Pavel Bednar - CZ

I first met Tyll at Emerson College where I was studying the Biodynamic Agriculture and Rural Development course and Tyll came as a visiting teacher to talk to us about the community aspect of Agriculture. He made a big impression on me and thus when I finished my studies at Emerson I decided to join a three-year horticulture apprenticeship with Tyll in Oaklands Park. I enrolled in the autumn of 1993 joined by one of my Emerson course mates Robert Gizzi. I checked into Juniper House and thus became a member of Tyll and Sybille’s household for the first year of my apprenticeship. I guess that at that time we were six or seven apprentices altogether and it was quite a colorful and international bunch. 

Pavel, Sandra and Avi on the orangery steps

The extended Land Course modules were then also opened to apprentices from other Camphill places and Biodynamic farms and gardens around the country with Tyll being instrumental in drawing and carrying out such an extended training scheme. I stayed for two years in Oaklands Park and then finished my third year of the course while being already in charge of a new garden project at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Stroud, where I stayed till 1998. Tyll made a huge impression on me already at Emerson but later living and working with him and being around him on everyday basis made me admire his all-round ability and his vibrant personality even more. Not just for all the different aspects of land work that the apprenticeship with Tyll encompassed but also for the cultural and social dimension which Tyll provided. I still remember being part of this impressive drama production of Jean Anouilh's The Lark which Tyll produced for the Grange stage. And all those inspiring field trips to various gardens and orchards, different workshops, events and meetings which Tyll took us to. Being part of the Oaklands garden team at that particular time also meant being part of an impressive development with the walled garden being restructured, the vegetable garden extended, soft fruit growing established, the park revitalized, new storage facilities being designed and later built - all done with such an impressive ease, skill and vision. What I learnt from this experience was that impossible is nothing and that the range of skills you can acquire is as wide as you dare to try. 

But it wasn’t only Tyll’s horticultural prowess that made a lasting impression on me but it was also his enthusiasm about so many different aspects of life - cultural, social, philosophical, political. It was always exciting to be around Tyll being engaged in such passionate discussions about all those varied topics. I remember one particular moment which illustrates Tyll’s total commitment in an interesting topic of conversation and that was when he asked me to go with him to Bristol airport, where he was to board a plane to Ireland to attend some Camphill meeting. Tyll drove to Bristol and I was supposed to bring the car back to Oaklands. All the way to the airport we were fully engaged in a discussion of one topical subject and carried on even after parking the car and on the way to the departure hall where I finally waved goodbye to him only to realize few minutes later that in the midst of that discussion Tyll forgot to hand me the car keys (and I forgot to remind him) and thus when I got back to the car park I found myself empty handed and stuck… After I left St. Luke’s in Stroud (in 1998) and returned to the Czech Republic I was teaching English as well as translating and interpreting for over a decade. Following my initial drama exploits in Stroud (Performing Arts Course, Mask Studio, CzechMate Theater) I also enrolled at Prague’s Performing Arts Academy where I studied Drama Education and later had a spell doing some Theatre In Education. Later I also worked for a film production company focusing on documentary cinema. In 2014 I got involved in a new project which entailed a renovation of a former village hall in Trpoměchy near Slaný (small town just outside Prague) creating a retreat center and a venue for various activities such as Bothmer gymnastics, Eurythmy, drama and mask work, clowning and improvisation, and later became a founder and a director of a non-profit organization (the Open Space) which runs the place. I think it was in autumn 2014 (more than a year before we opened) when Tyll and Sybille visited the place just as we were about to start landscaping the surrounding area. It took all those years to get a proper garden established and it was only during this 'covid year' (when the center was closed for many months and I was thus free to devote more time to gardening) when I finally managed to create a fruit and vegetable garden there which should provide some fresh organic produce for our kitchen. So after almost two decades I’m again ready to make gardening an important part of my everyday life and utilize some of that knowledge and skills Tyll has passed onto me. And for that I’m very grateful.

Tyll and Sybille with Pavel in Slany, Czech Republic in 2014