WHO WE ARE
About Bland Badger
Bland Badger is Charlotte Bland and Ros Badger — a photographer and a designer who believe that everyone has a creative spark inside them, and that inspiration is the key to unlocking it.
We became friends many years ago through our mutual love of making things. We'd long wanted to work on something together when we landed on the idea of creative retreats — a different kind of holiday, somewhere between a house party and an artist's residency.
We both thrive artistically in the company of others, and we wanted to create that feeling for our guests too.
The writing retreat was a natural progression from our creative workshops and Lucy Brazier joined the Bland Badger team as its co-host in 2025, bringing her wealth of experience in the literary world, both as a writer and a ghost writer, to this new and successful format.
"A different kind of holiday — somewhere between a house party and an artist's residency."
“Solo travellers are very welcome — many of our guests come alone and leave with new friends. The retreat format makes it easy to connect.”
“A Bland Badger retreat is a holiday and we like to remind you during your stay that nothing is compulsory.”
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Everyone has a creative spark.
Inspiration is the key.
The aim of the retreats is for people to step away and reconnect with their creativity in a beautiful location with a relaxed programme of workshops. Bland Badger guests travel from all over the world, often returning year on year to spend time in this nurturing environment.
Non-compulsory
Do as much or as little as you wish. Some guests come for the workshops, some for the company, some simply for the escape. All are welcome.
All abilities
No prior experience needed, no time limit. Our tutors teach for enjoyment, not perfection. Guests leave with a skill, not just something they've made.
Expert tutors
We bring together specialists — painters, illustrators, floral designers, photographers, writers — who happen to also be exceptional teachers. The quality of the people makes the week.
THE EXPERIENCE
Life on a Bland Badger retreat
A Bland Badger retreat has a gentle, unhurried rhythm. Mornings are for workshops — relaxed and led by people who are genuinely extraordinary at what they do. Afternoons are your own: by the pool, exploring the town, writing in a creative nook, or simply doing nothing at all.
Each evening the group reconvenes for aperitif — wine, snacks, good company — before dinner together under the stars or by the fire. It is the particular magic of Bland Badger that by the end of the first day, it feels like a house party with old friends.
On Saturday we join the Sommières market with our straw baskets — food stalls, beautiful squares, and the thriving brocante by the river, hunting for antique treasures.
FOOD AND DRINK
The food
Food is at the heart of every Bland Badger retreat. We are committed to using fantastic local produce throughout the week — fruit, yogurt, croissants and jam for breakfast in the courtyard; artisan cheese and charcuterie for lunch in the kitchen garden surrounded by lemon trees; aperitif and snacks on the pool terrace; and a three-course dinner under the stars.
Tom the owner's exceptional BBQ night is always a highlight. As you would expect for the Languedoc region, the wine flows freely — sourced from local winemaker friends who know these soils intimately.
The Sommières market is the perfect place to stock up on local specialities — the Saturday market is one of the finest in the region, with food stalls, boulangeries, an incredible chocolatier and a natural wine store all within easy walking distance of our venue.
THE FOUNDERS
Charlotte and Ros
Charlotte Bland and Ros Badger founded Bland Badger in 2019 — bringing together their complementary skills as a photographer and a designer to create retreats that are as much about the people and the place as they are about the workshops.
Charlotte Bland
PHOTOGRAPHER · CO-FOUNDER
Charlotte is a photographer specialising in food, interiors and travel, shooting books on film. After an Art History degree she built her career with clients including Penguin Books, The Guardian, Bloomsbury, Chatto & Windus, Condé Nast Traveller, House & Garden, The Financial Times, Toast, Matilda Goad and Cowshed.
A commission for Selfridges' Our House campaign saw her photographs of everyday life displayed on the store's Oxford Street windows.
Charlotte’s book credits include For the Love of Lemons, Wild Figs & Fennel and La Vita è Dolce by Letitia Clark, The Set Table by Hannah Shuckburgh, Christmas at River Cottage by Lucy Brazier, Flavour by Ruby Tandoh and Frontières by Alex Jackson.
Ros Badger
DESIGNER & CRAFTSWOMAN · CO-FOUNDER
Ros Badger is a designer and craftswoman with a career spanning more than 35 years. A textile graduate of Chelsea College of Art, she is the founder of Badger’s Velvet, a brand that repurposes fine antique and contemporary materials to create distinctive handmade jewellery.
Ros is also the author of nine books on knitting, crochet and craft, published by Collins, Quadrille and Ebury, all imprints of Penguin Random House, as well as by Mitchell Beazley, an imprint of Octopus Books. In her mid-thirties, she created Little Badger, a children’s hand-knitwear and T-shirt label whose designs were sold internationally and worn by the children of numerous celebrities.
Earlier in her career, Ros designed for Betty Jackson, Margaret Howell, Marks & Spencer and Johnson’s La Rocka, among others. She also created bespoke hats for U2 guitarist The Edge, and appeared as the knitting expert on The Big Breakfast on Channel 4.
THE HOSTS
Who leads each retreat
Creative Retreat · 8–15 October 2026
Charlotte Bland
PHOTOGRAPHY WALK · HOST
Charlotte leads the photography walk on the creative retreat— sharing the instincts behind her own practice and developing guests' eye for light, composition and the quietly extraordinary in everyday surroundings.
Ros Badger
CREATIVE WORKSHOP · HOST
Ros brings a handmade notebook workshop and her expert eye as a magpie at the Sommières brocante — an essential part of the retreat — on market day.
Writing Retreat · 15–22 October 2026
Charlotte Bland
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP · HOST
Charlotte offers a food photography workshop during the writing week, bringing her eye for light and composition to the writing themes.
Lucy Brazier
WRITER · HOST
Lucy is a writer and ghostwriter, focusing on memoir, food and lifestyle, working with high-profile people to put their story on the page. Lucy began her career at the BBC before becoming a theatrical agent. She left London in 2006 to work alongside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and wrote Christmas at River Cottage — beautifully photographed by Charlotte Bland — which has been a seasonal bestseller since 2021.
Her latest book The Honesty Box, a journal of a year in her kitchen, garden, village and marriage, is published by Bloomsbury.
Charlotte and Lucy's first retreat collaboration as co-hosts of the 2025 Bland Badger writing retreat sold out within weeks and in 2026 Lucy offers a workshop sharing her experience as a writer with the group.
2026
This year we're going to the South of France
After seven wonderful years in Italy, we're taking everything to Sommières in France — an ancient Roman market town between Montpellier and Nîmes, and one of the Mediterranean's best-kept secrets. The setting is a stunning 17th Century mansion in the heart of Sommières — where faded French grandeur meets chic comfort, and the most beautiful backdrop we've found yet.