Actually it would have been very handy to have a TARDIS to help with the move – infinite space and instant relocation – it would have saved a lot of stress over whether my worldies would fit in the lorry and the delay caused by a broken bearing (though the TARDIS would probably have veered off course and been stranded in the year 5.5/Apple/26, or been trapped in a Dalek time corridor, which might have been even more stressful). Moving has kept me busy for quite a while!
I’ve been settled here and working just over a week. Â Cardiff is very compact – people tell me you can walk everywhere but I’ve tried that and it’s not quite true (not like it was in Lewes). Public transport here is amazing though. There are several local train lines – each with around 6 services an hour in each direction – loads of buses, and a bikes you can hire with your phone
One consequence of being a very compact city is that you can walk straight from a nice old victorian street into a building site, a new development or an area that might be, shall we say, ripe for redevelopment. The bay, as it was when I first visited it just after it had been created, juxtaposes elegant new developments (and some not so elegant ones) with decaying victorian buildings and rusting lock gates.
My walk to work is great, and takes me down the river, past the castle and through the town centre. I miss Lewes and I had no desire to end up in a city, but there are lots of bits of Cardiff that are very nice. And being a city it has one advantage – an Apple Store (which opened on the day of my job interview) – and it’s only thanks to my iron self discipline that there have been a couple of days when I haven’t gone in on my way home.
Everywhere I go I suddenly find I’m somewhere I recognise, because I’ve seen it in Doctor Who or Torchwood.
I was down at the bay and I saw some flowers and photos, and I thought how sad, someone’s slipped into the water and drowned. When I looked at the pictures, I thought it even sadder, because I recognised the face. It was only when I realised it was actor Gareth David-Lloyd that I administered myself a kick, because I realised what it was.
I didn’t realise they’re posting video on their website now. The clip features my local butcher, greengrocer, and sadly-now-defunct-delicatessen as well as the more central but no less wonderful Bill’s and May’s.
Here’s a great tip for Brighton & Hove dwellers: stockpile bus tickets before the prices go up.
On Sunday week, Brighton and Hove are putting up their fares. You can already save money buying your tickets online. Save a further 20p on journeys you make after the 23rd by getting the tickets now. I’ve contacted B&H and tickets bought at current prices will be honoured after the rise.
The “unleashing” of Transition Town Lewes was rather an inspiring event. There were about 400 people in Lewes Town hall, and when I arrived, there was standing room only.
The highlight of the evening was a talk from Rob Hopkins, who gave an account of Peak Oil. I learned that global discovery peaked in 1965; apparently production usually peaks 20-30 years after discovery!
Chris Johnstone gave an interesting session on change (climaxing in the use of a harmonica as an alternative energy source…) a choice which recognised that much of the audience already has the motivation, and reflects the importance of taking action.
What impressed me most about Hopkin’s response (and I haven’t been impressed by responses before) was the focus creating a vision of an abundant post-oil economy. Most commentators seem to focus on the negatives, which leaves the consequences and the alternatives wide open: great if you want to sign people up to your theory, but useless if you want people to cooperate to move things forward.
I liked:
trying to visualise a positive vision of an abundant, low energy future (it is possible)
starting from where we are now, planning the transition to realise it
setting a realistic timeframe: 10 years to adapt
capturing local knowledge of the pre-oil (boom) economy
engaging the challenge as a community: avoiding “them and us”
This last includes engagement in the political process (there’s a planning group for liaison with the council) without being constrained by it: the only way change will happen is if, as a community, we make it happen. Being positive is not about looking forward to the oil running out (some do: Soil Association director Patrick Holden admitted to feeling smug before he met Hopkins, whilst the BNP are ready to make political hay). It’s about being creative and constructive; and making positive choices.
A couple of years ago I saw a film about Peak Oil, screened by the Green Party here in Lewes, followed by a discussion. I was not impressed. I said it was preaching to the converted. I cited the Jevons Paradox in explaining that individual efficiencies could make the problem worse rather than better. I concluded that the only solution was to lobby for government action.
Tomorrow Transition Town Lewes is unleashed.
I only heard about transition towns on the Welsh local news at Easter when Lampeter held its first meeting. Once again the focus is on individual collective action, but this time the focus is on preparing for the peak – essentially being ready to live without oil. Promoting the local economy, communal allotments and solar panels are amongst the first projects; and seem worthwhile in their own right. Totnes, another transition town, has its own currency to promote the local economy. I don’t know how effective any of this will actually be to wean us off our oil dependency, but if the pessimists are right about the oil peak, being it a bit prepared will surely be better than not being prepared at all.
So here’s another film, screening right here at Little Storping, and it’s very Lewes. Where else could you wear a woolly orange hat and still hope to be taken seriously?
It’s astonishing that the utter pyro-chaos that engulfs Lewes each Nov 5th can leave the place in tact and then these incidents occur at times of apparent calm. At least, I suppose, we can be thankful that this fire occured after bonfire night, so that the storage wasn’t stocked up in preparation.
Greene King is a company well known and loathed by Lewes people for their habit of buying up pubs and then stopping them selling beer from our local brewery, Harveys. Lewes people express dislike by burning effigies on Bonfire Night. Greene King was burned three years ago, around the time my local got taken over and Harveys was taken away.
One pub survived the take over; a particularly good pub (in a town with a good many good pubs) just under the unique second motte of our medieval castle. Due to local resistance, they’re still selling Harveys, which is great, until I read in Private Eye that Greene King were planning to remove Harveys even from there: a pub where four out of every five pints sold are Harveys.
It turns out this hadn’t just made it to the Eye, The Guardian picked it up and John Humphrys interviewed the MD of GK on Today. These articles and more are gathered on the “Hands off our Harveys” Lewes Arms blog.
Today was to have been the last day of Harveys, but there has been a stay of execution while local negotiations continue between GK and local MP Norman Baker. There’s a good few votes in this for him if he can pull this off. I hope he does.
