhood in the countryside that has directed her decision to start the Cae Non project and open it to the public. And it is the simplicity of lifestyle in her youth that has prompted her to extend this opportunity of experiencing getting back to basic values, with a heightened awareness of the importance of a moral code, ethical behaviour, environmental awareness and ecological practicality. Throughout her lifetime she has come to recognise and value the deeply healing and comforting benefits of time spent on the land in a natural environment, and the wonderful opportunities for personal development and growth that it provides.
Gillian is married with a wonderfully supportive husband, one adult son, several cats and two young Labrador dogs. She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a Theosophist and a follower of the path of Celtic Druidry, an intuitive psychometrist, shamanic journeyier and soul healer.
HOLGER:
Holger grew up in Germany where he worked as a meteorologist, observing and later forecasting weather conditions at an international airport. He’s been living in the UK since 1995, making the beautiful and magical Nantlle Valley in northwest Wales his home. Having been part of Gillian’s Dolls House and Miniature business for a number of years, he now works at Trigonos, a residential education and conference centre in Nantlle where his main task is to deal with all things financial.
Living in the heartland of the Welsh language, he’s been learning Welsh for almost five years and has a great interest in the history, mythology, legends and folk customs of his new homeland. To this end, he loves to go outdoors and visit ancient sites sacred to the original Britons. At Cae Non he will be involved mainly in logistics, such as the transport of humans, canines, trees, plants and materials and the construction and maintenance of crude furniture and fittings.
DAFYDD:
Dafydd came into this world in the springtime of 1988 in North West Wales, growing up in Wales and Lancashire. He has had his feet in the soft nourishing soil of his homeland ever since, and in 2007 this lead to him developing green fingers and a white coat as he set out on his journey towards becoming a practitioner of herbal medicine. Currently he divides his time between Lincoln and North Wales, and is a student Herbal Medicine at Lincoln University.
He has a specific interest in the indigenous medicine traditions of the Celtic lands and the use of native and local plant species.