24 Hours of Reality

Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth was a massive success in bringing the issue of climate change to the forefront of world cinema a few years ago and spawned similar films looking at different aspects of climate change. For those of you that enjoyed it Al is back with a 24 hour marathon of questions and answers all from the comfort of your own home or even witness it at a live event if you wish. 


The event is called '24 hours of reality' and here's the lowdown on what it's all about courtesy of http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/ You can also find out more about what part London is playing in this event by clicking on this link.

WHAT IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1 Message. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, representing every time zone around the globe. Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate. We will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. The deniers may have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality.

WHEN IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Hours of Reality will be broadcast live online from September 14 to 15, over 24 hours, representing 24 time zones and 13 languages.

WHERE IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. You can experience as much as you like without even leaving your home. Click here to find the location — or locations — where you would like to watch a presentation. Due to logistical considerations, three of the presentations will be broadcast remotely from New York — Tonga, the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia — but will include local footage and information. All other presentations will be filmed on location around the world.

Transition Brockley feature on Time Out website

Last year we were featured in Time Out's website feature on fruit harvesting in London and they've updated their article to include more groups which just goes to show that the fruit harvesting movement is gaining strength as people become more aware of the abundance of fruit that is available to them without handing over a penny!

Transition Snippets...

Here's a round up of things happening and events coming up locally...

Lewisham green drinks


A monthly event for those interested in engaging in topics such as environmental issues, climate, politics, local news and of course the transition town movement whilst indulging in a beverage or two! First Monday of every month with the next one happening on Monday 5th September. Come along from 7:30pm to Mr Lawrence Wine Bar on Brockley Rd just past Crofton Park Rail Station.


Brockley Common Community Garden

The garden at Brockley Station has been producing lots of delicious food throughout the summer. Garden co-ordinator Caroline writes:

In case you have a moment to go and pick some home grown food at the Transition Town Brockley garden, please see below what's up for grabs!

- tomatoes, will be ready a week from now

- spinach, doing well, and responds well to regular picking

- squash, still ripening

- runner beans, still producing 

Please feel free to pop to the plot and pick anything that looks ready!

We will be preparing the plot for winter on Saturday 15th October, 2-4pm. Do drop me a line if you have any suggestions, or indeed green contributions! 

Brockley Cross Action Group AGM - Saturday 24th Sept 11-12:30pm @ John Stainer School, Mantle Rd, Brockley

Transition Brockley will have a stall at our neighbours' annual AGM where we'll hopefully have some information on the projects we've been working on throughout the year so far and beyond. Come along and engage with your local community!

Hilly Fields Orchard

The orchard has produced some apples this year however it's best to pick them early to encourage them to produce better and more substantial fruit in the coming years. The mini meadow has been very successful and we hope this could lead to a bigger meadow around the orchard in the future.

Fruit Harvesting

Once again we have been out and about harvesting fallen fruit and fruit from trees which the owners have no need for. We're looking at another harvesting event within the next couple of weeks. More details soon. In the meantime if you wish to be kept up to date with the latest news on harvesting then please contact brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk 

We're also looking ahead to October when Ian from the One Tree Hill allotments will hold his annual apple pressing day at the allotments on One Tree Hill from 1-6pm. We're hoping to be able to contribute some fruit from our harvesting and it promises to be a fun day for all the family whether you want to exercise your muscles or just enjoy the fruit juices being made!

Draughtbusting

We've been talking about organsing a draught-busting session locally for some time now and we've  finally got someone to help us out by using one of members' houses as an example for the day on how we help cut down on energy use and save some money!

We're looking at Saturday 29th October, possibly in the morning to run a session. Numbers will be limited on a first come, first served basis but if the event is heavily over-subscribed then we'll look to organise more. The demonstration property will be the Hilly Fields area of Brockley. If you're interested then please email us at
transitionbrockley@hotmail.co.uk and we'll let you know further details.

TT New Cross - Food Group

Our friends from New Cross have recently launched a food group and are looking at lots of different aspects of local food from production to distribution to landsharing schemes and more. The next meeting will take place on September 8th from 7:30 - 9:30pm at the Hill Station Cafe in Kitto Road, Telegraph Hill. There are two presentations taking place at the meeting including one from Transition Brockley member, Fran who will talk about Brockley Gardenshare which aims to match up landowners with people who have no land and want to grow food. There will also be a presentation from Amina who is the new manager of local cafe 'Come the Revolution' which has just opened in New Cross and seeks to use locally produced food.

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

Fran has emailed some pictures of the mini-meadow that we planted as a test bed for future meadow expansion at Hilly Fields and also as part of the River of Flowers project. Judging by the photos it looks like the meadow has thrived.

Fruit Harvesting & Gardening - Sat 20th August

Harvesting in action 2010

Last year we successfully harvested unwanted fruit in the local area and this year we're intending to do this again. The details of this year's first event which combines both harvesting and gardening are below:

Once again, we're planning to organise some local fruit harvesting. We're emailing you as someone who expressed an interest last year or has more recently found out about Brockley fruit harvesting. We'll be in touch separately with those who donated part of their tree's crop last year to see if you're interested in doing the same again this year.

As a reminder, the main aim is to highlight the contribution that food makes to our carbon footprint (around 20%) and ensure that the harvest from local fruit trees doesn't go to waste by organising groups of volunteers to go and pick from people's back gardens or trees overhanging the pavement.

• If you've got a fruit tree, donate part of your tree's harvest for distribution to the local community (you get first share).
• Or volunteer to be an urban harvester and have fun getting involved with picking, distributing and / or processing the fruit.

We expect our first picking afternoon to be sat 20^th August (fruit availability permitting!). We plan to combine this with being at the Brockley Common Community garden (see below), as follows:

1 - 2.30pm : Harvesting
2.30pm - 4pm : Gardening
4-5pm : Winter garden planning (in a local cafe)

Last year fruit was distributed amongst volunteers and handed out at the community garden by the station and some went to a local refugee group.

If you have a fruit tree you would like picked or would like to volunteer to pick, please email: Brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk

Other projects you might be interested in include:

Garden Share – Are you looking for a plot of land to grow fruit and veg on? Or do you have a garden which is neglected and would be happy for someone to use part (or all) of, to grow food? Transition Brockley are investigating matching up available plots with growers. If this might suit you, please contact Fran: fr2rogers@gmail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden, next to the Station – planted with a mixture of edibles and flowers. If you're interested in getting involved please contact: joynerca@googlemail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden

This year's garden is looking very colourful and people and already finding food to pick!

The latest plan is now available for perusal.

Brockley Assembly Funding Secured!

Proposed trees opposite the Brockley Barge

This morning the local assembly voting event saw a plethora of very worthy local projects bidding for funding, one of which was our project to plant 6 new trees along a pretty bleak stretch of Brockley Road. The good news is that we were successful in our bid and the project will now continue with further consultations with local stakeholders and consultation with the relevant authorities. This project is great example of the good work that local groups can do when working in partnership with the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Society all involved in the planning of this project.

Alongside our project we were also supporting a bid from the Brockley Cross Action Group to install a new set of steps on Brockley Common alongside the earthy bank that has become a highly-used access point to the station from the northern end of the site and this also received full funding. There were other projects with food growing and planting at the core of their aims which received funding too so in summary a great success for those with green fingers!

Set out below is a description of the proposal and some conceptual images of the proposed trees (please note the trees shown are conceptual! Some ideas on the different tree varieties can can be viewed on our Flickr site which also has other images of the project alongside our other work.

The proposal

The council’s recent work to widen the pavement and provide a parking bay along the parade of shops situated on Brockley Road between Cranfield and just beyond Harefield Roads sadly did not include the provision for any trees. As a result there is now a vast expanse of pavement which looks bleak and desolate. 

This project aims to enhance the new pedestrian pavement adjacent to the shops by planting an area of 4 trees along the eastern side of Brockley Road (2 each side of the pedestrian crossing), one tree outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner with Harefield Road  and one tree on the western side of Brockley Road on the new widened pavement on the corner of Coulgate and Brockley Road.

Tree planting is a priority of the London Mayor's office as well as the government and is in  line with Ward residents’ Assembly priorities. The effects of global warming make the planting of new trees in the capital all the more imperative. Although street tree management is the responsibility of Lewisham Council, the resources available for planting new trees are unfortunately very limited. Most of Lewisham Council’s ‘Green Scene’ tree budget has to be spent on risk management and maintenance of existing stock, consequently there is little left to satisfy the increasing community demand for new trees.

Members of Transition Brockley and Brockley Cross Action Group have already greatly improved and enhanced the area around Brockley station.  The aim of this project is to achieve a further enhancement of the Brockley Road retail area which will benefit all local residents. 

We will liaise with Lewisham Council's 'Tree Department at Green Scene' who  have agreed to acquire, plant and maintain the trees. We will work together in subsequent years with other interested groups mentioned above  to further enhance the tree pits by underplanting  bulbs, perennials and small shrubs.

In consultation with Lewisham council’s Green Scene department, the precise planting location and type  of the 6 trees will be agreed. The work will then be scheduled by Green Scene with onsite co-operation from local volunteers.

Initial indications are that the suitable sites are:  1 tree outside Toad’s Mouth café.1 tree to be sited to continue the line of trees outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner of Harefied and Brockley Road. 2 trees to be sited on the wide  section of pavement beyond the pedestrian crossing towards Cranfield Road and 2 trees to be planted before the pedestrian crossing on the new widened section of pavement. In consultation with Green Scene the tree pits will of a large enough area to allow for shrub and perennial plantings.

Site Plan of the Proposed Sites

With help from committed local environment groups, the area adjacent to the Station has been transformed from a run down, neglected and unwelcoming part of Brockley to a pleasant green environment. The new pavement area is not yet welcoming or green.  It is crying out for trees.  Brockley residents who have already expressed their appreciation of the greener environment around the station will all benefit from the addition of trees along this stretch of somewhat desolate pavement. At present cars can and often do mount the pavement to park.  Trees with guards will have the added benefit of protecting children and disabled pedestrians from such inconsiderate parking.

Trees opposite the Brockley Barge

Proposed tree on the corner of the Royal Mail sorting office

Proposed tree outside Toads Mouth Too