The answer is 372 square metres. And the question is…

How much land is required to feed one person?”. Research in the 1970s by John Jeavons and the Ecology Action Organisation found that 4000 square feet (about 372 square metres) of growing space was enough land to sustain one person on a vegetarian diet for a year, with about another similar area for access paths and storage – so that’s a plot of 744 square metres in total (0.074 hectares). The techniques and approach behind this were popularised in the book “How to grow more vegetables – than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine” (1, 2).

To give some global context to this, the ‘Naked Scientist’ team have looked at the big picture:

“Let’s start with the numbers; our current population of 7.2 billion people uses roughly 40 percent of the Earth’s surface for agriculture. Two thirds of agricultural land is used as pastures for grazing and one third for planting crops. If you divide the total area by total population we get an estimate for average agricultural land amount per person of about 7,000 square metres – that’s roughly the size of a football field. (0.7 hectares)” (3).

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has also taken a view on this:

“The minimum amount of agricultural land necessary for sustainable food security, with a diversified diet similar to those of North America and Western Europe (hence including meat), is 0.5 of a hectare per person. This does not allow for any land degradation such as soil erosion, and it assumes adequate water supplies. Very few populous countries have more than an average of 0.25 of a hectare. It is realistic to suppose that the absolute minimum of arable land to support one person is a mere 0.07 of a hectare–and this assumes a largely vegetarian diet, no land degradation or water shortages, virtually no post-harvest waste, and farmers who know precisely when and how to plant, fertilize, irrigate, etc. “[FAO, 1993]

So there is the range: a potential minimum of 0.07 hectares to a current global average (non-vegetarian) of 0.7 hectares.

To put this in a local context, the population of Constantine parish is estimated (for 2020) to be about 1,960 people (4). The area of Constantine parish is 2,765 hectares (5). So…to feed the people of Constantine at the vegetarian minimum 0.074 hectares per person would require about 145 hectares (about 5% of the parish land area). To feed the same people at the global meat-eating average of 0.7 hectares per person would require about 1370 hectares (about 50% of the parish area).

  1. https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/growing-enough-food-to-feed-a-family/
  2. https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/interview-john-jeavons-biointensive-methods/
  3. https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/how-much-land-feed-person
  4. https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/rm1ncgxk/2020-cornwall-parish-population-estimates.xlsx
  5. https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/33b10edfb1da4c22968d74fc87630be0/about

Reducing Food Waste

According to FareShare: “2m tonnes of food wasted across the food industry each year is still good when it is discarded”.

There are reduce waste food initiatives across Cornwall, food larders, community fridges, food kitchens, where this ideal has been activated in the steadily changing world of food production and distribution. Take what you need and give what you can.

The food shared for these initiatives comes from a variety of sources such as community sharing, supermarket giving and farm field gleaning. The main goal is to reduce food waste in our community. We can individually think of things to aid this ethos: grow your own vegetables and share the excess, buy locally, invite friends for a meal, make a treat for a one person household.

In Constantine we have started this sharing by running a small stall once a week of FREE FOOD (Wednesday 10am to 12 noon, beside the doctors’ surgery in Bowling Green) This often stays out longer than the 2 hours but is also very weather dependent! There is a plan to start a second day. We have been accepted into the Community Food Initiative (CFI) FareShare initiative which means we are offered food on a weekly basis from one of the local supermarkets. So we plan to place free food out on a Friday between 10am and 12 noon, as well as on Wednesdays.

The food stall on Bowling Green

Anybody can come and take what they need.

For fuller details of this initiative, please see the article by Ruth Painter (from which this post is extracted) on page 7 of the November / December / January issue of Constant Times:

https://constantinecornwall.com/wp-content/uploads/Volume-11-Issue-4-Vol-11-Sep-Oct-2022.pdf

Glebe Garden Update

On a sunny Saturday in mid-October supporters of the Glebe Garden gathered for a morning maintenance session. In the week before, Mic Talbot & Co. had carried out some substantial clearing of fallen trees and other obstructions to the paths in the garden. Much of the group work was involved in ‘processing’ the results of this clearance:

  • Using the sawn tree-trunk sections to define path edges
  • Clearing the paths of cut brambles and brushwood

    In addition, there was some significant ‘civil engineering’ work – reinforcing the edge of the upper path in one area that had started to slip down the slope.

    Study of the Glebe Garden archive (papers and photos from a former community project in the early 1990s) had turned out a plan of a large number of fruit trees planted then at the far end of the garden. There was a brief hunt for any survivors, and one medlar was identified, but given the current wilderness nature of this part of the garden, a more serious and determined search will be required!

    Transition’s Big Community Lunch

    This year’s Constantine Community Lunch on 1 October focused on giving people concerned about the energy crisis access to advice, information and help on how to reduce their consumption of gas and electricity as prices soar. Transition Constantine secured the participation of a number of advisory bodies, companies and individuals who spoke to a steady stream of enquirers during the day.

    • Katharine Lewis from Community Energy Plus was on hand to advise and provide helpful information on what Constantine householders can do to enjoy warmer, energy efficient homes as part of a more sustainable future.
    • Constantine-based architect and certified passive house designer Julian Mills of Studio Gather and his colleague Pete Dangerfield talked to people about how building design or retro-fitting of efficient modern insulation can make homes more comfortable to live in, and save on energy costs.
    • Simon Allen came to explain the various community energy schemes being run by Transition in Cornwall, and initiatives Transition Constantine have set up here, like solar panels on the Pre school, and how they can help to save energy and reduce its cost.
    • Rosie North from Transition was there to tell people about the initiative they have set up to help to reduce food waste, with a stall outside her house giving away free food that would otherwise go to landfill.
    • And last but not least, during the lunch our resident performance poet, Kerry Vincent, read three of her latest poems performed against a contemporary music track for added effect.

    All in all, a very useful and enjoyable Community Lunch which Transition Constantine hope to repeat. For a fuller account of the event (from which this summary is extracted), see the article by Peter Binns, Editor of Constant Times, beginning on page 2 of the November / December / January Issue:

    https://constantinecornwall.com/wp-content/uploads/Volume-11-Issue-4-Vol-11-Sep-Oct-2022.pdf

    The Big Lunch under way

    Glebe Garden update 2

    Bringing the Glebe Garden story up to date, after the inevitable long delay in sorting out a lease, Caitlin DeSilvey published the follow-up article below in the November / December / January issue of Constant Times:

    Community Plans for the Glebe

    Back in February when Transition Constantine updated readers on progress towards securing a lease for community use of the Glebe Woodland Garden, it seemed plausible that we would have an agreement in place by Spring. As with so many other plans and projects, it was not meant to be. The trees haven’t complained about the delay, though, and we have made very slow progress over the last months. The Constantine Enterprises Company (CEC) Board reviewed a revised version of the lease agreement at its October meeting. If all goes to plan, we should now have a lease signed by the end of the year. The hope is that we can celebrate community stewardship of the 2 acre parcel with a socially-distanced, staggered-shift work party on New Year’s Day. We already have about 50 individuals and households who have pledged support as Friends of the Glebe, and offered to pay a small annual subscription (£10 suggested, more welcome) to help cover the costs of the lease and the insurance. If you are interested in becoming a Friend and contributing to conversations about future plans, please email me at c.desilvey@gmail.com. Even before COVID-19 slowed down the world, our intention was to begin very gradually with light touch maintenance and restoration of some of the overgrown paths and features. We’ll take down the estate agent’s signs from Sentry Path and ensure access for all villagers into the future. The special place through the old granite gateposts will stay mostly as it is now, with a bit more care around the edges.

    Glebe Garden update 1

    January 2020 now seems to belong to another world, but it was then that the Transition group started making plans to rent the Glebe Garden, in the valley below the Church, on behalf of the community. To announce the plans, Caitlin DeSilvey published the article below in the February / March issue of Constant Times:

    Transition Bid to restore Glebe Garden

    The Glebe Garden is an area of 2.12 acres adjacent to the Brillwater stream, owned by the Diocese of Truro. It was developed in Victorian times by one of the village vicars and was later planted as an orchard by a local family. More recently, the lease was taken in 1989 by the Parish Council, and substantial restoration and maintenance was carried out in the early 1990s. The Parish Council lease lapsed some years back, and although a footpath through the land remains, it has largely reverted to an un-maintained woodland with informal public access. At the end of 2019 the Glebe land was advertised for sale or lease. After initial discussions, Transition Constantine submitted a tender on the 2 January dead-line with a tentative proposal to lease the land and secure continued public access. The Diocese has now confirmed that it is willing to offer the woodland to let to Transition Constantine, pending approval from the Constantine Enterprises Company (CEC) Board. Transition Constantine is interested to consult with the wider community to establish the scale of support and the focus of interest of those wishing to be involved, should the proposal go forward. Some general principles for future management are emerging from conversations with interested parties: there will be no commercial activity; the land will be lightly managed as a community woodland and wildlife reserve; any restoration work will be carried out gradually and incrementally, to preserve the special character of the place. Transition Constantine is currently gathering expressions of interest and support from local residents. If you would like more information, please email Robin Curtis: tmconstatine@btinternet.com.

    The Glebe Garden – as represented in “The Book of Constantine”

    Covid 19 impacts – Constantine Village Services Available

    While so much is closed down, many of the local suppliers are finding new ways to keep going, along with some new initiatives such as the Constantine food bank and help line. In no particular order, here’s the current list:

    1) The Spar is open and will take telephone orders and provide  deliveries.  (Kevin doing a great job).
    2) The Stores are “open” in the mornings until 1pm.  – in that you can request items at the door – and they will bring them to you.
    3) The Pizza Van (Slice) has returned on Saturdays – you can phone though an order and collect. Social distancing  at the van. (07546  496730)
    4) West Country Foods takes orders by phone – and delivers. Assemble what you want from www.bulkbuygroceries.co.uk  then ring your order through. (01326 331900)
    5) Sylvia Dunstan takes orders be phone for pork as per Farmers Market – deliveries organised / or by collection. (01326 340548)
    6) Dominique takes orders by phone for beef – as per Farmers Market, they deliver. (07891 052018 or 01326 340853)
    7)  Cider man takes orders online  www.gwealmellincider.co.uk/shop  and delivers.
    8) Helston Food Hub is operating: http://www.openfoodnetwork.org.uk/helston-local-food-hub/shop
    9) Stewart (Vicar)  is co-ordinating volunteering effort / food bank operation etc  (01326 340259 – mobile for texts only 07807 134606). He writes:
    “The food bank in Constantine has been open now for several weeks in the lower vestry (the room below the council chamber) on Wednesday mornings between 10 and 12am, It can also be accessed at any time through the help line. Whilst this facility cannot supply short life perishable items such as bread, milk, eggs, butter and such like, we are also issuing £20 food vouchers (funded by the vicars discretionary fund) which can be exchanged for these items at the Spar shop so that we can meet the needs of those most in need in our community. If people are self isolating we can also deliver food boxes to them.
    To date I have 103 volunteers who have signed up to the community help line there is an e.mail address for this as well as the pone and text numbers rev.stewart@stconstantine.plus.com
    10) Trengilly is delivering takeaway meals on Thursday and Friday evenings Orders taken Wed, Thur, Fri morning 10:30 – 12:30. Menu on Facebook page  (01326 340332)
    11) Lot of impressive growing activity at allotments.
    12) As we don’t know when the Farmer’s Markets will be up and running again, Sally (of Sally’s Cakes) says:

         “I will be baking on a Thursday for a Friday collection/local delivery, and on a Sunday for Monday. For deliveries further than Constantine I will have to charge a small fee.”

    Sally’s list of offerings and prices are on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Transition-Constantine-520422917968856/   Please email  (sallycakes@hotmail.co.uk) or DM for orders and collection/delivery information.

    Some extra things to add:
    • Natural Store (Falmouth/Helston) do deliveries to the village, currently £5.00 delivery charge or free if over £80.00
    • Virginia writes: “I also have sourdough bread starter if you are interested in making sourdough bread (best if you have a banetton and a cast iron dutch oven/large casserole for baking) (vrendell05@gmail.com)”
    • For anyone who was running dangerously low on compost  Trevena Cross Garden Centre are doing deliveries and Falmouth Garden Centre are doing  a Click and Collect service as well as prioritising the vulnerable, elderly and isolated with local deliveries.Although Garden Centres will probably be allowed to open soon, that compost will be flying out the doors.
    • Incredible Bulk are still visiting the village. Details can be found on their web site : https://www.mobilezerowasteshop.co.uk

    Helston Local Food Hub

    Produce from a number of local traders who have stalls at Helston Farmers’ Market is now available via the Helston Food Hub. To quote from the Food Hub’s website:

    “Helston Local Food Hub is a new way of shopping each week for your favourite local food that you can usually only buy once a month from Helston Farmers’ Market. This is like a ‘click and collect’ service you might be familiar with at a supermarket but using the Open Food Network website to trade from and drawing in produce from a number of local producers who currently all trade at Helston Farmers’ Market. You can filter the items by producer or by the product type e.g. ‘Dairy’ or ‘Bread and Baking’.

    We work in order cycles, opening up the online shop for a few days each week for you to shop from. We will then collect all the orders at the Old Cattle Market in Helston and give you a time slot to come and collect your order on the Saturday morning.”

    Here’s a link to the ‘shop’ page of the Helston Local Food Hub where there is much more detail about the service:

    https://www.openfoodnetwork.org.uk/helston-local-food-hub/shop

     

    Constant Times April / May issue – Digital Distribution

    Due to the movement restrictions associated with the Covid-19 epidemic, there will be no door-to-door distribution of the April / May issue of Constant Times. As always, the digital version of Constant Times is available as a pdf on the village website:

    https://constantinecornwall.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/CT-Vol-9-Issue-2.pdf

    We hope as many people as possible will take advantage of the digital version to read the village newspaper online. The cover page is illustrated below:

    Constantine Community Help Line Established

    In response to the Covid-19 epidemic, a number of village groups are collaborating to set up a support network for those alone or housebound, sheltering, undergoing self-isolation, or suffering from the infection itself. The aim is to provide day-to-day support with shopping, deliveries, prescription collection, pets and so on. The vicar, Rev. Stewart Turner, is providing the initial point of contact, with details in the flyer below.

    General Election 2019 – Transition Hosts Another Hustings

    Having hosted village hustings in 2015 and 2017, Transition Constantine once again rose to the challenge of organising the event and the candidates for the 2019 general election. As before, the hustings were held in the Tolmen Centre, with Monday 18th November providing the magic date when all the candidates diaries were in alignment. We were fortunate to have Kim Conchie, CEO of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce to chair the proceedings, which was held in ‘Any Questions’ format, with members of the audience writing out questions on arrival. These were sorted by Kim into topics (such as health, education, brexit, etc.), with the aim of getting a broad spread of questions. After each candidate had given a short ‘pitch’ for themself and their party, Kim asked the originators of the chosen questions to put them in person to the panel of candidates. This worked well, with the candidates receiving over an hour an a half of grilling, and being given a very fair opportunity to give their personal and party response. The candidates attending are listed in the final poster:

     

    Hustings Poster 2019

     

    Transition builds on success with another Community Day

    It can’t have escaped many villagers’ attention that Transition’s 2019 Community Day was held on Saturday 14 September. In thankfully beautiful weather, even more people than at last year’s event came to see and engage with the host of interests, causes and activities on show in the Church and at the Tolmen Centre during the day. Many also sat down for the Big Lunch in the Tolmen Centre garden where every last mouthful of the enormous spread of wholesome foods brought and shared by the diners disappeared! The day started with the Farmers’ Market in the Tolmen Centre whilst in the Church, W.I. refreshments, a Repair Café, Bosahan Woodland Management, Constantine Cottage Garden Society, a children’s clothes swap stall, Extinction Rebellion T-shirt printing, Climate Vision and a chance to try bell ringing in the tower saw a steady flow of interested visitors.

    Outside, 1 st Constantine Brownies were being creative with recycled plastic! Meanwhile back at the Tolmen Centre, the Big Village Lunch kicked off at 1.00pm with a fantastic spread of home-made and (mostly) wholesome fare brought by the diners for all to share in the garden under the specially-erected marquee, the brainwave of this year’s Community Day co-ordinator Laura Brittain-Long. Entertainment followed with poetry performance by our own Kerry Vincent, singing from the children of Constantine School, and an accompanied musical performance by Misri Dey.

    Whilst activities up at the Church continued into the afternoon, inside the Tolmen Centre representatives from a host of local organizations shared information with villagers about their aims and activities. Clean Ocean Sailing, Friends of the Earth and Transition Constantine all had stalls manned by their volunteers. Cornwall Council Waste Management Team “had lots of positive conversations” with Constantine folk – interested in the new waste management and recycling arrangements that arrive next year. Constantine Primary School and Pre-School had a chance to showcase their exciting outdoor education programmes – the Forest School, and the Bee Project.

    Daisy Chapman Gardner had a stand and had many conversations explaining the background to her recent conservation trip to Honduras. Charlotte Barry from the Camel Community Agriculture Project held a raffle of fresh vegetables on her stall which raised funds donated to Helston Food Bank. On their adjacent stall they explained the operation and function of Helston Food Bank, run by volunteers. They were accepting donations to the food bank – and recruited two new hands!

    Last but not least, Tracey Clowes raised valuable funds and pledges for the Tolmen Centre Restoration Project through its ‘sponsor a roof slate’ scheme. Lastly, a big thank-you to all the contributors and volunteers who helped make the day such a success: a day worth remembering, and one to be repeated next year!

    (Reproduced from Constant Times Volume 8, Issue 5; authored by Robin Curtis)

    Constantine Pre-school Going Solar

    In 2015 Transition Constantine was working with Constantine Pre-school to raise funds for a solar PV system to be installed on the pre-school roof. This was done in partnership with the 10:10 Solar Schools organisation. The funding target was not achieved and the project was suspended – but the idea never went away. At the turn of 2018, it became clear that Transition Constantine had a source of funds available that could be used to revive the project. With the solar PV Feed In Tariff no longer being available after March 2019, the project was rapidly relaunched with the support of the pre-school committee. Things then moved very quickly, with ZLC Energy engaged to install a 4kW system over the February half-term holiday. A set of timelapse photos of the installation was obtained and can be seen in the movie: “Constantine Pre-school Going Solar”:

    Second Helping For Transition’s Big Lunch

    Following the success of the communal lunch on the Community Day last October, Transition Constantine held the first of what it hopes will be quarterly Big Lunches on Saturday 12 January.

    The people of the Constantine area didn’t let them down and, as before, the Tolmen Centre was packed with families, young and old, who tucked into a huge variety of home-made dishes and delights brought by the diners themselves for others to enjoy. The atmosphere was all the more enjoyable as local band Akoustek played and sang a live set throughout the meal.

    The next Big Lunch will be announced in due course. Transition would love to see even wider village participation so if you haven’t been already, do come (and it’s free!).

    (Reposted from an article by the editor of the Constant Times (February / March edition, 2019)

    Constantine Community Day – Likes & Dislikes

    At Constantine Community Day on Saturday 13th October 2018, one of the activities was to gather residents views about Constantine. As part of this, people were invited to suggest aspects of Constantine life that they liked and disliked. These have been collected together and documented on the Community Day page on the menu above.

    Constantine Community Day – The Challenges

    At the recent Constantine Community Day there were a couple of activities that prompted people to reflect on how they might like things to be different in the future. One was a ‘wishing tree’ where wishes for change or improvement could be hung. Another was a display about Constantine in the past and present, that also invited people to say what they would like to see in Constantine in the future (with a timescale of the next 10-20 years). The contributions from both have been consolidated and summarized below:

    Atmosphere and Community Spirit

    • More willing volunteers
    • Volunteer Register – people available to help others in village when needed – Seconded!
    • A Christmas Show!
    • More community days *****
    • Befriending system

    Services

    • Community cafe like Saracens’ plate in Penryn
    • A community cafe/restaurant – Seconded
    • Nice to have a café with young and old
    • More inter generational events
    • Shops *****
    • More shops (child)
    • Community swop shop
    • Community run pub
    • A Post office counter ******
    • Access to local, good organic food.
    • More local food – veg & dairy available to buy in the village
    • Ability to buy milk from our local farms
    • Village Policeman!!
    • Community composting collection/delivery point – bike plus trailer

    Outdoors:

    • More flowers in public spaces
    • More people taking up allotments 

    Transport

    • Village community with bus charity
    • Community bus for elderly/young families for shopping and recreational trips – run by volunteers and funded by events
    • Concerned that when no longer can drive that will be stuck indoors
    • More connection to the other nearby villages
    • An affordable, responsive public transport network **
    • Minibus services to Helston/Falmouth with more frequency
    • More transport routes in outlying areas
    • Would like to have a bus into Truro
    • Cycling routes from Constantine to other villages/towns
    • Cycling routes ***
    • Buggy park, a buggy collective
    • Traffic control in Main Street
    • Enforcing 20mph limit **
    • Road signs need cleaning
    • Electric car charging points **
    • New gate on footpath between Church and Bridge

    Housing

    • Community affordable eco-housing with integrated care for the elderly **
    • Somewhere to live in Constantine for older people nearing the end of their lives
    • Community provision for elderly so they can stay in the village – sheltered housing/ Old people’s home **
    • Would like a place – residential for the elderly with café for all as part of it
    • More people looking after older members of their family in their own homes
    • More affordable housing **
    • Proper low cost sustainable housing
    • Affordable eco co housing/ co operative **

    Climate Change/Emergency Plans

    • That action towards a just transition for post carbon proceeds now & urgently
    • Plastic free Constantine
    • A more sustainable future
    • Community energy project
    • Idea re coping with extreme weather events
    • Emergency plan for extreme weather events
    • More sunshine (!)

    The items with asterisks reflect a number of responses on the same topic. Transition Constantine will be discussing how to take action on these ideas, particularly in relation to the desire for more community days and more affordable housing.

    Constantine Community Day

    On Saturday 13th October Transition Constantine held a ‘Community Day’ in the village. This grew out of ideas shared at a meeting of Transition groups at the Tremough Campus in Penryn. The Sustainable St. Agnes group described how they had taken to having a few regular, annual events. The aim was to put a marker in the village calendar (alongside all the other events) for sustainability. The Transition Constantine group decided to give the idea a go, and a sub-group debated the form such an event might take. It was decided to hold it on a Farmers’ Market day, merge it with the successful ‘Big Lunch’ that had been held before, and also combine it with various community and Transition themed stalls and activities. The result was ‘The ConConstantine Community Day Posterstantine Community Day’.

    Despite the adverse weather conditions (which meant that some outdoor activities had to be cancelled) it was felt to be a very successful event. It began with the Farmers’ Market in the morning, followed by ‘The Big Get-Together’ – a pot luck lunch for everyone to share; the rear of the Tolmen Centre was packed out for this. During the lunch, the Trengilly Singers gave a fine performance of a range of enjoyable pieces. This lunch was followed by a mix of events and activities spread across the Church Hall and the Tolmen Centre. Some of these were on Transition themes and activities, such as the Constant Times (village newspaper) and Who’s Where (the village directory), plus some focus on what people were looking for in the community in the future.

    There were also local stalls such as those run by the Church and the WI, and a theme of plastic awareness, with representatives from Plastic Free Falmouth, Falmouth Marine Conservation, and Ocean Clean Sailing from Gweek. There were many activities for children, with a quiz trail, face painting, and stalls run by the Scouts, Brownies and the Pre-school. We were also pleased to be able to host the Falmouth Repair Cafe in the Church Hall, who were able to perform a number of successful repairs, while raising awareness of the importance of repair, as opposed to simply disposing of non-functional items. The Ambos Co-housing Collective were also represented, promoting a new approach to affordable housing. A display of electric bikes was to be seen in the Church Hall, with an electric car also on display at the Tolmen Centre. The Museum was open during the afternoon events, receiving a good number of visitors. We will hold an evaluation session in due course, to learn as much as we can from what happened – to help the planning of next year’s event!

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    The last horse-powered farm

    Having a week’s holiday in Northumbria recently, it turned out that a farm very near to where we were staying is reported as being the last farm in the UK to be worked by horses. This is Sillywrea farm near Langley-on-Tyne. Walking a footpath through the farm I could feel there was something different about the field of barley we were walking alongside; it dawned on me that the difference was the absence of tractor ‘tramlines’ running across the field. Walking on we passed by the farmyard, seeing horse drawn equipment –  a roller and trailer, and later saw two horses with hay rakes at work in the fields. The farm has featured in various articles, including:

    “The land where heavy horses reign supreme” (2009)

    And a book: “The Last  Horsemen” (Charles Bowden, 2011 [Andre Deutsch Ltd.])

    It’s been very quiet…

    You may notice that there has been little activity on the Transition Constantine website for a long time. Since setting up the TC Facebook page, most of our communications activity has happened there. Very many people use Facebook, and its ‘push’ mechanism means that no-one has to go out of their way to look for a specific website.

    Facebook is good for getting attention, but less suitable for providing directly the ‘longer read’, where someone is interested in a particular topic. We are going to try using the Transition Constantine website for providing a bit more depth, via links from Facebook posts. So if someone is interested, they can easily follow the link to the TC website; if not, they can easily pass it by without being overloaded with unwanted information.

    Potential for hydro power?

    There are a number of streams running through Constantine parish and out to the Helford river.  One with perhaps the largest catchment area flows out to Polwheveral Creek.  Given the rain in recent days there is a good flow of water at present:

    Only five or six valleys along at Helston, Western Hydro Ltd. has installed a 200kW hydroelectric generator on the River Cober:

    Western Hydro powerhouse, River Cober
    Western Hydro powerhouse, River Cober

    Although there’s a smaller flow here at Polwheveral, there may still be potential for a small hydro scheme?

    Eggs from rare breed hens

    A wonderful assortment of eggs from rare breed hens – thanks to Fox Farm Growers (near Hayle), via Constantine Farmers’ Market.

    Rare breed hens’ eggs

    This Changes Everything

    Outside the Tolmen Centre

    To help raise awareness of the upcoming COP21 climate conference in Paris, Transition Constantine organised in mid-November a screening of the film ‘This Changes Everything’ at the Tolmen Centre in Constantine.

    The film is, of course, associated with the book of the same name by Naomi Klein, and it provides some intense coverage of various groups around the world on the front lines of ‘Blockadia’.  From tar sand development in Canada, through gold mining in Greece, and coal power station development in India, the film exposed the impact of global corporations on communities, climate and the natural world.

    As an event, it was well supported, with over 30 attending and many new faces in the audience.

    Fund-raising for the Pre-school solar roof

    A wonderful total of over 200 supporting votes was achieved in the pre-school’s bid for a share of the Marks & Spencer Community Energy Fund. Sadly, this wasn’t enough to over-top the sheer weight of numbers from other projects in a first-past-the-post voting system.  In Cornwall the funding went to the Hayle swimming pool project.  So, the pre-school’s fund-raising continues, and the traditional fund-raising ‘thermometer’ has been re-erected (somewhat refurbished) at the school.

    Constantine Community Land Trust – Launch Event

    On Tuesday 28th April the Constantine Community Land Trust will be holding the LAUNCH EVENT of the new organisation (and it will incorporate the AGM of the initial set-up organisation).  For the new organisation, the meeting aims to:

    • Adopt a constitution
    • Elect a board of directors
    • Discuss prospective sites
    • Recruit new CLT members

    The meeting will be held at the Tolmen Centre in Constantine, with doors opening at 7:00 pm for a start at 7:30 pm (drinks and nibbles available).

    For more information and an agenda, see:

    http://constantinecommunitylandtrust.co.uk/

    The Lost Posts

    In the course of a migration to a new hosting service, the most recent posts to the Transition Constantine website went missing. To give a flavour of what happened in the last year or so, here below are some new posts to summarise some of the key events (and regular activities) of the Transition Constantine year.

    The lost posts – Constantine Hustings

    Poster for the village hustings

    What would an election be without the village hustings? With the national election due in early May, members of Transition Constantine (working with other members of the local community) helped to organise an event at the Tolmen Centre to which all the candidates were invited. Rather to our surprise, all six of them agreed to come. Even more to our surprise, the audience was over 100 strong, filling the guild room of the Tolmen Centre to near capacity. The event was designed to follow the Radio 4 ‘Any Questions’ format, in which each candidate gives an answer to a question placed by a member of the audience. According to one of the candidates, Constantine was the only village in the Camborne & Redruth constituency to hold its own hustings.

    The lost posts – Apple Tree Planting

    As an enhancement to the recently re-equipped play area in Constantine, members of the group planted one sunny Saturday sixteen good-sized apple trees in clumps around the area. Hearts initially sank on being told the size of the hole that would be needed for each tree, but fortunately the soil proved to be quite easily dug (!). Some remarkable spade-work saw all the trees planted in a morning.

    The lost posts – Energyshare Awards Event

    Following the success of the ‘crowdfunding’ bid for local support, we were informed that the Constantine Community Windpower project had moved on to the next stage of the awards process, and the project team were invited to an award ceremony at the Eden Project, along with all the other projects that had passed this first hurdle. On the night, to our delight, our bid for funding was awarded in full (£10,000) – the funds intended to cover all the expenses needed to see the project through to a successful outcome to a planning application. The photo is from the Western Morning News article about the event, with the full article here.

    Group photo at the Energyshare Awards

    The lost posts – Constantine Community Wind Project

    Despite a long-standing interest in pursuing a community windpower project, all the best sites in the parish seemed ‘blighted’ by alleged interference with local radar systems, especially those at nearby Culdrose. A number of small local wind turbines have been approved, though, and this gave us hope when the group was offered, as a corporate donation, two slightly used Proven 6kW turbines. The offer coincided with the prospect of a grant award from Energyshare, which was being made available to community groups in Cornwall. A ‘bidding’ process for the grants was established via the Crowdfunder website, where each project made its ‘pitch’ on the website and recruited supporting votes. The website image below shows the Transition Constantine project page – and the magnificent total of 128 supporters. We were never quite sure how the success of the bid was evaluated – but that level of support got us through to the next stage of the bidding!

    The lost posts – Pre-school Solar PV Project

    Several years ago we experienced the solar ‘gold rush’ into Cornwall, when proposals for solar farms were springing up everywhere – and one of them was for a site in Constantine parish. It provoked much local opposition, and a large part of the objections seemed due to the fact that the project was being promoted by large, foreign-owned corporations, with most of the benefits expected to disappear out of the country. Conversations with objectors indicated that a small-scale, community-owned project might meet a quite different reception.

    Since then the group has been looking for an appropriate site, preferably a community building of some kind, to test this out. The primary school would have been an obvious choice, but sadly due to the PFI ownership a roof mounted solar PV project would be out of the question. The next door pre-school has a much smaller roof, but would otherwise be a possibility for a small-scale system. Discussions with the pre-school committee indicated that they would be interested in pursuing such a project, and that the FIT-related income would be of value. Various funding options were considered, but in the end an application was made to the 10:10 Solar Schools programme, and the project was accepted onto the scheme for the 2014-2015 academic year.

    The lost posts – Farmers’ Market

    The Transition group runs a farmers’ market in the Church Hall on the second Saturday of every month – and it’s been going long enough now to be almost an institution in its own right. A good range of local produce is always available, with some slight variability in stalls from month to month. Once a year, in August, we migrate to the Tolmen Centre, to make way for the summer exhibition in the Church Hall of the Constantine Art Society. The photo here shows Andrea, from Fox Farm in Gluval, with a tremendous display of vegetables outside the Tolmen Centre.

    Andrea’s vegetables at Constantine Farmers’ Market

    The lost posts – Screening “The UK Gold”

    Poster for “The UK Gold”

    One of the group’s occasional activities is the screening of a film relevant to our interests and aims. In June 2014 we organised the showing of ‘The UK Gold’ – a documentary about the role of the UK (and the City of London in particular) in global tax dodging. According to The Guardian: “The kind of film to get the blood boiling and the steam hissing out of your ears – an ambitious and admirably clear assault.” I suspect our audience agreed with that assessment.

    The lost posts – Constant Times

    ConstantTimes

    Members of the Transition group helped to revive the village newspaper when its longstanding editor was obliged to give up to health problems. It now has a new editorial and production team, but members of the Transition group help with the bimonthly ritual of the ‘stapling and folding party’. Some 750 copies are collated, stapled, folded and boxed, with the accompaniment of food, drink and much putting of the world to rights. New occupational heath problems sometimes surface – though I’m not sure that ‘stapler’s wrist’ has been fully characterised by medical science…

    Tool Library Survey

    In issue 5 of the Constant Times Transition Constantine announced plans to consider the viability of a tool library where villagers could share those incredibly useful items of equipment that are only ever periodically needed. It is hoped that such a village resource might save unnecessary commercial hire or duplicate purchase of kit as well as encouraging people to get to know each other a bit better.

    Thank you to all those who contributed to the survey at the October Farmers Market and for all the kind offers of donations or lends to help set up the scheme. As a result we have begun to piece together those items that seem most popular.

    In order to get a better idea of what might items might be most useful, we would be very pleased if more people could complete the survey.  Please consider the list below and use the comments link (at the top right of the page) to tell us your top five items (the ones you most wish you could borrow).

    Construction Leisure
    Cement Mixer Boat
    Scaffold Tower Boat Trailer
    Long (extendable) Ladder Canoe
    Stepladder Gas BBQ
    Acroprops Chiminea
    Long handled sledge hammer Gazebo
    Crow bar Tent
    Tile cutter Camp Beds
    Block & Tackle Camping Stoves
    Kango Drill/Big SDS Gym Equip/Weights
    Flood Light  
    Sash Window Clamps Domestic
    Lathe Breadmaker
    Generator Food processor
      Juicer
    Garden/Outside Steam Cleaner
    Garden Tool Bank (spades, forks, etc.?) Carpet Washer
    Petrol/ride on mower Wet vacuum cleaner
    General Purpose Trailer Wallpaper stripper
    Pressure Washer
    Drain Rods Domestic Emergency
    Long reach branch cutter / Shrub cutter Water Pump
    Large band saw / tree saw Dehumidifier
    Strimmer Heater
    Hedge Trimmer Sand bags
    Woodchipper  
    Garden Roller Infants
    Saw Horse Travel Cot
    Post Driver High Chair
    Log Splitter Car seat
    Rotavator Stair gate
    Leaf Blower  
       
    Mechanical Clothes Library
    Van Everyone who joins contributes
    Trailer  
    Car Inspection Ramp Book Library
    Trolley Jack  
    Engine Winch  
    Roof rack/roof box Misc
    Battery Charger Projector
    Long lengths of rope Sat Nav
    Large wrench Wheelchair

    Spotted in Berlin…

    Wandering around Berlin recently I came across a clutch of EVs from the Car2Go stable, all lined up and plugged in to on-street chargers.  Car2Go operate a membership-based car hire scheme (you can hire by the minute, if needed) and have a presence in a number of European cities.  I tried to visualise a similar scene in Constantine, but I couldn’t make it look quite so orderly….

    Bananas in Constantine

    Yes! Bananas growing in Constantine!  OK, they’re on on the relatively hardy Japanese banana (Musa Basjoo), and I’m not expecting that they’ll be edible, but it’s still quite exciting.  Apparently, once they reach a certain size, and if they experience more than a year without a frost, they are likely to flower.  And, of course, the photo:

    Bananas in Constantine
    Bananas in Constantine

    Climate Week Programme

    Transition Constantine will be supporting the UK’s national Climate Week with a programme of events throughout the week.   These will include:

    • Activities at Constantine Primary School
    • A climate-themed pub quiz at the Trengilly Wartha Inn
    • A screening of the acclaimed film ‘Chasing Ice’ at the Tolmen Centre
    • A ‘Making Day’ at the Tolmen Centre
    • The first Constantine Farmers’ Market of 2013, with information on the Green Deal available

    For details and times of events, please see the full programme below:

    A Facebook page for Transition Constantine

    Transition Constantine has set up a Facebook page as a way of keeping anyone who shares the group’s interests up to date with what’s going on in the world, locally and globally.  There is now a permanent link to the TC page in the ‘Links’ list to the right, and the full address is:

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transition-Constantine/520422917968856

    Satish Kumar on Radio 3

    Not being a habitual Radio 3 listener, it was by chance earlier in the week that I heard the presenter, Sarah Walker, talking with Satish Kumar (interspersed with his music choices) during her ‘Essential Classics’ programme.  Satish Kumar has been editor of ‘Resurgence’ magazine for decades.  His presence on the programme was apparently associated with the International Day of Peace on Friday 21st September.  He has been appearing on all the programmes this week, talking about his life and beliefs.  Those local to Constantine may already have heard him speak at the ‘Gather’ festival last autumn at Goongillings.  For anyone else who would like to hear him, the programmes are available on iPlayer:

    Monday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mnwzx/Essential_Classics_Monday_Sarah_Walker/

    Tuesday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mny5s/Essential_Classics_Tuesday_Sarah_Walker/

    Wednesday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mny6f/Essential_Classics_Wednesday_Sarah_Walker/

    Thursday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mny72/Essential_Classics_Thursday_Sarah_Walker/

    Satish appears about 1 hour 30 minutes into each programme, in a half hour slot.  There’s still time to catch the live programme tomorrow!

    The Rebel Brewing Company in Penryn

    Coincidentally, with the most recent post being about micro-breweries, I found myself yesterday at the Rebel Brewing Company in Penryn.  I had been trying to track down a local source of malt, since stocks of homebrew were starting to reach seriously low levels.  I first tried Kernow Grow & Brew, also in Penryn, who don’t currently supply malt, but they put me on to the Rebel Brewing Company, saying that they would be happy to supply malt, yeast and hops to home brewers.  And so it turned out.

    Rob Lowe at The Rebel Brewing Company

    I met Rob Lowe, manager and brewer, and was interested to hear about the business and their plans for a move to a much larger unit in the Kernick Business Park in Penryn, sometime in the next couple of months. Particularly interesting (from the Transition perspective) are the plans to make the new unit as resource-conserving as possible.  Rob says they are aiming to install LED low energy lighting, make use of harvested rainwater, and use anaerobic digestion to process what might normally be viewed as ‘waste’ products from brewing, i.e. the spent grain and hops.  I’ll hope to follow up with more information on this in due course.  Before I left I grabbed the photo-opportunity with Rob, and made use of their off licence to acquire some bottles of Barrowboys Bitter and 80/- Scotch Ale.

    Micro-breweries in Cornwall

    I was asked the other day if I could think of any local micro breweries.  I ran through a few that came to mind straight away, but was left with the feeling that there are quite a few more that I had forgotten or didn’t know about.  Fortunately, there is a (nearly) comprehensive list of micro-breweries in Cornwall on the Cornwall in focus website.  Lots of detail there: locations, contact details, brewers, beers made, and even recommendations.  It does, though cover the whole of Cornwall.  Relatively local ones on the list are:

    • Atlantic Brewery (Newquay)
    • Blue Anchor Brewery (Helston)
    • Cornish Chough Brewery (Trethvas Farm, The Lizard)
    • Coastal Brewery (Redruth)
    • Driftwood (Spars) Brewery (St. Agnes)
    • Hogswood Brewery (St. Agnes)
    • Lizard Ales (St. Keverne)
    • The Rebel Brewing Co. (Penryn)
    • St. Ives Brewery (St. Ives)

    One not on the list linked to above is the Wooden Hand Brewery, heading up towards east Cornwall at Grampound Road.

    Conservative thinking

    It is in the nature of the internet that one can wander far from an initial path.  I was pursuing a reported endorsement of the new Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, by Nigel Lawson (now Baron Lawson of Blaby).  I was somewhat disturbed by that, given that Nigel Lawson has a reputation as a climate sceptic.  He is a founder and chair of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, whose tag is “Restoring balance and trust to the climate debate”, though the organisation seems primarily engaged in sowing doubt and distrust about climate science.  It was news to me, though obviously well known generally, that (a) Nigel Lawson is the father of Dominic Lawson (a columnist for The Independent and The Sunday Times) who writes from a similarly sceptical perspective, and (b) Dominic Lawson is married to Rosa, sister of Christopher Monckton (who has also become prominent as a climate change sceptic).  All this is really a by-the way to the fact the these enquiries led me to the DeSmogBlog (dedicated to “clearing the pollution that clouds climate science”).  This site has some interesting mini-bios of both Nigel Lawson and Christopher Monckton (amongst many others!).

    I discovered on DeSmogBlog a number of articles by Chris Mooney on the question of why there is a tendency for conservatives to be anti-science and distrustful of scientific evidence.  He has explored this theme in recent books: ‘The Republican War on Science‘ and ‘The Republican Brain’.  These draw on recent psychological research to suggest that conservatives have different personality types and psychological needs compared with those identified as ‘liberals’.  Grossly simplifying, he suggests that conservatives resist scientific evidence not because they are stupid, but rather because they are psychologically unable to accept ideas that conflict with deeply held prior beliefs.  A rich vein to explore.

    Chough, Chough

    Not really Transition-related, this one, apart from being a symbol of ‘localness’!  Walking from the Lizard lighthouse yesterday towards Housel Bay, I passed a couple of Choughs foraging in the field, and couldn’t resist the photo.

    Choughs near the Lizard lighthouse

    Charles Secrett: UK green groups must go on the offensive

    Another piece in the recent Resurgence & Ecologist worth noting.  Charles Secrett (former Director of Friends of the Earth) feels that “the UK’s green groups have hit a new low: virtually invisible, largely ineffective and mostly ignored by both government and the electorate.”  He expresses frustration that the major organisations (CPRE, FoE, Greenpeace, RSPB, WWF, etc.) have major resources in term of income, membership, skilled staff and so on, yet they operate in an uncoordinated way and seem to have lost their campaigning edge.

    “Campaign staff are no longer community organisers.  They sit in offices.  They are expert researchers who write elegant press releases and reports that 99.99% never read.  They are policy wonks, tweeters, media commentators and lobbyists, happiest in front of a computer, and only ever leave their desks for conferences, interviews or internal meetings”.

    He draws attention to the impact on government plans when the National Trust mobilised its membership in opposition to plans to ease planning restrictions.  He proposes that the green NGOs must forge alliances, pool skills and resources, develop a shared agenda with inspiring, convincing and practical policies for reforming the economy.  All this coupled with jargon-free positive messages about how life could be different and better in a sustainable world (a recognition that doom and gloom scenarios may well be accurate but they tend to provoke fingers in the ears rather than inspire positive action).  But above all, his priority is for NGOs to “Get out of the office and hit the road”.  His conclusion:

    “Most importantly of all, it’s time for NGOs and activists to move from the defensive to the offensive and collectively promote a compelling vision about what life can be like, with wealth created and shared, markets working for people and Nature, communities empowered, and politicians honest and capable.”

     

    EV Charging Stations in Cornwall

    Having personally sighted only one electric vehicle charging point in Cornwall (at the Eden Project), I picked up on an article in the most recent West Briton (6/9/2012).  It reported how a B&B at Penhallow (Homestead Farm) had installed a charging station for guests – and the equipment had been given to them by Zero Carbon World.  This organisation is a registered charity that donates charging stations to hotels, B&Bs, and other leisure oriented businesses.  Any business that takes up the offer must still pay for the installation, but all the equipment is free of charge.  Zero Carbon World’s website has a searchable map giving access to a national database of charging stations.  Nearest one to Constantine appears to be on the Trelowarren estate.

    Zero Carbon World, founded by Kevin Sharpe, states that it aims ” …to clear the confusion, bureaucracy and profiteering surrounding decarbonisation.  It is our vision to live in a sustainable and equitable decarbonised society.”

     

    Adelaide heading for sustainability

    After the sober content of the last post, some good news from the latest issue of Resurgence (now Resurgence & Ecologist).  In one article, Herbert Girardet describes the steps the Australian city of Adelaide has taken towards becoming a sustainable city.  In 2003 he was invited by the city to be a ‘thinker in residence’ focusing on the ‘greening’ of Adelaide. He and colleagues produced a report detailing a number of recommendations.  In November 2011 he returned to see what had happened as a result of the proposals made.  He says that Adelaide City Council “had taken many truly remarkable initiatives in the previous nine years”.  Picking a few plums from the list of achievements:

    • Over 26% of electricity is produced by wind turbines and solar PV panels
    • Of 600,000 houses, 120,000 have been fitted with PV panels
    • Solar hot water systems are manadatory for all new buildings
    • 15% reduction in CO2 emissions since 2000
    • 3 million trees planted
    • 20,000 hectares of land near Adelaide used for vegetable and fruit crops

    The full report on his Adelaide visit can be downloaded from here.

     

    Another week in links…

    First of all, some comments by Professor Sir Bob Watson (Chief Scientist at DEFRA) reported in a BBC News item.  His view is that any hope of restricting the global average temperature rise to 2 degrees C is now “out of the window”.  He urged the Chancellor, George Osborne, to back the UK’s efforts to cut CO2 emissions.

    Then, George Monbiot going ballistic in his blog, putting the news about the record arctic sea ice melt in context with (a) demands for a new third runway at Heathrow, and (b) the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida being delayed a day by the severity of Hurricane Isaac.

    Finally, a Comment in “Nature” by Chris Rapley, Professor of Climate Science at University College London, about what to do when there is no meeting of minds despite the appearance of rational discussion.  He describes a discussion with a senior UK politician in which the response to his forecasts was a dismissal of serious outcomes and a belief that unregulated markets will accomplish all that is required.  He quotes the economist J.K Galbraith: ““faced with the choice of changing one’s mind and with proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” The more an individual has invested in their position, the more strongly they will seek to justify it.”.  His conclusion is that scientists need to become much more sophisticated in their approaches to communication, inevitably adopting a more ‘political’ role. The article in Nature has restricted access, but a response by Roger Pielke senior throws further light on the issues raised in the article.

    Transition Initiatives Daily

    This on-line ‘newspaper’ recently came to my attention (thanks, Robin).  It’s a collection of news items that are broadly transition themed, sourced from a variety of media.  It is styled (as the title indicates) the ‘Transition Initiatives Daily‘.  Quite a mixed bag, and global in scope, not just UK items.  It seems worth keeping an eye on, so I have included it as a further link in the list to the right of the page.

    Micro dairies

    At the last TC meeting there was some discussion about the possibility of a ‘micro dairy’  (along the lines of a micro brewery) given the current issues with dairy farming and milk prices.  There are some examples out there – but I didn’t find that many.  A little investigation turned up the North Aston Dairy featured in this grassrootsfood web article.  The same Oxfordshire dairy was featured in a BBC Radio 4 Food Programme episode back in 2010. This is well worth a listen as it gives a good insight into the difficult economics of dairy farming.  Another example is the Maple Field Milk dairy set up as a Community Interest Company with a grant from the Prince’s Countryside Fund.  A case study about it was published by ‘Making Local Food Work’.  The Maple Field Milk example is also of interest because it seems to be associated with the Campaign for Real Farming, promoted by Colin Tudge.  Finally, I came across an article in Spectator Scoff (also from 2010) on the possibilities of micro dairies.  This article begins as follows:

    “Why is it that we are prepared to pay over £3 for a pint of lager, £2 for a cappuccino and £1.50 for a litre of bottled water, but balk if a litre of milk costs more than 75p?”

     

    Electric vehicles in Florence

    Visiting Florence recently, I was struck by the number of electric vehicles whirring about the city – particularly in the central area.  The photo shows a small parking spot solely for electric vehicles just off the Piazza della Signoria.

    Electric vehicles in Florence
    Electric vehicles in Florence

     

    Also in Florence, I encountered my first filling station equipped with charging points for electric cars.  Driving in, I glanced at a set of  ‘pumps’ with long thin blue ‘pipes’ attached, and wondered what kind of fuel they were dispensing – and then the penny dropped…

    The week in links

    A selection of reports that have come my way this week:

    …The head of the International Energy Agency warns that “The chance of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius this century is getting slimmer and slimmer”:

    http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/energy-summit-iea-idINDEE84F0F120120516

    …An announcement of the new book “A Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters”, by Mark Henderson:

    http://geekmanifesto.wordpress.com/about/

    …A campaign by Avaaz (directed at the recent G8 summit) to publicise the $1 trillion of public money worldwide currently subsidising the fossil fuel industry:

    http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?cl=1809464540&v=14364

    …A web chat about the Desertec foundation, aiming to build links between Europe and North Africa to provide access to North Africa’s solar energy resources:

    http://gu.com/p/37k99/tw

    …A post on Carbon Commentary – “Food versus fuel: a debate that has only one possible conclusion”:

    http://www.carboncommentary.com/2012/05/17/2354

    …A post from ‘Think Progress’ on Jonathan Koomey’s new book, Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs, which is said to offer a concise, compelling analysis of why innovative entrepreneurial approaches are needed in order to limit global climate change, and to improve the quality of life while doing so.

    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/22/487823/cold-cash-cool-climate-innovation-solve-climate-crisis/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

    …And finally – for those who like their gloom laid on with a trowel – an article from ‘Scientific American’: “Apocalypse Soon: Has Civilization Passed the Environmental Point of No Return?”

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=apocalypse-soon-has-civilization-passed-the-environmental-point-of-no-return

    Constantine Community Library

    Many people have collections of books sitting on their shelves gathering dust.  Most people are happy to lend books to people they know.  Lots of people would be glad to borrow a book rather than pay for a copy of their own.  This state of affairs brought on a ‘light bulb’ moment recently for Robin Curtis, chairman of Transition Constantine.  Why not publish a list of books available to borrow, with details of who has them, and then leave the potential borrower to contact the lender and arrange the loan?  Within a small community the personal contact should create a certain level of trust and obligation, and it would be an opportunity to meet new people with similar interests.

    A pilot online ‘library’ has been set up as a trial.  The current collection of books available is broadly on ‘Transition’ themes, but it could be expanded to cover any number of subject areas.  The only limit is the number of people participating and the books they are willing to lend out.  The library is now listed under the ‘Links’ section on the right hand side of the page, or from this article just go to Constantine Community Library.

    You can search the catalogue by subject or author (or just download a full list of what’s available).  Selecting an individual book will bring up the contact details of the person who has the book (phone or email).  It’s then up to you to make contact and arrange the collection.  If anyone else wants to participate in the scheme and offer books for loan, please contact Chris Hussey (340007 or chris.r.hussey *at* gmail.com).

    Cider making for fun and profit

    I stumbled recently across a quirk of the regulations on payment of excise duty arising from the production of cider.  Apparently any individual can brew and sell up to 7000 litres of cider a year without being liable to pay excise duty.  Surprising, but it seems to be confirmed by the Customs & Excise website under the ‘Can I claim exemption from registration’ section.  It seems to have set that way to allow small producers to get a foothold in the market, while not allowing them to become rich at the government’s expense.  Any person wishing to take advantage of this would still need to apply for a personal license  to sell any cider produced ( with more information here ).  Any cider orchards remaining in the parish?

    Flour mills in Cornwall

    Now that we have baking on a commercial basis (Crumbs Bakery) in the village again, I found myself wondering where the nearest flour mill is.  My initial suspicion was that there might not be a single flour mill in Cornwall, but some brief investigation turned up a handful:

    The Cornish Mill and Bakehouse (near Newquay)

    Cotehele Mill (far end of the county, near Calstock)

    Zennor Mill (part of the Wayside Museum at Zennor)

    Two of these are operated as part of a ‘heritage’ activity rather than on a purely commercial basis. Does anyone know of any others?

     

    Sign of the times?

    While visiting friends in Norfolk recently, I found myself marvelling at the Autumn Agricultural Review, produced as a quarterly supplement by the Eastern Daily Press.  This is clearly aimed at the regular farming community, yet within its 24 pages I found:

    • 7 adverts relating to farm-generated renewable energy (3 of them full page)
    • 2 articles on electricity generation via anaerobic digesters
    • 1 article on biomass-fuelled generation
    • 1 article on wind generation
    • 1 article explaining FITs
    • 1 article about the resurgence of the East Anglian native breed of pig (the Large Black)
    • 1 article focusing on the success of a farmer breeding Red Poll cattle (another native East Anglian breed)

    What’s going on?

    Gather at Scot’s Quay – Moved the Planet along ?

    Saturday 24th September saw a gathering of folk in the fields adjacent to Scot’s Quay to mark 45 years of Resurgence magazine and local support for the international 350.org event Moving Planet .   In line with Satish Kumar’s famous multi-thousand mile walks in pursuit of peace – Transition Constantine organised a walk  from the village down to Scot’s Quay – ably led by children from the school carrying flags they had made earlier in the week.  The Gather event included a number of musicians and bands, tree listening, charcoal buying, natural paint making, and dance – all leading up to a session with Satish Kumar being interviewed by Leo Hickman of the Guardian – on Satish’s wide ranging and inspirational thoughts over the last 45 years.  During the afternoon everyone took part in creating two large scale human banners for 350.org – shortly to appear on the Moving Planet website.

    Green Johanna composter still available

    Last year Constantine school had a successful assembly about home food waste composting, and a number of council-subsidised ‘Green Johanna’ compost bins were bought by village families as a result.  This type of compost bin is still available at a subsidised price (£25) from the S.O.F.A. project in Pool:

    S.O.F.A., Unit C3, Pool Business Park, Dudnance Lane, Pool, Redruth  TR15 3QW

    Tel: 01209 719733

    As of last week, they still had over 30 in stock – but be prepared to pay in cash.

    Other types of compost bin (and other items associated with recycling) are also available to order on-line at subsidised prices from the Cornwall Council Get Composting website.

     

     

    Climate Reality – worldwide event to raise awareness of Climate Change

    Al Gore is promoting a  worldwide rolling 24 hour event on 17/18th September – tune in to the broadcast coming out of London. One of our local Climate Change scientists based at Tremough will be participating from the LSE. Information here…..

    Moving Planet – A day to move beyond fossil fuels – 24th September

    350.org is organising  a worldwide event on 24th September to raise the issues related to the continuing rise in emissions of greenhouse gases. 350 ppm is suggested as the level of  greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at which a global average temperature rise can be limited go  2C. We are currently at 393 ppm and rising….

    Watch this space for announcement of local events related to the activity on 24th September .

    Funding available for Solar PV for Cornish Communities

    Over £20million is reported to be available to fund the installation of Solar PV systems on Community buildings in Cornwall. This funding provides for so-called “free” PV – i.e. the community will benefit if and when it can make use of any electricity being generated by the solar panels. The funders will benefit from the Feed-in-Tariff. However, this is a mechanism to get Community Solar PV systems installed. If anyone responsible for a community building in Constantine wishes to take advantage of this – please make contact with Transition Constantine or with CEP directly.  These systems have to be installed by March 2012. Further information here

    Villagers trial green energy

    Ladock and Grampound have both benefitted from the Low Carbon Communities Challenge in November 2009 – we need to keep our eyes open for the next time around…….

    Community Power Cornwall installs first turbines

    The recently formed Community Power Cornwall has completed its recent share issue and now has a total of £80,000 to invest in its early  projects. The first of these is the installation of two 55kW wind turbines at Tregerrick Farm, Gorran. One of their projects, closer to Constantine, is a turbine proposed for Bishops Forum – currently held up by a planning objection.

    Funding available for farmers to invest in renewable energy

    Farmers-to-benefit-from-100m-fund-in-renewable-energy

    Trevethan House: Community Supported Agriculture

    As an indicator of the growing interest in community-based farming, the Trevethan Community Farm project is holding a public meeting in Mills Hall, Fore Street, Carharrack TR16 5QS on Sunday 4th September at 5:00 p.m.  The aim is to let local people find out more about the project, and to encourage them to get involved.  The farm has a special interest in rare breed pigs, and has its own website: www.pigsandpeople.co.uk

    Unwanted furniture and electrical goods

    The British Heart Foundation is happy to accept unwanted furniture and (working) electrical items.  All these items will be sold through their Furniture & Electrical Store at 5 Market Street, Falmouth TR11 3DB.  BHF offers free collection of unwanted items – collection can be arranged by calling 0844 248 9181, or by booking online at bhf.org.uk/collection.

    The leaflet advertising this service says “Please don’t be disappointed if we are unable to accept items for reasons of safety or quality.  Free collection on small items is at the discretion of the Store Manager.  Our van drivers will make the final decision on any donations collected.”

    Electrical items destined for BHF can also be dropped in at Currys and PC World stores (but see bhf.org.uk/dropitin for items that they cannot accept).

    Printer cartridge recycling

    I have confirmed that Constantine school will accept used ink jet printer cartridges for recycling.  Any money raised as a result will go to a local charity.  Cartridges can be delivered to the school secretary’s office during school hours.  As it will be some weeks yet before the school is open again, I’ll post a reminder about this at the start of term!

    Warning – extreme weather ahead ?

    Tornados, wildfires, droughts and floods were once seen as freak conditions. But the environmental disasters now striking the world are shocking signs of ‘global weirding’

    John Vidal, Tuesday June 14 2011, The Guardian
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/extreme-weather-flooding-droughts-fires

    Cycle routes may boost tourism in South West

    More than £7m of European money is being spent on connecting cycle routes in the South West in a bid to attract more tourists to the region.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-england-13880001 >

    UK’s Greenhouse gas emissions not falling fast enough

    The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are not falling fast enough to meet government targets, say the Committee on Climate Change.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-13946816

    Community Power Cornwall Share Offer – Extended

    The share issue by Community Power Cornwall to raise funds for the installation of community based wind turbines in Cornwall has had its deadline extended to 19th July. You can read about the success to date and get more information at:

    http://dmtrk.net/P7C-GS4Z-FC3MBU7K58/cr.aspx

    This does not constitute an endorsement by Transition Constantine – it is up to individuals to assess any financial risk/benefit.

    Community Composting Guide and Resource

    After yesterday’s meeting we decided to explore a site for community composting in the local area. I stumbled upon this very comprehensive guide and resource to community composting.

    Aside from the physical location of the proposed project TC will need to consider both the demand for compost – lots of gardens and the allotment – but also buy in from locals to supply raw product and the logistics required in such an undertaking and no doubt as some members commented last night the obviously legal / local authority implications.

    If you’ve got any thoughts or if you’d like to get involved, please contact us.

    http://www.communitycompost.org/index.php/downloads

    Small is Beautiful? project

    Small is Beautiful? is a collaborative documentary research project on the making and mending of everyday objects in the South West.  It is supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council.

    The project involves photographing shop interiors and objects, interviewing proprietors about work practices and creating a travelling  exhibition of images and texts.

    Key contact for the project is Caitlin DeSilvey, who will be grateful to receive suggestions for sites to include in the project.  Both operational and shuttered premises will be considered.  Caitlin can be contacted on 01326 254161 or by email: c.o.desilvey@exeter.ac.uk

    The project has a web presence at smallisbeautifulproject.blogspot.com

    The first exhibition (“makers, menders & materials: part one”) will run  from 24th June  – 22nd July 2011 at the SWIB Archive & Gallery, 25 The Parade, Barbican, Plymouth PL1 2JN

     

     

    Open Studios 2011 – May28 -June 5

    A number of local artists and makers will be involved in this event which is coming soon! Look out for the distinctive orange circle on the catalogue of artists, which can be obtained free from the Tolmen Centre and the Post office.
    Participating artists:
    Paula Downing – ceramics, mixed media
    Lyrebird – jewellry, textiles
    Maxine Hart – drawings, paintings
    Lin Williams – paintings – cards
    Annabel harris – paintings – drawings

    Do follow the Orange circle notices and support members of our local creative community – visit their studios and see them at work – great fun!

    START newsletter out

    http://www.startuk.org/?utm_source=Nov+test&utm_campaign=7b189e7479-Start_May_Newsletter5_4_2011&utm_medium=email

    Renewable Energy exhibition – Gaia Centre – July

    Gaia Centre flyer A5x2

    UK sees warmest April on record

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-13269741

    Moving Planet – A day to move beyond fossil fuels – Sept 24th

    An initiative from 350.org

    www.moving-planet.org

     

    Worries over solar panel salesman

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/business-13296404

     

     

    The chance of the UK government living up to its promise to be the greenest ever is vanishingly remote, says former adviser Jonathon Porritt.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-13312901

    Setting up a food co-op or buying group

    “Are you interested in buying fresh local food, organic food or wholefoods? Would you like to buy good food with friends, neighbours or other people in your community? Would you like to find out if buying food with others could save you money?”

    See here for details of a free workshop on these kind of questions, organised jointly by the Soil Association and Sustain. It will be held in Chacewater on Tuesday May 3 2011.   This particular event may already be fully subscribed, but if you are interested in further events of the same kind, or in further information, please contact the address given.

    Update from Jeremy Leggett at Solar Century

    Folks

    In the best short TV account I have yet seen on the peak-oil problem, the IEA’s chief economist is teased into going as far as I have ever seen or heard him go in saying that a crisis of global oil supply is near. Meanwhile, a poll of oil-and-gas industry leaders shows that the majority  now think that the biggest share of world energy in 2025 will be held not by oil or gas, or coal, but renewables. This wasn’t the case a year ago.  Maybe relatedly, Total became the first oil giant to inject a billion dollars into a solar company last week. The French company is probably just hedging bets. It made a bet on nuclear earlier (now looking somewhat shaky). It may or may not be of significance  that Total is the only oil major to have expressed concern publicly about peak oil. Whatever, the drama brews on.

    All this and much more can be found in my Triple Crunch Log, updated through end April on my website: unrest in the Middle East and its impact on oil, Fukushima and its impact on nuclear prospects …..selections from all the relevant unfolding stories as I encountered them in my reading.

    Free screening of HOME – the movie

    On Wednesday 13th April Transition Constantine will be presenting a FREE screening of HOME.  This wonderful film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand will be shown in the Tolmen Centre at 7:00 pm. You may have come across his book “Earth from the Air” and/or his large scale public exhibitions showing his stunning aerial shots of different parts of the world.

    Through remarkable footage from over fifty countries, all shot from an aerial perspective, Yann Arthus-Bertrand shows us a view most of us have never seen.  He shares with us his sense of awe about our planet and his concern for its health.

    Electric car demonstration in Constantine

    Matthew Trevaskis of eco-drive is currently touring round Cornwall showing off the latest all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV.  On Tuesday 12th April he will be in Constantine primary school car park from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm to give local residents a view of the car and its features (and maybe some test drives…).

    Ecodrive is currently partnering with Cornwall Council to further their aim of becoming one of the UK’s first ‘Plugged-In Places’ and deploy dozens of new generation Electric Vehicles.

    First Farmers Market for Constantine

    Constantine Farmers Market

    Saturday April 9th 2011     9:30 am to 12:00 midday

    Constantine Church Hall

    After some months of planning and preparation, Transition Constantine launches the first farmers market in Constantine on Saturday April 9th 2011.  It will be held in Constantine Church Hall, with stalls offering a range of local food and delicacies.

     

    Climate Week – ‘Science in the Pub’

    Climate Change – What’s Really Going On?

    Thursday March 24th 2011 at 7:30 pm

    Trengilly Wartha Inn

    In support of the UK Climate Week (21-27 March 2011) Transition Constantine presents ‘Science in the pub’.  Dr Stephan Harrison of the University of Exeter (Penryn) will give an informal talk on the current state of climate research with reference to recent climatic events.  There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.

    Dr Harrison is an invited member of the Environmental Research Group and the Climate Research Group of the Institute of Actuaries.  He is also an invited member of the Climate Justice programme.

    Transition Constantine website update

    The Transition Constantine website has been updated to allow for a more up-to-date flow of news items provided by members.  Each news item can be categorised as belonging to one of the main areas of interest, ie:

    • Arts & Skills
    • Food
    • Recycling
    • Renewable Energy
    • Transport

    News items may contain links to other websites, images, audio clips or videos.

    Do you make things?

    Do you make things? Paintings, sculpture, jewellery, drawings, prints, ceramics, crafts, textiles, metalwork, joinery, plants, recycled goods, fuel, furniture….to name but a few…..

    If you are a small local business or cottage industry we would like to hear from you.

    Transition Constantine is establishing a group for all artisans in the parish and neighbouring areas with the aim of providing support to strengthen local production. The initial stage is to gather details and compile a directory.

    If you are interested in joining this network please contact Clare James on clare.a.james@googlemail.com with your details. We will list you on this website with your name, skills and email address.

    Local Artisans