Stroud Apple Town and Germany's Lord of the Apples

What's Stroud Apple Town all about? Well hear more in this film that I put together - and meet Germany’s Lord of the Apples Eckart Brandt, who was in Stroud last summer: http://stroudcommunity.tv/germanys-lord-of-the-apples-and-stroud-apple-town/

Infact today more work is being done on the linear orchard at Ebley....

Guest blog; Andy Read on the Ebley Linear Orchard

I just heard from Andy that a few people from my blog took part last time in the restoration of the linear orchard; folk from the Randwick wood fuel groups are already taking part and it's all tied in with the apple town - plus the apple pruning workshops....so anyone interested in this? Andy's asked me to publicise but far better is to copy his blog entry below from his blog.

Help needed to restore Ebley Linear Community Orchard

The Ebley Linear Community Orchard celebrated its 18th birthday on National Apple Day 2012. It was the first in Britain to be planted alongside a new cycle trail. 

Seventy apple and pear trees were installed by Gloucestershire County Council along half a mile of the track which runs alongside the A419 Ebley-bypass between Stonehouse and Dudbridge. Many are rare Gloucestershire species with names such a Ashmeads Kernel, Gilliflower of Gloucester and Chaxhill Red.

However in recent years the county council has not had the funds to maintain the orchard. Many of the trees have now become over-crowded and are in desperate need of pruning to ensure their healthy survival.

After many years of complaints from local people about the state of the orchard, a local charity for which I work, has secured funds through The Big Lottery to restore the site.

the Stroud Community Land Trust will be carrying out the project next month as part of Stroud's bid to become Britain's first Apple Town.

We surveyed of the orchard last week and identified 55 of the apple and pear trees which can be saved. The charity is now seeking volunteers to help secure the linear orchard's future. 

There are two ways you can help:

Tree and scrub clearance.

Sunday 17th and Sunday 24th February. 10am-4pm.

We need to create a clear area around each of the 55 apple and fruit trees. We will clear several areas of scrub and hundreds of saplings, over-hanging branches and bushes. Please bring strong boots and work gloves and wear old clothes. Some tools can be provided but it'd be great if you can bring your own secateurs, loppers or bow saws. Bring a picnic lunch. Meet on the Stonehouse-Dudbridge cycle trail where it passes close to Ebley Mill. Turn up on the day but if you can let us know you will be coming that'd be great. Andy Read 01453 756955 or redread23@tiscali.co.uk.

Apple Tree Pruning Workshops

Wednesday or Thursday 27^th / 28^th February from 10am-4pm.

To complete the restoration work we are offering two apple pruning workshops with experts Dave Kaspar and Helen Brent-Smith from Day’s Cottage at Brookthorpe. In the morning you will learn the principles of pruning applied specifically to these trees and in the afternoon you can put your new skills into practice. There are only 12 places each day. To book your place call Andy Read 01453 756955 or redread23@tiscali.co.uk.  Cost just £5 (normally £30)

More detailed pruning courses are also available at Days Cottage see www.dayscottage.co.uk for details. All pictures courtesy Days Cottage.

Apple Day in Stroud

Apple Day in Stroud went ahead despite a dire harvest in our local orchards as Stroud Apple Town organised a weekend of apple-y festivities. Sadly the usual Whiteshill and Ruscombe event didn't happen due to so few apples but elsewhere many events still took place (see film of last year here)....Click here for a report by District councillor Andy Read and below is one from Stroud Valleys Project.

Photo from SVP

Stroud Valleys Project Green Team volunteers helped with endless apple chopping and crushing to give locals a chance to taste freshly-pressed apple juice, as well as providing 10 heritage varieties for tasting, a 'mystery apple' game and 'guess the apple weight' competition, while the Dead Dog Cider duo entertained the crowds. More juicing happened at the Farmers' Market and the Museum in the Park, and over 50 heritage Gloucestershire apple varieties were on display at Day's Cottage market stall.

SVP Biodiversity Officer Ivi Szaboova said: "We didn't let the apple shortage put us off celebrating our rich apple heritage. People loved trying different kinds of Gloucestershire apples, comparing tastes to help choose varieties for their gardens, as well as tasting apple juice fresh out of the press. We had requests for seconds and thirds, with comments about complex, refreshing flavours not ever found in shop-bought juice, and teenagers swapping fizzy drinks for apple juice."

"The apples came from Day's Cottage fantastic traditional orchard, full of heritage varieties grown without chemicals, and we used this opportunity to educate people about food miles as well as the importance of wildlife gardening. Advice on attracting bees, solitary bees and bumble bees into urban gardens was much appreciated as people were shocked by this year's abysmal harvest, and shared story after story of just a handful apples (or none!) on their usually prolific trees. This appalling harvest possibly opened our eyes to the significance of pollinators, without which we'd struggle to feed ourselves - about a third of our food depends on pollination - as well as reminding us not to take the usual abundance of apples for granted."

See also film here from earlier this year re Horsley orchard.

Apple Day in Painswick

See details of the Apple Day on 30th September at the link below - also their Community Orchard blog. I'm slightly jealous as in previous years we've organised juicing, apple games and all at Humphreys End (see film here) but this year there are no apples.....anyway see more about the Painswick Day at: http://painswickcommunityorchard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-new-2012-apple-day-poster.html

Of course it is Stroud who are planning to be Britain's first Apple Town - see more at: http://ruscombegreen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/stroud-apple-town.html There will be various apple celebrations in coming weeks........

Apple Day games in Randwick

Earlier this week I uploaded a video of Saturday's Apple Day in Randwick - see it here.

Common Ground - a great organisation - inspired me to add games to our Apple Day celebrations in Humphreys End this time. Below are some notes from those games taken from the book pictured - there are many more in the book - a great little treasure.

1. Passing the apple

Circle - pass apple behind - person in middle has to guess at a certain time. - if correct guess he takes place.

2. Gruacach's Treasure

A hairy ogre in celtic myth - Gruacach lies down beside apples asleep - others creep to steal apples - if sits up they stand still - if an apple is taken Gruacach chases before they reach base - anyone moving or caught is out.

3. Longest peel

4. Apple and spoon race

Start line - if drop must use spoon to pick up.

5. Apple Plum Pudding

Tag game. One person is 'it' - all hold person who calls out apple, plum, banana pie etc - if let go then become 'it' - must let go when calls apple plum pudding - 'it' chases to catch - that person becomes 'it'.

6. Apple and tunnel

Over head under legs. Last person to front. If dropped restart.

Video: apple juicing, picking and games in Randwick

Here's the video of Saturdays' Apple Day in Randwick - big thanks to Julia Currie for making it possible. At the weekend I'll add the Apple games we played to a post on this blog.

Stroud Apple Town

Stroud becoming an Apple Town seems to be an idea that has touched many people. Interestingly it was discuss by Green District councillors last October at our three days away - we talked about the ways we could re-orchard Stroud so this project is timely. It also fits with the Down to Earth project to look at Fruit and nuts locally - see here.

Photo: Humphreys End Orchard - see here apple picking last year


I missed the first meeting in May at the Exchange in Stroud which brought together people interested in the concept of Stroud becoming an Apple Town. There were some notes made at the meeting and I share some of them here (click read more) as they have been passed far and wide in an effort to see what else might be going on locally...do let them know if something is missing or you think you can help.

Apple picking in Humphreys End

Once again the Humphreys End orchard was opened to a group of apple-pickers - we picked apples in groups - sheets, a shaker and bicycle helmets!! Most of us took away a sack for £6. Sadly it wasn't possible to advertise the event more widely as in previous years as the apple crop is not so good this year at that site.

Photos: apple picking last weekend

We didn't get down to juicing like previous years - partly because of the lack of apples - See my video of apple juicing in 2008 here. However there are still some apples to go so another session might be planned?

The weather was pretty rough just before we started but then only a bit of a shower and even some sun! Arh but now have been cutting, cooking, freezing and more....meanwhile I missed Apple Day celebrations at the Farmers Market - apparently like previous years a huge range of apples were there...

Potato Day for Stroud?

Saturday saw me setting off, after the opening of the Village Hall loo, for Potato Day in Malmesbury Town Hall. We apparently consume an average of 500 potatoes each year but most of us end up with just a handful of varieties grown for the supermarkets. Well in Malmesbury they had some 55 varieties for sale and more to look at including one, the Mairsland Queen, at £25 each tuber (see below)!

Photos: Malmesbury Potato Day

Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food crop following rice, wheat and maize. Peru is the birth place of the tatty but 99% of tatties trace their heritage back to Chile. They came to Europe in 1536 - then in 1846 blight hit - and the horrors of the Great Irish Famine. Apparently there are some 4,000 varieties (see here). See more about the potato at Wikipedia here.

I loved learning more about potatoes at the event - talking to the handful of experts and others browsing the rows of buckets there - Dave of Green Seeds who organised the event, recommended various potatoes - Lady Cristal and Kestral were a couple I picked - and I learnt that early varieties tend to crop before blight comes along while varieties such as Verity and Sante are resistant to blight.

Dave Chappell, a potato expert from Wales, dubbed 'Taffy Tattie' (see below) was also there with a collection of tubers that he had grown and offers to do talks locally if folk wanted. He had some wonderful old photos of himself with all the gardening greats from Percy Thrower to Geoff Hamilton.

There was also a cafe with cakes and more.

Other Potato Days

Garden Organic's National Potato Day is Sunday 31st January this year - see more here including a video celebrating the potato and looking at potato day at Ryton Organic Gardens in 2008. It started 17 years ago in 1994 however Hampshire is perhaps best known for Potato Day and their 12th Potato Day with over 150 varieties is all of next weekend: www.potatoday.org/

Other Potato Day's can be found at: www.potatoday.org/potatodays.htm. Dundry Nurseries are the only place in Gloucestershire that do a Potato weekend - near Cheltenham and Junction 11 on M5 - but that was also this weekend so you've missed it this year!

The Potato Council even produce packs for schools to get involved with recipes - see here. They also have recipes on their site at: www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/

Stroud Potato Day

My thoughts are that it is time we did something here in Stroud to celebrate the great diversity of tatties and encourage more of us to grow them. We already have Apple Day celebrated locally (See display left at Farmers Market last year) - indeed we've also been out juicing in a local orchard - see here.

Anyhow I have already started to make contacts with the Farmers Market to see what sort of event could be planned. Green seeds would be very happy to bring their display. Any thoughts, ideas and help would be greatly received!!

Grow more potatoes

What’s good about the tatty is that they can be grown in all sorts of spaces - allotment plot, veg patch or simple patio pot. They seem a great way to help folk grow more of their own veg?

Anyway I came across this site here which has several pages on how to grow potatoes. I am looking forward to growing my collection of varieties....

Beer and other matters

When writing a blog all sorts of connections are made - I've had contact with many many folk - and many have led to all sorts of links like the Seattle photographer who let me use his photos on this site or the bee researcher who ended up visiting here from Australia. Well here's a totally random collection of items from the last week or so....

Photos: Green Knight from independent journalist John Hatton then two from my photos of McCluskiegunj in 1984.

Green Knight Beer - remember the stuff to launch Ricky Knight's campaign to be an MEP in the SW - well as we know we sadly just missed that - and the beer has now been renamed - now known as 'Old Rocky' and still at the Village Inn in Nailsworth - and the news is that it has just been awarded Supreme Champion Beer of Gloucestershire by Gloucestershire CAMRA - see more re Green Knight here - and talking of beer, the old news that Guiness in Dublin uses fluoridated water is doing the rounds again - see here.

McCluskiegunj blog - I am not even sure how I came across this McCluskiegunj blog but I visited that village in India in 1984 and stayed there for over a week - it was in connection with a guy I'd met when working in the Probation Service in Dorset as part of my Social Work training - he wanted to set up an alternative tourism project - anyhow the town used to have a significant Anglo-Indian community - even by the time I got there there were barely a 100 left - The town was founded by the Colonization Society of India in 1933 as an independent homeland for Anglo-Indians and was home to 400 Anglo-Indian families within ten years.

It was in 1932 Ernest Timothy McCluskie the founder of the town sent circulars to nearly 200,000 Anglo-Indians in India inviting them to settle there. Wikipedia say that now of the nearly 300 original settlers, only 20 families remain. Indeed an interesting place and have now had correspondence with the guy who set up the blog.

People-Consultants.com - here's a plug for a local Ruscombe company that I've heard good things about - for coaching, counselling, leadership, stress and more see their website here.

Tatworth Growing Together - I recently met one of the key figures behind this - an interesting project by a Parish Council getting involved in crop production project - worked by volunteers but with produce sold and proceeds reinvested: www.tatworthgrowingtogether.org.uk

More on food growing - a friend came across a link in a newspaper supplement about a family growing amazing amounts on a very small area. See http://pathtofreedom.com/ and particularly the videos on youtube.com by putting in "pathtofreedom" or "dervaes" as search terms.

Food Security - then there's a woman I correspond with re farming - here is a piece she sent recently showing the changes since Labour came to power in 1997 in the UK - shocking - but only a continuation of what was going on before:
Dairy Herds have shrunk 22%
The area of fresh vegetables has fallen 24%
The number of pigs has plummeted 40%
The area of orchard fruits has fallen by a third
The sheep and lamb flock is down a quarter
The food gap has widened by more 50%.
Source: Pig World News.

Essential viewing: 'A Farm for the Future'

As the download of this extraordinary film takes time I have put the five sections of it here. I strongly recommend it - it has also fired me to look at other ways we might be able to increase local food production - anyone interested please do contact me - we already have an allotment project and a community orchard being planned but there is much more we can be doing.

Cashes Green Hospital site: make your comments known

Cashes Green Hospital site planning application is in - view papers here - comments etc need to be in v soon - the proposal includes the 'erection of up to 78 dwellings, parking, open space (allotments, local area for play and ancillary open space), ancillary uses and associated access works'.

Photo: the old allotment site

Two weeks or so ago I went the Cainscross Parish Council AGM and haven't had time to catch up here. Firstly it is excellent news indeed that it has now been agreed that 50% of the housing should be affordable. Originally the whole site was going to be but this has been seriously threatened to the point where I was starting to think we would get the minimum. It is also exciting that it is an innovative project putting together the affordable bit....it is clearly quite difficult getting the thing to stack up financially - especially when there will already need to be a substantial amount of grant funding to build the properties.

However despite all the probs - it would be wonderful to establish a housing project with higher levels of sustainability, land for food growing, community gardens, orchards and open space...however there are a number of issues I raised at that meeting...in v brief here are a couple of key issues below that spring to mind re the plans...I will be talking to Officers next week to find out more re other issues I will raise...

- Allotments - we can call for restoration of all the original site of allotments - already Cainscross is the highest concentration of houses and has the least green spaces in District. We need more areas to grow food.Indeed their is now a petition out to collect signatures to protect this site of allotments.

- I am not convinced that traffic measures on the Cashes Green road have been properly considered - we need a 20 mph on all surrounding roads esp Cashes Green Road

- I am also wondering if there cannot be a better way of integration with Hollybrook - I thought at one time there was talk of changing boundaries

Parish AGM reports: a brief summary of what I have been doing

Both Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish and Randwick Parish have their AGM's on this Thursday 21st May 2009. As I will be at SDC's AGM I have sent a statement to them - see below - I had wanted to write more but all done in haste as meeting in Cheltenham tonight.

Photo: me outside Randwick Village Hall during the Open Homes weekend

Statement from District Councillor Philip Booth

Apologies that I cannot join you this evening for our Parish AGM. Tonight is also Stroud District Council’s AGM. The District Council meeting looks set to be interesting as many councillors are seeking answers as to how the District’s Housing Revenue Account could be overspent by £1.2m and why there are moves to curtail District councillors and Parish and Town Council powers to challenge local Planning applications.

Below I’ve included some of the local issues I’ve been working on during the last year - however first I wanted to start by saying a big thank you to all the Parish councillors and Parish Clerk for the great job they are doing.

Where to begin? Well I was delighted to find my Blog, Ruscombe Green, was voted in a national poll, 5th Best Green Blog. I started it when I was elected in 2006 - an online diary with comments, copies of my letters to the press, info about meetings, local events, campaigns, photos and more. There are over 1,800 entries and over 3,000 unique visitors each month. It has been a good way to keep in touch and debate with local residents. See it at: http://ruscombegreen.blogspot.com

One highlight of the year was the Eco-renovation Open Homes weekend in September that I organised. Over 750 visits were made to 12 homes in the Stroud area to see renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in action. In addition to this over 400 people visited Randwick Village Hall to see the eco-exhibitions and the official opening of the hall. See more re this years plans for over 20 homes to open at: www.stroudopenhomes.org.uk/

Council’s environmental targets - I have been trying to ensure, through my role on a Scrutiny committee, that the District Council meets its environmental targets - and indeed improves those targets. Much is needed for example the future of Stratford Park is now being discussed yet in ten criteria used to evaluate delivery, sustainability was not even mentioned (it is now!). I am also sitting on a new small inquiry team looking to maximise funding from utility companies to tackle climate change.

Action on forecast fuel prices - Prices are fluctuating, but longer term they are set to rise. I have sought more action by the District Council to prepare for this, including pushing specific actions like a pool cover for Stratford Park Leisure Centre and greater promotion of special tariffs for those facing financial difficulties.

Planning issues - I’ve met a number of people locally and have tried to support them where they are having problems with the planning system or when inappropriate development is proposed. We managed to get rejected both the planned telecom mast near Ash Lane and a proposal by Highways to remove large parts of the roadside bank in Ash Lane.

Ruscombe Brook, Water and Flood action - I have just initiated and helped establish a forum of local flood and brook groups so that we can work more closely to ensure improvements to planning policy. Our local Ruscombe Brook Action Group that I helped set up still meets monthly and has successfully reduced sewage incidents in the brook. We have seen improvements locally by Severn Trent, organised a morning cleanup of one section of the brook and are working with the District Council to see measures at Puckshole to reduce the occasional severe flooding there. I have also been appointed to represent the District Council on the Wessex Water Customer Liaison Panel.

Allotments wanted - we have a Parish working group to explore finding a location for allotments. We are close to putting forward a proposal for a small site.

Basketball hoop - I managed to obtain a hoop following requests from younger residents, the Parish are now looking to install it in the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Playing Field.

Stratford Road Bus shelter - for some time now I have been working to see a shelter put in place by Tesco outside their store. Tesco have agreed but it still has not appeared: there is now a petition locally to see if we can encourage them to act.

Building communities - after initiating a street party in Bread Street last summer with local residents I have supported other communities to plan their parties. I am also working with a local land owner to establish a community-run orchard. We have already had two very successful picking and juicing days last Autumn. Events that bring people together are vital to communities and we are fortunate to have many in this Parish like the Pancake races, the amazing Wap and the excellent Whiteshill and Ruscombe Arts and Crafts Fair last Saturday.

County Council issues - I have also tried to support the Parish and address County Council issues like Slowing traffic - we urgently need traffic calming. The good news is that the ‘20 is Plenty’ scheme looks finally set to happen as a first step to more traffic calming (but not more humps!). Road Gullies and Grit bins - I negotiated with the County Council to see improvements at several key locations. However there are still problems like vandalised grit bins that lead to problems like salt getting into the local water courses.

Housing needs - support to people with various housing needs in the ward.

Recycling - calling on our Councils to improve recycling and prevent the construction of a huge waste incinerator at Stonehouse.

Climate Change talks and articles - I have written regularly in the local press and spoken at several local groups including two churches about the threat of climate change. The science is clear that we need to act and act very quickly. Yet the prospects of climate change are very scary and many, including politicians, seem paralysed or unclear about what measures they can take. It is vital we all get the message across about what is possible; fear disempowers us but there are signs of hope. We can all play our part in ensuring necessary actions are taken. I have just heard that my proposal for libraries to issue energy monitors like books has been accepted. A pilot will begin later this year so that people can borrow these and see how they can reduce their energy use and costs.

Other issues - I am also involved in a whole host of other issues locally including helping run the monthly Coffee House Discussions in Stroud where topics from the decline of bees to discussing tidal energy projects that are more sustainable than a barrage, getting the Rainbow Flag flying for Glos Pride, coordinating the Glos Safe Water Campaign, helping run a campaign to stop expansion of Gloucestershire Airport, supporting various Transition Stroud initiatives like a local currency and leading a weekly Woodcraft Folk group for 18 children aged 6 to 9.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have a query.

Cllr Philip Booth, Stroud District Councillor for Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward, 2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud GL66EL Tel: 755451 Email: philip.booth2@virgin.net

New landshare website: get registered

Landshare is a national website which links people who want to grow their own fruit and vegetables to space where they can grow it. IT already has landowners and growers in Gloucestershire listed. It is also a network of help and expertise. Click here for more information and to log your details.

As regular blog readers will know I have been pushing locally for more land for food - not just about getting County Council's 94 tenanted farms producing more food or more CSA's but also in this area we look set to have a small area for allotments - still some negotiating to do - the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish are being excellent and look set to support the venture. We are also trying to establish a community orchard.....for me I was all set to register with landshare when I had a very wonderful offer from a nearby neighbour for a patch of land for veg. I already have potatos in it!

See recent Sunday Times article about Stroud food moves here.

Should our Parish Councils spend more?

At the last Full Council meeting the figures of all the Parish Councils Tax rate were available. If we look at Band D then they work out as follows:

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish £27.76
Randwick Parish £28.99
ie just over 50p a week for Band D

Stroud District Council £183.44
Gloucestershire County Council £1,065.94
Gloucestershire Police £193.99

Looking at the differences between Parish and Town Councils it is clear that both Randwick and Whiteshill and Ruscombe are near the lower middle in terms of expenditure - 23 Councils spend less and 28 spend more - however the 28 spending more include the larger Parish/Town Councils so in terms of expenditure our two Parishes are low. Take for example Nympsfield £53.08, Rodborough £35.38 and Bisley £50.25. Then of course you have Stroud Town at £88.66 and top spenders locally, Wotton and Berkeley both £102 odd and nearly 4 times our expenditure.

Now I am not for a moment advocating increasing the tax just for the sake of it - especially in the current climate - too many people have serious concerns - the real problem lies in our democratic system that gives so few powers to local Councils - we are the most centralised 'democracy' in the western world - the other flaw lies in our failure of the tax system that does not redistribute as fairly as some other countries like Norway.

It is clear local expenditure can enhance and enrich local communities. Already our Parishes spend wisely in my view on improving our area but are there other opportunities?

Take for example Randwick's £3,000 every year for a long time put into the Village Hall - that local commitment helped the Village Hall committee bring in considerable extra funding to develop the hall - see Stan Giles' speech re hall here and the measures taken here to make it the country's first carbon neutral village hall. Yes it was lots of work but this is just the sort of thing that can make such community facilities sustainable in the long term and encourage householders to take similar measures. Kirkburton Parish in Huddersfield has done some similar stuff and is committing I think £10,000 each year to energy efficiency and microgeneration.

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish put in the orchard in the Playing Field and are hopefully improving facilities there like the installation of the basketball hoop - plus they are investigating a small area just outside the Parish to see if it would be suitable for Parish allotments. There is lots more that Parishes could be doing and supporting - councillors already listen lots but they also need to hear from their communities - both the local Parishes communicate through the local newsletters and have held consultation meetings and encourage parishioners to take issues to them in the first 10 mins of a Parish Council meeting.

Indeed many of the Parish councillors are busy folk indeed who are giving up time each week for the community. If you have ideas about how our area can be improved do please get in touch. How would you see money spent locally?

For more about the role of Councils see:
http://www.nalc.gov.uk/

Ward newsletter goes out

The last couple of weeks or so I have been out walking the local streets delivering my annual newsletter - a copy of most of the contents is below. I found it hard to pick what to put in the newsletter this year and ended up having to cut out lots of interesting stuff but hopefully it gives a flavour of what I am doing and this blog fills in the gaps...

This year I've had a couple of friends help deliver several streets as it takes some 18 hours to deliver the whole ward - all good stuff to keep me fit but also a great way to really see the ward - I walk about lots of it anyway but there are some corners that I rarely get to - it is also good to run into folk I've not seen in a while and meet new people....anyhow thanks for the emails and phone calls with issues, questions and support.

Photo: Leaflet delivering

Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill News Jan/Feb 2009 From your District Councillor Philip Booth

Dear Resident,

I wish you a happy and successful 2009. In this newsletter I hope to give a flavour of some of my activities as your local councillor over the last year.

I try my best to represent the views and interests of everyone in this ward and welcome hearing from you - so do please ring, write or email me with your thoughts, issues or concerns. Please bear in mind that while I usually respond very promptly, I do get a considerable number of queries each day.

Thanks to all in the ward who have supported me and to the local Green Party for funding this newsletter.

Cllr. Philip Booth,
Stroud District Councillor for Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward,
2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud GL66EL Telephone: 755451
Email: philip.booth2 (at) virgin.net

Blog voted 5th Best Green Blog

There is no easy way of regularly updating residents with what I am doing as your local councillor so when I was elected in 2006 I started a blog - an online diary with comments, copies of my letters to the press, info about meetings, campaigns, photos and more. There were over 640 entries last year alone and some 3,000 unique visitors each month - do please visit and consider leaving a comment.

See Philip’s blog at: http://ruscombegreen.blogspot.com

Open Homes success

During a weekend in September over 750 visits were made to 12 homes in the Stroud area, including our ward, to see renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in action. In addition to this over 400 people visited Randwick Village Hall to see the eco-exhibitions and the official opening of the hall.

Photo: Philip at the opening of Randwick Village Hall - the first carbon neutral hall in the country. Huge congratulations to the Village Hall Committees for all their hard work over recent years to make this happen.

As coordinator of the Open Homes event I was blown away by the interest. Measures on show included wood pellet boilers, lime plasters, solar thermal, PV, green roofs, co-housing, rainwater harvesting, external insulation and more. I was delighted to get enthusiastic feedback for the project - and better still - news that many people, after seeing the homes, were planning actions to reduce their fuel bills and CO2 emissions. See more including information on grants at: www.stroudopenhomes.org.uk/

Some recent actions by your Councillor...

Council’s environmental targets - trying to ensure through my role on a Scrutiny committee that the District Council meets its environmental targets.

Action on fuel prices - I have sought more action by the District Council to prepare for forecast rising fuel prices like a pool cover for Stratford Park Leisure Centre and greater promotion of special tariffs for those facing financial difficulties.

Planning issues - taking action where people are having problems with the planning system or when inappropriate development is proposed.

Slowing traffic - along with the Parish Council I have sought to improve traffic safety by seeking County Council action on measures to reduce traffic speeds.

Ruscombe Brook - the action group I helped set up has had significant success in reducing sewage incidents in the brook and our approach has been reproduced by the other local action groups. We have seen improvements locally by Severn Trent, organised a morning clean-up of one section of the brook and are working with the District Council to see measures at Puckshole to reduce the occasional severe flooding there.

Stratford Road Bus shelter - for some time now I have been working to see a shelter put in place by Tesco outside their store. I have had a huge amount of correspondence over this and have a commitment from their developers for the shelter. However Tesco have delayed any action until March.

Telecom mast rejected - with residents, the Parish Council and others we successfully opposed a mast being erected near Ash Lane, Randwick.

Allotments wanted - we have a working group with Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish to explore finding a local site for allotments. As prices rise this is surely the best time to be growing more of our own food?

Basketball hoop - having managed to obtain a hoop following requests from younger residents I am now waiting a final decision by the Parish Council regarding siting on the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Playing Field.

Bank near Ash Lane saved - successfully helped residents campaign against a proposal by Highways to remove large parts of the roadside bank.

Building communities - after initiating a street party in Bread Street this summer with local residents I have supported other communities to plan their parties. I am also working with a local land owner to establish a community-run orchard. We have already had two very successful picking and juicing days this Autumn where much fun was had.

Road Gullies - I negoitiated with the County Council to see improvements at several key locations. However there are still clearly problems; do please let me know.

Recycling - trying to improve recycling and prevent the construction of a monster sized waste incinerator at Stonehouse.

Housing needs - support to people with various housing needs in the ward.

Wessex Water - I was appointed to represent the District Council on the Customer Liaison Panel and have already raised more issues than all other representatives on that panel.

Climate Change talks and articles - I have written regularly in the local press and spoken at several local groups including two churches about the threat of climate change. The science is clear that we need to act and act very quickly. Yet the prospects of climate change are very scary and many, including politicians, seem paralysed or unclear about what measures they can take. It is vital we all get the message across about what is possible; fear disempowers us but there are real signs of hope. We must all play our part in ensuring necessary actions are taken.

Book great play for your village hall and 'Dig for Victory'?

Here's a date for the diary in the Autumn - did you miss Stroud Theatre Company's ‘When The Lights Went Out!’ when it played locally? Well after it’s sell out seven week tour last year, this play written by South West playwright, Mike Akers, is to tour again in the Autumn 2009 - 70 years after the declaration of war in September, 1939.

Photos and posters from www.stroudtheatrecompany.co.uk

On the theatre company's website there is a poster from the 'Dig for Victory' campaign that was so much a part of the Home Front - this idea of digging for victory has also been increasingly used as an example of what we need to be adopting now to prepare for Peak Oil and climate change. However there is clearly a difference between then and now...read on more below after more about the play...

So to the play - well Margaret Brooks is a happy-go-lucky eighteen year old when war is declared. Living with her family on their small farm, she knows precious little of the world, apart from what she sees in the movies. Her life is turned upside down with love, loss and liberty and like many women she finds herself doing things she never dreamed she’d be doing.

Folk who went to see it said it was brilliant - Chris Garner, the artistic director of the Company, who lives in Ruscombe says you can book the play for your village hall on 07950833190. Initial plans are that the play will open at Ruscombe village hall on the 8th/9th or 10th October, and will finish the tour at the Space on 27th/28th Nov.

So back to 'Dig for Victory' - yes gardening has a substantial role to play but the war mentality is unhelpful - 70 years ago the Germans were coming and the campaign was about digging up your gardens, roundabouts and all to beat the Germans and then get back to normal - well we can't have and don't want business-as-usual - we need to start creating a new lifestyle. Furthermore things are very different now to 7o years ago - in those days we had farmers, we grew lots of stuff - yet now 70% of our wheat goes to feed cattle and we have dug up all our orchards - it is a scandal that Tescos and Sainsbury's stock New Zealand apples in September...

The the potential for growing more food is vast - 82% of the nations households have access to at least a part of a garden or green space.

Rosie Boycott, former editor of The Independent comments: "The very act of growing (food) starts to breed within you a kind of resilience, and a sense of your own way of surviving, instead of being in total dependence on the fact that money will always come out of the hole in the wall and that there will always be food in Tescos, because I think the day will come when things will not be as clear as that."

There are some very promising signs - fruit and vegetable seed sellers are reporting record sales, with many saying that they cannot keep up with a sudden rise in demand. The National Trust are launching a prject to encourage more growing of food - see my post earlier this week re allotments here. In March the Royal Horticultural Society will unveil the latest stage in its "Grow Your Own" campaign, this time turning its attention to fruit-growing. The campaign, which aims to show people that they don't need acres of space to begin growing, and that gardening can reduce the amount of money spent on food, claims to have inspired half a million people to start cultivating fruits and vegetables.

Demand for allotments continues to grow - there are 330,000 allotments in the UK, and 100,000 people on waiting lists in the hope of securing one. The true number of people seeking allotments is thought to be much higher as some councils have closed their lists - and some like locally don't bother to apply as they know there are none available.

Karen Kelly, of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners is quoted in The Independent saying: "There has been a phenomenal rise in the amount of people wanting allotments. There aren't enough because lots of the land was taken away in recent years, but because local authorities have a statutory duty to provide allotments they have to look for new land. It is growing in popularity because people care about food, their carbon footprint and the economic situation – allotments address all of these issues."

Local authorities are obliged to provide 15 allotments per 1,000 households. As noted before I am on a working party to look at possible sites locally - if you are interested in an allotment please write or email the Parish Council clerk.

What else today? Flooding, fluoride, Parish and Village Hall.

As you will see from other entries today I've had a day of annual leave to catch up on a whole host of projects - work has been too busy recently and I apologise for delays in replying to emails - please bear in mind I get between 80 and 100 of them daily plus a handful of phone calls.....

Photos; more from Randwick woods at the weekend

Well the Safe Water Campaign met today in Stroud - under discussion was the news that Southampton City is voting for fluoride to be added to our water - see here the news release from Southampton that I added yesterday - and response to Southampton Echo here from one of our members.

It is deeply worrying - this vote flies in the face of public opinion and other local councils votes - it also gives support to the Health Authorities attempts to get the fluoride added to the water supply - and if it happens there it will make it more likely that elsewhere will also consider it.

Update re Southampton

However before I finished this blog entry the most fantastic news came in! Hampshire County Council have voted against fluoridation, and the reasons set out for their opposition could not be better stated if we had written the report ourselves! It is an astonishing indictment on every aspect of fluoridation and of the SHA's consultation.

One campaigner in Southampton writes: "I was particularly pleased that the Panel has put the SHA in a hole by requesting that they inform parents of young children about not mixing baby formula with fluoridated water. How are they going to get out of that one? That was also the point we made at the TVBC full council - and it's impossible to argue against because it's the BDA's own official advice!"

The question is clearly now how much pressure can HCC exert on the Strategic Health Authority? This document is so powerful that in the face of it, it is hard to believe the SHA can now go ahead. It would be almost impossible to justify such an action after this Report. Congratulations to all involved with this!!!! A very well deserved victory of commonsense.

Glos Flood inquiry

Also today I was interviewed for nearly an hour about the the way Gloucestershire County Council handled the inquiry into the floods - see their report here - Glos Uni are looking at how it was carried out to see if lessons can be learnt. It is worth remembering this was the largest civil emergency in the UK since World War II, with the homes of hundreds of thousands of people in Stroud, Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Cheltenham affected directly by flooding, and by the loss of water supplies and power that followed. Gloucestershire came very close to compulsory evacuation and tempers became seriously frayed in many communities. Anyhow following the Scrutiny Inquiry into the Summer Emergency 2007, the GCC Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee established a task-group to examine planning and flood risk issues in more detail. Their report is out and I have a hard copy but for some reason I can't find it on the web.

Anyhow - yes I know I just said anyhow - well anyhow my comments were mostly favourable about the process although communication with other Councils could be improved - I only heard about the inquiry through the press initially - and there is still a need for a more holistc approach - yes this is a huge step in the right direction - for the Green party's submission to The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee see here. Our submission to the GCC inquiry was similar.

Randwick Parish meeting

I've missed several of these Parish meetings recently due to other Council meetings on Thursday nights - they all love Thursdays - Full Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny and both Parishes!

Anyhow I was able to catch up a little - and gave a grief update on matters like the orchard project, the grit bin tipped over again near Humphrey's End (see photo), bus shelters, allotments and waste - but only stayed for an hour as it was also the Village Hall meeting...

Ruscombe and Whiteshill Village Hall meeting

Also this evening was this meeting and it was my first chance to go to it - they only happen 4 times a year and I am not a committee member - this was their AGM - and it was good to meet the team and to enjoy wine and nibbles after the business was discussed!! The hall has an excellent range of activities - Lindy Hop, Toddlers, Keep Fit, Line Dancing, Tai Chi, Pilates, Yoga, Ballet. Wives Club and more. I have volunteered to help explore funding for the hall with the District Council re energy efficiency measures...and that was even before a glass of wine - anyhow a big thanks to the team for looking after our Village Hall. Time for bed for me now!

Allotments Working Party and more

I've been too busy in recent weeks to carry blogs on most of the meeting's I've been to but hopefully still managing to keep updates on most of the local stuff - anyhow this blog is on allotments - updates on the local working group, the petition response and Hugh F-W.

Advert in Woodruffs re Bisley Old Road Allotments - rare to see allotments advertised locally - snap them up!!

In this blog I've written lots on the importance of increasing local food - and pushed to keep allotments at the Cashes Green Hospital site (a waiting list exists in that Parish) and Hunts Grove etc - it is not just about climate change, increasing health/fitness, rising food and oil prices, food shortages in some countries, tastier food, building local communities etc - it is also about fun. I love connecting with the soil...but hey this is not one of those rambles about such joys...

Parish Working Party

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish have now formally set up a Working Group to look at allotments locally - there is a legal requirement on them to do so if more than 6 folk write to them - we now have more than 6 people requesting allotments locally. Anyhow 5 of us on the Working Group met to look at this on Tuesday night this week.

Much was discussed in a short but productive meeting. Firstly considering possible allotment locations - the next stage is to investigate these further eg Land around Archway School or Land around the Scout Hut. Where else? Does Highways have any land locally? If anyone reading this knows do please contact us.

There is also a local farmer who has expressed a wish to enter into a private arrangement rather than lease the land to the parish council. It was suggested that 4-6 people could form a Community Garden group. This is just over the edge of the Parish boundary and will be looked at more in conjunction with the orchard project at Humphreys End - read more about that here.

A visit is planned to the allotments at Eastington to see how they have been set-up. We also discussed plot sizes in view of the shortage of land available - the standard size plot is 250sq metres. It was thought that we could offer half-size plots. Allotment plots attract an average £25 per year, a half-plot £12-15 per year. Planning permission would probably not be needed unless the land is agricultural. Another Allotment Working Group meeting is planned for 2nd December to feedback on results of investigations. Do get in touch if interested in helping.


Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall and Landshare

Photos: Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's shop in Axminister where I went earlier this year for a v tasty simple lunch - below my pics of the inside - cafe and shop

My Mum alerted me to Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall and his latest project trying to get people together who have gardens and do not want to garden and people who would like to but cannot. His example was of 2 women in Totnes: one with a house and garden and one in a flat. The flat owner spent £30 in May, on seeds and gave 1/4 of the produce to the house owner which kept them both going for 8 months. This is similar to a local project talked about by both Care and repair and Transition Stroud. Depending on how it goes maybe the local groups can help push the national scheme if that is what happens?

Anyhow here is stuff from Hugh's River Cottage website: What is Landshare?

With allotment waiting lists massively over-subscribed and people right across the country keener than ever to grow their own fruit and veg, the aim for Landshare is to become a UK wide initiative to make British land more productive and fresh local produce more accessible to all. But all of this depends on people like you registering their interest now.

Sign up to help us build the momentum we need to launch this exciting project in early 2009. In the meantime, via monthly updates, you'll get the chance to help shape the initiative and make sure you’re amongst the first to have the opportunity to be involved. See more here.

Petition update

Anyhow a while back I urged folk to sign a petition asking the Prime Minister to "Make it compulsory that local authorities and developers make provision for allotments and community gardens on every new development. Waiting lists are huge we need more allotment sites." The Prime Minister's Office has now responded - you can view it here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16920

Another apple picking and juicing day at Humphreys End

Yesterday we had another great afternoon picking apples and then juicing them - a video on my digital camera will be uploaded here soon - it is only my third attempt at a video - and is terrible quality filming but Owen the star of this short movie will go far - a natural behind the camera and gave a wonderful description of the process of picking apples, washing them, cutting them, mashing them then pressing them before drinking - and as noted before - this is the best tasting juice on the planet.

Anyhow apols also on the sound quality on this video - you can't hear all of Owen's wonderful descriptions about how to juice - I'll hopefully be better in future at making all the others stop talking and work out how to move this camera so that you can see stuff......enclosed also are some other photos of the day.

The photos start with one of the last juicing session then the new addition to this session - bicycle helmets! These were essential to avoid the worst of falling apples - and some of them were huge!!

Then below comes some of the chopping, mashing and juicing - I left before the end but around 30 people had turned up - many of them interested in exploring more community involvement with the orchard. Huge thanks especially to Julia and Guy for making it all happen yesterday.

See our juicing and picking at Humphreys End orchard two weeks ago here also with a short video - and see here about juicing and picking plans for the future of the orchard and how you can get involved.

It is great to see so much interest in orchards and old fruit varieties - this week I reported in this blog on the new project at Rockness near Nailsworth where they have lottery money to get an orchard up and running - I hear also of plans by a landowner in Rodborough to set up a community orchard. All exciting stuff - of course in Whiteshill the Parish have already established a Parish orchard - hopefully fruiting more next year....

....and next year plans for the Humphreys End orchard include apple songs, tractor rides and many apple-related games from cutting the longest peel in a minute to apple bobbing and possibly 'Gruacach's Treasure' - a hairy ogre from Celtic mythology who lies on a pile of apples that children try and take without waking him.....indeed already offers of a tractor driver and apple song singer....join us!!