Brockley in transition: the year in review

So as the year draws to an end and the seemingly endless cycle of freezing temperatures and snow carries on it seems like a good time to reflect on some of the things that the group have been up to throughout the year. Note, there's a deliberate slant towards the things we've been up to rather than talking about Brockley generally but if you do want to read about that then take a look at a good round up on Brockley Central.

Hilly Fields Orchard

We were hoping to have planted the orchard by now but we had to postpone the planting due to the recent weather however, Saturday 15th January is the new date for your diary so please come along between 11am – 1pm.

Members of the group have also undertaken orchard management training organised by the London Orchard Project and will be looking to train others up to help with maintenance after the planting.

Fruit Harvesting

Inspired by projects such as Sheffield’s Abundance project where unwanted fruit is collected and distributed we decided to map and collect Brockley’s unwanted fruit and redistribute to local people and refuge centres. A number of harvesting events took place and the whole project was very successful. Time Out online even featured us as one of London's best harvesting projects! Plans are afoot for next years harvesting where hopefully Brockley's fruit may manifest itself in a more preserved form...watch this space!

Brockley Common Planting

We held working days to transform a barren piece of wasteland into something more productive which could be used by the local community. This culminated in being part of the Brockley Cross Action Group's tenth anniversary celebrating the hard work done by the local community in transforming the area around the station.

Hilly Fields Fayre

This year we decided to take a slightly more proactive role in the Fayre by helping to organise a number of stalls alongside our own with organisations that have environmental interests at heart such as Global Action Plan, Frendsbury Gardens and Lewisham Waste Initiatives.

Other things we've been up to...

Alongside Transition Westcombe we took part in discussions with local supermarkets to discuss how they could cut their carbon footprints. We also got Brockley's local Costcutter shop to take part in Plastic Bag Free Day.

Continued to support such initiatives as 9 Carrots culminating Mr Lawrence Wine Bar becoming the first 9 Carrots project to reach its target; Frendsbury Gardens who continued to blossom with their useful workshops; St. Saviours Community Garden which keeps on growing and helped to stem the plight of Brockley's bee population following the workshop we had with Capital Bee last year.

Finally, we hope you've enjoyed taking part in any of the activities we've been involved in this year and hope that you will continue to support us as we will continue to support the local community by being as proactive and educational as we can!

Have a happy new year!

Hilly Fields Fayre

Last weekend saw the annual fayre at Hilly Fields take place and Transition Brockley was there alongside other environmentally orientated organisations such as Lewisham Waste Initiatives, Frendsbury Gardens, Global Action Plan, and Sustainable Energy in Lewisham. Fran kindly took some pictures which you can see below:

Hilly Fields Fayre - just days away!

This years Fayre at Hilly Fields organised by the Brockley Society is just days away! This year Transition Brockley have been co-ordinating a 'green' themed area with a number of local environmentally-themed participants including Global Action Plan, Lewisham Waste Initiatives, Lewisham Sustainable Resources Team, Frendsbury Gardens and 9 Carrots alongside our own stall which will have information on all the things we have been involved in. You can find out more details about the Fayre and view the programme here Come along and say hello!

Transition hits Hilly Fields Fayre!

This years Hilly Fields Fayre will be graced with an environmentally themed area with Transition Brockley leading the way by co-ordinating other like-minded people such as Global Action Plan, 9 Carrots, and Frendsbury Gardens to join up and raise environmental awareness in Brockley.


Also expected is home-made ice cream using eggs from some of TB's members' own chickens alongside a wide range entertainments, activities and other stalls.


The Fayre is on Saturday 19th June and is one of the highlights of the local calender so do come along!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Back in February Rowena from the London Orchard Project (L.O.P.) came to one of our meetings to talk about a new London-wide scheme with the aim of increasing London's orchards and to see if we would like to be involved in setting up a new orchard somewhere in Brockley. One of the aims of Transition Brockley is to improve the area's self-sufficiency and awareness of the abundance of food freely available to us. Brockley has a long history of market gardens and orchards with some very old trees still surviving in back gardens so it seems quite apt that Brockley should once again house more orchards.


On Saturday 15th May Carina and Rowena from L.O.P. came to Brockley, firstly to check out the orchard that they helped to start at Lilac House which is reported as doing very well, but also to check out the site at Hilly Fields in preparation for a new orchard to be planted in November 2010. Carina and Rowena brought Russell Miller (L.O.P. principle tree expert) with them to assist in deciding on suitable positions for new trees. Also present were Rachel from the Hilly Fields Park User Group and Alex from Transition Brockley.


There was plenty to discuss including siting of the trees, potential varieties, funding, maintenance, protection etc. The site of the new orchard is planned to be on a lower part of ground next to the stone circle which is sheltered and would be ideal for new trees. After a walk around the site Russell suggested we could probably look at about 7 new trees on the site. We discussed what type of fruit trees to have and it seems that Apple varieties and possibly Pear or Plum look likely. Carina will narrow down our (very long) list of choices and we'll put it to the vote at the Hilly Fields Fayre.


Funding is also looking positive with £1000 already received in grants and another application to the Forestry Commission just going in. It is hoped that the orchard will be used by local school children and enjoyed by all. Fruit harvesting is unlikely to take place for the first couple of yearsd while the trees develop but when they are established Brockley's chances of feeding itself will increase just a bit!