March 2011 Blog Posts (8)

The Powering Lewes discussion at the Linklater last night was very well attended and outlined details of some very inspiring local developments:

These include: the Rampion offshore windfarm, the Ovesco/Harveys solar roof, LDC plans for photovoltaics for local social housing and a planning application for an anaerobic disgester to deliver local energy to schools and leisure buildings from local restaurant and other waste.. the fertiliser by product enriching our local…

Finally the moment of truth arrived as we opened the tearoom last weekend for the first time, a practice run lets call it for the grand reopening on the first weekend in April.  With minimal fanfare and advertising the moment arrived, the sun was out and the paragliders up in the air, we could not have asked for more.  Saturday was fairly…

Ovesco The Ouse Valley Energy Supply Company have been running the LDC grant scheme for domestic renewables for the last four years as part of the Low Carbon Building Programme.  Fresh focus on developing community energy projects has led to ambitious plans to build the first community owned solar power station. Ovesco are currently examining the feasibility of installing a 98kW solar photovoltaic array on the roof of Harveys’ main storage and distribution warehouse…

We're getting close to opening the Caburn Tea Room here at Ranscombe Farm and we've been preparing this week with a good old deep clean of the lovely farmhouse kitchen.  The outdoor wooden tables and seating for the tearoom garden have been treated along with the plant tables and the arbour.  We've been visiting some local suppliers including a trip round Downsview dairy Farm to see the holstein cows, milk parlour and ice cream making.  Also popped in to Lewes Food…

"The plastic bag is the ultimate symbol of our throw away lifestyle" 

A new Lewes District Council Sustainability Centre campaign to say NO to the plastic bag has already received a great response as the majority of of Lewes shops, including one of the supermarkets, have agreed to seriously consider offering alternatives.   Shops in the coastal towns and villages will be visited soon.  LDC are teaming up with local residents, Town and Parish…

More news of sustainable communities... two new initiatives to better connect the people of the Ouse Valley villages:

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Wow this last week has been a bit different!  Between us we've spent a few hours over the last two days dancing with sheep! Actually trying to round them up from all over Caburn but they had other ideas and had you been a passer by it would have looked like we were all dancing with them, waving and lunging about on the hillside like lunatics!  Here they are looking like butter wouldn't melt...…