NATURE COLONY

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 July 1938, Page 5

NATURE COLONY

SEEKERS AFTER AN IDEAL. On the milm i.axion, v.nv Xcrilmmi.iondiire villa;? 1 , is Britain s slrangesl nature colony. Thirteen men ami women from all walks of lite, irii hiding labourers, factory hands, and al least one iormer society girl, aio living then' like old-time pioneers, ’they claim they are the founders of an ideal civilisation. The villagers call them the ‘•madmen of the woods. Throe years ago the thirteen pioneers l anded together and decided to found a settlement near Laxton, which is one- of the oldest villages in Britain. They bought a 14-acre field, untilled. unploughed. and made it the site of their new, primitive life. They bought five disused army huts, brought them into their field, and made them their new homes. Members of the colony try to bo sell-supporting and self-contained. They trap rabbits for a living. They buy" Hour, butter and so on because they cannot yet provide it for them+ selves. They hake their own bread. Soon,- they say. they will grow wheat and other crops. They already make all their own clothes. Religion plays a big part in their life. Several of the couples have married and have children. Mrs Duncan Davison, described as a fermer debutante, told reporters who visited the settlement how she now makes her husband’s socks at a cost of. about 2d a pair. She has two children. a hoy and a. girl, who have been born since she came to the colony.

THE SANE LIFE. “When the children grow up.” she said, “they will be accustomed to the idea, that this'life ot; ours is the sane life and that life in the cities is insane and unsound." Davison, 24-year-old ex-London factory worker, husband of the one-time society girl, said that the men and women colonists rise at 5 a.m. in the Summer and 6 a.m. in the Winter. He added that the pioneers have not experienced one case of serious illness during the three years they have been at Laxton. Patrick Heron, former journalist and author, told how members of the community fled from the cities to seek peace. “Each man here,” he said, “has his own private, property. We are not Communists or Fascists or anything like that. “Each man lias his goat, his land, etc., and is independent of the others, although wo all try to help each other as much as possible. Our life is based on kindness. “W<- had to come down here with a little capital, of course, to buy the land and to live until we shall be ahle to support ourselves entirely. So far, it is costing us about 5/- a week each. Whatever happens, we shall live here in this manner for the rest of our lives.”