Randwick woods: at their best

Randwick woods - Standish Woods as they are officially known - are at their best with the bluebells - although I have to say they are always wonderful whatever the time of year - see the wood anenomes here and here with snow and here re the woodfuel project which is still being planned - infact was hoping to have meeting this week but it didn't happen.

Photos: taken just before election when I helped with some 30 children from Woodcraft Folk

This morning is a plant sale at the Village Shop from 9.30 then to the Whiteshill Village Hall to discuss the Parish Plan - open to anyone to call in - see you there?

I have managed to get a short great video to show at the Village Hall by Tony Wilton - it was used by the Randwick Parish group to show the implications of development in the Ruscombe Valley. It was showing at the Wap last weekend - see more about Randwick's plan here - and here about the recent Core Strategy consultation.

Parish, allotments, foraging and Easter break

OK well it was very nice to have some time off over Easter - this blog covers some bits and pieces over that time - the photo left is me as the Mad Marsh Hare in a treasure hunt for the local Woodcraft Folk group in Bisley Road Cemetery and around - various characters were lurking around with clues.

Photos: various including these homemade Hot Cross Buns - very delicious they were too!

It seems I am not alone in costumes this Easter - Steven Legge from Randwick, the assistant head of Gloucestershire Music, is pictured in this week's Stroud Life as a giant pink bunny at the Gloucestershire Youth Wind Orchestras' rehearsal - it seems he bet the students they could not get numbers up from 35 to 60 - well they did and he lost and ended up dressed as a pink bunny for several hours. Great stuff!

Allotments update

Allotments have also been moving ahead rapidly - when we started to clear the land I wondered if we would manage - we've already had four working parties on the site - see here our first one and pic left of another. Today we will be going again! We are still a couple of months of marking out the sites and starting to grow veg but we are getting ever closer.

We have also set up an Allotment Association - a good meeting in The Star in Whiteshill last week - over 15 of us and a constitution agreed...Have you been to The Star recently? Local beer and a hugely improved interior - Ken, the landlord, is really making it a local pub with plenty of stuff going on. See photo left and the 20 small plots have been allocated but no specific sites allocated. Hopefully more about The Star in a coming blog...

Anyway it seems there is huge interest in the allotments - I've had phone calls asking about them and a resident turned up to the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish meeting this Thursday to ask how they were advertised as they had not heard anything about them...well the allotments have had a mention in pretty well every minutes of the Parish Council which are on their website and all noticeboards. It has also been in the Warbler newsletter to all households and on this blog regularly. I've also mentioned them several times at the Randwick Parish meetings.

I am hoping that all this interest can lead to further sites being found - the site we have is small and the plots are about a quarter of a full size allotment - please to contact your Parish Clerk as Parish Councils cannot act unless they have people on the waiting list - Randwick for a long time has had no one on their list despite a number of Parish councillors being very positive about looking at sites. Do get in touch with me for further info or how we can look for more sites...

More Whiteshill and Ruscombe Paris stuff

OK that should read Parish not Paris....there was a Parish meeting Thursday - I wont repeat here the meeting but a few bits of news...

- a new street lamp in the lane/footpath near Whiteshill School is being considered - plans to consult residents in the area but costs are high - an estimated £1,800 of which the County would pay half and the Parish the other. I suggested looking into a renewable and LED option as most of the costs are in getting electric supply to the site.

- Haresfield want our Parish 20 is Plenty signs! Well there are still on-going discussions with County re the '20 is Plenty in Whiteshill and Ruscombe' signs that they have asked us to take down. The Parish are organising a speed test before that but then might loan some of the signs to Haresfield who would cover over the part that says 'in Whiteshill and Ruscombe'! Great recycling!

- Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Plan - the Parish are embarking on their Parish Plan - they have a meeting planned for Saturday 15th May 10 to 1 at the Whiteshill hall to talk about what it will entail and allow folk to drop-in and share ideas. Randwick have already done there but are now embarking on a renewal - see more here.

- Parish Councillor elections have been postponed due to General Election so you still have 2 weeks to get nominations in for both Parish Councils - see more here.

- New Clerk for Parish - interviews are next week so we will be getting a new clerk - very sad to see Julie go as she has been excellent indeed.

Stroud Valley Project Events

The new list has just been published - see it here - it includes the Stonehouse Newt survey that I joined last year - great stuff - see that here - plus many other very local events like Spring migrants at Hamwell Leaze, a Bat Walk at Stratford Park and bluebells at Randwick woods. We are very fortunate to have so much nature stuff around here!!!

Birch Sap drink and Dandelion muffins

For various reasons I've not managed to go recently to the Farmers Market but have managed to go the last couple of weeks - and hey it is such a great atmosphere. I also found the stall in the Shambles Market - see photos - indeed had to try the birch sap drink with a dandelion muffin - I mean where else can you get that but Stroud? Of course interest in foraging and wild foods is growing rapidly and have to say I do enjoy - indeed regular blog readers will have seen some previous recipes - click here for all.

Birch Sap is widely drunk in Russia and the former Soviet states - see more here and here. I have to say it tasted very similar to water and the Emeperors' new clothes came to mind - but there was an interesting sweetness there and was very refreshing on the warm Spring day! The guy is also a mind of information about other plants and was selling all sorts of stuff freshly picked...

Stroud Pound film

Well I finally caught up with the Stroud Pound folks setting up their regular stall in Threadneedle Street on Saturday. I paid my demurrage and am ready to spend more Stroud Pounds- see here all about it. I was also delighted to see Reuters have made a short film that is spreading news of local currencies across the world - see here - amazingly Brixton is now up to £40,000 in circulation - Stroud is at £4,000 which is excellent in 6 months. May it continue to grow...

Election?

Oh yes the final touches to leaflets have been made, letters written and all the nomination papers submitted. In this ward there will be me, a Conservative and a Labour standing - no Lib Dem will stand this time. I will soon be out delivering leaflets and will also knock on every door in the next 3 weeks! Do please phone me if you have any queries or questions. If anyone has time for leaflet delivering do please get in touch!

And Bath...

Lastly to finish this ramble I will mention a great day in Bath yesterday - was visiting a family member who had a hospital appointment there and afterwards had a chance to walk around - do find it all a bit touristy but like the independent shops and cafes so was disappointed to see the new SouthGate shopping complex - the new Georgian-style buildings are fine (indeed impressive) but why more shops - and also it is all those big chains like a whole shop of Calvin Klein underwear....it is all a bit of a mystery to me....how can we possibly sustain even more shops and retailing....

....indeed as I've said before we are loosing the identity of our towns and cities - Stroud has changed but at least still retains an identity - but if we are not careful we will join the growing lists of towns that are identical - clone towns as they have been dubbed - in 2008 Stroud nearly became one - see here - and see here more from the new economics foundation about clone towns. In a recession, chain stores are the most likely to abandon the high street and close branches.

Walking back up the street I was in the Juice Moose cafe - not a chain but has three stores - and I ended up with their first ever Chocolate sundae thingy - well it doesn't have a name yet but I was the first customer to trial it...will have to return to see if they take on board my comments!

Make a Bat Box!

I had great fun a couple of weeks ago when the Woodcraft group I help made bat boxes. Some great help from Ivi Szaboova-Baxendale from Stroud Valleys Project who have a great leaflet.

Photos of the Woodcraft evening

I've always had an affection - or something - for these small, furry insect eaters - indeed when I was very very much younger I helped set up a Bat group that had Judith Hann off Tomorrows World as an honoree member - because she hung upside down in one of the programmes! OK that will have to be a story for another time....

Anyhow bats need a range of roosting sites, including summer daytime roosts, winter hibernation ones and breeding sites. Amazingly in the boxes we made each box will have between 50 and 80 bats roosting!!!!!!

Here are some tops:

- Make the box from rough sawn timber to give the bats something to cling to. Make sure the wood is untreated - many wood preservatives kill bats!

- Cut plank as shown in SVP guidance sheet.

- Fit together with lid so that it can open: need to clear it out once a year.

- The best place to position a bat box is on a tree some 5 metres high. Place them in groups round three sides of a tree - bats like to move from one box to another during the day and from season to season as temperatures change.


- Clear away surrounding branches to give them a clear flight path.

- Boxes can also be located on buildings. A good position is under the eaves to protect them from bad weather.

- Bats can take a while to investigate new premises, but if your box is not occupied within three years, try moving it. You can check if the box is being used by looking for crumbly brown or black droppings on the ground.

Bits and bobs: grit bin, convent mirror, Stroud Pound, pasties and Paganhill hall

Brook report published - Ismaila's report on the Ruscombe Brook has been made available on Amazon... but as one person commented according to the picture on the cover of report, Ruscombe Valley is now headed by a mountain similar to the Matterhorn ... perhaps its only a metaphor for what we have to climb with local authorities. See Amazon here.

Ismaila (Photo left of Ismaila with other RBAG member)did his MSc with Water 21 and support from Ruscombe Brook Action Group in 2007 and his water sampling showed that between June and September water quality remained fairly good although deteriorated down the length of the brook - there were no sewage incidents during that time - looking at the silt along the brook - again this got worse as he got down the brook although the worst point was at Puckshole with lots of nasty faecal contamination. Ismaila was the first student - since then we've had several with Water 21 and more this summer - possibly working on Ruscombe Brook. Water 21 website also has lots about Ismaila's report.

Local woodfuel project - this is still progressing but we are awaiting a meeting with National Trust - see more here.

Ruscombe Road grit bin over again (see pic) - well I have refilled this grit bin on at least three occasions. Each time it is tipped over the salt grit gets into the local brook. Last year it was tipped over at least 4 times. The bin is at a crucial site so is much needed but it needs to either be sunk lower in the ground to stop people pushing it over or replaced with something better. I have requested this on various occasions - well last week my email prompted quick action and a contractor dug it into the ground - however it was over again in under 24 hours - I am informed today that it will be moved back and sunk in again - a notice needs to be posted so it will take a few days.

Bread Street grit bin - I have requested a bin on the slope of Ruscombe Road going up to Bread Street be moved further up the hill - perhaps to close by the Bread Street sign. This was an area that needed grit and used to have a bin. I know there was a complaint about a bin getting tipped into a householders garden but the Bread Street sign is far enough away to reduce the likelihood of this occurring again.

Convent mirror - well the mirror on this corner has disappeared - rumour has it it was used by sledgers during the last snow - anyhow we are unable to erect a new mirror at this location without the permission from the DfT - and Highways have said that this approval would not be forthcoming partly due to the speed limit. Highways were to look at possible road markings and come back to us - well I don't recall them coming back to us but new white lines have appeared - the mirror post remains with nothing on it! This seems a great pity - but as local folk will know it has been vandalised or stolen on many occasions previously - see blog here.

Stroud Pound update - I just got a bundle of Stroud notes today as my original lot had run out - there is now over £4,000 in our pockets, wallets and purses and over 35 local traders and businesses involved. For a full list of participating traders see: www.stroudpound.org.uk Recent joiners include Silverthorn (Nelson Street), Lansdown Pottery, Five Valleys Cordial (farmers market), Helyn Morris Chiropractor, Tobacconist Farm (Minch), Dennis Gould (Shambles market) and the exotically named Rupert Burdock's Wild Food Empire (Shambles market)! The winter opening hours of the Saturday morning 'office' at Stroud Valley Project, Threadneedle Street will be 11 till 1 every Saturday morning. Drop by for exchange, information, advice and chat. The most central exchange point in Stroud is Kanes in Kendrick Street. Other exchange points are Stroud Uplands PO, Minchinhampton and Stonehouse PO and Green Spirit, Nailsworth (check website).

Paganhill Maypole Village Hall - has just got two major grants. As regular blog readers will know I am a Leader with the Woodcraft Folk - the new Pioneers group now meets in this hall. Gloucestershire Environmental Trust, which raises money from landfill operations, has pledged £20,000 to help repair and upgrade the facility in Stratford Road. Stroud District Council has also donated £8,950 to improve the outside of the hall from its village halls and community buildings grant scheme. Volunteers are now set to start phase two of the £90,000, four-phase project within the next six weeks. The hall opened in 1962 has already seen last year the installation of cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and a new heating system. The latest work includes new toilets, modernising the electric system, installing efficient lighting, the lead water pipes replaced, disability access improvements, the leaking roof will be repaired and new railings will be put in place outside. The main work will last about four to five weeks. Donate to the appeal by leaving a cheque payable to ‘Paganhill Maypole Hall’ for the care of treasurer Martin Kavanagh at Paganhill Post Office. To book the hall, call Janine Bagouin on 07749 799538.

Stroud Pasty Co - just wanted to add congrats as they have won the contract to produce exclusive Gloucester Cathedral 'Pilgrim's Pie' - a hogget lamb, onion, garlic, white beans, herbs and honey-roasted carrot pie, made entirely from produce grown and reared on their farm in the Slad Valley. Drawing inspiration from the largely non meat-eating Benedictine Monks who once lived in the cathedral, their vegetarian ‘Monk’s Pie’ proved just as popular with its filling of white beans, onions, spinach, nettles, fresh herbs and Single Gloucester cheese. Both pies, which will be available to sample from May, are triangular in shape to represent the Holy Trinity and are enclosed in golden pastry made from Tetbury-based Shipton Mill flour and butter from Netherend Farm in the Forest of Dean.

Stroud for Food - the official 2010 Cotswolds Visitor Guide is out - a key feature of the publication is the exclusive village-by-village guide with distinctive symbols pointing visitors in the direction of pubs, restaurants, farmers' markets, shops and tourist information The content includes information about events and activities, hot dates in the Cotswolds and 'Top 10 Foodie Experiences'. Four out of the ten 'Foodie Experiences' are in the Stroud district. Woodruff's Organic Cafe (Stroud), St Michael's Restaurant and B and B (Painswick), Stroud's award-winning farmers' market and the Stroud Food and Drink Festival (3rd - 19th September 2010) are all mentioned. The Cotswolds' title as 'Britain's Rural Capital of Culture' is also explained: festivals, arts events, cultural happenings and galleries tucked away in even the smallest towns combine with some top class sport, and an amazing local food and market culture to make this one of Britain's most surprisingly vibrant places to visit.

Woodies: I'm moving up!

For the past couple of years I've been a leader helping to run the Willow Elfin Woodcraft Folk group for 6 to 9 year olds. Well now my partner's grandchild is moving up into pioneers so I will be going to. It will be v sad to say good bye to the children - and indeed parents - our group has been a wonderfully friendly and supportive group with loads of interesting stuff that we have got up to...

Photo: Rollerskating: I sadly couldn't join in due to a twisted ankle.

Last week we had the moving up ceremony at Stratford Park - an excuse for all the Woodies groups to meet and go roller-skating - but also say goodbye to those they leave behind. One of my last duties as a leader was to complete a short report of our activities in the last year. I enclose it below for those interested in joining Woodies - also follow the label below to a number of previous blogs and stuff about history etc.

The group started the year with only a handful of members due partly to a number of Elfins moving up. However the group quickly regained it's strength with close to 20 members for most of the year. A number of parents have taken on the leaders role so we have seen a wide-range of activities each week during school term-time. These have included leading the carnival procession with lanterns at the Stroud Goodwill evening at Christmas, being guests twice on Stroud FM to talk about Woodies, a trip to the Gloucester climbing centre, making a hugely colourful banner, making rafts and trying to float them down the Chalford brook, making bows and arrows and trying them out, many music and singing sessions, various craft activities, nature walks and den-making activities and more.

Willow Elfin's also helped initiate and participate in two events to support the 350.org climate change day: planting 350 trees locally with other Woodcraft Folk groups and helping make some of the 350 beehouses for solitary bees. Some of the Willow Elfins have also joined other Woodies for the annual Stroud Camp, the Sausage Sizzle on the common, roller skating at Stratford park and the Levellers Day procession at Burford. We would very much like to thank the Coop for it's support, which particularly allows some of our low income members to participate fully in our activities.

Stroud's Goodwill Evening success

Friday saw Stroud's Goodwill Evening and despite the drizzle it had a great atmosphere. Here are some of my photos from the evening that started with Keith Allen giving a little speech - he is the guy who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC series "Robin Hood" and lives locally.

Father Christmas helped Keith to switch on the Christmas lights, and mark the beginning of the Grand Venetian Procession around Stroud led by Gypsy Queen, the Cotswold Canals Trust horse.

Lis Parker in Venetian outfit (see pic above) announced the beginning of the procession - our Willow Elfin Woodcraft group of 6 to 9 year olds led the procession with their homemade lanterns - a couple of weeks ago we were busy making masks and lanterns in one of our weekly sessions in Uplands Hall - you can see my mask in the last photo below - the lanterns (see pics) had LED lights in them for safety.

Gypsy Queen, the old canal horse, led us off from the Sub Rooms - the poor horse got spooked by all the crowds and brightly coloured lights so only managed the first stretch down to Blockbusters from the Sub Rooms.

We made our way around the streets - a little smaller group than previous years - not sure what happened to some of the other folks who were meant to be joining the procession but the children enjoyed it lots. The weather wasn't too bad until we got to the Kendrick Street Deli - great shop - who had set up a snowstorm for us to go through - see pics.

On from Kendrick Street we looped around and ended up back at the Sub Rooms - that was when I discovered the free soup from the new bistro "Fifteen" in the old Crumbs cafe building opposite the Sub Rooms - totally delicious soup and wonderfully friendly folk there (see pic below) - indeed they are opening some evenings from tonight and open in the day - I can also vouch that the espresso I had was good.

The rest of the evening we wandered around all the shops and many many stalls - The Made in Stroud Shop were celebrating their 9th birthday as they opened on Goodwill Evening 2000! There were stalls everywhere, music, choirs and entertainments - I can't poss do justice to the evening here - the gift market in Cornhill (where the Farmers Market usually is) had many local artists and makers, fairly traded gifts from around the globe, the market cafe, the organic burger stall, Selsley Herb & Spice Mulled Wine and more.

There was also special Christmas markets at the Shambles (indoor and outdoor markets - see pic) and Sub Rooms Ballroom. I managed to catch a variety of entertainments from a magic guy outside to a harpist and various choirs - also saw jazz, face-painting, Punch and Judy....hey the list goes on and on...but especially loved the genuine 'goodwill' of this Goodwill Evening with quite a number of traders offering free drinks, soup or mince pies. Apparently there was also the S Factor finals but I didn't manage to find them.

JKC Complete Finishing Touch in Kendrick Street joined forces with Kendrick Street Deli to run a special fund raising event for The Gloucestershire Chest Fund to help asthma sufferers in memory of their friend and colleague Jasmine who passed away earlier this year. Jasmine apparently loved Stroud Goodwill Evening and there were various fund raising activities - from guess the number of sequins on a tiara to some wonderful cupcakes - still have one blue one left that has a wonderful snowflake design!

One highlight of the evening was the Christmas Tree Festival 2009 at St. Laurence's Church. This was the fifth week-long St Laurence Church 2009 Christmas Tree Festival and had over 60 decorated Christmas trees, displayed by organisations, businesses, groups and individuals from across the five valleys and beyond!!

It really was interesting to see all the ideas and thoughts - here are two entries - the first from the Global Bee Project which this blog has covered lots - indeed the tree was decorated with beehouses made by children - see my blog entry here - and the photo below was by Rev Barry Coker with a tree made from plastic milk cartons - looked great!

Anyway I'm rambling lots and just wanted to finish by applauding the live manikins who were in the YMCA Charity Shop - see pic below - although I have to say some were better than others at being totally still!

Anyhow thanks to all who made this event a great evening - what a great place to live!

CRB checks: have they gone too far?

CRBs have been in the news recently. We have seen Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine all announce they will not visit schools in protest against the "insulting" criminal records bureau (CRB) vetting system. Why do they object to a measure that surely is ensuring the safety of children?

As folk will know the newly created Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) introduced rules that say any adult who works or volunteers with children or vulnerable adults will first have to be vetted and given the all-clear as a trustworthy adult. The scheme was introduced following the terrible case of the Soham schoolgirls murders by the school caretaker in 2002. At the time the Manifesto Club challenged the Home Office on this new law - the Home Office said that if someone didn't want to be vetted then "there must be suspicious reasons for that."

I already have three mandatory CRB checks in connection with work and running a local youth group - in fact tonight at the Woodcraft Folk group there will be over a 100 of us and a bonfire and 'scary' walk - most of the adults will have had to have been CRB'd to enable them to lead the groups - but I digress... I've heard it suggested that maybe even councillors need to have a CRB check, so perhaps that will make it four CRBs? There is no system that allows you to get one CRB - you have to get one for each activity/job.

However at last there are noises from politicians like Ed Balls, Christopher Grayling and others questioning the system. But where were they in 2006? Even the author of the post-Soham report, Sir Michael Bichard said that this law was not his intention.

As Catherine Bennett notes in a recent article in The Observer, Sir Roger Singleton, chairman of the ISA has pointed out that members of Parliament did not, back in 2006, appear to have any great problem with this law. She goes onto ask where was the scrutiny of this law? In answer she explains some of the reluctance being due to Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda, the Minister responsible for the Bill, who suggested that 'such critics wanted to make life cushier for paedophiles'.

Indeed she goes on to say: "As Parmjit Dhanda made clear, the more vetting the merrier. Whatever its lamentable vaguenesses about scope, definitions, enforcement and so forth, no one would ever fault his bill for inclusiveness. 'There are between 7.5 million and 9 million people involved in work with children or with vulnerable adults in one way or another, so it will not be possible to legislate to cover all those people in one fell swoop', he said. 'It will take time.'"

Additions to the list now include Saturday job supervisors, driving instructors and others, bringing the total of those likely to be affected to an impressive 11.3 million of the adult population. Even newsagents may not escape the need for a check.

It is claimed that since 2004 the CRB has stopped 98,000 unsuitable people working with vulnerable groups. This is impressive. However this is not the whole picture. The Home Office in May 2006 revealed that about 2,700 people were mislabeled as criminals during checks and further examples in following years.

It is also suggested by campaigners that many have been rejected for jobs on hearsay - just rejected from the job - it doesn't go anywhere near a courtroom or jury? See for an example Manchester Councillor Richard Baum's comments here about cases he has come across. Indeed there has been increasing concern particularly that the Enhanced Disclosure was reproducing trivial gossip, with the CRB labelled the "Criminal Gossip Bureau". At the very least these needs tightening up seriously to avoid abuses of civil liberties.

There is also the monstrous amount of paperwork - nearly a quarter of a million forms were returned as they were wrongly filled out by organisations. Plus Nacro report thousands of applicants have been subjected to illegal checks for jobs that do not require CRB. Costs are also spiraling and have reached an astonishing £600 million.

Indeed this scheme proceeds from the assumption that none of us can be trusted with children and vulnerable people. Every adult who engages, even fleetingly, with children now has to prove they are not a pervert, and to pay for this privilege where possible No one is presumed innocent. As James Panton writing in the Big Issue South West in August this year, said: "We are assumed to be potential paedophiles until proven otherwise."

Registering a third of working adults will do little to protect children from the small number of individuals who would do them harm. A CRB check may reveal what you have or have not done, but it does not reveal what you have not been caught doing nor what you might do. A CRB is no cast-iron guarantee.

A child's safety is not best guaranteed by subjecting us all to a state-sponsored certification scheme. This surely only adds to the corrosion of the informal relationships of trust and support that are so crucial to communities? Indeed children are becoming “no-go” areas: local sports teams and youth groups are struggling to find volunteers and some teachers are running scared to even put a plaster on a child’s knee.

Some key children's charities like the NSPCC have welcomed the CRB but even they are now questioning whether it has gone too far.

This current scheme is out of control. It needs serious attention. Of course we need to strengthen measures to protect children from potential sex offenders, but there are better ways to protect the vulnerable in our communities. We need to invest much more in teaching adults and children how to recognise warnings rather than relying on a piece of paper.

Stroudies to join The Wave on 5th December

Join the UK's biggest ever demonstration in support of action on climate change.

On Saturday 5 December 2009, ahead of the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen, tens of thousands of people, all dressed in blue, will flow through the streets of London to demonstrate their support for a safe climate future for all......and Stroud is sending a coach to take part in the demonstration called 'The Wave'. Starting in Grosvenor Square at midday and encircling Parliament three hours later, it is to be the biggest ever demonstration in support of action on climate change.

The Stroud bus will leave at 9am from the Bell Hotel, near Stroud Train Station. It is £12 per person and to book please contact John Marjoram (01453 750962) as soon as possible.

And if you can't make it to London, there is nothing to stop all the Stroud groups joining the online wave by making video's. You can use a normal digital camera and at teh Woodcraft Venturers group it only took up 5mins of the session. See them on the wave website: http://www.the-wave.org.uk/with/284/ )

Meanwhile here's a quote from Green Parliamentary candidate Martin Whiteside said, "The Stroud Green Party is joining with other organisations such as Transition Stroud to fill coaches to London. We need as many people as possible to join us. All of us going to London are also there to support the three amazing young people from Stroud who have been chosen as youth delegates to Copenhagen and will hand in a petition from the people of Stroud. The world's future is in our hands; we must act now."

Lastly download the petition we are getting signed from www.glosgreenparty.org and get all your neighbours to sign. See here The Ecologist's Copenhagen in a minute or was it two minutes?

If you want stuff on how the climate talks are going - alot of it makes grim reading - see here for Indymedia report and here for The Independent. However it is wonderful to see the vast numbers of people participating in demonstrations and actions - I still see some hope - yes we're in for some difficult times and poorer countries are going to face even worse times ahead - but all these actions are helping push our politicians to make the decisions we need....what other choices do we have than to make these stands?

Stroud 350 day: 350 trees, 350 beehouses and 350 numbers on people

Today October 24, is a global day of action around climate change, organized by the folks at 350.org. The site already has photos of many of the over 5,000 events. And as you'll see below today in Thistledown near Nailsworth I've been planting 350 trees with Woodcraft Folk and previously helping organise the making of 350 beehouses with various local groups. Also in Stroud Woodcraft are making 350 pictures. More on those in a mo but why 350?

Photos: all from Thistledown today

Well that’s the parts per million of carbon that scientists think is the ‘safe’ level that will keep the planet at least somewhat recognizable. What are we at currently? Something like 390, and climbing! So time is short. With a new round of global negotiations scheduled for Copenhagen in early December, today's actions will help build popular pressure on all those politicians to do something real.

We still have a chance to turn away from the disaster. We can still build a world that offers abundance, hope, lives of beauty and health and freedom for those who come after us. But the window of opportunity is closing. We must act.

Here is some of what the Western Daily Press quoted me saying earlier this week "Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. We've reached 386 parts per million and have to get back to 350. Copenhagen is a successor to the Kyoto protocol and has been widely seen by many scientists as the last chance for humanity to get to grips with soaring greenhouse gas emissions. We can do it, but we need to keep the pressure on politicians in the coming weeks. The 24th is all about actions we can take. Already on this day around the globe there are lots of projects like church bells ringing 350 times to 350 paellas cooking with solar energy. Near Stroud we are planting on that day 350 trees with children aged 6 plus from the local Woodcraft Folk group. We have also been building 350 bee houses with adults and children in Stroud."

Climate change is often framed as somehow our personal problem - like we should drive less, consume less, change our lightbulbs - and yes of course all those things are important. But nothing we do individually will solve the problem. We need to work together, to influence policy. We need to be clear about all the things we do want otherwise we just leave a trail of despair and apathy.

Planting 350 trees

Well first big thanks must go to Mel Trievner who got this project going but also to Helen Kay and many of the others like Stroud Valleys Project who loaned the shovels and more.

We arrived at Thistledown in the rain and started with a brief talk about the trees, how to plant and where the wood was going - of course being Woodies we also started with a song. It was then planting time

We all split up into smaller groups and I have to say I was totally impressed by the childrens dedication o digging and getting the plants in the ground - I think we had a selection of Rowan, Birch, Crab Apple, Ash, Field Maple, Hazel, Guelder Rose, Wayfaring tree and Dogwood. But maybe not all those - we did stop for some lunch and tea - very welcomed as some of the ground was pretty tough indeed. I can't quite believe we got them all in the ground and stacked and protected from rabbits!!

We will no doubt return to see how they are growing - what a great morning!

More about 350 beehouses

See more here plans for 350 Beehouses. See here how to make beehouses but also see photos of the many other designs made by different groups - see here Guideposts, here the workshops in town and here Elfins - plus here leafcutter bees in my house and here how Stroud is to become the first Bee Guardian town.

Here's what Jessie Jowers said of the day: "There are 20,000 different species of bees worldwide, and only 500 species are honey producing bees, many bee species are much better pollinators than the honeybee. They are all in decline and need protecting too. We rely on bees for two thirds of the food that we eat. A healthy diverse environment needs a diverse population of different bee species. Bees are responsible for the pollination of many of the plants that grow to absorb the CO2 from the atmosphere. We need to be aware of how our agricultural practices effecting bee and plant diversity, whilst also remaining as the largest contributor of CO2 into the atmosphere. The Global Bee Project and the people of Stroud have come together to make 350 bee houses for cavity nesting solitary bees. The houses will be placed around the town to protect, conserve and encourage a variety of vital bee species."

350 Picture share

I had hoped I might get along but the tree planting took longer - but see hopefully stuff on the blog for this here: http://livingonsunshine.blogspot.com/

Apparently the Woodcraft Venturers group have made a brilliant contribution to the 350 event in Stroud today. They painted numbers 1-350 on 350 people, explaining the concept to hundreds of people on the high street in a most articulate and convincing way, and not just the previously converted. The town was buzzing with interest about what they were doing despite the dreadful weather. They are also making a video of the 350 photos they have taken of each number to put on Issies blog - livingonsunshine.org.uk, and hopefully we will have an article in the SNJ, so look out for it.

Most people ever in Stroud FM

Here is a plug for our local radio station Stroud FM - tune in at:
www.stroudfm.co.uk

Well a couple of weeks ago our local Woodcraft Folk group went along to talk on air about 'Woodies' - we did just that and even sang a couple of Woodcraft songs - with over 30 children and adults in the tiny studio we reckon we hold the record for the most people in that studio - you can read more about Woodies in this post here.

We also managed to talk about our plans for this Saturday when we will plant 350 trees at Thistledown near Nailsworth as part of the 350 Climate Change day - more on that soon - and also a new event in Stroud High Street - see here.

I also got a plug into the radio show after our bit about Woodies about the launch of the energy monitors in local libraries - see here.