East Anglian Grain Alliance gathering

Strength in diversity. Grain at Wakelyns Bakery, July 2023. Credit: Chris Young / www.realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0

News • Real Bread Campaign

Published: Monday 21 September 2026

East Anglian Grain Alliance warmly invites farmers, millers, maltsters, bakers, chefs, researchers, eaters (and every other sort of grain enthusiast) to a gathering on Tuesday 29 September 2026.

You will have the chance to celebrate, learn, plan and share food at Duchess Farms in Hertfordshire. The event is being hosted by Gilchesters Organics, which runs heritage wheat trials, mills grain and supplies flour to bakeries across the UK.

Everyone is encouraged to bring a small contribution to the day’s Michaelmas / harvest festival / Mabon supper. The organisers say: ‘traditionally goose, bannock and blackberries but anything seasonal will do!’

Farmers are invited to bring along samples of older variety grains for participants to see, discuss, feel and maybe mill if you have enough grain and there’s enough time: please let the organiser know in advance the variety / population and weight.

The plan

2pm: arrive, chat, refreshments
2.30pm - 4pm: workshop to develop our ideas on what EAGA should look like, be and aim to achieve.
4pm - 7pm: tour of Gilchesters' mill, followed by the sharing supper.

‘Feel free to join us for one or both sessions, but please do email to let us know which you would like to attend in advance, as it really helps with the organisation.'

Practical stuff

New House Farm, Sheering Lower Road, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 9LE

Free parking is available on site. The nearest train station is Sawbridgeworth, about a mile away.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Gaina at East Anglian Grain Alliance.

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Chris Young
Campaign Coordinator
Real Bread Campaign

Chris Young has coordinated the Real Bread Campaign since March 2009. In addition to lobbying for an Honest Crust Act of better loaf composition, labelling and marketing laws in the UK; he created and runs initiatives including: Sourdough September; Real Bread Week; Real Bread For All; Together We Rise, promoting therapeutic/social benefits of bread making; No Loaf Lost surplus reduction guidance; and Lessons in Loaf for schools. He’s the author of the Knead to Know…more microbakery handbook, Slow Dough: Real Bread recipe book and Bake Your Lawn grow-a-loaf guidebook; and edits True Loaf magazine.

From 2014-18, Chris also coordinated Sustain's London Food Link network, which included editing The Jellied Eel magazine and helping to launch and run the Urban Food Awards with the Mayor of London’s office. Chris has pulled on his judge’s wig for BOOM Awards, The Cateys, The Great Taste Awards, The Scottish Bread Championship and The World Bread Awards. In 2017, The School of Artisan Food honoured Chris with its first Fellowship, and in 2025 he was named joint Person of The Year by Slow Food in The UK.

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