Booking

All retreat costs at The Orchard include course fee and accomodation; participants need to bring food to share and dãna for the teachings.

Booking by sending a non-refundable deposit of £50 for the 3 day retreats, or £100 for the longer retreats at The Orchard.

All cheques to be made payable to Ad Brugman.

Staying over an extra night or day before or after a retreat, will cost £15 per night or £22 per day (24hrs).

Bursaries:
There are no available funds to give bursaries, however if it is purely the cost of a retreat that prevents you from attending, please contact Ad to discuss a possible discount.

How to get to the Orchard

By road:
From either Abergavenny or Hereford take the A465.

phone box picAt Pontrilas which is about halfway between the two towns, take the B4347, sign posted Ewyas Harold, Abbey Dore, etc. Then take the first on your left towards the centre of Ewyas Harold village, sign posted Longtown and Dulas. After about 3 miles turn right at signpost for Lower-Maescoed.
Proceed for another half mile and turn right at the phone box.
The Orchard is on your right after about 100 metres.

From Hay-on-Wye take the B4348 to Peterchurch.
A few miles after Peterchurch take the B4347 to Abbey Dore and Pontrilas which takes you to Ewyas Harold from where you follow direction Longtown and Dulas as described above.

By Public transport:
The nearest railway stations are Hereford & Abergavenny. Coming from the north, aim for Hereford; coming from London or the south, aim for Abergavenny.
There are local bus services (except on Sundays) from either town to Pontrilas from where you can be picked up by us.
Buses from Hereford to Pontrilas: depart every two hours from 08.20 until 18.20 (Bus X4, destination Cardiff).
Buses from Abergavenny to Pontrilas: first bus is at 07.00 and then depart every two hours from 09.15, to the last one at 17.15 (Bus X4, destination Hereford).
In both cases the bus journey takes about 30 minutes

National Express Coaches from London Victoria to Hereford, or to Newport/Gwent and from there by train to Abergavenny.

If you don't have a car we strongly recommend that you get in touch with someone else on the course who travels by car and is able to give you a lift.

We prefer you to make your own arrangements to get from the stations to either Pontrilas (by bus) or to The Orchard by taxi, but if necessary we can pick you up from either Hereford or Abergavenny for £8 per single journey. Pick ups from Pontrilas are free of charge. For taxis: see below.

Taxis:
Taxis from and to Hereford/Abergevenny charge about £30 per single journey.

Travel Arrangements for Travellers from Abroad:
The nearest airports are Bristol, Birmingham and Cardiff; you could also fly to London but that means a longer and more expensive journey by train once in England:

from London-Heathrow:
arrowhead img take the coach (Rail-Air Link) to Reading and from there the train to Newport (direction Swansea/Cardiff), change at Newport for Abergavenny,or
arrowhead img take the National Express coach from Heathrow to Newport, and then the train to Abergavenny
arrowhead img Travelling time around 3 hours.

arrowhead img National Express Coaches London HR to Hereford (service number NX413), but not always direct (direct takes ca.4 hours, via Gloucester takes 5 and via London Victoria takes 6 hours). In comparison by train from London HR to Abergavenny takes about 3 hours.

from other London Airports:
arrowhead img take a train to London, then by underground to London-Paddington station
arrowhead img take the Intercity train from London-Paddington to Newport/Gwent (destination Swansea/Cardiff). Change at Newport for Abergavenny.
arrowhead img or, take National Express coach from London-Victoria to Newport, and then the train to Abergavenny.
arrowhead img Travelling time 3 to 4 hours.

By EuroStar: arrival in London-St.Pancras
arrowhead img take the metro/tube to London-Paddington
arrowhead img from London-Paddington, take the train to Newport (Gwent)/Destination Swansea/Cardiff. Or the National Express coach (see above)
arrowhead img change in Newport for the train to Abergavenny

from Birmingham:
arrowhead img take the train from Birmingham airport/International to Birmingham - New Street, from there take the train to Hereford.
arrowhead img Travelling time 2 to 2 hours 30 mins.
arrowhead img National Express Coaches now also has a limited coach service from Birmingham direct to Pontrilas: Coach service number: NX321

from Bristol:
arrowhead img take the bus to Bristol Temple Mead station
arrowhead img from Bristol Temple Mead, take the train to Newport (dir. Cardiff or Swansea). Change at Newport for Abergavenny
arrowhead img Travelling time about 2 hours

from Cardiff:
arrowhead img take the bus (or taxi) to Cardiff station
arrowhead img take the train from Cardiff to Abergavenny
arrowhead img Travelling time about 2 hours

arrowhead img Try to arrange your train tickets, etc. before travelling as that will be cheaper.
arrowhead img Always take a return ticket as they are valid for one month.
arrowhead img In general taking the National Express Coaches will be cheaper than the train.

websites to arrange your tickets:
by train: www.thetrainline.com
by coach: www.nationalexpress.com

What to bring

  • a watch or clock for time keeping
  • clothing:
    - loose, easy fitting clothing for exercises, like track suit, martial art outfit, or the like
    - waterproofs,wellies or walking boots for outdoor activities
    - open sandals or flip-flops for pacing outside
    - No shoes are allowed in the house, so you may want to bring slippers or thick socks.
  • your meditation stool or cushion if you have one
  • pens and paper for making notes
  • drawing materials
  • torch
  • bedding: blankets and duvets are available; you would need to bring your own single sheets and/or single duvet-cover or a sleeping bag, and pillow case
  • usual toiletries, including towel
  • food to share
  • Dãna for the teaching

Bursaries

There are no available funds to give bursaries, however if it is purely the cost of a retreat that prevents you from attending, please contact Ad to discuss a possible discount.

Thank you.
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