– Below you can read an excerpt from the Transition Chepstow January 2016 Newsletter –
The Three Strange Angels, Ritual, Myth & Poetry
Thursday 18th February 2016, at 7:30pm
Coach & Horses Inn, Welsh Street, Chepstow
The next open forum organised by the Health & Consciousness Group of Transition Chepstow will be on the topic of Cultural Narratives and Personal Truths with poet, writer and teacher William Ayot. All are welcome to participate in the conversation. William Ayot is an organizer of the Poetry on the Border events series held at Chepstow Drill Hall. His new prose book, Re-enchanting the Forest, posits a reconnection with ourselves, our communities and our environment through ritual.
Efforts to conserve wildflowers
Although Monmouthshire County Council cut the meadow area at Penterry Park in the autumn, the arisings were not collected as promised. This means that the area will again be enriched by nutrients from the clippings, which hinders the flourishing of wildflowers. Transition Chepstow volunteers cleared away clippings from a couple of small areas and sowed yellow rattle seed in the hope that this will help weaken the grasses. The meadow area at Piggies Hill has also been partially mowed, but one area has been left uncut for two years, and no arisings have been removed by MCC. We have been requesting meetings to resolve these issues, but feel that yet another year was lost in our efforts to conserve the wildflowers which are such an important local feature, and vital for biodiversity.
Sustaining local renewable energy
The Energy Network of Transition Chepstow have been looking at how we can help people continue to reduce CO2 emissions and power bills in the future since the current government withdrew support to the renewable energy industry.
We are considering two projects of different sizes involving battery storage for electrical power so that the energy collected by solar panels can be used on site and to smooth out the peaks and troughs in the supply.
One is a domestic size to store power from solar panels and deliver it back to the home when needed. Read more about this at: www.midsummerwholesale.co.uk/sp2000.html.
The second is a commercial size unit for solar farms using vanadium batteries. Find out more at: www.redtenergy.com.
The domestic size is being trialled for the SARA lifeboat station at Beachley (see photo) and also at a house in Bream. We plan to offer a tour of the SARA site in a few months’ time. To find out more and take part in the conversation and planning, join us at an Energy Group meeting on the first Wednesday of every month (3rd February and 2nd March 2016) at 7.30 pm at The Beaufort Hotel, Chepstow.
Paris climate summit success?
We imagine that many Transition members will have followed progress at December’s climate change conference. The agreed ambition of limiting ‘the increase in … temperature to well below 2°C … and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C’ was an important landmark. However, some important voices have expressed concern about how these targets will be achieved. Kevin Anderson, the Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, has written for Nature to share his views on the shortcomings of the Paris agreement and it is well worth a read. One thing is certain, whilst the governments have firmed up their aims, the role for communities in developing and championing low carbon living remains.
License for fracking in the Forest of Dean
A few days after the Paris Agreement in December 2015, the UK government granted licences for onshore gas and oil exploration, including one for an area in the Forest of Dean. People have been organising events to learn more and discuss the implications of fracking all over the country. Locally to Chepstow there will be a meeting at the old schoolhouse in Rosemary Lane at 7.30pm on Tuesday 26th January 2016. There will be a short film and then Owen Adams from “Frack off Our Forest” (FOOF) will speak and be available to answer questions.
To find out more about this meeting, contact Andrew at mcdermid465@btinternet.com.
A grant for Chepstow town orchards
Working with Chepstow Town Council, we’re delighted to have been awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant to help develop Chepstow’s town orchards. The grant has been coordinated by the Welsh Perry & Cider Society and will support 20 communities across Wales in creating and enhancing their orchards. We will use the funds to help promote more use and enjoyment of the orchards, fund fruit tree training, create orchard signage and an ‘orchard and wildlife trail’. The grant funding also includes an orchards oral history project which is likely to involve Chepstow residents.
If you’d like to help with this project, please contact Marcus via 07944 468052 or food@transitionchepstow.org.uk.
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