Summer 2026 10am-5pm. Belper, Derbyshire.
An introduction to permaculture course, with practical activities in meadows, by river, in town, and a community garden.
A one day course with a difference – exploration. Part of Belper 250 celebrations. Learn ethical design thinking and discover our Derbyshire town’s groundbreaking past.
We will share lunch together to give space to talk and connect.
What’s in the course?
First of all, you don’t need to know anything about permaculture or gardening to come on this course. We start at the beginning.
You will learn about ethics and principles of permaculture, how to observe deeper, and be introduced to design tools. You will start to see how to apply permaculture in your life.
You’ll learn together in a small group.
Permaculture can be thought of as a holistic design toolkit
A what? Well, it brings everything together, joins the dots. And there’s a whole load of aspects to it – from ethics at the core, to different design tools you can use to help find your way.
Because of this, permaculture is helpful not just in the garden! It can help you create effective, efficient, healthy systems of any kind. That may be a new compost bin, sure. It might also be a more thriving way of life. What’s very likely is what you discover on this course will open doors. We hope you’ll leave having learned lots, also wanting to learn more.
Learning from the context of Belper
We will explore industrialisation and the Strutts social systems, reflecting on the ethics and learning about worker conditions. As a workers co-op, we are well placed to cover these topics.
This is where the industrial revolution took hold, where the Strutt family created new industrial communities in a pastoral landscape.
This video discusses some aspects of Belper’s food scene a couple of centuries ago. (Some of the Dalley farms are a stone’s throw from our plant nursery).
On the course, we can think about social systems that support climate action in the town – Transition Belper, the work of the town council, and fellow co-operative ventures.
Part of the course will be focused on practical garden skills – composting and creating edible and useful polyculture plantings. We may or may not sow some seeds along our travels!
About the teaching
The course is led by Ryan Sandford-Blackburn, who worked as Strategic Communications Coordinator for the Permaculture Association for almost 8 years. He completed the Permaculture Teacher Training with Alfred Decker in 2023.
Ryan is a director of Earthed Up! growing lots of plants, running workshops, gardening, bookkeeping, and all sorts. He is dad to 2 young children.
Ryan has previously taught 8 such courses since 2019, as well as leading workshops on numerous other topics and talks too.
The teaching will be learner-centred, with information-rich input and group learning. There will be a little bit of presenting, plenty of group discussion and styles of activities to suit different people.
We will be together different public spaces, buildings, and gardens. We’ll show you around Belper – you can meet our plants from the nursery (and buy some too if you like). We’ll take on a task together as a group, with the aim of developing practical skills that you can take straight back to your garden space.
What others say
Here’s some honest feedback from participants on previous introduction to permaculture courses with Ryan.
“I loved being on your site and channelling the info you gave us” J, 2019
“I thought the course was really well run and your icebreaker exercises at the beginning were great for making the room feel comfortable and integrate everyone. I feel I have begun to understand the permaculture ethics and principles from what we covered which is great” F, 2019
“I enjoyed the course and learnt a lot (especially practical stuff about gardening / allotments). Some of this was through observation and the Q and As with other participants, most was from your examples in terms of layout, design, composting and mulching etc.” T, 2019
“Everything! Ryan and Lamis are wonderful, knowledgeable and nurturing teachers. This course has really opened up a new world to me, one that feels like the right ‘fit’.” Anon 1, foundations of permaculture online, 2021
“I felt Ryan was such an active permaculture practitioner, and any information or thoughts he imparted came from his lived expereince of this. So I felt fortuante to have him as a teacher.” Anon 2, foundations of permaculture online, 2021
We receive plenty of constructive feedback on all our work – we really value it and invite it! We act on what the feedback is telling us, to improve.
Cost
We ask that you pay £52-£77 for the course. Choose the amount that feels right for you.
If the cost of the course is a barrier to participating, please get in touch to request a bursary place.
Teas and water are provided. Lunch is not provided, please bring your own food to share.
Learn together in a group of up to 15 people (and many plants)!
The venues
This is a roving, multi-venue experience. That’s to say we will move about. All venues are wheelchair accessible. I estimate we will travel approximately a mile across the day, including on hills.
Belper “2026 marks the 250th anniversary of Jedidiah Strutt’s first water-powered cotton mill in 1776. This innovation rapidly transformed Belper into the world’s first factory town. The visionary Strutt family created one of the world’s earliest planned industrial communities, with housing, schools, farms and leisure facilities for their growing workforce. Belper 250 is a celebration and exploration of the rich heritage of our past and the creativity and community of our vibrant present.” http://www.belper250.co.uk
Belper Community Hall is a great community space managed by a charity. There is a hall, kitchen, and accessible toilets.
Originally acquired by Derbyshire County Council in 1937, the land became home to the King George VI Memorial Hall, established in 1957 by the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) as an “Old People’s Club”. After a brief closure, the hall reopened in the 1980s, continuing to serve Belper with events like yoga, social clubs, and dance schools, maintaining its status as a beloved gathering place.
There is very limited car parking, which is fine because there’s ample space to secure bicycles and it’s a short walk from bus stops on Derby Road, from Belper rail station, Field Lane paid car park, and Belper Meadows Sports Club paid car park.
Refunds and cancellations:
Once paid, your place is confirmed. Should you need to cancel your place, we will issue a refund minus £10 administration charge if you let us know by email at least 10 days before the start of the course. If cancelling within 10 days of the course starting, we reserve the right to retain your payment. If we have to change the date and/or location of the course for any reason, we will let you know by email at the earliest opportunity.
Earthed Up! 