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CHAGFORD HYDRO NEWS
Firstly, I must apologise for taking so long to update the community on the outcome of the auction for the old Chagford Hydro site. The reason for this will now become clear. We bid to our calculated maximum of £105K, this figure having been downgraded with only a few weeks to go when it was announced that a new Abstraction Licence had been granted that cut the peak flow by 50%. This reduced the potential income from the site and therefore it's value.
A winning bid of £138K was made by a small Okehampton firm called Ashridge Engineering. I spoke with the MD straight after the auction. He was well aware of our community interest. He had even tried to acquire the site when it was owned by National Power. His company develop instrumentation for the water industry and he wants to refurbish the site and use it to showcase products and probably develop new ones. I got the impression from him that he might consider a joint venture with our community and until this issue was discussed I felt unable to release any specific news. I now hear that a joint venture is not something that he wishes to pursue and he apologises if he might have given this impression.
I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful level of support that you have shown for the idea behind Community ownership. There are numerous old and new hydro plants around the country, which are now in community ownership but sadly Chagford is not one of them. I will continue to keep in touch with the MD of Ashridge Engineering and should the situation change, will explore any opportunity that may arise.
Perran Newman
Get Pickled Success
On Sunday 15th January in the Courtyard Cafe, a group of enthusiasts enjoyed an inspiring and informative workshop with Natacha Du Pont De Bie. She took us on a tasty tour of how we can spice up our local winter veg. Pickling and fermentation is a low energy way to prolong food's shelf life. It helps capture goodness and produce healthy food . All the participants enjoyed a grand finale of delicious tastings and there was enough to take home jars and even bags of goodies. For more information on local food events please sign up with email growchagford@gmail.com
How to make a gardener happy!
Give a couple of bags of locally produced compost this New Year. Now selling at Proper Job, just outside of Chagford. Local compost-local growing!
Chagford Filmakers on location in Chagford!
To all our friends, fairies and supporters.
If you can spare two minutes and fifteen seconds you can catch a glimpse of our epic October film shoot here:
/www.fairytalefilms.co.uk
We had sensational week filming Mary Whyddon. Passion, Rain, Mud, Ghosts, Cake!
Lively evenings were spent sharing food, wine and laughter in the historic Church Rooms in which we filmed our interior scenes - real life and cinematic life blending into one magical adventure.
Fabulous homemade cakes at tea time were sponsored by Kirsty's Kitchen. Thanks Kirsty - your scrumptious cakes kept us sparkling, even in the rain!
PS. I'm telling some winter tales with my harp in Ashburton on Sunday December 11th as part of an eclectic mix of performers at the "Frost and Fire" Dartmoor Yuletide Celebration. A flyer's attached if you want to know more. I think it'll be a great evening out with a pie supper and wassail bar where all can make merry and drive the cold winter away.
from Elizabeth-Jane
Centre For Contemporary Art And The Natural World
We are an arts and ecology organisation located in Haldon Forest Park which creates year-round programmes of temporary exhibitions, live events, workshops, forum and other activities.
Johanna Korndorfer
Learning and Development Manager
Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World
T: 01392 832277
E: j.korndorfer@ccanw.co.uk
W: www.ccanw.co.uk
Haldon Forest Park, Exeter, EX6 7XR
Growing food, sharing Knowledge
Watch this short very inspiring film and ask yourself what can Chagford do to get making more of our own food.http://theurbanfarmingguys.com/our-story
Join growchagford@gmail.com for more ideas and actions on food resilience.
Chagfood shows the way!
Chagford Community Agriculture (CCA) is a new local food initiative supplying seasonal fruit and vegetables to Chagford’s residents. The scheme was launched in March 2010 in response to demand from within the community for more availability of fresh and affordable local produce.
CCA is a two-acre market garden near Easton Cross, one mile from Chagford. In our first year we will be supplying 20 local households with a weekly veg-box delivered to a central pick-up point in the town. In the second year we expect to supply 35 boxes a week and eventually 50 boxes a week by April 2012.
The initiative was fortunate to secure an inital grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme which was established in 2008, specifically to help local food projects get off the ground. The grant has been used to pay for capital investments such as fencing, polytunnels, tools and equipment and also to subsidise initial running costs. Within three-years however CCA will be entirely financially self-supporting.
In an effort to make CCA as low-impact as possible we use horse-power for cultivation, tillage and transport of our vegetables. Samson is a Dartmoor-Welsh Cob who has been trained by us from a foal. He works on the field 1-2 days each week using a French designed tillage tool called a Kassine.
Take a look at
