I first visited The Findhorn Community as it was then known in 1974, with my ex-husband, Michael Shaw, and Nicholas and Henrietta Rose. Nick had heard about this ‘New Age Community” and wanted to visit as he was very interested in esoterics.

We arrived in the early evening and tried to find the Community. We walked up the runway, travelled along the only paved path, came out at the Bay and started again.

Then Nick and I noticed a line of light running up the middle of the runway, and following this, we found the bungalow ‘Sunrise’, where darling Joanie Hartnell- Beavis had left us a welcome note.

I tossed and turned all night: were the rustlings and tappings that I heard at the window fairies and nature beings? Were they really here? Was this really a magic place? In the morning I discovered a tree that was blowing against the window, and realised my sleeplessness was not due to Devas but to the terrible nylon sheets that were provided for guests which guaranteed to keep them awake in a hot sweat!

The next day we were shown around, and came across the site for the Universal Hall. There was a notice board with a drawing of the front elevation of the proposed Hall next to a dip in the sand which had a lot of chickens running around in it. I can remember thinking, ‘well if these people can build this, there must be something important going on.’

You see everyone, (and there were only about eighty people there then,) were mostly young, staying for an average of six months and living in caravans huts and tents. They were all very friendly, very positive, and reminded me of Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo, to me, naïve and not quite real.

However I was very very wrong. Lyle Schnadt, although only twenty three years old, was there and he, like Peter, had the ability to attract the right people at the right time for the right job, as well as being a totally brilliant builder himself. Jim Hill was one of those attracted, and he was a brilliant carpenter.

The Roses and the Shaws joined the Community, and both Nick and Michael worked on the Hall over the next few years along with many many wonderful volunteers and our building department was formed especially to build the Hall.

At that stage I was busy doing other things and not involved until Peter requested that I go and complete the building in 1982. This story is told in my story ‘A Scottish Tourist Board grant to complete the Universal Hall‘.