We’re going full steam ahead for our 2nd birthday on Saturday 3rd March. The Uxbridge Gazzette and Heathrow Villager have both published articles about it in the newspaper so we’re expecting it to be a cracker. Hopefully see you there! Thanks Cadi for the lovely poster.
The London-based ‘Community Food Growers Network’ has been organising seasonal gatherings for information and skill-sharing, network business discussion, and to take part in practical tasks and visits to different community growing project sites.
If you want to get more involved in the network come along to the next gathering on Sunday the 26th Feb or check out the website for future dates, details of the network’s manifesto, and how groups can become members.
connect // cooperate // support // defend // celebrate
When: Sunday 26th February 2012
Time: Meeting 1-5.30pm (Practical work starting at 11am)
Where: Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, Sipson, West Drayton, UB7 0JG
Directions: From Central London: Travel to West Drayton in TfL zone 6 in 20 minutes by train from Paddington. From West Drayton either take the 222 bus towards Hounslow and get off in Sipson Village or follow the cycle path towards Sipson. Our site is a 1 minute walk from the King William Pub which is in the middle of town.
Contact: info@transitionheathrow.com, 07890751568
Timetable
11-12.30: Practical tasks on the Grow Heathrow site: Mulching, preparing compost and seeding area
12.30-1.30: Lunch
1.30-4.30: Tour of Grow Heathrow & Meeting (see draft agenda below)
4.45-5.30: Seed swap
Draft Agenda: e-mail additional points to info@transitionheathrow.com or bring to the Gathering
1. Project Updates
2. Via Campesina
3. International Day of Peasant Struggles 17 April 2012
4. CFGN Annual Gathering - at the last gathering we resolved to make the quarterly meetings smaller ones for members only, and put our organising energy instead into organising an exciting annual gathering, to which we encourage loads of other CFPs to come to. Lets get a date, venue, and a bit of a plan for how the day will be run and publicised.
5. GM Crops in Hertfordshire – the GM trial in Herts is a focus for the GM campaign. How can London growers best support this campaign and organise against the trials? Would be good to have someone who went to the recent GM gathering report back on the latest
6. Allotment in Acton under threat
7. Stories of Food Sovereignty evening with Reclaim the Fields & PEDAL
It’s a busy week at Grow Heathrow as we prepare the site for the visit of three separate groups who are coming to use the space for meetings and gatherings over the weekend.
People & Planet will be holding a two day South East Regional Gathering on site but will be fighting for space with The Community Food Growers Network on the Sunday and also the Tin Village crew who will be planning for festivals coming up this Summer. Luckily we have managed to book the church hall over the road at the last minute to accommodate everyone.
Although it gives us lots of work to do and a dilemma as to where everyone might go – we are delighted to be hosting such a wide variety of different groups who are also part of the movement for social justice. This was one of our original key aims right from the beginning – for Grow Heathrow to be a host for other activist groups to share knowledge. Cup of tea anyone?
Yes – that’s right, Grow Heathrow is two Years old and we want to celebrate our Birthday with you! So come along on Saturday 3rd March and help us eat our birthday tea, we will be painting a beautiful mural and want everyone to get involved, think colour by numbers. We’ll also be having some live music for your entertainment.
Please bring – friends and family, young and old, and of course your finest cake for the cake competition. We also have warm sleeping space so if you would like to stay over you’re welcome, but let us know for numbers. Last year was fun, this year will be even better.
What: Birthday Tea, Cake Competition, Mural Painting and Musical Entertainment
When: Saturday 3rd March, 1pm – 5pm
Where: Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, Sipson, UB7 0JG. Directions HERE
Dress Code: Fancy
On Wednesday 18th January two members of Transition Heathrow made the 220 mile trip out west to Totnes; a small town in Devon that has the distinction of being the first ever town to become a Transition Town back in 2006. We had been invited to come and present the story of Transition Heathrow, Grow Heathrow, and the Heathrow Villages communities.
The talk gave us the opportunity to go back a few years and speak about the different factors that came together to create Transition Heathrow. We began at the Heathrow Climate Camp in 2007 around the same time that Plane Stupid came to prominence and then went on to talk more about the No Third Runway campaign and how activists ended up living in the Heathrow Villages. Then we told the story of Grow Heathrow and how the site has been transformed since it was occupied on the 1st March 2010.
The following day we got to see Totnes for ourselves. We were given a full tour of the town and got to hang out in the offices shared between Transition Town Totnes and the Transition Network, where we heard about what the Transition group members had been up to in Totnes. The main focus was on their successful Transition Streets project, which is something we hope to bring to the Heathrow Villages in the near future. This project has involved roughly 500 residents, who have come together in groups to discuss how they could save money by reducing their carbon emissions. The most obvious result of the project is the installation of solar PV panels on over 150 households and the town’s Civic Centre, but the biggest benefit as reported by residents who have taken part is how it has allowed them to get to know their neighbours better.
After lunch we caught a lift up to Landmatters, just outside Totnes, where we were given a tour round their site that drew comparisons with Grow Heathrow – although they are far more established and are based on a 40 acre site deep in rural Devon. Their grounding in a permaculture approach to living on their site had led them to build some very comfortable and homely benders, install a 2kW solar PV system, herd sheep and goats, harvest oak timbers from their wood, and cultivate productive vegetable beds. Even on a cold and windy January afternoon it was a delight and a privilege to be given an insight into their chosen lifestyle.
Later, we enjoyed walking around Totnes and remarking on the abundance of independent shops on the high street, the focus on local produce, and noticing the shop windows carrying stickers saying “We accept the Totnes pound”; an initiative co-ordinated by the Totnes group to increase the resilience of the local economy by encouraging the circulation of money between businesses and consumers within the community.
Thankyou to everyone for making us so welcome, especially to Chris Bird for acting as our host for the duration of our visit, and you should all come and visit us if you’re ever in London!
Poster by Olive Morris award winner- Missbadchild
Date:
Friday 16th December 2011
Time/ Location:
Bulb planting for spring, 2.30pm-3.30pm, Harmondsworth Recreation Ground
Decorate the village christmas tree, light the lights, christmas songs, hot drinks and mince pies, 3.30pm-4.00pm, Harmondsworth High Street, UB7 0AQ
With special thanks to:
Grow Heathrow are offering the opportunity to be part of a week-long artistic residency that explores the creative link between resistance, permaculture, occupation and resilience.
We hope to immerse ourselves in the realities of group living within a project and place that would be destroyed by the third runway. We will use the site as a home, workshop and gallery, in a project funded by Hillingdon Council where outcomes are unknown.
WHO: Anyone is welcome, whatever age, skill level or experience.
WHEN: 16th January 2011 till 22nd January. (with people arriving evening of Sunday 15th)
WHERE: Grow Heathrow, Sipson, UB7 0JG.
COST: Free, but a deposit of £20 will be asked to secure your place.
WHAT: You will be provided with sleeping space, materials.
CONTACT: growheathrow.residency@gmail.com for more information.
DEADLINE: 5th January 2012
Last Saturday saw Harmondsworth host a celebratory day of village life. A crowd of around 350 people turned out in the bright autumnal sunshine to enjoy the activities put on by local community groups, including Transition Heathrow.
Our contribution to the day saw us hosting a conker championship on the village green in front of the Five Bells pub, which saw a persistent stream of young contestants engage in a bout of conker-swinging action. Usually, the key to victory is to pick the right conker, and many of ours proved to be particularly resilient since they had been in storage for over a month, which was plenty of time to season the center to the point where it could take some serious punishment. The result of most fights ended up being determined by the string breaking before the conker.
Another activity that proved to be extremely popular was the planting of bulbs on the green, as overseen by Joe throughout the afternoon. The bulbs (from Ansells Garden Centre) were varieties that were especially selected to complement the area, and for their ability to thrive naturally. Come spring, the planted bulbs should bloom to produce a colourful floral arrangement at the heart of Harmondsworth.
Elsewhere the Com.Cafe crew were keeping the kids entertained in their usual inimitable way, Kingsley from Hayes FM was knocking out tunes and compering, the Five Bells barbeque was delivering tasty burgers, Groundwork Thames Valley’s Spots and Stripes team was on hand with a range of giant games, a raffle was held by local Sipson resident Danny with prizes donated by local business and Mallow the miniature pony was on hand to offer rides.
Jane Taylor from HASRA who was running the Heathrow Village Life stall said of the day “This is fantastic – it’s great to see people coming out of their houses and meeting new friends and neighbours. This is just what we needed.” It was also good to see the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress ofHillingdon and John McDonnell MP present to support the event. The incredible turnout of families and obvious enjoyment was topped off with a spectacular twenty minute fireworks display on the recreation ground after sunset.
None of this would have happened without the contribution of a wide range of people from the Heathrow Villages, but especially the hard work and dedication of Kate Birch, our local Community Development Officer. There’s no doubt in our minds that the event was an unqualified success, and we look forward to helping out with whatever Kate comes up with next.
For some more photos of the day, see our Flickr set.
They trashed the land. They were evicted by the council. We cleared 30 tonnes of their rubbish. We planted vegetables, fixed bikes and provided community space. They want to evict us. We want to stop them.
Come to the public meeting to find out all the latest news and how to help us stop them at 7pm on Wednesday 9th November, at Sipson Community Centre on Sipson Way.
With BAA still scheming for expansion at Heathrow and Grow Heathrow up in court, we’ll be getting together for a weekend this October to show them we’re here to stay. We’ll be… Pizza-munching, Apple-scrumping, Chutney-making, Face-painting, Cake-baking, Scaffold-sculpture-making, Potholing, Tyre-rolling, Fire-stoking, Jam-stiring, Night-singing, Lake-swimming, and much, much more.
WHEN: On the weekend of the 14th/15th/16th of October 2011. Come for the day, an hour or the whole weekend. Bring a tent or at least a sleeping bag if you’re planning on staying over. Some limited indoor bed space is available, so get in touch early if this is the only option for you.
As well as all this – The UK Tar Sands network will be joining us. On the Saturday October 15th we unveil the first Tar Free Community in the UK – Tar Free Transition Heathrow! What does it mean to be a tar free town? How can your community become tar free? Find out when we celebrate with you all on October 15th at Grow Heathrow, 3pm – the movement for a tar free future begins!
