Tag Archives: sustainability

Today’s Treasures – Planet Earth

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Today’s Treasures – Planet Earth

The world is a cornucopia,
People scurrying like ants,
A kaleidoscope of colours,
Leaving everything to chance.

No paintbrush guides creation
We multiply like flies,
We desolate our planet,
Pollution fills our skies.

We ignore the population,
Expanding uncontrolled,
Exhausting natural resources,
Minerals, trees and oil.

If we believed in reincarnation,
Would we still destroy future needs,
Food and water running out,
Plastics fill our seas.

Seed banks full of species,
Nowhere for them to grow,
Hundreds of extinct animals,
With no jungles or plains to roam.

Future generations need us,
To treat the world with care,
Our children need a planet,
Free from polluted air.

Reusing, recycling, saving,
Using wind, water and sun,
Convert to sustainable sources,
Before coal and oil are gone.

Carbon is our life blood,
We waste it at our peril,
Every person has a duty,
To conserve the world together.

Aluminium is fully recyclable,
Use instead of plastic,
Buy local – less food miles,
Eat all the food, don’t waste it.

Crisis What Crisis?

Grow your own food,
East less meat,
Wear more clothes,
Turn down the heat.

Walk or ride instead of drive,
Repair instead of replacing,
Reduce, reuse, recycle,
There’s still time for us to change things.

Published in the Janary 2023 edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Crisis What Crisis?

Today’s Treasures – Blackberry Fair Art Trail

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Today’s Treasures – Blackberry Fair Art Trail – Hope From the Wild

creative sculpture

Blackberry Fair had a different format this year with the Hope from the Wild art trail but it retained the traditional theme of sustainability which was visible in all the artworks like ‘It Could all Come out in the Wash’ outside the Civic Centre created by John Rainford – the world of the positive future – with wood and metal pegs (on the right) replacing the plastic pegs holding up the negative words on the left.

Leap of Faith by Fee Jackson highlights the plight of our oceans drowning in plastic.

leap of faith

‘Bogoration’ tells the story of The Peatbog in a poem by Dave Lock and is situated in the Country Park along with ‘Dragonfly’ by Russell Kirk.

bogoration

You can enjoy a beautiful walk along the Whitchurch arm of the Llangollen canal, follow Staggs Brook – home to some of Britain’s few remaining water voles – and stroll along the now abandoned remains of the canal that used to go all the way into Whitchurch.

dragonfly

Thank you to all the shops that took part to make this ‘Hope from the Wild’ art trail so interesting, all the artists and volunteers that made it possible – and to all the people – young and old – who made pledges to save the planet for future generations.

Love where you live

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published in the November edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Today’s Treasures – Blackberry Fair – Whitchurch

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Today’s Treasures – Blackberry Fair

Blackberry Fair not only lived up to its reputation – it excelled itself – there was more music than ever which reached to all corners of the town – right down to Green End – where the birds of prey sat bemused but not at all phased by the guitar rhythms and drumbeats.  This living, breathing celebration of music, song, dance, poetry and street theatre, stretched from the Bull Ring to the Black Bear and beyond – and attracted more visitors than ever -enjoying local food, real ale, mouth-watering fudge, freshly-baked pizzas, and real beef burgers – all accompanied by street music wherever you went in this normally tranquil, market town.

The civic centre was transformed into the fae market – a fantasy fairyland – a fairy forest full of customs and crafts, live music and tales from the wood.  The market hall became a hive of activity with skateboarding, go-karting and bushcraft, making masks for the pirate procession later.

Sustainability is what Blackberry Fair is all about – a carnival filled with the rustic spirit of nature, growing things, Meres and Mosses with pedal power, the Wild Zone, carbon capture, scarecrows, recycling, herbs and herbalists, Surfers Against Sewage, Wise Whales Words; this Fairtrade town attracts artists, poets, actors, dancers, singers and musicians; becomes a haven for food enthusiasts, real beer drinkers, nature lovers, photographers and writers.  It inspires, fires the imagination, screams innovation; young and old are all captivated, drawn into the spirit of creativity and sustainability – saving the earth.

The afternoon culminates in the Carnival of Action, celebrating the spirit of harvest with Morris dancers, stilt-walkers, and fire breathers – and the music carries on into the evening with incredible poetry and music and dancing into the night with THE POOKA’S POLKA and BAKED A LA SKA

see the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWGvEto0Bu4

courtesy of www.rainford-it.co.uk

Published in the November edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Today’s Treasures – Blackberry Fair

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Blackberry Fair – Ten Glorious years!

This is the 10th year that Whitchurch has been transformed into a living, breathing festival of music, song, dance, poetry and street theatre, complete with Lost Luggage (below) – the metallic beastie from a long lost planet – and The Urban Astronaut – bringing hope to a dying world.

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When I arrived, Urban Astronaut were just positioning their lifting machine ready for moving into action outside the Civic when someone spotted a mouse hiding in one of the speakers.  Much to the amusement of onlookers, he was carefully rescued and set free before they trundled off down the High Street to save the rest of the world.

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Sustainability is what Blackberry Fair is all about – a carnival filled with the rustic spirit of nature, growing things, Meres and Mosses, the Wild Zone, scarecrows, recycling, herbs and herbalists, the Fairtrade town becomes a magnet for artists, poets, actors, dancers, singers and musicians; a haven for food lovers, real beer drinkers, nature lovers, photographers and writers.  It inspires, fires the imagination, screams innovation; young and old are all captivated, drawn in to the spirit of sustainability, saving the earth – mesmerised by Urban Astronaut’s street theatre.

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The afternoon culminated in the Carnival of Plenty, celebrating the spirit of harvest with Morris dancers, stilt-walkers, and fire breathers – and the music carried on into the evening with incredible poetry and music and dancing into the night.

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See more photos at www.blackberryfair.co.uk

Published in the November edition of the Whitchurch Gossip