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Transition New Mills Reading Group

29 Friday May 2020

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The Transition New Mills Reading Group continues to meet monthly on Zoom, to discuss a book, watch a film/video or host a speaker. This month we discussed Dieter Helm’s book Green and Prosperous Land – A Blueprint for Rescuing the British Countryside.

Dieter Helm is an economist and brings a pragmatic view to the discussion of how to repair the damage that has been done to the environment in the UK. He explains the concept of Natural Capital, these are free, natural assets. Some are non-renewable such as fossil fuels, others are productive on an ongoing basis and will deliver returns for ever unless they are damaged below a base survival level, for example our rivers/water supplies, land, marine environment etc

There are three principles underlying his proposal – Public money should only be used for public goods, the Polluter should pay and there should always be a Net environmental gain. He presents a strong argument for the inclusion of external costs (eg pollution) in the cost of things as this will lead to changes in behaviour. (we referred to the plastic bag charge several times as an example of how things can change behaviour overnight).

He chaired a government committee which has drawn up a 25 year plan to restore and improve the natural environment in the UK. It involves major changes to taxes, subsidies, regulation and enforcement but argues for local non profits (ie not government or private sector) to be the main agents to carry out the delivery. This is a very detailed and comprehensive plan which shows what can be done with the resources available to turn environmental degradation around.

We had some criticisms – that it only refers to the UK and some issues are global (eg. the aviation industry) and/or involve our relationship with other countries (for example food security) and there is no reference to wider issues such as class or decolonisation which could be relevant to the current situation.

Discussion Group: The Impact of Eating

03 Thursday Oct 2019

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The New Mills Transition Reading Group meets monthly in someone’s home to discuss a book or, occasionally, to watch a film/video or host a speaker. At the September meeting we discussed George Monbiot’s article in the Guardian on 9th August, ‘Here’s the true cost of eating meat. It’s worse than you think’ together with the piece on Silvopasture in ‘Drawdown’ edited by Paul Hawken and other online articles which deal with related subjects.
The George Monbiot article is here:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/08/ipcc-land-climate-report-carbon-cost-meat-dairy
Links to other articles that contributed to our discussion were:
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
https://greenallianceblog.org.uk/2019/08/20/whats-the-beef-with-beef/
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/6-reasons-why-practice-silvopasture-will-help-save-modern-farming
Monbiot argues in favour of stopping eating meat because of its carbon footprint and to completely cease meat and dairy production in order to increase the rewilding of the countryside. Some thought that these were not the only possibilities and this generated a discussion about land use.
One of the background pieces for Monbiot’s article talks about a variation between best and worst producers of meat by a factor of 50 in terms of environmental impact so it was argued that if the worst producers could be targeted then this would have a far bigger impact than trying to stop production altogether. In addition, mixed farming can use animal manure for fertiliser, reducing dependency on chemicals and associated repercussions like runoff and water pollution.
The discussion included the issue of protein and where that comes from in a plant based diet. Also, referring back to an earlier book (The way we eat now by Bee Wilson) there is the issue of the economics of the food industry and the issues around providing cheap and nutritious food.
The general opinion was that there needs to be a significant reduction in meat consumption and a cultural shift to see a plant based diet as healthier and cheaper. Some of this is already taking place. In addition, it’s not just about personal choice, changes are needed at a government level including the revision of agricultural subsidies to assist the transition and the need for major changes in the food industry. One article mentions the need for a ‘just transition’ for farmers so they are paid properly for the food that they produce.
We discussed food security and the comment in Monbiot’s article about the 55% of UK cropping land being used for livestock feed. Monbiot heavily criticises extensive as against intensive farming of meat but (as discussed with Isabella Tree’s book Wilding) extensive farming can encourage increased biodiversity. Also, the carbon footprint of meat production may conflict with the issue of animal welfare. There are both ethical and environmental grounds for changing to a plant based diet but some may be more amenable to a process of reduction rather than sudden elimination.
Our next meeting is Monday October 21st at 8pm and the book is The Wall by John Lanchester
You don’t have to read the books to come along – someone will give a synopsis and all input to the discussion is welcome. Email transition.newmills@gmail.org for details of venue.

Many thanks to Sue Cooper for the post.

2019 Annual General Meeting

30 Saturday Mar 2019

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You are invited to come along to the Transition New Mills Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm on Monday 8th April, at the Volunteer Centre on Union Road.

This will be an opportunity to celebrate the successes of the group, learn about the various projects carried out, and look forward to the forthcoming year.

Papers are available here.

We welcome nominations for the 3 posts in the Administration Group (2 generic, 1 Treasurer). If you would like to stand, please let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com by 6.30pm on 8th April, and be prepared to present a short pitch at the AGM prior to elections.

Reading Group: ‘The Running Hare’

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Blog post by Sue Cooper, Transition New Mills Reading Group

The New Mills Transition Discussion Group meets monthly in someone’s home to discuss a book or, occasionally, to watch a film/video or host a speaker.

Our book this month was The Running Hare (The secret life of farmland) by John Lewis-Stempel published by Penguin Books. In some ways this followed a theme set last time in our discussions of Wilding by Isabella Tree, looking at what happens when land is managed or farmed differently to the modern methods of intensive agriculture – in this case a field in Herefordshire which the author takes on for a year to grow a crop of wheat, using traditional farming methods, and a wide border of wildflowers.

The results are fascinating and heartening, showing the power of nature to recover from the mono-cultures of agribusiness which create quite ‘dead’ environments, as well as a celebration and appreciation of the skills and cultural history of traditional agricultural workers.

This book was a ‘lighter’ read than our usual fare; as well as being an observant ecologist cataloguing and describing the emerging and changing flora and fauna he includes anecdotes of rural life, poetry, songs, discourses on agricultural history, language and literature, a rich weave of fascinating facts and engaging descriptions. Some of us found his style of writing attractive, enjoying the richness and depth, others were less enthusiastic, but all agreed that is was an interesting read and a welcome reminder of the rhythm of the seasons and a celebration of our connection to the natural world.

It is an open criticism of modern agricultural methods; he writes of the ‘chemical brothers’ in the next field whose use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers together with modern farm machinery delivers high yields but a mono-cultural environment, ‘every time one buys the lie of cheap food a flower or a bird dies’. His field produces an abundance and variety of wild flowers, attracts all kinds of wild life including the hares of the title and also produces a decent crop of wheat but at the cost of some heavy physical work. No easy answers. We had a lively discussion on the book which moved on to include a debate on the Common Agricultural Policy, farming subsidies and Brexit, and the worrying issue of modern disengagement from the natural world.

Our next meeting, on Monday February 18th, will look at the 12 principles of permaculture, through song! Contact us at transition.newmills@gmail.com for details.

New Year, New Thinking

12 Saturday Jan 2019

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Post from Liz Longden:

It doesn’t seem that long since I was writing a blog for last New Year. Looking back at it, I have actually achieved quite a lot of what I said I wanted to do, the biggest one of which was to not let my life be ruled by anxiety any more. I can’t say that I don’t still struggle with this because I do, but the positive is that I have managed to move forward despite anxiety. In terms of the plastics campaign, lots happened last year. We had the One World Festival with plastic as a theme. I have managed to get our local schools involved, and have talked to 2 class loads of children and a hut full of beaver scouts. There is a good chance that we will have an Ecobricks project with the schools in the spring. We have Terracycle boxes for various packaging up and running.( Thank you Penny) We have been in contact with groups in Marple and Macclesfield, and had a stall at Hayfield Apple day. So a fairly productive year.
But this is a new year. Time for some new thinking. Plans are afoot in Transition New Mills, and I want to be fully involved with those plans. The obvious focus for a renewed effort is Climate Change. We have only eleven and a half years as a species to limit the damage to our home planet. It’s not long. So in line with the principle that you can’t talk the talk unless you walk the walk…
I am slowly moving our household towards a low meat diet. I think I could easily be vegetarian, but I am not the only one in the house, so, slowly, slowly. I haven’t quite got my brain around veganism yet, but perhaps I can reduce eggs and cheese slowly.
I am trying to be very disciplined with car journeys, and have been talking about ways to share a car, just informal ways at first, like friends using one car to do all their shopping.
I have been trying to deal with the bits of the house that are not well enough insulated, and will spend a big chunk of a small windfall on this.
I am planning a low consumption year. Not wasting food, or anything else that I can help. No impulse buys. I am trying to shop for locally produced food, and trying not to buy anything from outside Europe. (or wrapped in plastic-haven’t forgotten that.)
These are self imposed limits, and I am happy to accept them. The things that I really value, like the company of my friends and family, like good music, like being in our wonderful landscape, like reading; these are all still available, carbon cheap, and damn near free. These are the things that actually make me happy.

October 2018 Newsletter

11 Thursday Oct 2018

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If we needed a reminder about the importance of Transition and its related activities, this week we had had it with the publication of the latest UN Report. It makes for sobering reading; climate breakdown is happening now, and we are in the last chance saloon if we want to prevent it from going from bad to catastrophic (you choose!).
Clearly all of us has an individual moral obligation to make sure we install as much insulation as we can, travel less, consume less, eat less meat, but this alone is not enough. We need Governments to help us at all levels, and crucially we need some sort of collective response at a local level, and that is where Transition comes in.
Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com if you’d like to be part of the reaction to this week’s report.

Summer Events
It was great to get out and meet people at the Carnival, One World Festival, Community Orchard Apple Day, and at the forthcoming Hayfield Apple Day this Saturday 13th Oct. There was loads of support and understanding from the community, which felt very positive. We now need to turn that support and awareness into practical action – so don’t hold back: pitch in, the world needs you!

One of the highlights was the Festival’s ‘Incredible Treadable’ walk, touring a variety of Transition’s and other partners’ projects to give examples of the types of activities we need more of in order to transition our economy and environment into what’s needed to tackle climate breakdown and other problems caused by pushing the boundaries of social and environmental boundaries. What pleased us most was that there was so much to talk about we couldn’t fit it all in. The projects and more can be seen on our Map Jam, and we plan to put the walk on website also.

Incredible Edible update
Growing food locally has a much lower environmental footprint, is healthier, and good for your wellbeing, and can be shared with others.
A very hot and dry summer was a challenge for the Incredible Edible sites, but they survived and have largely recovered since:
– New Mills Primary School now have a polytunnel and have used the edible garden throughout the summer term for educational purposes
– we teamed up with Visit New Mills to establish planters at New Mills Central station, looked after by station staff
– planted herbs at the Tranquility Garden at Providence Church
– Torr Top car park and New Mills Central now have signs to explain what the various herbs and leaves are
– Thanks to a County Council grant, we are able to extend our activities especially for vulnerable young people and adults to improve their physical and emotional wellbeing.

If you would like to be kept informed of community gardening dates and short notice cancellations (usually due to bad weather), please email us at ienmsue@gmail.com

Rethink Plastic
Those attending community events over the summer will have noticed much; plates made from renewable materials, refillable beer glasses, and recycling points, all made possible by sterling work with event supervisors, suppliers and the councils.
The One World Festival had reducing plastics as its overall theme, and the Transition stall had a range of plastic-free alternatives to many household products, and an Eco-brick making demonstration.
A focus for the next steps will involve working with younger people through schools and clubs.
If your school or club wants to be involved, please let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Discussion Group Next Meeting
The Discussion Group has covered some interesting ground, including Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics and Wilding by Isabella Tree.
The next meeting is on Monday 15th October when the group will attend the RSPB meeting in Marple: Ian Rotherham talking about ‘Ghost Woods’, 7.30 pm at Marple Senior Citizen’s Memorial Hall.
https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/highpeak/events/
Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com for details if you want to meet up there or arrange lifts.

Fundraising
As agreed at the AGM, our page on the LocalGiving donations site has now been allowed to lapse due to the high operating costs and poor level of incentives and service. Until we find a suitable replacement, donations can now be made in cash at events, or by cheque to ‘Transition New Mills’ and posted to 28 Longlands Road, New Mills, SK22 3BY.

Special thanks must go to Jill Hulme, who has been offering some fantastic but surplus allotment produce to customers at the High Peak Food Hub in return for a voluntary donation. She has raised a fantastic £150 in this way, so many thanks to her and everyone who donated!

Balsam Bashing
We held ten official Balsam bashes over the summer to help keep the invasive weed Himalayan Balsam at bay in environmentally sensitive areas in the Torrs, Mousley Bottom and the Picker.

Transition Social
Held on the third Thursday of each month, usually at the Royal oak unless the pub quiz is on, from 7:30 to 9:30pm. Everyone welcome to come along to talk about anything from future projects to the football!

Newsletter June 2018

27 Sunday May 2018

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At our AGM in April we reported on all the wonderful projects Transition supporters had made happen in 2017/18, and heard how we could re-engage with local food producers from New Mills Food Assembly and The Old Cowshed.
Now’s the time to start to do even better this year, and there’s lots of opportunities to get involved. Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com if you’d like to know more, or want to start your own project.

Incredible Edible 
Now Spring is well and truly here, attention is turning to Incredible Edible again:

  • Come down to our event in Torr Top Car Park 11am-1pm, Saturday 2nd June for some homemade produce and a chat, when we will also be doing some weeding and planting, and raising awareness of the Incredible Edible projects and opportunities. Come and find out what it’s all about first hand!
  • We now have a brand new Incredible Edible Facebook page! Join the group to keep up to date with activities here.
  • New Mills Community Orchard and Forest Garden will be having maintenance sessions in the orchard starting at 7:30 pm on the 1st Thursday of each month in the summer, weather permitting. No gardening skill required necessarily, and you can help yourself to whatever is in season! Keep an eye on their Facebook page for any further details, and just turn up, with gardening gloves if you have some.
  • New Mills Primary School have started on their new Edible Garden project, with the help of a Lottery grant that has allowed them to employ an additional member of staff for it.
  • Inspired by this, Thornsett Primary School PTA approached us for help in setting up their Edible Garden project. They are after donations of edible plants, and possibly gardening equipment, so if you have any surplus seedlings or spare serviceable equipment they’d love to know. You can either drop them off at the school office from 4th June, or contact transition.newmills@gmail.com to make an arrangement for collection. Also, they could use the help of any handy DIYers out there who can assist them make some simple wooden planters like those at New Mills Primary. Let us know if you can volunteer!
  • New Mills Beavers and their parents had a great time working to help create an Incredible Edible garden at Watford House.
  • We hope to expand the planting up and ownership of the Planters for Peace this year – if you are interested in looking after one, please let us know!

These are great practical projects; if you want to get involved, come along to an event, or donate plants to Thornsett School,email us at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Rethink Plastic!
Lots to report here as well:

  • we’ve been involved in the One World Festival, with its plastics theme, and will have a stall there
  • Liz has been working with the pupils at St Georges School, and raised awareness amongst the other High Peak primary schools
  • We’re also working with the festival and councils to try to reduce single use plastics at street events
  • look out for an Eco-bricks project, which uses discarded plastic in the construction of useful items
  • meanwhile, don’t forget to use the Refill app when refilling your water bottle this summer!

Summer Events
New Mills is all about summer events, and Transition New Mills will be there at each. Apart from the Torr Top Incredible Edible event on June 2nd, you can come and see the stall at New Mills Carnival on June 9th at Newtown Rec, then at the One World Festival on July 7th, when we’ll be focussing on the festival’s plastics theme.
If you can help out on our stalls, even for just an hour or so, this would be really appreciated – please let us know if you can, as it’s a big commitment for the admin committee on our own!
We’ve also got a surprise event in development for the September Festival – watch this space!

Map Jam!
Our Transition New Mills map jam has been updated, and is now embedded on our website.
This maps all transition and related projects in the town that are helping create a more sustainable and resilient future, and includes local producers (including local farms, people selling eggs, and breweries), Incredible Edible sites, local renewable energy producers and balsam bashing areas.
Let us know what you want to see on the map by emailing us at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Balsam Bashing
The balsam is growing, and we are planning a further series of balsam bashing sessions to complement all the informal bashing going on. It is amazing the impact that a group can have in a concentrated area. Look out on the Transition New Mills Facebook page for details of the events.

Discussion Group Next Meeting

Next meeting is on the evening of Monday 18th June, discussing the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling.
Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com for venue details if you want to go.

Local Giving

The Local Giving website is up and running making it easy to donate money online, and offering the opportunity to gift aid it.
We don’t charge for membership any more, so rely and grants and donations. Donations are especially valuable to us as they help us get projects off the ground, and worked up to a position where we can apply for grant funding. Please donate as much or as little as you want at Transition New Mills | Localgiving

@HighPeakFoodHub
The eagerly awaited Food Hub, that we heard about from Esther Morrison at the AGM, is due for launch in June. It will allow you to place bespoke orders direct from local producers for collection from the Torrs Butterfly House on Thursday evenings. Keep an eye on the Food Hub Facebook page for details.

Clean Air Day
Thursday 21st June is Clean Air Day, with various events around the region. It’s a chance to find out more about air pollution, share information with friends and colleagues, and help make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone.

GDPR
No current newsletter is complete at the moment without mention of GDPR. We have taken advice from the Information Commissioner, and were advised that as everyone on our contact list has already given consent to be contacted for updates and newsletters, it is not necessary to have everyone reconfirm this. We have, however, updated our privacy notice: Transition New Mills holds the contact details of those people who have asked to be kept in touch with news, events and opportunities about projects they support. The Administration Team only have access to it, and will not share it with any other third parties.   You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom of this newsletter, or emailing us at transition.newmills@gmail.com with the word ‘Remove’ in the title line.

On the Nature of New Year Resolutions

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

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Latest blog from Liz Longden:

Time honoured traditions, the chance for new beginnings, remaking yourself, it’s seductive stuff.
Having said that, I don’t think I have ever actually made a serious New Year resolution. Not sat down and thought it through; not done some proper reflection about what I want to do and be in the coming year, and the year after that and so on. Perhaps it’s time though to change that. As I get older I am becoming more active politically. I am thinking more actively about how I impact the world about me. At the same time I remain stymied by my limitations. You know: not very fit, tired too much of the time. Too much of my mental and physical energies spent worrying about things that almost certainly won’t happen, about making a mess of something, just being anxious. Sometimes this makes it nearly impossible to do the things I want to, namely, help drive forward an effective campaign against single use plastic in the High Peak – this beautiful place where we live and that I love a great deal. I get scared of negative reaction. I get discouraged by apathetic reaction. I get too anxious to move something forward in case I get it ‘wrong’. And the American oil industries have just announced a $180 billion investment in the plastics industries, so we need to keep trying, keep shouting, and I want my voice to be in there, and heard, so I need to have energy, and real commitment. Something must change.
I am not ashamed of having problems with my mental health. People are talking about their mental health with more freedom and openness than ever before, and this can only be a good thing. But I am ashamed that I have let it blight my life for so long. Don’t think I will find it easy, and it might take me some time, but NO MORE. I have to get on.
Fellow campaigners, you can help me if you will. I can be helped by ‘having’ to do things. If I have said I will do something, give me deadlines. Harass me. Bring me to the sticking point. Ask me directly to do something. I will nearly always say yes, then as above.
I guess the rest is up to me.

 

Plastic Fantastic #2

02 Monday Oct 2017

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This the second of the Transition New Mills plastic campaign blog posts:
I was at the screening last Tuesday of the film ‘Demain’ (‘Tomorrow’) and came away full of energy and commitment, sure we could anything we could put our minds to, with enough thought and effort.
The next morning I was plunged back into despondency, picking up plastic bottles discarded in the street, along the canal, and on the playing fields round the corner from my home. The littering on the playing field has been worse recently. I have picked up twenty or so bottles from there over the past couple of weeks, plus the drinks cans, sweet wrappers and crisp packets. It also looks as if the litter bin has been deliberately emptied and scattered to the winds. Perhaps it is a fox or badger that has discovered human food, and I am blaming innocents, in which case, apologies. But the plastic remains!
So after all this litter picking and rumination I have to conclude that it is our young people that we need to get on board. Young people can be brilliant, committed, energetic, innovative and brave. And young people are currently coming to political and environmental issues in large numbers, as we saw in the recent election. So when I get up this week to talk about what might be priorities at our campaign Partners’ Launch, I think discussing ways to get our young people involved will be up at the top of the list.
Are any young people reading this? Or do you know any young people who may be interested in becoming involved in this campaign? Can we find out what they know about plastic pollution and what ideas they have about dealing with it? I am afraid I no longer have any contact with teenagers – my daughters are in their twenties. But I know people who have children and grandchildren. We would love to hear from you, and even more would love to hear that you’d like to be involved​ -​​ ​in any way at all. We are listening!
I am thinking a lot about this week’s launch [this was on Thursday 28th Sept – website problems prevented posting of the blog here – ed] which is for any people or groups who feel they have something to contribute to this campaign. I have a feeling that the overall success or failure of our efforts will be hugely influenced by the input we can get from ​the community. Please come along, or if you are unable to do this, perhaps you could send us your ideas about what our priorities and strategies might be. Thank you, and thank you for reading.

Liz Longden