February 2014 Newsletter


Contents:
Queen's Avenue Community Orchard
No-dig With A Difference
Ilmington Solar School - update
Great British Elm Experiment
Small Wind Turbines For Shipston?
Some Wind Energy Facts
Free Compost Bins
Energy From Waste In Chipping Campden

Queen's Avenue Community Orchard Planting
Following a two-fundraising campaign led by Polly Taylor , there is now a climbing frame, swings, five-a-side football pitch and a basketball hoop, along with a slide and benches at the Queen's Avenue Play Area. Transition Shipston has been raising money for 3 years to plant a community orchard to surround the play area. On Sunday 19th January pear, cherry, plum and apple trees planted with the help of Shipston Cubs.
Each cub will have his name put on the tree that he planted. The activity will be counted towards their cub badges. Herbs plus blackberry and raspberry bushes will be planted by another work party in a few weeks' time.
Mike Ashton, Chair of Transition Shipston, said: "I'm delighted that the site is now starting to come together. A year ago we started work with the first plantings and now much of the play equipment is in and the landscaping's going well."
Phase two of the project which will include a zip line and more toddler equipment should be completed by late summer.


No-dig With A Difference
Permaculture enthusiasts from Transition Shipston and Hook Norton have been making no-dig raised beds with a difference. The new method called “Hugelkultur” is being tried out at Jenny Lanham's allotment in Long Compton. Instead of putting organic waste in the bin on the kerbside for the bin men it was saved to build the Hugelkultur. Logs, branches, leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, petroleum-free newspaper, manure and compost were built into a mound and topped with soil. Herbs and veg will be planted on the top and sides in the spring..
Hugelkultur has many advantages over a standard veg plot. It holds moisture, builds fertility, maximises the surface volume and are a great space for growing fruit, vegetables and herbs. For more information about Hugelkultur see: http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur?utm_source=GraphicMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NewsletterLink&utm_campaign=newsletter-3978-Oct-2013&utm_content=
A work party to finish off the Hugelkultur will be held on Sunday 2nd Feb. The next pub meeting of the group will be at 8.00 Monday 24th February at the Red Lion Long Compton
We are looking for projects to work on as a collaborative learning experience, seed sharing etc? If you have any ideas please email Jenny Lanham – photojourno2003@yahoo.co.uk or join the 3 Counties permaculture group http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/3CP/info

Ilmington Solar School
The fund for the solar panels now stands at nearly £3000, thanks to the people sponsoring solar tiles on the website, a sponsored cycle and a sponsored swim. The target is £17000 so more fund raising events are planned. Donations welcome to:
www.solarschools.org.uk/ilmington  e (charity number: 1028139). Donations of £100 or more will allow a company to place a logo and website link on our fundraising site. Supporters can also follow our fundraising story on twitter (twitter.com/ilmingtonsolar) and facebook (www.facebook.com/ilmingtonsolar).

Great British Elm Experiment
Stretton village biodiversity group has just planted an elm tree sapling as part of the “Great British Elm Experiment”. The experiment is being run by the Conservation Trust and involves planting elm saplings which have been grown from cuttings taken from mature trees that appear to have resisted Dutch elm disease for over 60 years and that have been skilfully micro propagated. The resulting saplings are being distributed to hundreds of schools, community groups, local authorities and private landowners who have signed up to take part in The Great British Elm Experiment.
Saplings are free to schools and non-profit organisations, whilst private individuals and businesses can purchase a special sapling at a modest cost. Find out details on receiving a sapling here.
Each small tree is accompanied by a certificate showing its parent tree and variety. Schools will also receive a poster with growing tips and project ideas.

Small Wind Turbines For Shipston?
Warwickshire Community Energy (CEW) is hoping to bid to the Rural Community Energy Fund for funding to carry out a feasibility study to find suitable sites for small wind turbines in the Shipston Area. They are hoping to find a site that could accommodate two or more 10kW wind turbines, each of which could potentially generate 30 - 35MWh of electricity a year. CEW is hoping to get the support of Shipston Town Council for their bid.
Community Energy Warwickshire is a new approach to local energy – a co-op which invests in renewable energy projects and helps local people to reduce their use of energy and save money. As a co-op, they’re able to raise money to fund projects by inviting people to become members of the co-op by investing in shares in Community Energy Warwickshire. They’ve used this approach to fund the solar powered hospitals project which has put 60 kWp of solar panels on roofs at Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Hospitals.
The Rural Community Energy Fund is being administered by WRAP on behalf of DECC and aims to help rural communities in England to access funding for professional consultancy input to feasibility studies and other pre-approval expenditure for renewable energy projects. A total of £15 million is available, with no time limit on applications. http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/rural-community-energy-fund

Some wind energy facts:
Wind energy is a
pollution-free energy source.
Wind energy is mostly
used to generate electricity.
Wind energy is one of the
lowest-priced renewable energy sources.
Wind energy
can relieve fossil fuels shortage.
Wind energy can even provide new sources of income to some rural areas
Wind energy use has been a growing trend in many countries, especially in Europe.

Energy From Waste in Chipping Campden
Transition Shipston is arranging a visit to the Northwick Biogas plant near Chipping Campden. The plant derives methane gas from farm waste (such as animal slurry) and from waste food. A generator then converts the methane into “green” electricity. If you are interested in seeing how this is done come along on the visit. Contact: Dave Passingham davepassingham@hotmail.com 01608 661816





Free Compost Bins
Warwickshire County Council are keen to promote home composting.  It is a great way for gardeners to make their own compost and it diverts garden and food waste from the waste stream, saving Council tax money. To encourage residents of Warwickshire to either start composting or help existing home composters improve their knowledge, the County Council's waste management team are running a series of free home composting workshops across Warwickshire.  Each resident attending the workshop will receive a free 330 litre compost bin. (Limited to one free bin per household). Each workshop will last approximately 45 minutes consisting of a 30 minute presentation by two County Council officers with an expertise in home composting and waste management plus a question and answer session.  The workshops for the Stratford area is on Thursday 10th April
Holy Trinity Church Centre, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon 6.00pm - 6.45pm
We would be grateful if you could spread the word about the workshops to the residents in your Parish area.  To book on to a course either:
If you would like a poster to help advertise the workshops in your parish please let me know. If you have any queries about the workshops please let me know using the contact details below.
Katey Stoneman
Waste Projects Officer
Waste Management
Warwickshire County Council
01926 412724



Bring & Share Again
The next gathering of Heart of England Transition groups will be a bring & share meal at 7.00 on Friday 31st January at Lifeways in Stratford. Transition supporters from Stratford, Snitterfield, Chipping Campden and Ilmington, Leamington and other places in Warwickshire are due to attend. There will be a discussion after the meal about how to implement street and village projects such as http://www.transitiontogether.org.uk/totnes-streets/.



Diary:

Friday 31st January 7.00 – Heart of England Transitioning

Lifeways, Albany Street, Stratford

Sunday 2nd February, 10.30 – Permaculture Group “Hugelkultur” making

Long Compton – see above for contact details

Wednesday 5th February, 6.45 – Queen's Avenue Play Area Group

Black Horse Pub, Station Road

Wednesday 5th February, 7.30 – Transition Shipston

Black Horse Pub, Station Road

Tuesday 11th February 10am – Shipston U3A Nature Group


Monday 24th February 8.00 – Permaculture Group Drink

Red Lion, Long Compton.


November 2013 Newsletter

Diary:
Monday 4th November, 7.00 – Transition Shipston

Black Horse Pub, Station Road


Tuesday 12th November 10am – Shipston U3A Nature Group



Tuesday 19th November, 7.30 – Permaculture Group Drink

Red Lion, Long Compton.


Tuesday 19th November, 7.00 – Shipston Neighbourhood Plan

Town Council Offices, Clark House, Shipston


Saturday 7th December – Transition Shipston Xmas Fayre

Townsend Hall, Sheep Street


Contents:
Ilmington Solar School Appeal
Shipston Food Festival Success
Apple Pressing
Permaculture (& Organic Gardening) Group
Heart of England Transitioning
Transition Shipston Xmas Fayre
Fracking – The Wrong Move!
 
Ilmington Solar School Appeal to raise £17,000

Anna Pike of the Ilmington Solar School Project has asked transition Shipston to forward this appeal:

Ilmington School's solar project aims to raise £17,000 to put solar panels on the roof. Becoming a ‘Solar School’ is an exciting prospect for Ilmington School. We are the only school in Warwickshire to have been selected to participate in the carbon-cutting organisation 10:10's Solar School project (www.solarschools.org.uk). They are supporting us in our bid to raise the money to make our school 'Solar'. 

The project has many educational, environmental and financial benefits. Today’s primary school children will be the generation for which climate change, global warming and scarcity of fossil fuels will have the greatest impact. Solar panels will reduce the school’s carbon footprint and allow the children to learn about sustainable and renewable energy supplies first hand. Solar panels will also allow teachers to deliver national curriculum subjects such as numeracy, IT and science in different, fun and exciting ways using data the children can gather from the panels themselves. 

By generating our own solar electricity the school can also reduce its energy bills (electricity and oil) by up to £2000 a year. Energy bills are paid directly out of the school's annual budget and for a small school like ours this represents a significant amount that could be put to direct educational use. The benefits of this will be felt by the community for many years to come.
The children are busy taking part in sponsored runs, bike rides, swims, gymnastics, cake bakes and ice cream sales. We are, however, a small, rural school comprising about 70 families (108 children) and need to reach out to the wider community for financial support. I would be grateful if you could forward this appeal to individuals and businesses associated with Transition Shipston with an invitation for them to be part of this amazing project.

There are several ways in which individuals and businesses can help us achieve our goal. Donations can be made directly via our dedicated online fundraising website www.solarschools.org.uk/ilmington and are tax deductible (charity number: 1028139). Donations of £100 or more will allow a company to place a logo and website link on our fundraising site. We can also celebrate business support through our parent newsletter and dedicated social media sites. In addition we will be collating a special ‘book of sponsors’ at the school to celebrate the support shown by the community. Major donors (£2000 or above) will have their names included on a celebratory plaque.

Businesses can also show support by displaying a poster for our appeal. Offers of this can be emailed to me directly at a.v.l.pike@googlemail.com. Supporters can also follow our fundraising story on twitter (twitter.com/ilmingtonsolar) and facebook (www.facebook.com/ilmingtonsolar).

Thank you for your continued support

Best wishes

Anna Pike

School Governor

Ilmington C of E Primary School.


Shipston Food Festival Success
Transition Shipston Stall
Shipston's first food festival last month was a great success with about 2000 attending. The High Street was heaving with colourful stalls over the weekend. There were more than 30 stalls selling produce from the Stour Valley and the north Cotswolds. Visitors enjoyed artisan food stalls and local beers along with cookery demonstrations from Francis Green, the Cotswold Traiteur, as well as live music. It was good to see that local producers were able to put on displays at least as good as the Italian and French Markets.
Apple pressing..
.

There was lots of interest in Transition Shipston's apple pressing stall at the Food Festival. Visitors were offered a taste of the of the apple juice. Many people who had not tasted fresh juice before seemed surprised at how fresh and tasty it was. The apples had been collected from the orchard at Ilmington Manor which would otherwise have been wasted. There were others offers of donations of apples to press and share the juice which we are trying to process.
If you have unused apples that you would like to share or if you would like to help with apple pressing contact Dave Passingham 07973 846605.
If you live nearer Chipping Campden...
Susie Tombs from Transition Campden writes:
At this time of year, if you have an apple tree you might be feeling overwhelmed by the harvest. If you wish to take any excess fruit to the school garden ( that's the 'big' school, in Cider Mill Lane), they can be processed into juice.
Drop off your (reasonably sound) fruit - not old windfalls - in carrier bags or boxes by the shed in the school garden, which is next to the caretaker's house, to the left as you go into the school drive. Leave a note to say how much in weight you have left approximately and how many bottles of juice you would like. Cost is expected to be £1.40 per bottle, for pressing and bottling, and it will take about 2-3lbs of fruit per bottle. Anything left over will be sold to raise money for the school. Drop off within the next 7 days.
The teacher in charge of this is Geoff Carr - who you may have seen on River Cottage, showing how the orchard is used by the school for its Land Based Sciences course.
"and I am autumn-tired /of the great harvest I myself desired" Robert Frost
Permaculture (& Organic Gardening) Group
When starting, Transition groups are encouraged to go on a permaculture course in order to understand environmental design for organic gardening, self-maintained agriculture and sustainable architecture... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture. Those who attended permaculture courses in Whichford about 4 years ago have been doing their own thing since then. Now we are going to get together every month to discuss our experiences and exchange tricks and tips. If you are interested in organic gardening in general or permaculture ideas in particular why not come along for a pub chat on Tuesday 19th November at the Red Lion in Long Compton. Contact Dave Passingham davepassingham@hotmail.com
Heart of England Transitioning
Heart of England Transitioning is a network of Transition groups and village groups from around Warwickshire. At the bring & share meal and gathering on 25th October at Lifeways in Stratford there were 10 groups represented. After the meal we heard all the latest news from around the county. It's always inspiring to hear about the latest activities which include harvest shares, community gardens, community fund raising, “incredible edible” public flower gardens, bee keeping and protests meetings about fracking.
The network decided to organise a big speaker meeting and invite one of the founders of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins. It was decided to organise some community based environmental training such as Transition Streets (& village) groups http://www.transitiontogether.org.uk/totnes-streets/.


Transition Shipston Xmas Fayre
Transition Shipston is this year organising an Xmas Fayre at theTownsend Hall on Saturday 7th December. Ideas for baking on the day include: ginger bread biscuits and bread wreaths. There will also be real Xmas wreaths making and other crafts. We hope to have small indoor market including stalls of nuts, turkeys, apple juice & cider, fruit wine etc. Calypso Kids play group will be organising games for children. For more information contact Erry Lilley erry@redwax.co.uk

Fracking – The Wrong Move!
Fracking may come to Warwickshire – this article was sent to us by John Stott of the Making Henley Greener group in Henley-in-Arden:

Right now, the government has earmarked nearly two-thirds of England for possible fracking, without fully understanding what effects it is likely to have on our health or the countryside.
What we do know is that if we want to tackle climate change, we must not be be extracting more fossil fuels out of the ground [1]. The International Energy Agency has repeated its warning that if emissions are to be held within the projected danger threshold of a 2C rise, two-thirds of known fossil fuel reserves cannot be burned. So what’s the point of spending money seaching for more fossil fuels? – There isn’t any. It’s pointless and a waste of money. Money should be spent on development and creating clean sources of energy instead.
Fracking involves horizontal drilling that can extend two miles from the actual drill site, passing directly under the homes of those nearby. Despite the government’s enthusiastic dash for gas, we have the power to make fracking very difficult, and may even be able to halt exploration in its tracks, if enough of us come together. This is how it works: if you don’t want fracking companies drilling under your home, you can say so. Then, any drilling there becomes trespassing; the frackers would be breaking the law. All you have to do is declare that your home is 'Not for Shale' and you will be added to the growing legal block to stop fracking where you live. But action is needed quickly, as there are hints that the government will try to change the law to support their dash for gas. [2]
To find out if your land is scheduled as possible fracking territory and to object if necessary click here http://www.wrongmove.org/

John Stott jdstott@uwclub.net



September / October 2013 - Newsletter

Next Meeting:
Transition Steering Group
Wednesday 9th October, 7.00
Black Horse Pub, Station Road


Shipston group launches self-build housing project

Local people in Shipston are being asked to come along to the launch of a group who hope to build their own homes. Founder Mike Ashton said: ”There are many local planning applications from developers that offer new homes to locals that they might not be able to afford. I want to see if there is a need for local people to develop their own homes without having to move out of the area or take on a mortgage they can’t afford.” The group will look at finding a suitable site, planning applications and method of building their homes. “Whilst it can be daunting to think about building a house from scratch, by combining skills and making the best use of local resources, we can build homes that are energy efficient and comfortable.” If you’d like to find out more information, contribute some ideas and maybe become a self builder, the group will meet at the Black Horse in Shipston on Tuesday 3rd September at 7.30 pm.


Transition Streets (& Villages)

Transition Shipston is hoping to set up some Transition Streets (& village) groups.

How Transition Streets works:


Groups of friends and neighbours meet every few weeks with a practical workbook to make easy changes in how they use energy, water, food, packaging and transport. Transition Streets groups explain what it’s like to take part, in this video ‘The power’s in your hands’.

Transition Streets was set up by Totnes charity Transition Town Totnes (TTT) in 2009. The idea behind Transition Streets is to engage our local community – many of whom don’t see themselves as ‘green’ – in living more sustainably in response to diminishing fossil fuel supplies and climate change. http://www.transitiontogether.org.uk/totnes-streets/.

Winner of a 2011 Ashden Award in the behaviour change category, Transition Streets is one of nearly 40 local TTT projects that see fuel price rises, economic uncertainty and climate change as opportunities to increase personal and community well-being, expand our local economy and find more sustainable ways of living. More information can be found on http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/ website.
If you are interested in helping set up a Transition Street in a street or village around Shipston contact Geri Hunting geri@horsejoy.com


Queen's Avenue Play Area - Update
With an extra £5000 from Shipston Town Council coming in during August the total raised for the play equipment now stands at £62000! Polly has now placed the order for the first phase which should be going in over the next 4 weeks. A celebration and apple day is planned in the park on Saturday 19th October.
For more information contact Polly Taylor: pollytaylor3@googlemail.com

Shipston Food Festival – Update

We will be running a seed swap, a food / cookery book swap and plant swap on the Transition Shipston stall at the festival. If you have things to swap please bring them along. We will also be pressing apples to raise funds. If you have any spare apples that need picking please let us know.

Event Programme for the Food Festival

Sunday 29th September:

0900 – Competition area open for entries
1000 – Event officially opens for visitors
1000 – Raffle tickets on sale
1000 – Competition entries close, and judging begins
1100 – 1130 First cookery demonstration
1230 – 1300 Second cookery demonstration
1400 – 1430 Third cookery demonstration
1530 – Competition winners announced, and prize giving
1545 – Raffle draw
1555 – Winner of Best Local Producer announced
1600  - Close


Chipping Campden – “Macerator” Visit
Our friends in Transition Chipping Campden group recently went to visit the “Macerator” that is in a quarry up on the top of the hill just above Campden. This is the report from their newsletter:
This beast devours waste organically and in doing so generates useful energy. For the technical details, read on:
Northwick Power operate a 2000 kW Anaerobic Digestion plant in the heart of the North Cotswolds. The power from this plant is distributed from Northwick’s own substation to the local power distribution network, from where the power will be used to supply up to 1500 homes.
 
What is Anaerobic Digestion?
Put simply, it is the de-composition of organic material in the absence of oxygen. In reality it is a complex series of biological activity decomposing organic material in a series of stages.
Northwick Power built a state of the art German manufactured plant to manage the process of decomposition as these stages are happening simultaneously and continually within the concrete biological tanks. The plant produces a constant supply of methane which is used to fuel two V20 generation sets producing ‘green’ electricity.  
The supply of organic matter is derived from farming waste, such as from the mucking our of cattle sheds, as well as from food not fit for human consumption. The latter supply is processed on site to remove packaging and is then pasteurised to kill off harmful bacteria.
The organic matter, or ‘feedstock’ is fed into the plant at a constant rate of circa 100 tonnes per day to ensure the bacteria are nourished and the biological process kept alive.
Nothing is wasted as the fully de-composed organic matter is retained in a storage tank and then used as an alternative to non-organic fertiliser on crops. This material, rich in nitrogen and other elements provides an attractive alternative to man made fertilisers. Heat from the engines is used to pasteurise the food waste derived organic matter as well as keeping the biological tanks at 40 Deg Centigrade.
 
Anaerobic Digestion is a sustainable alternative for processing waste food in the UK. McCain, for example, are completely self sufficient in energy and Coca Cola have reduced their fuel costs by almost 13% by utilising biomethane. Plants, such as the one at Northwick Estate, are having a significant impact on the amount of ‘green’ electricity generated and are helping the UK to meet its tough renewable targets.
 William Fellows, Plant Manager Northwick Biogas Plant
Contact Susie Tombs at Transition Campden transitioncampden@gmail.com

Warwickshire - Energy Saving Homes website‏

This is to inform you that a new website www.energysavinghomes.org.uk is now available to residents of Warwickshire and Coventry to help them identify ways to save energy at home. It has been developed by Act on Energy, the energy efficiency advice service for the area with the help of funding from the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
The new site includes a NHER SAP2009 calculator that will give you an indication of potential improvement measures for your home. Minimal information is needed for an initial assessment, but more information can be added to give a more accurate assessment, including approximate costs and savings for appropriate improvement measures. You can register your details on the site so that you can return to it at a later date - for example, after making an improvement to see what the benefits have been achieved and what they you might do next.
A key feature of the site is a link to local contractors. There are details of around 40 contractors who are based in or near the area, giving details of the type of work they carry out, with a map which shows their location. The site also provides an opportunity for customers to provide feedback on how a contractor performed: this is displayed with stars against each contractor. There are also numerous pages providing dedicated information about measures, grants, and local community groups – including Community Energy Warwickshire.
Another valuable feature are individual case studies of local homes, which outlines the actual improvements made and the contractors who did them, with a link to a map showing where they are located. Thanks to all those Community Energy Warwickshire members  who offered their home as a case study for the site! Act on Energy plans to add more case studies over time to provide examples of all the potential improvement measures, so if you have improved the energy efficiency of your home and are prepared to tell others about it, let Act on Energy know.
The website currently only covers Warwickshire and Coventry, and although it can be accessed from anywhere, it only recognises post codes in or near to that area. Those entering a post code outside the area will get a message saying “you are outside the area” but they can still use the site’s facilities. Ultimately, Act on Energy hope other areas will request access to the site, so that its advice and information can spread across the country.
If you have any comments on or questions about the site, or want to suggest your home as an improvement case study, or notice any bugs –it’s still a very new site! – contact David Jullien, Chief Executive of Act on Energy at david@actonenergy.org.uk. For more information about Act on Energy’s other work, see www.actonenergy.org.uk.
 Zero Waste Week
Zero Waste Week 2013 runs from Monday 2 September to Sunday 8 September. Now in its sixth year, this time round Zero Waste Week is concentrating on reducing food waste.
Check out the Zero Waste Week website at http://www.zerowasteweek.co.uk/ for tips on ways to avoid food waste when shopping, in the kitchen and at work and school. There is also a range of "use-it-up" recipes to help you make the most of any leftovers.
Like the Plastic Challenge organised by Transition Stratford it doesn't set you targets, but you can set your own personal goals for reducing food waste. So if you sign up to support the week, why not let us know here at Transition Stratford and we'll see what we can do together!
Roger Matthews 
Transition Stratford

A Girl called Jack

Jack Monroe, who writes the blog A Girl Called Jack, discusses how she became a popular austerity cook and food blogger while living below the poverty line, and demonstrates how to cook one of her signature dishes: the carrot, cumin and kidney bean burger. A selection of recipes from A Girl Called Jack are to be published next year in a book of the same name http://agirlcalledjack.com/

Armscote Manor Lecture Series 2013‏ - 7th to 11th October

eighth series of garden lectures and workshops at Armscote Manor. http://www.armscotemanor.co.uk/lecture_series.html  

There is an interesting and varied week planned and end on a high note with the wonderful Orchestra of the Swan conducted by the charismatic David Curtis.
Whichford Pottery and Neal's Yard will have stalls throughout the week and Armscote Manor pots, flower bricks, honey, tulips and wool will also be available.
Bablake Wines have very kindly and generously agreed to provide a glass of wine for all our guests again this year. A ticket order form and gift aid form can be downloaded from our website:-
www.armscotemanor.co.uk
All monies raised during the week are donated to Shipston Home Nursing.

Contact Deborah Williams: deborah.williams@armscotemanor.co.uk


Community Garden Open Afternoon - Sunday 26th May

Transition Shipston is holding an open afternoon at the Darlingscote Road Community Garden on Sunday 26thMay from 3.00 onwards with refreshments at 4.30 – all welcome.

Anyone interested helping with the newly acquired community chickens can find out what is involved in joining the chicken group. The chickens were “rescued”from a chicken farm. They are starting to get used to more freedom, grow their feathers back and lay eggs. We are renovating some more old chicken pens and hoping to increase the number of chickens soon.

There are also small veg plots available for anyone interested in starting to grow there own vegetables. Help is needed in improving paths and fox-proofing fences.

Come and join in... learn new skills... grow fresh veg... share the eggs... meet new people.