Hi, we’re Matt and Fi!

We love exploring the outdoors, nature, trails, good food and good company. Our mission with Trail Retreats is to boost peoples confidence and ability in trail running through joyful, nourishing experiences alongside others with a shared passion. Here’s a little about us, and how we got here..

We spent 6 years travelling the world, skiing, riding bikes, running and living footloose and free in the Mountains. When we got the urge to settle down  we almost ended up in  New Zealand, then France but we fell in love with the Quantock hills and moved back near where we both grew up.

The concept of trail retreats in some form has been in the pipeline for years because we’ve always loved to bring people together and share awesome adventures. Our passion for trail running and our love for our home turf made us want to set up Trail Retreats here to showcase the Somerset trails.

After a life changing back injury as a teenager Fi had veered away from competitive sport until through Pilates she built up strength and overcame her limitations. She always loved to run but never took training seriously until she took on the Bob Graham round in the lake district in 2021. Wondering what else her body was capable of, she started to train seriously and looked for bigger goals. Within 2 years she was racing for Team GB at the world champs!

Our home, Browpath Farm, started as a barn in a cattle field. We fell in love with the spot and began a lengthy planning application to convert the barn. During this time Matt built tiny home in 2020 which we moved into and planted 350 trees, dug a nature pond and installed a solar array to give us power for the big project. In 2022 Matt and a good friend built a modern eco-home in the old stone barn’s place and we moved out of the tiny home and into the new one.

Using the skills he’d picked up during the house build, Matt took on his next project solo. The installation of 6 boutique cabins to allow us to share our home and home trails with people who love to run. The aim was to create cosy, comfortable spaces for guests to unwind and enjoy this tranquil patch of Somerset.