Mon 22 April: how to forage wild chervil without dying

On Wild Food Mondays, visitors to Grow Heathrow have already learnt how to make cherry plum blossom tea, chickweed salads, and horseradish sauce. Now, on 22 April, we’re hosting a day dedicated to wild chervil (anthriscus sylvestris), also known as cow parsley.

Learn how to tell it apart from its poisonous lookalikes hemlock and fools parsley, so you can avoid the death that Socrates suffered at hemlock’s hands. And discover this extremely common plant’s potential for tabouleh, plus experiment with lacto-fermenting some in brine. Bring a bike for the foraging; after learning the key ID features, we’re cycling to the lake to test out our skills telling it apart from its lookalikes and to gather basketfuls!

The wild chervil wild food workshop runs from 2 – 5pm on Monday 22 April. It is free to everyone, but a donation of £5 is welcome from people who can afford it. Any donations will go towards Grow Heathrow getting a new chainsaw to help process timber for our off-grid wood powered shower and burners.

Come along to HASRA’s AGM

The AGM of HASRA’(Harmondsworth and Sipson Residents Association) is coming up.

Come along to discuss the future of the Heathrow villages. John Mcdonnell MP and John Stewart (HACAN chair) will be in attendance to answer questions. Wednesday 1st May 7.30 pm – 9.00 pm Heathrow School Hall.

Some seasonal outreach

Last month while Heathrow villagers were gearing up for their winter holidays Grow Heathrow pounced on the opportunity to spread some environmental gospel.

Free wreath making and a restocked free shop went down a storm at the rather rainy Harmondsworth Christmas market; punters wove Laurel, Ivy, Holly and other foraged foliage to create their circular masterpieces.

At the grand unveiling of Sipson’s first community Christmas tree, roasting and distributing free sweet chestnuts, locally sourced of course, was a tasty treat even John Mcdonell (MP) couldn’t resist. Our warming snacks also delighted many at the Com. Cafe hosted, Mayor’s Carol event, the following week.

Not only does outreach of this kind leave a sweet taste in the mouth, it also encourages local people to think more about where their produce is from. Nature provides a wealth of glorious bounty whatever the season.

Free film showing in The Five Bells

On Thursday 13th December, from 7pm in the Five Bells Pub, Harmondsworth; Transition Heathrow have organised a FREE film screening of climate change documentary ‘The Age of Stupid’.

It will be an opportunity to get local community groups together, so we can share what we all are doing, look for collaborations and to think about how our community can become more resilient in the economic and ecological crises. And of course, there will be popcorn on hand too.

Please pass on this call out and poster above, and put the date in your diary. Would be great to see you or a representative from your community group there.

*** The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055 …………. Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? ***

The Five Bells Pub is in Harmondsworth. More info here: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/10/1023/Five_Bells/Harmondsworth

Reshuffle has “u-turn” written all over it

Like the steady roar of planes coming in to land over West London, the aviation industry keeps droning on about expanding London’s airports. Last week’s reshuffle shows Cameron and Osborne are listening to them too.

Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers, two Ministers with whose opposition to the third runway was well known, have found themselves shunted out of the Transport Department. A Number 10 official sniggered that Greening would “have plenty of time to think about runways as her flight to the next developing country circles the airport yet again.” (Which doesn’t even make sense, because why would a plane flying to a developing country be circling at Heathrow? Unless Cameron thinks the UK is a developing country? Anyway, I digress.)

Cameron and Osborne have established an inquiry to look into “the scale and timing of any requirement for additional capacity to maintain the UK’s position as Europe’s most important aviation hub”. Lest this loaded question prove anything other than a licence to lay tarmac, they asked the former head of the Confederation of British Industry, Howard Davies, to oversee it. Davies was once a special adviser to the climate change denier Lord Lawson. He had to leave the LSE after he was busted for nodding through some chunky donations from Gaddafi’s son. Davies won’t decide to build a third runway until 2015, which means all three parties get to run on a “no third runway unless the commission tells us to build it” platform at the next election.

Residents needn’t worry though, because Boris Johnson is on the case. He’s set up a rival inquiry, proving that the invisible hand of the free market will ensure competition. The Mayor’s inquiry will report in 2013 and, like the government’s commission, will conclude that we need lots of more runway space, because that’s what it is being asked to do. Given that no one is going to build a runway in the Thames Estuary – his preferred solution – Boris gets to oppose the third runway while making it ever more likely that Sipson and Harmondsworth will be buried under tarmac.

None of this means that the third runway will be built, of course. The strongest argument against it isn’t climate change, it’s that the damned thing has no purpose. There is bags of spare capacity at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, which is why Virgin Atlantic was able to offer new routes between London and Manchester days after losing its West Coast train franchise. Using all that spare capacity would be stupid, of course, because flying causes climate change, makes loads of noise and pollutes the air we breathe. But let’s not forget it’s there.

This blog post was taken from the Plane Stupid website

Harmondsworth Great Barn saved

This week the infamous Great Barn in the village next door to us, Harmondsworth was saved! After years of controversy over what would happen with it, English Heritage have finally purchased it for £20000.

The building once dubbed “the cathedral of Middlesex” is Grade Ι listed and was being looked after by community group ‘The Friends of Harmondsworth Barn’ who have been working tirelessly to secure it and are extremely pleased to have it back. The Barn will now be available for use by local communties and plans are already in place to open it for free to the public on two Sundays each month from April. Barn dance anyone?

Come to the Harmondsworth Xmas Event THIS FRIDAY!!!

Poster by Olive Morris award winner- Missbadchild

Date:

Friday 16^th 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

A Fun Day in Harmondsworth

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.

Harmondsworth Scout Group message of support

Heres a message of support which we especially like from the local Harmondsworth scout group co-ordinator.

Just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for all of the help that you have given us over the past year.

The allotment has been harvested and we shared our produce with not only the children’s families but also the local community. Your expertise and enthusiasm was a god send. The wildlife pond is thriving and we now have all manner of creatures visiting, the children are so proud of it and they relay the story of it’s construction to any one who is willing to listen!

We are delighted to see that you have been awarded the right to stay for the near future at Grow Heathrow. The difference you have made to the community has been immeasurable and we only wish that there were more people like yourselves willing to protect the land, the vulnerable and the community.

As you know it has been a very difficult year for many of our children as they have had to watch their friends move away and the security blanket that the community threw around it’s children has been pulled away with so many residents, young and old, leaving the area.

There has however, been one friend, a new one, that we have grown to love and respect and it is Grow Heathrow whose volunteers have been able to look these children in the eye and say we won’t leave you. The confidence you have instilled in our children has meant that they can look to the future and they now understand that with the right guidance and commitment the Villages can still be their homes and provide the safe environment that every child is entitled to grow up in.

We all love visiting Grow Heathrow where the children have learnt so many things and we hope that we can build on this with you in the future. Some of our children live in flats with no gardens so the chance to come down to Grow Heathrow and dig in the dirt is like winning 1st prize for them. And then we have our young teenagers… who, in their sulky, difficult way think you are all cool and it is really refreshing to see them responding to your advise. We have all learnt so much from the centre and you guys have given the children so much, we only hope that things will work out and that you will be able to stay at Grow Heathrow and help further develop the Centre and continue to support the community.

Having grown up in Sipson I remember the Nurseries and all of the activity that surrounded them, to see them fall into disrepair and then be used as a personal dump was heart breaking but nobody had the knowledge of how to stop this happening and then you turned up. You showed us all that we can change things and we don’t have to allow the degeneration of the area to succeed.

If human beings are being abused the law will protect them, if animals are being abused the law will protect them, let us hope that the law will also start to protect our land and stop it from being abused.

Forgotten Spaces

The story of the Heathrow villages, and of Transition Heathrow, resonates with many people in many places. Here’s an interesting project inspired by our community done by architects Andy Faulkner and Sam Clark in the Royal Institute of British Architecture’s “Forgotten Spaces” competition.

Called ‘Market Garden’, the project would like to see the Great Barn in Harmondsworth returned to a thriving focus for the community. As the architects explain:

“Harmondsworth is in danger of becoming disconnected and forgotten. The village, on the peripheries of Greater London, is currently bound by transport infrastructure on three sides: due North is the M4 motorway, due West the M25, and due South Heathrow Airport. Recent plans to expand Heathrow would complete the enclosure, effectively making a land-locked island of Harmondsworth. 200,000 vehicles drive past every day, and 90 million passengers fly over each year”.

“The Great Barn is reopened, celebrating its past, and re-connecting it with its land. This is an opportunity to further encourage community gardening and local food production. The barn is a place for public events and fairs, and its reclaimed land is open for large festivals and food production, and also provides a potential new or additional home for the ‘Grow Heathrow’ project, a group of community activists in residence at a former nursery in nearby Sipson, threatened to be demolished.”

And it would look a little something like this…

Market Garden has been shortlisted in the competition – we’re really looking forward to finding out the winners on October 19th at Somerset House! To find out more about Andy and Sam’s proposal, and to read about the other entrants in the competition, check out the Riba website.