FOXES BOLD AS LOVE

Get on this land JO CLARK together with his team offer land-based learning of regenerative agriculture principles at Oxen Park Farm, near Exeter. During lockdown they switched to providing

Ilocal vegetable boxes of their produce. Teign Greens sees them embarking on a new was brought up on a small mixed farm in the Exe Valley. The visceral connection that I gained through my interaction with all that lived and community supported social enterprise to provide the seasonal vegetable boxes alongside vegetable based learning. grew on that land has informed so much of what I now stand for. As an adventurous involved in the production of the food that we eat whilst farming young child I was often told by neighbouring farmers to “get off my land!’’, making has largely become a monoculture ‘agri business’ rather than a me leave behind the apples, blackberries or hazelnuts that I had scrumped. I recall the feeling of indignation and sense of injustice as a child. I could not understand the concept of land ownership for me all the land around me felt like my home, today, 55 years on it still feels like home and I know now that it is our stewardship of this craft. My parents could hand shear a sheep, grow any crop, heal a sick animal, cut and lay a hedge, repair any farm tool or machine, build or repair a fence, gate, shed and much more and whilst there are many farmers who still have these skills much of Jo Clark director of On The Hill C.I.C. land that matters not our ownership. Oxen Park Farm has offered us the opportunity to address the lack of access available to people so that they can interact in a meaningful way with this precious productive Devon land. When I look at the ancient patchwork of fields and woodland riding on the rolling curves of the hills that tumble into the shaded valley, I wonder what the future might be for this magical, abundant landscape. Sunflower heaven at the farm. modern farming is often conducted from the seat of a tractor, even driverless tractors, whilst factory-scale pig and poultry farming is largely automated. There is however a global movement known as regenerative agriculture which among other things fully recognises the imperative for humans to accommodate the needs of the wildlife, acknowledging the fact that our human health, well-being and survival is dependent upon the health of all living things. This movement also recognises the need to bring people back to the land and to bring education back to the experiential, sensory and tangible. The movement supports small humanscale farming, moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels, using organic methods, focussing on local food needs and maintaining the health of the soil as a living organism rather than a sterile growing medium. Small scale farmers scrape a living and their offspring move away, reluctant to take on the struggle. Conventional farming still Here at Oxen Park we are embarking on the creation of the second social enterprise. The first is On the Hill (www.onthehill.camp), a land based learning initiative bringing children, young people and adults to the farm to explore a regenerative, rewilding of education whist supporting schools to develop outdoor experiential land-based facilities. relies on heavy fertiliser During lockdown we have been expanding our organic and biodynamic and chemical input to vegetable production and in September we will launch Teign Greens, a produce meat, dairy and Community Supported Agriculture social enterprise run by the dynamic grain products, whilst Holly Budgen and Tim Dickens who have been here since March planning land is amalgamated into and preparing. Teign Greens will provide fresh seasonal veg boxes to bigger farms or sold for members who will be invited to ‘’get on this land!’’, giving them the pony paddocks. It is now opportunity to be directly involved in the veg that they eat during regular stated that our methods community gardening days. The educational, therapeutic and social of food production and elements will work in symbiosis with the food production and all conducted distribution produce around in a way that benefits everything that lives and grows. 25% of greenhouse gasses and scientists, academics, activists and many farmers know that we must change. Over the last 200 years or so there has been a gradual rural depopulation with less and less people Bringing about positive change can be catalysed by the creation of inspirational examples of what the future could look like and inviting people to experience them. This is our hope and our intention. To get involved: l Volunteering; email veg@onthehill.camp l Veg boxes; email veg@onthehill.camp l On the hill; email info@onthehill.camp

ROB HOPKINS founder of the Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes believes we have the perfect opportunity to bounce forward after what has been ‘the Spring of our lives’. This article was first printed in our online only edition.

Imet a friend in the street the other day, and we chatted, whilst maintaining our obligatory 2 metres distance. It is amazing how quickly this has become normal. For decades the idea of Totnes without hugs would have been utterly unimaginable, and yet there we were. He is someone who gets up earlier in the morning than I usually do, and he told me of encounters with deer in the street, foxes bold as brass strolling down morning streets, blue tits landing on his shoulder whilst sitting in the garden. It resonated with to stories from elsewhere, of herds of wild goats roaming town centres and dolphins popping up in the canals of Venice for the first time in living memory. Another friend who lives on the High Street told me of finding an owl on her windowsill for the first time ever. As I write this, a pair of bullfinches are sitting outside my window. I feel as though I am being visited by royalty. I have lived through a Spring that, as Charles Dickens would have put it, “was the best of times [and] … the worst of times”. It has, in many ways, been the most glorious Spring of my life. Dazzling sunshine, grass

and leaves greener than I can ever remember, birdsong louder than I’ve ever experienced, sunrises and sunsets that took the breath away, a sky free from contrails, streets free of cars, air fresher and more delicious than I ever recall. Vegetable gardens popping up everywhere. Seed companies overwhelmed with orders. Local food producers tripling, quadrupling production in order to keep up with demand. In many ways, this has been the Spring of our lives. And yet at what cost? We have arrived here through the absolutely worst route. No-one would have chosen this as the way to arrive here, and it is almost certain that by the time you read this, business-as-usual will have clawed back most of the gains set out above. But what these weeks of lockdown have done is to give us a taste of what a more localised, more resilient future would actually be like. Hold on to that. Emblazon it in your memory. Remember what it felt like, smelt like, sounded like. Two weeks into the lockdown I took part in a ‘Teach-In’ with novelist and activist Arundhati Roy. She talked about how COVID-19 has been like an MRI scan for each nation it has visited, highlighting the inequalities and injustices in each. In the UK we have seen that BAME people have been 4 times more likely to be killed by this virus, and that air pollution, suffered predominantly by those in the poorest urban areas, has been a key factor in exacerbating vulnerability to it. The government was happy to send poorer workers back to work in unsafe conditions whilst the middle classes continued working from home, and while state schools re-opened, private schools remained firmly shut. This has, of course, been ruinous to the economy, and Totnes is not exempt from that. Many small businesses will not survive and many families have suffered huge financial hardship. I fear for the damage this will do to Totnes High Street, with its 80% of businesses being independent, family-owned enterprises. Some people of course have done well out of this crisis but not many. A French friend once told me a saying used there to describe how some people do well out of even the worst of crises: “we have a saying, that the sinking of the Titanic turned out very well for the lobsters in the kitchen”. Jeff Bezos may well also be thinking that this is the best Spring of his life, but for very different reasons. What matters now is that we do everything we can to ensure that we do not go back to how things were before, that we ‘bounce forward’ rather than ‘bounce back’. It is entirely possible that we move from a growth economy to a wellbeing economy, one whose main purpose is the cultivation of those very things we have cherished over these months, the clean air, the sense of shared purpose, the biodiverse towns and streets, the birdsong. In Totnes we already have many pieces of the puzzle. What matters going forward, and with urgency, is that we more skillfully work together, forge partnerships and connections, raise our level of ambition. We need to build on this going forward, use it as the launch pad that enables us to leap to new heights, rather than just slumping back into a business-as-usual that, in reality, actually worked well for very few people. Build back better. l Rob has just launched a podcast series, ‘From What If to What Next’. Subscribe a www.patreon.com/ fromwhatiftowhatnext . His latest book, ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’, is now out now. Follow his blog at www. robhopkins.net

Jo Clark director of On The Hill C.I.C.

Here at Oxen Park we are embarking on the creation of the second social enterprise. The first is On the Hill (www.onthehill.camp), a land based learning initiative

Above: Oxen Park Land Girls planting Potatoes(before) Below: Weeding the potatoes in flower (after)

ROB HOPKINS founder of the Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes believes we have the perfect opportunity to bounce forward after what has been ‘the Spring of our

to Totnes High Street, with its 80% of businesses being independent, family-owned enterprises. Some people of course have done well out of this crisis but not many. A French friend once told me a saying used there to describe how some people do well out of even the worst of crises: “we have a saying, that the sinking of the Titanic turned out very well for the lobsters in the kitchen”. Jeff Bezos may well also be thinking that this is the best Spring of his life, but for very different reasons. What matters now is that we do everything we can to ensure that we do not go back to how things were before, that we ‘bounce forward’ rather than ‘bounce back’. It is entirely possible that we move from a growth economy to a wellbeing economy, one whose main purpose is the cultivation of those very things we have cherished over these months, the clean air, the sense of shared purpose, the biodiverse towns and streets, the birdsong. In Totnes we already have many pieces of the puzzle. What matters going forward, and with urgency, is that we more skillfully work together, forge partnerships and connections, raise our level of ambition. We need to build on this going forward, use it as the launch pad that enables us to leap to new heights, rather than just slumping back into a business-as-usual that, in reality, actually worked well for very few people. Build back

Rob has just launched a podcast series, ‘From What If to What Next’. Subscribe a www.patreon.com/ fromwhatiftowhatnext . His latest book, ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’, is now out now. Follow his blog at www.

Linocuts by Rob who is passing the time in lockdown by doing something artistic every day.

See birds, bats and stars at Sharpham’s nature events

Bats and stargazing Meet the creatures of the night at Sharpham! SEE bats and stars (hopefully) on this very special event on from 7.15pm until 9.45pm on Thursday 3 September that awakens your senses to nature at night-time. The Sharpham Estate is one of the few places in the UK and Europe where the Greater Horseshoe Bat can be found. The Trust is partnering with the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, so you’ll find out more about this endangered mammal, you’ll try bat detecting and hopefully you’ll witness these elusive mammals in Sharpham’s grounds. This event also includes – clouds permitting! – a tour of the nightsky, thanks to Dartmoor Skies. Using supplied astronomy kit, you’ll see celestial objects including stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and more! If it is cloudy, there will be an introduction to astronomy with lots of hints and tips so that you can explore the sky for yourselves when you get home, and a fun illustrated talk on Devons Bats. Thanks to National Lottery Heritage Funding, Sharpham have a number of free places on this event for adults and children, for those who would find it hard to attend otherwise. Adult £6 – standard cost (helps support and sustain the work of The Sharpham Trust) Adult £3 – subsidised cost for those who need it (still helps Sharpham) Adult free – fully funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for people on low incomes or unwaged Children (age 6 – 17) free - fully funded by The National Lotter Heritage Fund There is a maximum of 2 children aged 6-13 per adult. Minimum age of 6 years old to attend this event. Babes in arms welcome.

Wading into nature BIRD expert Mike Langman flies into Sharpham to explain the ways of the estuary waders to you. He’ll be guiding a special bird walk on the River Dart at Sharpham on Sunday 6 September, from 6pm to 8.30pm, enlightening us about the birds on the river. The mixed landscape of the Sharpham Estate beside the picturesque Dart estuary provides an ideal location for many different bird species. You might find some of the estuary’s more secretive birds in the reed beds, busy feeding and putting on weight before their southward migrations. These could include Reed and Sedge Warbler, but also resident Cetti’s Warbler and Reed Bunting. Thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sharphame have a number of free places on this event for adults and children, for those who would find it hard to attend otherwise. Adult £12 – standard cost (helps support and sustain the work of The Sharpham Trust) Adult £6 – subsidised cost for those who need it (still helps The Sharpham Trust) Adult FREE – fully funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for people on low incomes or unwaged Children, aged 7-17, FREE - fully funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund There is a maximum of 2 children aged 7-17 per adult. Minimum age of 7 years old to attend this event. l Find out about all Sharpham’s nature and wildlife events here: www.sharphamtrust.org/ events or call 01803 732542 or email bookings@sharphamtrust.org