A trip to Dial House takes you through the Essex town of Epping, past a veterinary surgery and an old village hall, down windy country roads and through a number of creaky farmhouse gates. On a bright afternoon, the atmosphere in the garden is of pure tranquility: a swing hangs from a tree by a wooden guesthouse, freshly picked apples are laid out across a picnic table and at the entrance there are Buddhist prayer flags with messages of love, peace and acceptance which are believed to travel with the wind that passes through. But for over 50 years, Dial House has been the hub of some of the most radical countercultural activity in musical history. The doors of the house are open. And they have been ever since Penny Rimbaud moved in.

Rimbaud is most famously known as the drummer, lyricist and organiser of Crass – arguably one of the most significant punk bands to ever exist. Since the turn of the millennium, much of his output has orientated around poetry and jazz. His most recent journey began in the colourful fringes of the hippy movement.

After being expelled from a number of public schools, dropping out of a philosophy course at Oxford and then delivering coal for a living, in the early 60s he took a teaching job at the South East Essex School of Art. During his time there he declined an invite to Andy Warhol’s Factory, and in 1964 John Lennon presented him with an award for a Beatles artwork competition on national television. But, most importantly, at the School of Art Rimbaud connected with other radical thinkers, including Gee Vaucher, who would go on to establish herself as a renowned political artist and create Crass’ iconic record covers. In 1967, Rimbaud and Vaucher moved into Dial House together (Vaucher is tending to the gardens on the day of my visit), establishing an anarchic/pacifist “open house” policy and creating waves of countercultural activity – including the free-form music group EXIT, which consisted of a loose, rotating cast of bohemians.