Fairy Tales for the Fearless Creative Weekend: The House in the Wild Woods

Fairy Tales for the Fearless workshops explore the wisdom and provocations of wondertales:  old tales with fresh insights for current times. And this autumn:

The House in the Wild Woods  creative weekend residential:

13-15 Nov 2026

Hill House Retreat, Amberley, Glos, GL5 5AL

A whole weekend programme for exploring your own creativity inspired by wondertale wisdom, mystery and magic, in the dreamlike setting of Hill House Sanctuary.

From Friday night to Sunday afternoon there will be fairy tales told and creative journeys to take as we crack open the imaginative layers of the stories and go deep-sea diving into the metaphors, meanings, hopes, dreams, insights and creative inspirations to be found there.

Expect games, reflective practice, nature connection, rich conversation, creative writing, art making, fires, dreaming, sharing, storytelling and banquet tables of sumptuous food. 

This will be two days to travel in and out of the imagination, to spend time in meaningful discussion and sparky chat, to savour the play of making and creating in different art forms, and enjoy a creative holiday with kind and curious friends.

DATES:

Fri 13 - Sun 15 Nov 2026

PRICES: (including  meals)

 £490 - Private room (2 available - first come, first served)

 £310 - Shared room

£230 - Without accommodation

~ If money is a barrier, please email to discuss.
 

MORE INFO BELOW, and here

Enquiries to:  hannahmoorestoryteller@gmail.com

Feedback from the last Fairy Tales for the Fearless series:

“Just fabulous”

“I'm quite amazed that something so simple can do such deep work”
“An open and authentic and insightful experience - a complete joy, I hope it continues!”

“I will carry these story insights with me for a long time”

“I feel so connected and full of hope”

 FURTHER INFO:

1. The weekend
2. The venue & accommodation
3. Timings & food
4. The course leader

Enquiries to hannahmoorestoryteller@gmail.com

1. The weekend:

These workshops are for storytellers and story lovers alike, those who work in therapeutic, social, relational and creative fields and might have a professional interest in the use of story, and those who have a purely personal interest or curiosity - people who consider themselves creatives, and those who don't.

Wondertales and Fairy tales, like the stories collected by the Brothers Grimms, can be disturbing, confusing, distasteful, wonderous, magical, mysterious, bewildering, upsetting, infuriating, delighting, entertaining, surprising, weird and all manner of perplexing. Much like life really. 

These stories don't necessarily please us.  Often they challenge us or turn us right off. They can be full of shadow, or feel outdated, simplistic or problematic.

And, there are veins of rich wisdom, provocation, grace, compassion, humanity, hope and understanding to be found in them, if we go in by the right doors and carry courageous questions made of fire, flowers and water in our hearts. 

Expect creative exercises, creative writing, discussion, reflection, games, storytelling, artistic activities and deep dives into the imagination. 

Fairy Tales for the Fearless - both the online series and the residential workshop- offers a space in which to explore what we might encounter in the deeper layers of meaning in wondertales - with all their harshness and hope - as we face challenges and triumphs in our own world. It may not be pretty, but it could be potent. Expect a wide range of reflective exercises, creative responses and discussion provocations as ways of exploring what these stories can mean for us now.

Be warned! You may meet yourself in the process - these stories have a way of holding up mirrors to the parts of ourselves that we need to understand. And be heartened! You may meet yourself in the process - a glorious traveller who carries strengths and gifts. Are you ready to find treasure in the wild woods?

2.  Hill House Retreat venue - Hill House Sanctuary, Amberley, Glos, GL5 5AL

A beautiful country house in Gloucestershire, Hill House is primarily used as a sanctuary and retreat space for refugees and asylum seekers. The charity help support this work by also hiring the space out to small groups for meaningful, creative retreats that focus on community, conversation, creative thinking and connection.

The  house sleeps up to 12 in a mixture of shared (2- 3 people) and private rooms, with two spacious shared bathrooms.

The house has beautiful gardens and grounds, and you walk straight out the gate onto the stretching Common , with fields, woodlands, valleys and canal paths all within easy reach. The views look across the edge of the Cotswold hills to the Severn and Wales, with sunsets in splendour. There is also a fantastic country pub nearby- The Black Horse. 

With a lovely sociable kitchen space, welcoming dining room/writing room, art studio and two creative living room spaces with fires, plus the use of the grounds and beyond, Hill House is both home and holiday, workshop centre and retreat space.

3. Timings & food

Arrival from  16:00 on Fri 13th Nov.

The course will start at 18:00 on Friday and run until 16:00 on Sunday 15th.

Food will be provided for all meals, beginning with dinner at 19:30 on Friday 13th.

Breakfasts will be  a help-yourself buffet. Lunches and dinner on Saturday will be a shared cooking experience, with all the necessary ingredients provided for some good feasting.

Tea and coffee will be available throughout.

4. Course Leader

Hannah Moore  is a storyteller, facilitator, theatre-maker and restorative justice practitioner whose work centres on connection, creativity and wellbeing. Trained by the School of Storytelling on their flagship programme Storytelling Beyond Words, she has since taught, performed and facilitated with the organisation while bringing her storytelling practice into a wide range of creative and community contexts. With a background in theatre-making and event production, she specialises in creative workshops and social dance experiences that foster participation, connection and joy. Alongside this, her work as a restorative justice practitioner and mediator focuses on creating safe spaces for meaningful exploration, supporting restoration of connection, resilience, hope, emotional capacity and collective wellbeing.
 www.hannahmoore.co.uk