We’re Charlie and Rachel, and A Patch Wilder is our home in the Mendip Hills, where we live with our two young daughters and our dog, Kelpie. We moved here in March 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown. We’d been looking for a patch of land for a long time, but it was still a big leap—uprooting our lives and investing everything into the unknown.
Since then, this place has become part of who we are. We’re slowly turning the land into a space for wildlife, nature connection, and family life—somewhere to grow things, learn things, and let the wild in.
We met in 2007 studying Zoology at Newcastle University, connecting through our shared love of snakes, photography and Iron Maiden! Together we’ve worked and volunteered with wildlife and conservation organisations in the UK and abroad. That shared experience has shaped how we see the natural world and how we want to care for it.
These days, we both work full time as consultant ecologists. Our jobs give us a close-up view of how wildlife, habitats, and land use interact—through farming, planning, policy, and practice. It’s not always a pretty picture, but we’re using what we’ve learned to try and do better here.
Since moving to A Patch Wilder, we’ve had our two beautiful daughters —both still very little. Becoming parents has only deepened our connection to this place. Our eldest was introduced to Alice the adder at just eight days old, and now both girls spend their time exploring: scooping tadpoles from the pond, collecting feathers, chasing butterflies, and spotting flowers in the field. We planted a tree for each of them when they were born, and watching those trees grow alongside them reminds us why we’re doing this—to create something lasting, for them and for the land.
Kelpie, our rescue dog, joined us in 2019. She’s nervous around the wider world but has settled happily here, sniffing around in the fields and keeping a close watch on the local squirrels.
Before A Patch Wilder, we’d seen how nature often gets squeezed out by the pace and pressure of human life. Here, we’re trying to carve out a small space where that doesn’t happen—where wildlife can thrive and where people, including us, can slow down and reconnect.
If you would like to get in touch then you can contact us by email at info@apatchwilder.com or by using the social media links at the top of the page.