Finding ANRÁN: Peace, Purpose and a Very Grumpy Alpaca

Last week, I was invited to an open day at ANRÁN. I must admit that I hadn’t heard of it before I received the invitation in my inbox. Curious for more information, I asked some friends and colleagues, hoping for a clear explanation. However, no one could provide one. Instead, I received a mix of vague recollections: it’s a farm located past Landscove that isn’t quite a hotel, isn’t quite a wedding venue, and isn’t quite a garden.

What I discovered when we arrived was well worth the trip!

The story behind the estate

ANRÁN at Tidwell Farm sits in the South Devon hills near Landscove, on thirty acres, and the name comes from the Chinese characters “ān” and “rán”, meaning a place of peace and tranquillity – once you’re within the grounds, the name makes sense.

Owners Edwin and Mike found the property after decades abroad in international hospitality and deliberately chose not to modernise the heart out of it. The wonky bits stayed wonky. You can feel it the moment you arrive; it’s been lived in, added to, and loved by two people who clearly know what they’re doing (between them, decades in luxury hospitality and events).

Mike and Edwin at ANRÁN

There are yurts, a sauna and steam room, and Airbnb stays dotted around the estate, so a wedding invite isn’t the only way in. A weekend among the gardens would do very nicely on its own (they have a women’s grounding retreat coming up that looks rather lovely). 

Bespoke Bar Bros mocktail

A warm welcome: Botanical drinks and a build-your-own bruschetta bar

After winding our way through the gardens, the team from Bespoke Bar Bros were on hand in the grow house mixing botanical drinks made with herbs and fruit straight from the garden. Alongside that, there was a bruschetta station where you built your own: there were homegrown ANRÁN tomatoes in every colour and size you can imagine, some delicious Sharpham cheese, and a generous spread of basil plants to pick from, lime basil, cinnamon basil, Thai and Thai Tower, and more.

Make your own bruschetta with tomatoes grown at ANRÁN

Each variety was labelled by hand on slate so you could taste your way through them and understand what you were choosing. My drink of choice was a basil and charred citrus cooler, garnished with a sprig pulled straight from the pots beside the bar; you couldn’t ask for a shorter supply chain.

Hearing from Mike and Jenny

Then came a short, unpolished talk from Mike and Jenny. Mike on how the farm found its name and why they chose not to modernise the heart out of it; Jenny on her own winding route into growing, and what the garden means to her two years in.

Jenny and Mike speaking at ANRÁN

Meet Jenny, the woman behind the garden

If ANRÁN has a beating heart beyond the main house, it’s the kitchen garden, and the garden belongs to Jenny Thompson.

Jenny’s been growing it for just over two years and describes it, without hesitation, as her dream job. “I feel so lucky to care for this space,” she told the group, “and to look after all these extraordinary and interesting plants.” It’s also, she admitted, her first full-time gardening role, something she still finds slightly hard to believe.

Jenny’s path here wasn’t the obvious one either. She trained in hospitality management, then an opportunity came up at Riverford (you’ll know the name if you’ve ever had one of their veg boxes) running the Field Kitchen restaurant. That’s where things changed for her; she started to understand how soil health connects to everything that ends up on the plate.

She also met her partner at Riverford, had a son, and, like many of us, found early motherhood harder than expected. “I did find those early days of motherhood quite hard,” she said, “and my husband suggested to me, ‘Why don’t you get an allotment? So I got one.” Jenny discovered a real passion for growing, and a few years later found herself at ANRÁN.

A garden with a purpose

What she’s built at ANRÁN in a handful of years goes well beyond herbs and vegetables. Volunteers come and get stuck in. Children are invited to visit and work in the garden too, learning where food actually comes from at a time when that connection to the outdoors is disappearing fast for many young people. Everything the garden produces gets sold through an on-site honesty shop, all pay-what-you-feel on the unpriced produce, tucked among bunches of drying flowers and herbs and jars of chillies, with the takings going straight to charity, principally Cancer Research, Veterans with Dogs – a mental health charity close to the couple’s heart. A philanthropic thread runs through the whole project. 

Vegetable beds at ANRÁN

Free rein, and a mandate to bring people together

The trust Edwin and Mike place in her helps make it work. As Mike put it during the talk, Jenny’s mandate is simple: if she has an idea, they let her run with it. “If you want to experiment, do it. Repurpose it, grow it. If you can bring people together, just do it; that’s her mandate: bring people together.” No sign-off required, no committee. Just Jenny, the soil, and whatever she wants to try next.

There’s no grand master plan behind any of it, by Mike and Edwin’s own admission. It’s evolved for thirteen years, and it’s still evolving. As Mike said of the whole project, “we don’t have an enormous master plan, I think that’s probably a good thing, it’s evolved and continues to evolve.”

Feeding the pigs at ANRÁN

An hour to explore

During the break between the talk and lunch, we had a free hour to explore the area as we liked. We decided to visit the pigs, happily snuffling around in their muddy paddock and being fed by visitors from a box of vegetables labelled “Piggy Snacks.” After that, we strolled through the yurts and made our way to the glasshouse, passing through the polytunnels, where tomatoes grew in every colour you can think of, including a deep, almost black variety called Ananas Noir that stopped me in my tracks. Then, another greenhouse where I was pleasantly surprised to find banana palms and large koi carp for the first time.

Banana plants!

We entered the Manor House to explore its stunning rooms, which featured four-poster beds, roll-top baths, and a beautiful spiral staircase. 

One of the rooms in the Manor House

Afterwards, we passed by the alpacas, one of which gave me a look that suggested it was mildly considering having me for lunch!

A very grumpy Alpaca

Next, we wandered into the courtyard to the barns where the Airbnb cottages are located. These were equally charming and a more affordable option for anyone considering a stay, each with its own distinct character.

The barns at ANRÁN

Opposite the cottages was the farm shop, which followed a pay-what-you-feel policy for the unpriced produce, nestled among bunches of drying flowers and herbs and jars of chillies.

Lunch in the Glass House

Then it was into the glasshouse for lunch, laid out long-table style with banana palms and a stone Buddha looking on.

It was a wonderful spread where you don’t know where to start: a smoky baba ganoush, charred hispi cabbage and fresh mint, roasted squash with sesame and toasted pumpkin seeds, courgette and feta with dill and lemon oil, chicken cooked to perfection, all of it labelled on hand-chalked slate tags.

Lunch was pretty special!

Sustainability, not just as a buzzword

Sustainability isn’t just a nice line here either; a biomass boiler heats the whole estate and its hot water, and the garden’s produce loops straight back into the honesty shop and the causes the team supports.

Should you visit?

Whether you’re after a luxury wedding venue that doesn’t feel like a wedding venue, a yurt for a weekend somewhere quieter, or simply an excuse to wander a glasshouse full of herbs with a drink in your hand, ANRÁN offers something increasingly hard to find these days: a place built by real people, where the garden matters as much as the guest list. The rooms in the Manor House itself, and the barns, are stunning too, if you’d rather your stay came with four solid walls.

If you get the chance to go, whether for an event, a stay, or one of Jenny’s open days, take it. Don’t rush the glasshouse.

ANRÁN, Landscove, Devon TQ13 7LY

Disclaimer: I was invited to visit ANRÁN as a guest.

Enjoying my lunch! (Stephanie Darkes at ANRÁN)

About the Author: Stephanie Darkes

Stephanie Darkes is a freelance writer, web editor, and content creator who has written about the great things she finds in Exeter and Devon for eleven years on her blogzine, Exploring Exeter and Discovering Devon. Her passion for showcasing the county’s incredible food scene, independent businesses, arts, and beauty spots has also led to her work being featured in Devon Life, Exeter Life, The Exeter Magazine, Exeter Tomorrow, Exeter Daily, and GROW Exeter.