Bridgewood Events

Up to now (Spring 2010), I've had several Event Days at Bridgewood for passholders and guests. These have been informal events where most people spent some time at the picnic tables area of the Glade or went off along one of the rides to explore the wood and perhaps find a place for some BDSM.

For the future, I'm not really intending to have big Saturday night type club events in a marquee - they're not appropriate for the woodland setting and there are plenty of events like that already. My picture is of Bridgewood developing into the BDSM version of a country park or Forestry Commission site, with different areas dotted around the wood that are available for various activities.

As Bridgewood is completely level with dense undergrowth and entirely private, it's suitable for a very wide variety of open air uses: conventional BDSM scenes on equipment that's installed there; rope bondage using the trees; pony play; slave hunts later in the season; hard labour and prison scenarios; and even just picnics in a place with a more permissive dresscode than a public park.

I also have some new types of event in mind, which haven't really been tried in the UK even in conventional venues. These include "retreats" where people can explore D/s and how they relate to it more deeply, both by sharing experiences with peers, and by serving or being served in practical ways in a simple, primal, and natural environment.

However the wood is being used, I want to establish it as a place run along D/s lines, where D/s is the norm rather than the exception: as almost a BDSM equivalent of the "sacred space" woodlands some pagan groups have, with rules and customs which mark it out as a special place. Some of the the Byelaws on collars, right of way, and right of challenge are part of this, although a careful balance has to be struck because of the variety and conflicting protocols that individual dominants and submissives have: once you go beyond basic rules of safety, respect for private property and conventions like collars there's little common ground.

Nevertheless, I think the whole project can be made to work as more than just my private playground and nature reserve, and I'm inspired by other Open Air BDSM venues to create more than just an outdoor version of a BDSM club night.