ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces Ruskin Mill Trust's method of Practical Skills Therapeutic Education through a visit to its first location, the Horsley Valley in the Cotswolds. The physical experience of a location, its geology and geography, plants and animals, the archaeology and history, all contribute to the genius loci, the “spirit of the place” in its complex specifics, explored in this chapter through this space of mixed farming and renovated mills. The first field of Ruskin Mill's method is attention to the spirit of place, particularly through a “genius loci survey” which lays the groundwork for the re-imagining of its potential in educational work with young people with complex additional needs. A conversation with the Trust's founder Aonghus Gordon discusses the origins of the method and how re-imagining the potential of place can help with re-visioning young people's potential.
