The community at the Findhorn Foundation is as old as us. In 1962 Peter and Eileen Caddy with Dorothy Maclean came to live in a caravan among the dunes of Findhorn Bay. While meditating, Eileen gained guidance from the small voice within and on the sandy soil of Findhorn she grew flowers and food including the legendary 40-pound cabbages. The garden became famous for what can be achieved with cooperation between people and the environment.
The original caravan remains with it's lovely garden at the heart of the foundation.
The founders had not intended to build a community but over the decades this has happened and with 120 members who grow their own food, eat, work and meditate together. It has become a magnet for innovative houses with low ecological footprint designs (the recycled whiskey barrels from the Spey distilleries being an example)
The community uses passive solar heating via South facing conservatories, wind turbines and a biomass boiler for electricity and heating. The sewage is treated in an innovative greenhouse based version of reed bed water treatment and can treat waste water produced by up to 320 people. The community built a magnificent Universal Hall which is now on the circuit for many national orchestras and theatre companies. It seats 300 people and has full theatre lighting and sound, with the Blue Angel cafe in the building it is the cultural centre of the park.
There are several community quiet gardens and spaces for meditation such as the amazing Nature Sanctuary built from recycled wood from barrels and local rocks. Inside it is very peaceful with a rock from Iona in the centre of the room.
We had an extremely relaxing time here, I had a big backlog of jobs to do on the bikes so set about changing chains, reversing chain wheels, swapping tyres front to back and replacing all the brake blocks. This took some hours but was visited by various community members in the day to see what I was up to.
We had our evening meals in the Kimberley Inn a short walk to the village of Findhorn, their fish stew and Buzz ale were exceptional.
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