Inside the Off-the-Grid Ecovillage Fighting London's Airport Expansion
Published 19 Sept 2018, 15:00 BST
A couple sits in front of their home in the wooded area of Grow Heathrow. He plays the fiddle in folk and ceilidh bands and takes occasional gardening and landscaping jobs. She is studying for a law degree.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA five-year-old girl sits in the yurt she shares with her father. After spending much of the summer at Grow Heathrow, she will soon start school and begin living elsewhere with her mother.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteForaging Sam (left), nicknamed for his extensive knowledge of edible plants, leads visitors and fellow residents in a foraging workshop. Food sourcing takes up a significant portion of Grow Heathrow residents' lives.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA man dries off after a shower at the Grow Heathrow shower block. The group heats their water using donated wood. The community recently added an indoor shower.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA person sleeps on a couch at the Grow Heathrow site. Visitors come to to the community to learn about its work, participate in workshops and art projects, and listen to monthly open-mic performances.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteSalvaged items and vehicles—some decorated and some waiting to be used—sit on the Grow Heathrow site.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteGrow Heathrow residents participate in a nettle-eating competition during a harvest festival. Community events, especially those marking the changing of seasons, are frequent with the group.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA resident sits in her living room, decorated with wild flowers.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA Grow Heathrow resident tends to a garden. The community has made its home on the site of a former plant nursery. Some of the land has been left to grow wild, while other parts are carefully managed.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, InstituteA father washes his daughter at the end of the day.
Photograph by Jonathan Goldberg, Institute