This is all the wild and cultivated green spaces in and around the city. This is what we use to help city people form a more satisfying relationship with the natural world. By learning about herbal medicine in a modern context we can start to free our minds from the over-stimulation of consumerism, and engage more directly with living processes that have created and sustain us all.

And if that's not enough, we can show you the incredible healing properties of some common weeds growing around and about, that you've probably never really paid much attention to. We reckon this knowledge is important.
It makes sense to grow medicinal plants here in the UK, to build up community resilience in the face of near future changes in legislation and the availability of resources. We want to spread the knowledge and skills required to use native and local plants and medicinal preparations, empowering folk to take responsibility for their health and the health of the community. We want there to be a herbalist on every street.

A Dispensary

The Urban Fringe Dispensary is about herbal medicine in the context of urban transition culture. It has been set up by Bristol Herbalist, Max Drake, with the aim of providing a shared knowledge base and use of local resources, including wild and cultivated herbs for medicines.

You will find us at our shop, dispensary and clinic on Colston Street in Bristol. You can come in here and get free impartial information on health and how a holistic approach might be able to help you.

Our practice extends out from herbal medicine to include acupuncture, therapeutic massage, reflexology, shiatsu and craniosacral therapy. We also offer some counselling space, including cognitive behavioural approaches. Our practitioners all subscribe to our holistic principles, which is in effect our clinic manifesto.