SHIPSTON HARVEST FAYRE

a localcelebration of local food and local produce

Sunday 25th September 2011

Town Centre, Shipston On Stour

11am till 4pm

Local Produce Stalls

+ music, crafts & eco ideas

... and the new "Transition Tower"

Organised by Transition Shipston & Surrounding Areas

Contact Pam Bennett, 01608 685606 pam@pambennett.com

August 2011 Newsletter

Shopping in Shipston – Even Better News

You may remember that in March Transition Shipston members carried out a shopping survey, comparing prices in Stratford Tesco's with prices at Shipston's independent shops and Co-ops. The analysis showed, based on an Internet shopping basket selection, that it need cost no more to shop in Shipston, even before you take into account the high petrol costs of driving to Stratford or Stow or Banbury.

Now there is even better news about shopping in Shipston. Following pressure from local residents, the larger Co-op (previously Somerfields) has lowered its prices to match the price band of the Stratford Tesco's, resulting in 1000s of price cuts over a variety of goods. They now have a shelf sticker saying ‘Family Value’ for all items which have been reduced by 10% or more to help shoppers identify the best value as a result of the reductions. The smaller Co-op is exploring whether it can match these price reductions, and we hope all this will lead to more people shopping locally. This will help keep all the independent shops thriving too, and they offer an amazing variety of food, clothes, hardware, flowers, gifts, craft products which people who live far away often seem to appreciate more than those of us who actually live in this very special market town.

Helen Winnifrith

Stretton Goes Solar

Stretton-on-Fosse Village Hall has installed solar pv panels with the help of village residents. The panels are expected to earning £1400 per year in“Feed in Tariff” - this is the government scheme by which the hall will be paid 43.3 pence per unit of electricity generated. The village hall can also save around £500 per year in electricity bills if it can use the electricity as it is generated.

The 21 Sharp solar panels, which are manufactured in Wrexham, should produce around 3339kW hours of electricity a year and save nearly 2 tonnes of carbon emissions. The system which is rated at 3.89kWp was installed by locally based company The Green Electrician who have an office in Brailes. The surrounding trees could be left untouched because they do not shade the panels from the sun.

The Village Hall was able to raise the £12500 for the panels with an innovative loan scheme. Local residents were invited to loan the Village Hall the money at 2% above inflation. Fifteen residents took up the offer and signed a loan agreement which lasts for the 25 years- that is the period that the government guarantees to pay the Feed-in-Tariff. The investors can however withdraw their money after 5 years if they wish. The Village Hall is still expected to make over£1000 per year on the deal after paying out the interest.

The secretary of the Village Hall Izzi Hazelwood said “We are very pleased to go green with this community scheme. The money raised will be used to make improvements to the facilities of the Hall.”

Healthy Food

Pam Bennett has been doing some publishing work for the The International Raw Food Restaurant Directory, she says: “This is a listing of over 600 restaurants in over 45 countries world wide, who offer a raw food menu. If you are new to raw food, this is a vibrantly new way of eating that consists of mainly, or totally raw foods. It can have amazing health-giving effects, which have been documented. Candida, cancer, diabetes and lupus are amongst those which can be helped.

Please see this link for morehttp://video214.com/play/gT9VoSWgibD4XNdeEObIHQ/s/dark

Do please pass this on to anyone you think could be interested.”

Tree Planting packs

In celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee the Woodland Trust is offering free tree packs of 105 or 420 trees. Transition Shipston and Surrounding Communities is applying for a tree pack and would love to hear from transition members as to possible places to plant them.

Packs we can apply for comprise of Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Hazel Birch, Rowan, Oak, Cherry, Dogwood, Ash, Hornbeam, Hazel, Crab Apple, Elder and Dog Rose. We will apply for 105 trees, but if there is enough response, we will try for 420.

Please get in contact ASAP with your location ideas!

Jenny Lanham, photojourno2003@yahoo.co.uk, Phone: 07855 374471

Fruit Picking

For the last two years Transition Shipston has picked unwanted apples and other fruit from orchards around Shipston then shared them with the High School and others who have pressed them for apple juice and made fruit pies. This year we will be collecting and distributing fruit again. If you can help with picking, or have unwanted fruit please contact us.

Dave Passingham 01608 661816

Request:

‘I was unable to attend the workshop last year on how to prune apple trees. I wonder if anyone in the group knows how to do this and would be interested in passing on their knowledge & assisting me later in the year in exchange for a share in our apples. Sharing in picking the apples during the coming month is also a welcome option – we have one Discovery and one Bramley tree.

Please contact Geri on 01608 662848 if interested.

May 2011 Newsletter

Shipston Transition Tower

Transition Shipston has just won a £2000 grant to build a “transition tower” from the environmental charity Artists Planet Earth. This is what we propose:

The “Transition Tower” will display everyday items that are made entirely or partly from oil based materials and highlight the impact these will have in terms of climate change. It will also display sustainable alternatives that can substitute for these in the future. It will be 3.5 metres tall with fixing points to hang objects on and artwork to highlighting aspects of “peak oil” and climate change.

The design of the tower will be carried out with the help of schoolchildren but the project will also need professional engineering and artwork.

The tower will be the centre-piece at events in Shipston where the public will be invited to choose objects for display as well as pin their ideas for the future on to the tower.

Queen's Avenue Play Area / Orchard

About 10 of us met at the play area and agreed a rough plan, with the football pitch going parallel to Camden Rd, not as thought earlier. Trees, play equipment, fruit bushes, picnic area with wild flowers, benches, litter bins etc all as outlined before. Favoured play equipment, as well as 2 football goals, was a climbing frame in imaginative design + play house + lots more depending on quotes. High wire netting fencing needed specially round the football area, to be planted over with hedging and trees to look better.

We learned that the play equipment for Libbylous in Mayo Road cost about £130,000, but there could be funding from WREN through the Landfill Trust, as well as possibly Orbit and the Town Council, and that grant funding can be checked through the website J2B.

Contact Helen on 661244 for further information

Events:
Wool Fair – Monday 30^th May

Following the success of the last year's stall at the Wool Fair Transition Shipston we are again having a stall. We will be selling plants as well as wool related items. If you can help or if you would like more information please contact Pam Bennett, 01608 685606 pam@pambennett.com

Harvest Fair – Sunday 25^th September,

Transition Shipston with the support of the Town Council will be running a Harvest Fair on Sunday 25^th September; the High Street will be closed from 5.30am until 7.30pm.

We will be marketing the fair in the local press and we hope it should bring a good number of potential customers to the town, should you decide to open your business.

If you have any ideas that might help with running the fair or would like to be involved with organising, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Contact Pam Bennett, 01608 685606 pam@pambennett.com

Monday 16th May

Transition Steering Group

6.00, White Bear Pub, Shipston

Designs for the “Shipston Tower”

Footpath Walks - Update

Here is an updated list of the walks:

Saturday May 14. Meet outside St Edmund’s at 10 am to walk to Stretton and back. 7 miles

Saturday June 18. Meet outside St Edmund’s at 10 am to walk to Todenham and back. 6 miles

Saturday July 16. Meet outside St Edmund’s at 10 am to walk to Honington and back. 3 miles

We hope to arrange two more walks , catching the bus to Brailes with two different routes back

We’re also arranging a public meeting for people interested in using and improving Shipston’s footpaths, to be publicised in the Forum and through Transition Shipston. This will be in the White Bear at 7pm on May 16th

You are welcome to join us if you are up for mud, stiles, carrying a drink/ snack and being responsible for your own safety ! Ring Val on 666046 or Helen on 661244 for further information.

Natural History Walks

A series of walks led by Keeper of Natural History, Steven Falk, featuring wildflowers, trees and medicinal plants.

All walks start at 10.00am and finish approximately 12.30pm.

Tickets £6.00 each. Concessions £5.00

Booking is essential, please telephone Heritage Education on 01926 412069 to book a place.

These are walking tours and we cannot guarantee any seating will be available at any point during the walks. Please wear footwear suitable for walking and clothing suited to the weather.

Wednesday 15^th June

Nebsworth Downs, near Ilmington (Grid Ref. SP17714303), meet in the car park of the National Trust Hidcote Gardens. The highest point in Warwickshire with stunning views, and also one of the best places to see unusual arable weeds and poppy blooms.

Wednesday 10^th August

Edge Hill Woodlands, Edge Hill Village, OX15 6DJ (Grid Ref. SP37364739). Meet at the Castle Inn. Please park along road and not in the Castle Inn car park.

A walk through one of our most stunning woods, and hopefully also some of the adjacent meadows. Also a chance to learn a little of the great 18^th century Gothic architect Sanderson Millar who lived at nearby Radway Grange and planted the trees around the Edge Hill obelisk.

Transition Network Conference 2011, 8th - 11th July, Hope University, Liverpool, The conference is a perfect opportunity to meet with other Transitioners taking this challenging journey, to delve deeper into the areas that interest you most, and to gain new skills that will serve you and your initiative well over the coming years.

Eco-Insurance

Geri found the Naturesave insurance company for Transition Shipston and as you can see below they have won an ethical award. If any other groups need insurance we can recommend them

Naturesave has been awarded the Queens Award For Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category for 2011.

The citation provided by the Queens Award office reads as follows:

Naturesave Policies Ltd t/a Naturesave Insurance is an exemplar ethical insurance cover provider for individuals, companies and the voluntary sector throughout the UK, which has set a clear benchmark for others within the insurance industry. Sustainability and ethical business practices are at the core of the company’s commercial activities, with preferential treatment given to charity or not-for-profit organisations. Naturesave Insurance has taken an innovative approach to promoting sustainability through its wider operations, including thorough commitments to make all business journeys via public transport, and incentivising staff to avoid air travel for holidays. The company effectively engages with the wider sustainability agenda, delivering benefits within the wider community through the Naturesave Trust, a charitable trust funded through the company’s premiums, which gives grants to environmental, conservation and community renewable energy projects throughout the UK.

Managing the Small Pig Herd”

For Maximum Health and Optimum Production

ADAS invites you to the first in a series of four workshops aimed at small-scale pig keepers. Along with guest speakers and demonstrations where possible, we will discuss the problems that can arise when dealing with either a few pet finishers for personal use or a breeding group to fill a niche market.