Julian Paren, currently vice-convenor of Transition Black Isle, has circulated the latest newsletter to members:

January letter to Transition Black Isle members

This is a quiet season of the year as we heat our houses and make as much of the limited daylight as we can. Seed catalogues and the anticipation of Agric’s potato day keep us looking ahead to the time when the land is more fruitful. This is a good time to take stock on our personal ambitions for living more sustainably, and exploring ways of introducing our Transition ideas to the wider community.

Next week on January 30 there is a great occasion for TBI members to meet up again and take part in the event A Question of Vegetables where our inspiring experts will take questions on how to get the best from our gardens and allotments. I am sure we all have some tips to pass on and it will be good to see how much our panel share the same approach for increasing our independence from the supermarkets.

The Community Markets across the Black Isle are providing a weekly focus for talking to stallholders and for purchase of food and crafts direct from the producer. In these recessional times we are grateful for their attendance and hope that TBI members will continue to visit the markets. Please pass on to your friends your positive experiences of the markets, so that more people may support them. Last week’s Out of Doors programme on BBC Radio Scotland reported on stalwarts of these markets. First, Anne Thomas (TBI Director) discussed the proposed link road through Whin Park in Inverness that developers feel is necessary to provide a through connection from the Southern Distributor Road across the River Ness. Then the photographers whose stall includes their “Coffee Table” book on The Black Isle -Eilean Dubh, spoke feelingly about the scenery, wildlife and attractions of our area.

Next month we should have feedback from the Climate Challenge Fund about our Transport project that was described at our Members’ Evening in November. Last week The Energy Savings Trust organized a meeting in Inverness for Community Groups to see how their objectives in carbon reduction could be met with participation from groups like TBI. This meeting was attended by three TBI Directors (Martin, Wendy, Julian) and provided useful networking with The Climate Challenge Fund and with groups from Lochaber, Sleat and Applecross who had secured large amounts of funding through community-led initiatives. I hope the meeting will have positive outcomes for TBI.

My own conversion to the needs for a sustainable lifestyle came through my scientific work on ice cores and the glaciology of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, while working for the British Antarctic Survey. I am giving an illustrated talk for Resolis Community Arts at the Resolis Memorial Hall on Friday 17 February at 7.30pm entitled Going South – the Antarctic Experience. The evening will be an audiovisual extravaganza, but the reasons why the world should not ignore the science and why we need to plan a sustainable future will be the take-home message. Tickets are £5 on the door.

I look forward to seeing you in the near future. Do come to A Question of Vegetables our “Gardeners Question Time” on Monday 30 January at the North Kessock Mission Hall.

Julian Paren
Deputy Convener, Transition Black Isle
 

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 Transition Black Isle has reported a hugely successful year in 2011.  It has now become a Company Limited by Guarantee and a registered charity and new members are still joining - proving that the group is becoming a long-term part of the local scene rather than a flash in the pan!

There are currently 112 members of whom 54 have transferred to the new company. Membership renewals are due at the end of March, so now is the time to bring your membership up to date if you haven't done so yet!
 

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 Want to get rid of those slugs - stop the leeks bolting - get rid of
carrot root fly? Transition Black Isle will be hosting "A Question of Vegetables" at the Mission Hall, North Kessock on Mon 30 January at 7.30pm. A panel of knowledgeable and experienced gardeners
will (hopefully!)anwer your questions and help you make the most of your produce in 2012.

Free of charge (Donations welcome).

Refreshments afterwards

For more info ring 01463 731572

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 Transition Black Isle is holding our second Potato Day on February 25th 2012 at North Kessock Village Hall from 1pm to 4:30pm. There will be a Community Market there that morning from 10am to 12 noon and refreshments will be available - so you could make a day of it if you wish.

At least 50 varieties of seed potatoes will be available to buy by the tuber, hopefully all at 10 pence each, so you can choose exactly what you want to grow. Notes and advice on the different varieties will be provided to help you choose.

So, please don't buy your seed potatoes yet, come along to the potato day instead! There'll be more news and information available on the TBI website as the event nears. If you have any special requests for specific varieties contact Agric (by email or on the TBI website forum) and we'll try to accomodate.

We are looking for volunteers to help with all aspects of this year's potato day, so why not get involved?  The tasks shouldn't be too time consuming or onerous, but will need to start soon!

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 Transition Black Isle is still keeping active during the cold weather.  We have been putting together an ambitious bid for the Climate Challenge Fund called Black Isle Travel.

The aim is to cut car travel by local residents by 1 million miles per year by promoting more sustainable alternatives including cycling, walking, lift-share and public transport.

If successful we plan to run the project over three years.   The focus will be on lift sharing, cycling and public transport.  In the first year of the project we will concentrate on three Black Isle villages, and from this experience we will develop a programme to be run across the whole Black Isle in the following two years.

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 Avoch is holding its first community market at Avoch Community Centre (behind the School) this Saturday 3rd December 11am -1.30pm. Run jointly by Transition Black Isle and Avoch Amenitites Association, this is a chance to test the waters on this side of the Black Isle which, if successful, may lead to more markets in Avoch..
With over 25 stalls selling local produce and crafts, there will be lots on offer for both Christmas and food shopping. Avoch Amenities Association is providing teas,baking and soup and is running a raffle all in aid of funds for the Association, with prizes generously donated by the stallholders.
This is a great opportunity to do your food and Christmas shopping locally this year in a friendly and relaxed setting -with teas, baking,soup lunch and good parking. There is no need to leave the Black Isle with weekly community markets on your doorstep every week from now until Christmas - Avoch this Sat 3rd 11am -1.30pm at the Community Centre, Cromarty Sat 10th 11am -14.30pm at Victoria Hall and Ferintosh Sat 17th 10am -12noon at Findon Hall, Culbokie.

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

 The November Cromarty market on Saturday 12th was another successful event with about 150 people attending as well as stallholders and helpers - despite several local craft fairs competing for customers.  The Cromarty Craft Group provided the lunches and raised over £200.  Such has been the success of the market that the December market is fully booked already and there is now a growing waiting list for tables.  Community groups have been queuing up too to provide lunches, such that every month is now booked through to summer 2012.  We have had to scale back the number of tables slightly because oif concerns over the hall's capacity and fire safety.

Unfortunately this time several stallholders who had made firm bookings cancelled the day before, too late for their spaces to be offered to others on the waiting list.  As a result we are now making it clear that  a booking is a firm commitment to pay for the table booked, and in the event of cancellations a refund will only be made if we are able to re-let the space.

The next market on 10 December will of course be a Christmas special and Cromarty school will be there providing mince pies and seasonal fare.  We are also running a raffle to support the market and keep the cost of stalls down, with excellent prizes donated by stallholders.  Tickets went on sale on 12th November and are also available at Cromarty Post Office for the next month - so why not buy a strip and support us?!  The draw will be at the December market so the event will be un-missable for that reason alone!

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

AWARD-winning international films and a unique showcase of the benefits of heating with wood will feature at a free festival in Fortrose

The Black Isle Festival of Firewood, Forests and Film takes place in the Fortrose Theatre on Thursday, 17 November, from 10am onwards, with the film programme beginning at 6:30pm.

Government figures released recently reveal that one in three Scottish households is now in fuel poverty - meaning more than 10% of household income is spent on heating. Festival organisers Use Green Heat and Transition Black Isle say keeping homes cosy through draught proofing and insulation and switching to more renewable forms of energy will be crucial in tackling this trend.

A wide array of exhibitors will be at the daytime festival from 10am to 5pm, helping people explore the options for using firewood, woodchips and pellets to heat homes and businesses. Wood burning stoves, woodfuel boilers and firewood processing machinery will be on display, woodfuel merchants will be on hand to explain wood types, volumes, moisture content, weights and prices and there will be also be a range of suppliers of other renewable technologies such as solar panels.

Use Green Heat is an independent renewable energy advice service run by Munlochy-based charity Highland Birchwoods. “Using logs, chips or pellets from sustainably managed forests makes sense for the environment – and for your pocket too,” said Use Green Heat project manager Amanda Calvert.

“Modern wood stoves and boilers are really efficient. And of course, using locally supplied fuel cuts transport costs and boosts the economy, supporting jobs and helping local businesses thrive.

“Managing forests and woodlands to produce wood fuel can improve conditions for wildlife and recreation by creating greater diversity and allowing light to reach the forest floor. It also makes other forestry operations more economical.”

Youngsters interested in a career in the renewable energy industry will have an opportunity to pick the brains of staff from from the SEAM Centre, the new training, information and research facility for Sustainable Energy and Micro-renewables based at Inverness College, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands. Information on grants and the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive scheme to subsidise green heating systems will also be available.

Households in the rural Highlands have been particularly hard hit in recent winters by steep hikes in the price of heating oil. “We’re currently very reliant on fossil fuels like kerosene and coal for heating our homes, as well as depending on oil for travel, the production and transport of food and making plastic, medicines and many other essentials of modern life,” explained Catriona Ross of Transition Black Isle, a local group working to create more resilient communities.

“We’ve no control over factors affecting the price of oil, and burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases, which cause climate change. By contrast, wood is a carbon neutral fuel; the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by a growing tree is the same as that released when it is burned.

“Looking to local sources of fuel, food and other products makes us much less vulnerable to oil price shocks and helps build more vibrant communities. Well managed woods have great potential to provide householders and businesses with a cost-effective, renewable source of fuel, provide jobs and strengthen rural economies.”

The daytime event will be followed by a free buffet from 5:30pm then an evening of stunning short films made for the International Forest Film Festival, part of the United Nations International Year of Forests 2011.

The films will begin at 6:30pm with Satuyama: Japan's Secret Forest which charts a year in the life of a beautiful man-made oak forest, home for the King of the Forest, a spectacular horned beetle that houses the spirit of past Samurai warriors.

Hope in a Changing Climate is a heartening tale describing how degraded landscapes are being restored and the very short film Switch Today reveals how ancient forest can be saved every time nature calls!

The final film, The Queen of Trees is about the Sycamore fig, an exceptional African tree. It appears to produce fruit without flowering, sheds leaves with no regard to seasons and utterly depends on services from an insect small enough to fly through the eye of a needle. This beautiful, intricate film was the overall winner of the UN Film Festival.

For more information on the festival see www.transitionblackisle.org

For free, impartial advice on renewable energy see www.usegreenheat.co.uk or phone 08000285858

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website

A unique ‘warts and all’ account of the life of an environmentalist within local government will be revealed at a talk in Tore on Monday. (7 November)

Highland Council’s sustainable development officer Ailsa Villegas will share the insider’s perspective during the event at Glachbeg Croft on Monday 7 November at 7:30pm.

‘Greening in Government - A Virtuous or Vicious Cycle’ will give Ailsa’s personal steer on her work and how the Highland Council is supporting communities throughout the Highlands.

“I’ll be exploring how community groups can maximise the support they receive from the Council and its many partners, and how groups in turn can help advise the Council on the work they deliver,” Ailsa said.

“I’ll outline the work ongoing in Highland Council to address peak oil and resource depletion and the results that are being achieved from that.

“I’ll be giving a personal steer on some of the barriers and opportunities as I see them, drawing on my own experiences of how to manage expectations and achieve the best results in a large organisation with competing priorities, limited staff and dwindling financial resources.

“I consider myself an environmentalist,” Ailsa added. “While I am proud of what we have achieved at Highland Council to date I’ll be honest about our short comings and realistic about where the opportunities may be for future improvement.”

The talk has been organised by Transition Black Isle, a grassroots group working to create stronger, more resilient communities and vigorous local economies.

Ailsa’s talk will be followed by an open questions and answers session and refreshments.

Glachbeg Croft is on the minor road (the old Ferry road) running between the Munlochy junction on the A9 and Tore Roundabout. Click here for a map.

This feed was drawn from the Transition Black Isle website