Looking forward to Apple Day 2011 Saturday 15 October 3-6

Apple Day 2011

Hornsey Vale Community Centre

Saturday 15 October, 3-6pm

The theme of this year’s Apple Day is abundance.  In Crouch End alone, there are numerous apple trees growing in allotments, parks, school playgrounds and residents’ gardens.  In many cases the fruit has been left unpicked, a pity since the warm spring weather this year has led to a bumper harvest.

Apple Day looks at ways to ensure that good use is made of this bounty.  The Urban Harvest will showcase drinks and produce made from apples, pears and plums, which the public can taste and try.  Local residents are encouraged to bring along their own fruit to juice: even windfalls can be turned into a delicious drink.  Transition Crouch End will also be juicing apples from Weston Park School, which otherwise would have gone to waste.  In future years, the group would hope to form a partnership with residents and community groups, offering advice on pruning in exchange for apples.

For apple addicts, there are over twenty different varieties of apple and pear to sample.  Some of them have never tasted before, and a poll will identify the most scrumptious in a campaign to persuade local greengrocers to stock them.

Apples are an infinite source of magic, myth and lore and this will be reflected in various activities on the day.  There will be a children's play area, run by Anna Konarska, craft stalls and a Find the Rotten Apple Competition.  The top prize is an apple tree from the Blackmoor Estate, who willl be providing the apples for the sampling table. 

Apple Day is sustainable event which seeks to minimise waste.  All apple mash will be composted at the Meadow Orchard Project and the cafe will use washable mugs and plates rather than plastic.  There will a free beverage to anyone who brings their own cup.

We look forward to seeing you there!

North London Bike Power Workshop

A great collaboration between Transition Crouch End, Green Lens Studio and Magnificent Revolution led to the North London Bike Power Workshop being held on Saturday 11^th June, part of Haringey Sustainability Month . The event was well attended with fourteen people engaged in learning all about generating electricity through pedal power. There was an interesting assortment of reasons for attending and possible end uses for applying this knowledge. These included a teacher and a university lecturer wanting to involve their students in experiments with pedal power; desires to use this technology to enable an off-grid lifestyle or to power a theatre production, and as an awareness raising tool for demonstrating the considerable effort needed to produce energy.

The workshop begun with an explanation of the physics involved in electrical energy to explain what is required in order to achieve successful power generation. We then split into three groups to start putting theory into practice. There were three practical exercises demonstrating different end uses of the generated power and each group had the opportunity to try out each example. The three methods being:

· Generating power to charge a battery

· Generating DC electricity to directly power appliances

· Passing generated current through an inverter to produce AC power

The workshop also provided useful information on designing the generation system to be appropriate to what you want from it. It also considered the problems with batteries, the pros and cons of DC and AC power, as well as giving essential safety advice.

The day was packed with activity and knowledge sharing but was much enjoyed by all. Much praise goes to Adam and Simon from Magnificent Revolution for putting together and delivering such a fun and accessible workshop. Thanks also to Yev of Green Lens Studio for providing such a delightful venue and of course Gillian of Transition Crouch End for organising and promoting the event. 

If there is anyone out there interested in attending a future Bike Power Workshop please get in touch via transitioncrouchend@gmail.com and as soon as sufficient numbers show an interest, we shall arrange another workshop.

Transition Crouch End Steering Group Minutes 16th May 2011

                    

Steering Group Meeting, 16^th May 2011, 8.00pm at The Maynard Pub

Present:  Steering Gp: Rebecca, Andy, Gillian (chair), Tilly (minutes)
 Visitors: Amanda, Brad, Kristen, Pamela, Jacki, Fred, Kate
and  Anna O’Brian from Transition Network

Minutes from last meeting (14-03-11) agreed. Bike Power Workshop (Gillian)
This is going ahead:Saturday 11^th June 10.00-5.00pm at Green Lens Studio, 4a Atterbury Rd, N4 1SF
cost: £40.00. To book a place call 07931840771
There may be funding for one of our group to go, contact Gillian.

Agenda Items

1) Meadow Orchard Project- MOP (Kate Allerdyce)

Kate reminded us of all the different activities now happening at the Meadow Orchard. The regular day for anyone who wants to go along to volunteer is Saturdays, 11.00am onward.

Saturday 9^th July is MOP Open Day with talks, workshops, activites

Tuesday 19^th July is the MOP AGM, details to follow

2) CSA Community Supported Agriculture Project- Church Farm  (Gillian)

Current collection point for the Farm veg boxes is 6.00-7.00pm at Haberdashery cafe,Middle Lane.
Gillian is arranging for  another collection option, which will be starting soon at Hornsey Vale Community centre (HVCC). The plan is to have an outside area at the front  of the Centre, where the boxes can be stored securely for later collection. Further details from Gillian.
Camping sessions are also offered at the Farm- details form Rebecca.

3) Green on the Screen (Fred, Rebecca, Tilly)

The last screening on 4^th May was another success,with over 40 people attending.
Gillian suggested we should do a write up after each film and post it on the TCE website.
GOTS Planning meeting: Weds 25^th May evening; further details from Rebecca/Tilly/Fred.

4) Hornsey Vale Community Centre  HVCC (Tilly, Gillian)

Transition Garden:The new Spring Newsletter for HVCC is out now and features a picture of our Transition Kitchen garden at the Centre. We plan to start on stage two of our garden, ie building a first raised bed over the summer and autumn.

HVCC May Gala 2.00-5.00pm 30^th May: Last year we helped run the cafe at this event. For the last two years we have had a Transition Crouch End stand at the gala- and also volunteered help with the event. We need to decide if we can have a stand this year, if there are enough of us able to participate. Contact Gillian if you can be involved.

September Reuse/ Recycle/ Tabletop Sale event  Date to be confirmed.We will run this event jointly with HVCC. From a Transition perspective we can plan on how to use the day to raise awareness about reusing, recycling materials etc. Tilly hopes to approach Hornsey Girls School to see if they would like to take part.
Contact Tilly if you would like to help.

Apple Day 15^th October  This will be our third Apple day- our biggest public event. Agreed that the sooner we start planning for this day, the better we can make it. 

5) Haringey 40/20 Event (Kate Allerdyce)

Initiated by Friends of the Earth, Haringey Council will hold an event on
 Saturday 11^th June, Sixth Form Centre, White Hart Lane
Many agencies are involved and the Council welcome input from all groups.

6) North London NLETS (Andy)

Andy gave a quick introduction to NLETS the local trading scheme, which covers Highbury, Islington, Enfield and Barnet. This scheme has been running for 10 years and promotes the Transition principle of keeping value within the local economy. The trading unit is called a Pledge. Pledges are used instead of money and can be used to buy goods and services. There are now a wide range of services on offer, including woodwork,opticians, gardening, solicitors and complementary therapies.
Trading days take place 4 times per year.
Details from Andy

7) Transition Crouch End Communications Update (Gillian)

Our website www.transitioncrouchend.org.uk is currently directed at the TCE Blogspot, administered and updated by Gillian, who also puts information on our Facebook page and Twitter (@transitionce) .
We are working with Ed Crompton who is helping us develop the website.
Gillian mentioned the transition gmail as another way we communicate with each other, details from Gillian.
Gillian also thought  it would be a good idea if we had a TCE monthly newsletter.
However, it was aknowledged that maintaining the Blogspot, Facebook and Twitter is already an essential but demanding, time consuming job for Gillian. Jacki kindly agreed to get involved and offer help with this area.

For general information on the Transition Movement go to www.transitionculture.org or www.transitionnetwork.org

8) Crouch Hill Development (Amanda)

Amanda mentioned her residents group are being consulted about the proposed development due to take place at Crouch Hill, in the area where it intersects with the Parkland Walk. Ashmount school will move to this location. Community and foodgrowing projects are also being discussed for this site, so it may be appropriate for TCE to get involved.
Further details from Amanda.

9) Foodcycle (Rebecca)

Rebecca is doing some work with Foodcycle. They run a cafe every Friday lunchtime, 12.00-2.30pm at the Mind Centre at Ferme park rd, near junction with Lancaster Rd, Parkland Walk bridge.

Next Steering Group Meeting: 8.00pm, Monday 13^th June, Maynard Pub, Park Rd, N8.

North London Bike Generator Workshop

For those wanting an introduction to renewables and are mad about bikes, this course is a great way to learn about creating electricity from bicycles.
The workshop will take place on:
 
When: Saturday 11th June
Where: Green Lens Studio, 4a Atterbury Road, London, N4 1SF
Time: 10am to 5pm
Price: £40 per person, £35 concessions
Tickets: Bike Power Workshop

Magnificent revolution facilitates this workshop for those interested in learning the ins and outs of pedal power generators. Our workshops have a good balance of theory and hands-on experience. Participants will discover how to use their own bike as part of a small power station, capable of powering computers, stereos, TVs and other small household appliances. Participants will find out about:

Basic system design
Load assessment
Power generation
Electricity storage using batteries
Conversion of DC to AC electricity by inverters
Control and monitoring of power

For more information and to book, click here: here

Magnificent Revolution is a not-for-profit London based cross-disciplinary organisation working in education, ecology, engineering, design, art, music and film www.magnificentrevolution.org