October 2012 Newsletter

Things we do in Transition Shipston & Surrounding Communities...
Community Garden on Darlingscote Rd
Provide small individual vegetable plots – (there are plots available)
Jointly grow food in communal areas and share produce
We hope to keep chickens next year
Film nights (with bring and share meals)
Films on environmental, self sufficiency and other topics
Bring and share food – cooking theme chosen by host
Next film: “Blues Brothers”, Friday 12th October
Skill Swaps
e.g. wreath making for Christmas, wild food foraging, apple pressing / cider making etc
Shipston High School Gardening & Eco-School Club
Helping to run the gardening club on Tuesday lunchtimes
Tending the garden during holidays
Providing equipment and help for the Eco-School Club
Energy Champions
A number of supporters have been trained by Act On Energy (the local energy efficiency advisors) to carry out initial energy assessments on houses. We give basic advice and refer on to Act on Energy for more technical information.
Fairs and Shows
We run stalls at the Victorian Evening, the Wool Fair and other events around the area.
For the last two years we have run the Harvest Fayre to promote more local food and local businesses.
Public Meetings
We hold public meetings on Environmental and Community issues
If you would like to be involved or help in any way contact Dave Passingham on 01608 661816 or davepassingham@hotmail.com


Shipston Harvest Fayre – fine weather and good stalls
The weather for the Harvest Fayre last Sunday turned out to be fine (despite the forecasts) and for most of the morning the stalls were buzzing with people. There was a wide variety of produce for sale on the 28 stalls ranging from local vegetables and meats to specialist herbs and honey as well as household goods, pottery, rugs... and more (see below for full list of stall holders with contacts). In addition the traditional craft of pole lathe wood turning was demonstrated by our very own Mike Ashton – this attracted much attention from adults and children alike. Once again local artist Howard Watson's pencil face sketches made plenty of money for Shipston Home Nursing and the Queen's Avenue Play area group ran the tombola to raise money to buy fruit trees to plant around their play equipment.

YOUR VIEWS ARE IMPORTANT - Supermarket/Housing Development
Shipston Town Council called a public meeting on Monday 24th September to consult the whole community about their ideas for the future of Shipston. About 100 people turned up including Transition Shipston supporters and the Shipston Heart Alive Campaign who have been campaigning to stop the out-of-town supermarket and housing development because of the threat it would pose to the existing shops and businesses. There was also supporters of the Shipston Needs a Supermarket group who are in favour of the ASL development on the edge of town. The meeting was run by an independent facilitator who started by asking people whether they wanted Shipston to stay as it is or should it have more facilities. Everyone was asked to mark how strongly they felt about these two options on a chart. The facilitator broke the meeting up into groups to come up with ideas for the future. There was a consensus that it will be very important that any changes should be community led and not developer led. At the end of some deep discussions several ideas were suggested and these were voted upon by the whole of the meeting. The highest vote was for preserving the character of Shipston. This was followed by the need for more employment and then better health facilities. A supermarket came only sixth in popularity and many people who voted for this were in favour of a supermarket in the town centre - not out of town. Ideas from the meeting will feed in to the Shipston Neighbourhood plan.

Stalls at the Harvest Fayre:
Little Bird Soaps - Natural handmade soaps
www.littlebirdsoaps.com/
Mabel's Dairy - "Mabel's Marvellous Milk", from Ilmington
www.mabelsfarm.co.uk
Nicky Vickery Animal Artist
Old Farm – award winning home produced meats
www.oldfarmdorn.co.uk/
Lakeside Ethical Treats - chocolate, sweets and snacks.
www.ethical-treats.co.uk/
Shipston Scouts, Guides, Cubs
Contact: d.wright61@btinternet.com
Country Markets - local home grown produce, home made and hand-crafted goods
/www.country-markets.co.uk/moreton-in-marsh-gloucestershire-gl56-0as-i132.html
Shipston Community Arts
www.shipstoncommunityarts.org.uk/
Skylark - Organic Vegetables box scheme – deliveries to your door
www.skylarkorganics.co.uk/
Heath Farm Nuts - hazelnuts/cobnuts, walnuts, hazelnut oil and walnut oil.
db@swerfordheath.com
Alain Rouveure Galleries - Arts & crafts from Nepal
Transition Shipston & Surrounding Communities – Sustainable community food growing, energy efficiency initiatives. Promoting a resilient local economy.
Olive Stall - olives and antipasti from Italy and Sicily
Queen's Ave Play Area action group - promoting the new design for the play area and orchard. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Queens-Avenue-Park-Action-Group/246427545399529
Snuggle Rugs – hand-knitted multi coloured mohair knee rugs
Contact: 664003
Hook Norton Honey - English honey including raw honey plus European speciality honey
Contact: morti@tesco.net
Liz Teall Pottery – hand made slip decorated earthenware pottery.
Cookies – mix of household goods, DIY, stationary, gardening & miscellaneous items.
Visit Cookies shop in Church Street, Shipston
Ridgeway Ice Cream – locally made ice cream
Shipston Heart Alive! Campaign – preservation of Shipston Town 
Holycombe holistic retreat centre – therapies, weekday classes and venue for weekend residential course. http://www.holycombe.com/ 
‘biss’/’bella due’ - Hand crafted jewellery + Dress agency/’recycled clothes’
Herbal Pantry - unusual herbs and spices alongside the traditional herbs.www.herbalpantry.co.uk
Eco Mum & Baby - Eco friendly & natural products
Avon Cat Rescue – handcrafts
    Contact :662553
Fibromyalgia Association - Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition of widespread pain and profound fatigue. Contact: gudrunberry@hotmail.com
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September 2012 Newsletter

Come and join us for the second annual
Transition Shipston & Surrounding Communities
Harvest Fayre
Sunday 30th September, 10am – 2pm

The Fayre is set to be a relaxed family day, where residents and visitors can buy local produce, find out more about environmental initiatives and indulge in some additional retail therapy. The free event will also showcase traditional crafts such as apple pressing and provide information on how to get involved in local environmental schemes, including “harvest share” and children's games.
Don’t forget that many of Shipston’s retailers will also be open to help you make the most of your Sunday in the town.

Fruit Picking / Harvest Share
For many years now old fruit trees and orchards have been neglected and the harvest left to rot. 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 who have pressed them for apple juice and made fruit pies. Last year the Scouts & Guides collected apples for their stall at the Shipston Harvest Fayre and made a good amount of money to boost their funds.
Despite these initiatives there is still tons of fruit in Shipston each year which goes to waste so we thought it would be useful to set up a wider "Harvest Share" group.If your group or Church would like to be involved we have an organising meeting at 7.30 on Wednesday 12th September at Verity Richardson's house, 11 Mill Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warks. CV36 4AN . At the meeting there will be a short talk from Philip Morris who is from the very successful Stratford Harvest scheme.
If you are interested in attending please contact Helen Winnifrith at helenwin@tiscali.co.uk
or Dave Passingham 01608661816 davepassingham@hotmail.com
 
Basket-making Course
Also there will be a basket-making course at the farm on 5th October, run by Norah Kennedy. The materials are supplied and you will go home with a basket by the end on the day. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is £50 including a light lunch, drinks, etc. Places are strictly limited so book early to avoid disappointment
Details from: Sue Finlay 01608 661157 or sue.finlay12@btinternet.com
Heart of England Transition Networking‏

Meeting of Transition Town groups in and around Warwickshire

Saturday 22nd September, The Lodge, Leamington

We will be discussing how we can work together on our ‘bioregion’ towards planning for energy descent and the future. How groups can work together to look at issues and options that affect many areas – and even more so when there are many local factors in common. We hope to hold a consultation exercise to find out what the local communities want.

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August 2012 Newsletter

Proposed Supermarket: From a nation of shopkeepers to Clone Town Britain?
With the threat of a large development on Campden Road including a supermarket it is worth considering the affect that supermarkets have had on other towns. The following is from the Tescopoly website...

The UK's biggest supermarkets are grappling for ever greater market share. Small independent stores and suppliers, and ultimately consumers, are paying a direct price in the face of unfair competition. In the five years to 2002, 50 specialist stores including butchers, bakers, fishmongers and newsagents closed every week. In May 2005 the IGD revealed the loss of 2,157 unaffiliated independent convenience retailers, compared to only 1,079 the year before. Read more... http://www.tescopoly.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=176
Transition Shipston and Shipston Heart Alive” Campaign continue to work to defeat the Aiscough proposal.

Fruit Picking / Harvest Share
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 who have pressed them for apple juice and made fruit pies. Last year the Scouts & Guides collected apples for their stall at the Shipston Harvest Fayre and made a good amount of money to boost their funds. One of the main attractions at the Fayre was the apple pressing on another stall at the Fayre. This year we have a bigger apple press which will make the juicing easier and quicker.
Despite these initiatives there is still tons of fruit in Shipston each year which goes to waste so we thought it would be useful to set up a wider Harvest Share group. If you are interested in helping please contact
Dave Passingham 01608661816 davepassingham@hotmail.com

“Field Day” Raises £215
The Queen's Avenue Play Area Action Group raised a fantastic £215 at the 'Have a Field day' event on Sunday 15th July. Participants were able to run with the real Olympic Torch donated for the day by Andy Taylor who ran on day 56 of the Olympic Torch relay. Throughout the morning we saw approx 60 people visit the park - the most it's had in a long time! Polly Taylor the organiser said “It was great to see the park being used for picnics, football and kite flying! As well as our mini torch relay track. It created a wonderful atmosphere - exactly what the park should have all year round instead of a depressing, dead space.”
The group should hear soon whether their grant applications which total £60000 to provide a new play area with football pitch has been successful. Transition Shipston has already raised around £800 towards the fruit trees to be planted around the play area
Kineton Community Solar Panels
Finally and after considerable effort, Kineton has its first 'community' array of solar panels on the roof at Kineton Sports and Social Club. They went up this last week, paid for in part by an award, in larger part through loans provided by good members of the community. Mark Levene one of the organisers said “Our installer Eco2solar have been great and KSSC and ourselves at Kineton Community Energy Group (KCEG) are responding to their request to encourage a wider take-up by individual householders by holding an event in the KSSC hall in parallel with Getting Kineton Growing's and Apple Pressing day on Sunday 14 October”.
TRANSITION NETWORK UK CONFERENCE 2012

This year we are back in London, hosted once more by the wonderful Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) (where we were in 2009), and the Conference teams are in the thick of planning a weekend of events and workshops that explore the theme of "Building Resilience in Extraordinary Times".
We have an ambitious programme for this year's event, with 5 distinct elements, which can be attended as stand-alone events or in combination (dates permitting):
Main Transition Conference: Friday 14th September (6.00pm) to Sunday 16th September (4.30pm)

 
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