The Coach House People

Bryony Middleton

Head Gardener

Bryony co-manages the gardens with Emily Ings and is particularly responsible for the incredible productivity (and look!) of the Walled Garden and our Grade II-listed Percy Cane gardens.

Her vegetable & herb-growing abilities ensure our retreatants are fed admirably - and organically!

Emily Ings

Head Gardener

Emily is our Co-Head Gardener who started her journey into growing on a traineeship at an organic farm.

Since that time, she has worked in many aspects of horticulture, from market gardening to floristry, in diverse environments including historic gardens and newly-established growing spaces.

She is passionate about environmental sustainability in food-growing and in ornamental gardening and about working in harmony with the environment. 

Says Emily: "I believe that promoting a relationship with the natural world provides a vital connection to the world around us, whether that’s through immersing ourselves in the beauty of a garden, or in growing the food that sustains us".

Emily Smith

Retreat Admin Assistant

Barry Thurgood

Coach House Manager

Barry has a long term connection with Sharpham - he was a volunteer Retreat Coordinator at The Barn and has lead many retreats in the House and the Woodland Campsite.

He feels a deep connection to the land, especially Dartmoor, and so is delighted to be the Coach House manager with its nature connection ethos. He says "Sharpham has been a big support to me over the years and it is an honour to offer that same support to others".

Avena Rawnsley

Cook

From seed to plate, Avena has a deep interest in all aspects of food, from the nitty-gritty of agriculture, to the philosophy of social food structures.

She has spent years working in retreat kitchens and environmental projects around Europe and has gathered a bulging basket full of recipes, techniques and attitudes towards food.

Her adventures have taken her from the Swiss alps cooking for spiritual communities to the heart of the Spanish desert managing the sustainable kitchen for eco projects - and many places in between.

She loves to sing as she works and to talk about the places she has been, any form of environmental project, or any innovative recipe ideas people have.

Her ethos is one of nourishment and support, seeking to embed healthy food culture into the heart of the Coach House retreats so that everyone who enters the space and eats the food feels resourced to do the practices that have drawn them to Sharpham. 

Avena's cooking style has been informed by her work in environmental projects and she is committed to providing organic, vegetarian food that tastes good and uses food produced on site (or as close as possible). Everything she cooks seeks to answer the questions of how food can be sustainable, delicious, and nourishing.

Rachel Jennings

Cook

Rachel learnt to cook at an early age and sees cooking as an important life skill and potential pleasure for everyone.

Before coming to Sharpham she had a wide variety of cooking experiences, ranging from running an after-school cookery club at her daughters’ school and making birthday and wedding cakes freelance to cooking lunches at a democratic school in Ashburton, where she’s lived for the last 17 years.

Along the way she and her daughter organized a Regency Ball at Sharpham in aid of Amnesty International, devising and cooking an authentic 19th century menu in full period costume!

A textile artist by training, she spends the rest of her week knitting, sewing and spinning - and playing the clarinet.

Cara Tang

Volunteer Retreat Coordinator

Says Cara: "The vision of Sharpham and the model of retreats and initiatives held here to me is a weaving together of many of the threads from which I've found nourishment and meaning throughout the past years - embodying mindfulness in everyday life, living and working together in community, and connecting with nature and the natural world. Not to mention happy, healthy and yummy food!"

"To be a part of something that is able to offer to others the space, nourishment and inspiration that I've also received from the practice, from my time here, and from all these different elements has been so far a humbling and tender experience. As a budding coordinator, I hope to continue to learn to hold and at the same time be held by the co-creative magic that Sharpham and The Coach House have to offer".

Lisa Ronkowski

Coach House coordinator

Lisa spent several years in creative enquiry through acting, contemporary dance, painting, writing and short films in London. She arrived “home” in The Plum Village Tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and began co-facilitating at a local sangha. She volunteered on the UK Being Peace Centre campaign, and volunteered at the annual International Wake Up Retreat at Plum Village Monastery in France.

As a Coach House coordinator living in intentional community at The Sharpham Trust, Lisa co-
creates a nourishing, welcoming and healing environment where retreatants can connect more deeply with themselves, nature and each other. She contributes in integrating the Dharma and right livelihood into daily life through service and heart offerings; holding space, somatic movement, supportive self-enquiry, deep listening, guided meditation, self-care and compassion, singing from the heart, nature connection, inclusivity, interbeing, and cultivating love and understanding.

Richard Carruthers

Volunteer Retreat Coordinator

Richard joined as a Volunteer Retreat Coordinator in The Coach House in October 2025. His journey to Sharpham has encompassed mindfulness, nature, and soul-craft.

These paths to healing, self-connection, and community have developed through meditation and mindfulness practices over the past seven years, various retreats beginning in 2021, and a three-year masculine embodiment course involving Jungian psychology, meditation, and body psychotherapy, which he helped to facilitate and coordinate.

Through nature connection and mindful practice, Richard believes it is possible to flourish in what can often be a chaotic world. He is delighted to be in service at the Coach House and has developed a deep connection with the two Mangalitza pigs on the estate. He is particularly interested in how animals can bring a calm, healing energy into our lives.