Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2025

Thursday 3rd July until Sunday 6th July 2025, at Crabapple Community near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, one of the UK’s oldest housing co-ops.

Summer Gathering is a weekend filled with focused activities, along with professional bands on the Green Dragon Solar Stage. The Baker’s Arms café bar offers a delicious fully catered option. We keep our gatherings small and friendly and sell no more than 110 adult tickets. Workshops are taught by experienced and knowledgeable people and all courses are included in the ticket price. Tickets are available only from the bottom of this page.

A detailed timetable is available before the event, with an updated version posted on the chalkboard outside the Café.

Download the Summer Gathering 2024 Timetable HERE.

You can arrive from Thursday midday. The Gathering Introduction is Thursday at 8pm with live music, a bar and a relaxed atmosphere where you can meet people and unwind ready for the focused workshops. We really like people to come to this and stay for the weekend. The workshops begin on Friday 11am, with live music from 9pm. Saturday workshops start at 9am and run until 4pm. In the evening, test your animal knowledge with a Animal Quiz, followed by live music, a bar until midnight, and a communal fire with acoustic tunes until 1am. Sunday workshops start at 10am, finishing at 5pm. Wind down with pizza from 6-8pm and the RB Cabaret and Open-mic on Sunday evening. You’re welcome to stay until 2pm on Monday.

Our workshops cover a wide range of sustainable living topics, with an emphasis on practical skills. Some things fill up very quickly and only have limited spaces, our only advice is get here early! Streams include Green Technology, Textiles, Crafts and Nature, Self-Care and Community.

These were the Workshops in 2024!

Green Technology

• Dave Hayhurst – Basic Auto Mechanics: Dave will be going over the very basics of how to maintain and fix your vehicle.
• Blake Sanders from Green Dragon – Blake will be offering a variety of courses throughout the weekend. Course options include Reclaiming Lithium Cells from disposable devices, Basic Low Voltage Battery Electrics and Safety (beginners) or Larger Scale Solar Power Installation (intermediate). See the full course list HERE.
• Nicola Talbot – Natural Building: learn about a wide variety of natural building methods including getting hands-on with some Cob.
• Andy Alder – DIY Hydroponics from Reclaimed Materials: Build your own hydroponic system using easily found, cheap and free items.
• Jane Segeran – Make your own cleaning products. “Jane will show how to make environmentally friendly cleaning products using everyday ingredients.”
• Stu Watson – Gas Digesters: Stu will explain the practicalities of building and maintaining a gas digester, demonstrating a large one at Crabapple.
• John Williamson – Low impact Architecture: Designing food storage and processing areas in your home or smallholding.
• Pippa from Those Plant People – Intro to Permaculture: a very basic introduction to the theory and practice of Permaculture.
• David Simpson – Underground water, Well geology and hand drilling.
• Seggy Segeran – DIY solar power projects to build at home. “Seggy will go through a number of simple projects that the attendees can build at home. These will range from Solar powered fountains and cooling fans, to Solar lights in jam jars to portable power packs for camping.”



Textiles

• Nic Miners – Knitting for beginners and intermediates.
• Sarah Bracken – Felting: Felt Necklaces and Felt Book Covers.
• Karen Doe – Fabric Flowers.
• Lisa Moomin – The Art of Crochet with guided instruction from the Moomin-Mama.
• Sophie DéPas – Needlepoint: Learn the basics of needlepoint and create your own intricate designs.
• Cat Anson – Darning: Fed up with holey socks and woolies? Come learn how to mend them with Darning.
• Stella Berg – Spinning and Dyeing: Stella will be teaching us how to spin Yarn and to dye it with natural dyes from local plants.



Crafts and Nature

• Mike from MC Woodcraft – Mike will be running a session of Green Woodworking each day. He will be teaching us some new things this year.
• Kirstin Alexander – Kirstin will be teaching us about Knots and also leading a Tree Walk around the biodiverse site at Crabapple.
• Hamilton Smith – Hamilton will be teaching Willow Basket Weaving (these sessions are always popular).
• Bob from Backpacking Light – Shelter Making and Tarp Pitching, Dehydrating Food for Walkers, Backpacking essentials.
• Sara from SMPTree – Upcycling Paper: Weave waste paper into functional and striking containers.
• Mark Bright – Green Woodworking basics including tool selection.
• Pippa from Those Plant People – Forest Gardening for small back gardens.
• Joey from Merched Y Berllan – Orchard Management: This year, the focus will be on summer pruning techniques.



Self-Care

• Ryan and Catherine from Knight-Fox Wild About Learning – Wild Plant Herbal First Aid and Tool Sharpening.
• Eleri from Healing Earth – Herbal Foraging and Plant Medicine.
• Lucy Aphramor – Lucy will be leading open discussions around Diet and Nutrition.
• Neil and Jayne from Forgeways – Neil usually comes and teaches Bushcraft and Mindfullness, but this year him and Jayne will be running an Axe Throwing range!
• Stella Berg – Skeletal Health: Stella will be giving a talk on keeping your skeleton healthy.
• Laura from Flowertwist – Laura will be running our morning Yoga sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
• Christine Conroy – How to Look After Your Back and Body.



Community

• Pete Linnel – The One Planet Development Scheme in Wales: The One Planet Development Scheme, its purpose and the application process.
• Andy Alder – Sustainable Businesses: Learn strategies for transitioning towards a more sustainable, lower-cost, and lower-impact lifestyle.
• John Hodge – Repair Cafes: What is a Repair Cafe? What is the Right to Repair? John will be sat repairing household items – bring your defunct devices and we will have a go at fixing them before they become waste.
• Jinny Sanders – Bulk Bread Baking Sessions and the Radical Bake-Off!: Participate in group bread baking sessions and compete in the bake-off!

Download the Summer Gathering 2024 Timetable HERE.

Alongside scheduled workshops, enjoy the Baking Area, Camp Market, Bands, a Quiz and tours of Crabapple. We also offer two daily sessions of organised children’s activities, a Kid’s Baking Session, and the Camp Games, including the Lemon Jousting Tournament. Don’t miss the popular Radical Bake-Off competition for the best sweet treats!

Our workshops involve practical skills and provide useful information to enhance your life and the lives of those around you. The Radical Bakers Workshops Archive offers a glimpse into past workshops with photos and links.

This was the Music at Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2024

On the Green Dragon Stage, we are delighted to host talented musicians and entertainers who bring their professional skills and passionate performances to our event. Our Thursday and Friday feature quality live music in the evenings and we would love it if you could make it to these chances to meet everyone. Saturday evening starts with the Birds and Beasts Animal Quiz from 4pm and then live music til 12pm. Watch this space for 2025!

Thursday night on the Green Dragon Solar Stage features Beggar’s Buttons: a rousing modern folk band singing songs of the Land and Community with lots of stirring 3-part harmonies.

Our Friday Night’s Entertainment at Summer Gathering 2024 will include The Weirdstring Band! They will be leading Not-A-Ceilidh as they did in 2021…Opening for the Weirdstrings will be an acoustic set from Leo Brazil.

Saturday Night features Tarantism! Folk-fuelled dancing music from Mel & Magnus. Starting off the evening will be the Birds and Beasts Animal Quiz followed by feel-good original music from Launderette.

Sunday evening’s entertainment will be provided by Mel and Magnus performing an Acoustic Disco set, followed by the Open Mic and RB Cabaret with John Hodge.

The Green Dragon Solar Stage uses top-quality modern PA equipment and is powered from the sun. The amplified music ends at midnight. Our Music Archive has links to lots of the past bands at RB.

With your ticket, you will have access to camping facilities in our beautiful meadow surrounded by trees. There is a designated quiet camping area for those who prefer a more peaceful environment, as well as a more accessible camping area. Clean, working composting toilets, and a shower, will be available on-site, but please do not expect Glamping, the field can be muddy and uneven.

Campervans are welcome, with no restrictions on vehicle or awning size. However, there are no hookups (go solar) and nowhere to empty chemical toilets.

Please consider your travel options and car-share if possible. You can find our lift-sharing facebook group HERE.

Buy tickets for Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2025.

Radical Bakers Summer Gathering, 3-6th July 2025, Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Securely purchase your tickets using credit or debit cards via PayPal. Ticket prices cover booking fees, car parking, camping, and access to all workshops and entertainment. If you have any questions not addressed on our Info page, please feel free to email us at radicalbakersgathering@gmail.com. For details about our fully catered option, click Here. Prior to purchasing tickets, kindly review our Terms and Conditions & Safer Spaces policies to ensure you can adhere to them. We have decided to allow a limited number of dogs with a bond. Dog Ticket conditions here. Please note that we do not offer day tickets or tickets on the gate. If the ticket you seek is not listed below, it is either sold out or not yet available for sale.

There are only 110 adult places in 2025. Click ‘add to basket’ once for each ticket required and then click ‘view basket‘ to checkout.