Dear TDEG Friends – Our usual events have been overtaken this month by the very sad news of the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Our Chair, Sue Barber, wished to say the following on behalf of the whole of TDEG….
Message from Sue Barber, Chair of TDEG –
The TDEG sends condolences to all members of the Royal Family, on the death of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen personified duty and propriety and was a role model for women and girls over many decades. Even people who are not Royalists have respected her attitude and steadfast presence. She was also a country woman at heart, and loved the natural world.
We are delighted that we were able to to celebrate her 70th Jubilee with the planting of over 600 trees in our local area for the Queen’s Green Canopy. We hope these will be a lasting Remembrance of her.
We send all good wishes to King Charles III, who has been ahead of his time, in putting forward conservationist views, and speaking up for organic growing long before it became fashionable.
Rest in Peace, Your Majesty.
Our work to protect and enhance our local environment goes on. This newsletter updates you on our project group activities since our Annual Report issue back in June, as well as letting you know about our next whole group meeting on 19 October.
If you’d like to find out more about any of the project groups, and receive emails about their meetings and activities, please tick the relevant group box when you sign up to TDEG. If you’d like to add a group to your existing list, just let us know by emailing info@tdeg.org.uk.
Next TDEG Whole Group Meeting – 7.30pm-9.00pm, Wednesday 19 October, at the Fountain Square Church, Tideswell.
Fiona Dear (Co-Director of The Restart Project) will share her experiences working to help people repair and reuse their devices, from tablets to toasters, to bring about a more sustainable society. All welcome to attend.
More information about The Restart Project here.
PROJECT GROUP NEWS
CLIMATE ACTION GROUP:
- Members of the Climate Action Group continue to develop resources to help people think about retrofitting their homes to reduce their carbon emissions. More information here .
- We also held a very successful Climate FRESK event in July, to learn more about the impacts of climate change on all our lives. Around 25 people gathered in Fountain Square Church to understand the causes and effects of climate change on our economy, society and the environment by playing a thought provoking game (and eating cake!).
Climate Pathfinders Youth Forum
- We also continue to support the work of the CPYF.
- Climate Pathfinder Emily built a hedgehog home to help our endangered hedgehogs. Tucked behind the bug hotel at Tideswell Community Orchard, for shade and security, Emily hopes a hog will take up residence this autumn to hibernate. Fortunately 30 bricks were donated so the recommended Natural History Museum design could be used. The design of the hedgehog home can be seen here.
- Climate Pathfinders are always happy for more local young residents to join them. If you, or someone you know, wants to take action to help our environment or meet the decision makers get in touch at yf@tdeg.org.uk
CYCLING GROUP
Our new Cycling project group goes from strength to strength (and thanks to Helen for her brilliant leadership of this group).
The group undertook a community cycling survey in June, to find out what was most needed to encourage people to cycle more in our area. 46 residents completed the survey. The main findings were as follows:
- Engaging with local schools, and voicing local concerns for action, particularly around safety, were the top two activities respondents felt would benefit the community most.
- Promoting local cycling initiatives, organising confidence-boosting sessions, and offering local repair services were other popular initiatives.
You can read more about the results of the survey here. The group have already begun developing initiatives based on these findings.
We invite you to drop in to Litton Village Hall, between 10:30 and 14:30 on Saturday 8 October, and enjoy free refreshments, and learn about all things cycling – including safe cycling routes; a new bike exchange service; Rural Action Derbyshire’s Wheels to Work scheme; and free cycle training. In addition, you’ll be able to find out all about electric bikes and even test ride one. It should be a great event, and all are welcome.
More on the Cycling Group launch event here.
The Cycling Group are also establishing a Community Cycling Maintenance Kit, which will shortly be made available at the Tideswell Co-Op store in the Pot Market (thanks to the Co-Op for their assistance in this scheme).
Look out for this poster in the Co-Op, and if you have any problems whilst out and about in Tideswell, you can ask to borrow the maintenance kit. The Cycle Group hopes this service will be used by visitors to the village, as well as local residents.
There is also a cycling repair expert at our regular Repair Cafe (more details below).
ETHICAL CONSUMER GROUP:
The Ethical Consumer Group continues organising the Tidza Buying For Good Club. You can find out more about how to share orders of food stuffs and other ethical products from Lembas in Sheffield here.
Perhaps the EC Group’s most ambitious, and successful project is our new Tideswell & District Repair Café. This has now been running every month since May (with a short break during the August holidays), and meets every third Saturday at the Community Hall, bottom of Church Lane in Tideswell.
The next Repair Café is this Saturday, 10am-2pm, 17 September.
People have brought in broken chairs, a coffee pot without a handle, a bicycle chain, a couple of clocks, and a ripped pair of trousers, amongst many other items. Our enthusiastic and friendly volunteer repairers mended many of the items and gave advice where owners needed to source parts and how to maintain their belongings. People also enjoyed the free refreshments (a donation towards the Repair Café expenses are requested).
The aim is that people try to repair their belongings, rather than throwing them away, reducing the use of materials and energy – and saving money!
More info about the Tideswell & District Repair Cafe here.
As well as being active in our local community, this type of repair scheme has developed into a national initiative.
A free exhibition in Chesterfield called unbroken.solutions, on display until 29 October, explores the impact of and systemic solutions to waste; ways to overcome the barriers to reuse; and identify ideas and resources that we can all access or demand our rights to use.
You can find out more about this exhibition here.
RECYCLING GROUP:
- The Recycling Group has updated its web page and now provides many useful recycling tips, as well as posting information to the Village Voice every month.
- If anyone comes across ways to recycle unusual or difficult to recycle items, please pass the information on to Rob via info@tdeg.org.uk.
WILDLIFE GROUP
- The Wildlife Group had four well-attended summer events: looking for orchids in Millers Dale (four species of orchid seen); a visit to a local dairy farmer in Great Longstone who really impressed us with his efforts to produce food sustainably; a bat walk in Tideswell Dale (another four species seen and heard); and a great butterfly walk in Tansley and Cressbrook Dales – an amazing 14 different butterflies spotted!
- We have also joined the larger Owl-Kestrel Connect Project, which is establishing a network of farms with free nest boxes across our area to help Barn Owls and Kestrels recover. The project has just been awarded £25,000 from the Farming in Protected Landscapes Fund. Over 55 boxes have already been fixed and many more will follow.
- Monitoring by our volunteers will continue to see how many nest boxes are occupied by Barn Owls or Kestrels over the coming years. If you would like to get involved in monitoring these boxes, please contact us at info@tdeg.org.uk .
- We were delighted to arrange for our local Beavers, Cubs and Scouts to receive free Nature Recovery Packs, provided by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. We hear they are being put to good use!
- The Wildlife Group’s work at the community park with the Tideswell & District Sports Association, continues. They have asked us to help plant wildflowers on a bank at the community park. We are delighted that the 1st Tideswell Scouts are also helping us with this project again, along with Derbyshire Wildife Trust. The planting day is Sunday, 18 September, 10am-1pm, and you are welcome to join us (please bring gloves and a trowel!). If you would like any more information about this event, contact Lynn by email: info@tdeg.org.uk .
- We have also been advising local villagers in Cressbrook, who have been very concerned about recent developments by new landowners in Cressbrook Dale. You can read more about these concerns on the villagers’ web site – Save Cressbrook Dale. We will try to keep you up to date on developments.
ReMaking Paradise – Banners in St. John’s Church, Tideswell
And finally – we are pleased to be working with St. John’s Church to welcome an exhibition of around twenty specially commissioned banners focusing on the impact of mankind on our environment and climate change. The banners are made out of recycled materials and textiles, and individuals and families all over the country contributed their work during the lockdown period. The work sounds both wonderfully creative and thought-provoking (some examples of the work are shown below).
The banners will be on show every day, 10am-4pm, 27 October to 2 November, and we are hoping that as many people as possible visit the display. Our TDEG stall will also be set up for the duration.
We are looking for volunteers to help `steward` the exhibition on a rota basis. Please let us know if you’d like to be involved in what should be a very interesting event (email – info@tdeg.org.uk).
There will also be a special Care for Creation service – 10.30am, Sunday 30 October, at St. John’s Church. Everyone is welcome.
Once again, this is a huge amount of activity and action. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved – however you have contributed.
Together we can make a difference!!!
We do hope you can join us on the 19 October at our next whole group meeting. Hope to see you there!
Best Wishes
Lynn
