Herb Talk at Dillington

Oh what a treat! Imagine the luscious location of Dillington House, a sunny day and a talk given by a Medical Herbalist with a walk around the grounds of Dillington and you have a perfect day.

Our tutor for the day was Shelly Staple, who practises Medical Herbalism in the Taunton area and who regularly gives talks to help broaden people's understanding of her gentle art. We started the morning by putting a brew of comfrey leaves and oil to warm and infuse, while we traced the history of herbalism and medicine. I was very impressed to see that the knowledge of the wise woman has been moved into such a good position by the National Institute of Medical Herbalists; these days the training, which can take up to four years, is heavily biassed towards diagnostics and the Institute is recognised and regulated. So, we have an ancient art brough happily into the modern world, though there are only about 600 qualified Medical Herbalists in the country, which is surprisingly low.

After our morning coffee break, amply supplied as always by the Dillington kitchen, we took a walk in the grounds of Dillington House while Shelly pointed out native herbs and explained their properties and uses. Stupidly, I had forgotten to take my camera so that I could capture all the species she showed us, but I was armed with a hard-backed book and took notes as much as I could. We learned about comfrey, sage, thuja, hellebore (not to be used!), herb robert, nettles, berberis, burdock, dandelion, mallow, dock, ground ivy, hemlock (another one to avoid as it's poisonous), celandine, willow, elder, lilly of the valley, hawthorn, mistletoe and oak. Not bad for a short amble about the grounds and all before lunch!

After a rather good feast, including a splendid trifle (can't you tell I love pudding?!) we went back to the classroom and spent the afternoon making a salve, an cream and by the time 4 p.m. rolled around, we were all clutching a bottle of comfrey and sage oil, a pot of salve and a jar of cream and every single face was beaming with delight.

I have always enjoyed Dillington days, but this one must rank as one of the very best I have been to; the only pity is that there isn't a three day residential course to follow it that would allow the keen student, and that was just about the entire room of delegates, to spend longer and look at plants in greater depth. This was Shelly's first talk at Dillington and I know it was over-subscribed and had a waiting list, so I can only hope that there will be more talks and residential courses by her in the future.

This talk was on the Wednesday and on Thursday Kim announced that he had got an allotment - guess what I'll be growing? Yup, I shall have space for all the bigger herbs that just won't fit in my tiny patch and that's going to be such a treat. Better still, I think I shall be visiting the redoubtable Mrs. Staple as she inspired great confidence and clearly has a passion for her subject... just as soon as I get over whatever is making my limbs feel like jelly at the moment!