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If you're not there you won't be able to buy a Raffle Ticket These are some of the prizes on offer - and some links to the people and firms who donated them. Check them out! Local Honey, donated by Stathe Beekeeper, Eric McLaughlin Slow Cooker ECOVER "This is about more than fresh socks and squeaky-clean pots. This is about respecting the planet and looking out for nature. This is about fixing our waste culture and making an impact on our impact. Every basket of laundry and stack of dishes is a chance to shake the status quo. Because we need system change, not climate change. And together we can roll up our freshly laundered sleeves and get this revolution on the road." Check out their web site HERE Athelney Soaps . . . "are handmade in small batches on the Somerset Levels using plant ingredients. Our aim is to make soaps with ingredients that are as natural as possible and will always be either Vegetarian friendly or Vegan friendly. Athelney Soaps are made using the traditional ‘Cold Process’ method and are poured and cut by hand. We take great care to make every bar special." Check out their web site HERE Marcel’s Green Soap "I was inspired by my three daughters. They said, "Dad, the things you do aren't actually that good for the planet and what the world will look like in 10, 20 years." I had previously had a career at Unilever and large corporations like that. I stopped working there so I could make a more personal impact on the world for good . Everyone has to clean their house every day, and I think that this can be done a lot more sustainably and positively. I founded Marcel’s Green Soap, to use only biodegradable ingredients and packed in 100% recycled plastic. We started in The Netherlands, but we are now located throughout Western Europe." Check out their web site HERE Gruum " . . . we’re pretty concerned about the impact that big business operations and plastic packaging have on the world around us. We wanted to give our customers the reassurance that not only do we understand our responsibility to reduce our impact on planet Earth and its inhabitants, but that our commitment to the environment is at the forefront of every single decision we make; from where we manufacture our products, right down to the design of our packaging. When it comes to our products, the majority are manufactured for us right here in the UK. And when we do need to source our products internationally, we transport using shipping freight, to help keep our carbon emissions as low as possible." Check out their web site HERE Faith In Nature "What we find is that, as in Nature, there is an ever shifting balance to maintain — and that requires ecological thinking. A constant reassessment of what ‘sustainability’ means today. There is no such thing as ‘best’. Only ‘best for now’. Below is our best-for-now — but behind the scenes, we’re always working on our best-for-tomorrow." Check out their web site HER E Serious Soaps and Serious Tissues "Serious Tissues are made from 100% recycled paper - no trees are harmed in the making of this product. We use recycled paper - from newspapers, cereal boxes, etc. - instead of bamboo because the carbon footprint is smaller and we don’t have to ship the bamboo from China. We’re produced in the UK." Check out their web site HERE

Bat Detectives Saturday 2nd or Sunday 3rd September 2023 Williams Hall Stoke St Gregory Somerset Bat Group Stoke St Gregory Environment Group Somerset Wildlife Trust 7.15 - 9.30 pm Book HERE FREE This event is weather dependent as it needs to be a dry and not windy early evening, so it will hopefully be on either the Saturday or the Sunday evening. We will be learning how to use a Bat Detector, which attaches to a phone and working in small groups to see how many species and numbers of bats we can identify in the village. It will be a fun evening and suitable for all ages. Children need to be accompanied by an adult. This is a FREE event, but PLEASE do BOOK via the SWT Web Site - HERE Starting out at Stoke-St-Gregory Village Hall you’ll get a short briefing, collect a bat detector and your group will head out to an area within Stoke-St-Gregory parish (including Curload, Woodhill and Meare Green). Please note that you will need to arrange your own transport to get to your survey location. Once you have surveyed your area you will head back to base to return your kit and find out the results. Please be aware that this is not a guided walk and your team will not be accompanied by a member of staff or volunteer during the survey This event is part of the Somerset BIG BAT COUNT It's your chance to get involved in real-time, night-time monitoring of bat species and use the very latest, cutting edge bat detecting technology to collect data. The more data we collect about the county’s bats, the better we can conserve the habitats they call home. I f you would like to find out more about Somerset bats have a look at the Somerset Bat Group's web site HERE

The Green Home BACK to Projects THE GREEN HOME: Small Steps to a Cleaner Home and Planet (see excerpt below) Available now. Over a hundred copies sold, so get your order in quickly as many people are buying as stocking fillers. Priced at £2.50 (50p profit to Stoke Environment Group). Packed with tips and information, a toolbox that makes fixing those Eco problems easier and fun to do. Please contact me here or email: housego20@yahoo.com

Click HERE for ENVIROFAIR Home Page Raffle Prizes - Tickets only available on the day at the Envirofair Prize: 1 Year's Membership to the Trust SWT looks after a wide range of habitats from wetlands to woodlands, grasslands and meadows, and provides secure environments for a range of wildlife such as dormice, otters, hedgehogs, barn owls and many other species. Visit their web site HERE Prize: £25 to spend at Coates English Willow Shop A place to see the willow industry, from the Withy Bed to the Basket. You will find a warm welcome and are invited to learn about the history and art of willow growing and basket making. Dogs on leads are welcome to all areas. Visit their web site HERE Prize: Mint Bundle – toothpaste x 2, mouthwash x 2, metal winder and mouthwash cup Welcome to the wonderful world of Waken. We were born in 2019 in the UK and ever since we’ve been on a mission to change the world of mouthcare. We do this by creating effective, more sustainable products that look beautiful in your bathroom Visit their web site HERE Prize: Clothes Washing sheets and pack of 3 soaps For every pack of Serious Soaps laundry detergent or bar soaps they sell, they recover 1kg of ocean-bound plastic. That’s the equivalent of fifty 500ml plastic bottles or 500 crisp packets. Visit their web site HERE Prize: A Water Butt " By 2030, we aim to achieve net zero operational carbon emissions. These are our annual emissions linked to our energy use and transport, plus other greenhouse gases that are emitted from sewage and sludge treatment processes." See their web site HERE Prize: A Compost Converter Compost converters are made from recycled plastic, UV-stabilised to prevent degradation, require no assembly, and are guaranteed for seven years. See their web site HERE Prize: £10 Gift Voucher Monkton Elm is an award winning family owned garden centre. Apart from plants & seeds there is a Farm Shop, gift cards, home decor, garden furniture and BBQ’s, pet centre, greenhouses and garden buildings. Visit their web site HERE

LITTER BACK to Projects We've all done it. The tissue that blew away an a windy day. The empty can we didn't notice when we cleared up after the picnic. But hopefully anyone reading this is not a 'litterer'. There have been litter picking days around the village, and a few dedicated individuals have picked away quietly over the years. We are now aiming to get the whole village covered on a regular basis. Apart from 'Keeping Stoke Tidy' , the theory is that the less litter lying around - the less likely people are to drop more. If you can help, please get in touch envirostoke@yahoo.com It doesn't matter how small an area you can deal with, but it would useful to know exactly where. To date (August 2021), people have volunteered to litter pick regularly in the following areas: Woodhill Playing Field Pincombe Drove Pound Drove North Drove Slough Lane Willey Road Huntham Close Huntham Lane Church Close The activity is already making a difference, but areas still looking for volunteers include Meare Green, Griggs Hill, Dark Lane, Polkes Field, Churley, Curload and Windmill. If you can take on any or part of these (or indeed parts of those roads already covered), do please get in touch envirostoke@yahoo.com No, it couldn't happen here? Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats. Cigarette butts are a threat to wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of fish and birds, who have mistaken them for food. Also animals can get trapped in the rubbish and be in serious discomfort. For example, the plastic used to hold beverage cans together can get wrapped around animals' necks and cause them to suffocate as they grow. Other instances where animals could be harmed by litter include broken glass lacerating the paws of dogs, cats, and other small mammals. Lets do what we can to help them.

Take photos any time before the end of May 2022 Four age categories: under 12 years; 13 - 17 years; 18 – 59 years; and over 60 years. Full Rules Available HERE *NEW* Links to Handy Hints Below This Competition is to raise awareness of the natural world around Stoke St Gregory, and to encourage us all to take an interest how the natural environment plays a part in our lives. Being out taking photos can help us appreciate our surroundings. We encourage you to submit a photograph, taken between January and May 2022 in the Parish of Stoke St Gregory, that captures an example of the natural world. The best photographs in each of four age ranges will be awarded a prize at the Envirofair 22. Photographs may be taken using a simple ‘everyday’ device such as digital camera, mobile phone, tablet etc. No editing or ‘photoshoping’ of the image will be allowed. Photographs will be accepted in digital format at any time between 1 January and 31 May 2022 . There will be no specific topics, but the photograph must be taken in the Parish and is expected to capture a natural subject – it can be flora or fauna and any native species of either. So the photograph can feature anything from an earthworm to a sunset! To ensure the quality is maintained when printed, images must be of 2Mb size , at least. A panel of SEG members will be formed to judge the winner of each age category. If possible, a guest ‘celebrity’ judge will be included. The top four photographs will be printed, mounted and framed . Permission will be sought to display each picture in the HOTV Coffee Shop for three months after which, the framed photograph will be presented to the originator. So, Get Snapping! If you fancy a few tips and handy hints here are a few links to other web sites: Naturehood HERE Natural History Museum HERE C.P.R.E. HERE Ephotozine HERE Countryfile HERE

Click HERE for ENVIROFAIR Home Page Click HERE for full list of contributors Family Fun Lots of activities…. Playing, making and learning! Get mucky making Seed Bombs Get building… Bird Feeders Bird Boxes Bee Houses! Join in making & painting Plant Pots! Discover how bees make honey! Growing Minds – fun play through nature! Meet and learn all about Owls – watch them fly too! 1pm – 3pm

Home Composting Composting Workshop - Saturday 19th March, 10 am - 2 pm It is possible to produce good quality garden produce from a range of kitchen waste (vegetable peelings, paper etc) and garden cuttings in a relatively short space of time and with minimal equipment. However, there are some simple techniques that can improve the quality of the compost. An expert in the field of home composting, Nicky Scott, has authored several books on composting and recycling. He also advises schools, local authorities and businesses on composting kitchen waste and helps set up community composting groups. Check out his web site HERE The “hot box” composter he developed is widely used for composting food waste. Nicky has agreed to visit Stoke St Gregory and run a four-hour ‘workshop’ which will include ‘hands-on’ demonstrations. For the practical part of the workshop, Nicky will use prepared compost and answer any queries on the topic. There will be a small charge for the workshop, but it will be subsidised from SEG funds. Get in touch envirostoke@yahoo.com if you would like to come along Why Home Composting? Compost is a pile of organic waste that over time breaks down or 'decomposes' into a nutrient rich soil. The compost pile is usually made of a mixture of green organic materials like food scraps, garden trimmings or fresh manure and brown organic materials like dead or dry leaves, cardboard and wood chips. The green materials contain a chemical called nitrogen and the brown materials contain a chemical called carbon. Add air and water, and the bacteria and moulds, as well as creatures like worms and insects can feed on the organic matter and help to break it down. It is estimated that almost half of the food waste in the average rubbish bin could have been composted. You can do your bit to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or other more costly forms of treatment by composting your food and garden waste at home. You may ask "Why do I need to compost - and why should I worry when my local council does food waste collections?" It saves money, saves resources, can help to improve your soil and can reduce your impact on the environment. Did you know, composting at home for can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces annually, or your washing machine produces in three months? What to Compost? The best compost will be made from a mixture of 'greens' and 'browns' in the table, and it's always best not to put too much of one thing on at a time (unless you are able to fork it in well with the mixture). The table below shows what NOT to compost. An increasing amount of packaging is now labelled as 'compostable', but beware! Some of it can only be processed industrially at high temperatures. For a look at the different labels you might find in this minefield see HERE There are plenty of helpful web sites out there - just put 'home composting' in your search box. The Eden Project has also produced a useful video See HERE Happy Composting and don't forget 19th March

BACK to Mobility & Transport FOOTPATHS - HISTORY BACK to Footpaths & Footways Projects Maps History Legal Contact Many of Stoke’s footpaths originate from Anglo Saxon times, when the manor (then called ‘East Curry’) consisted of hamlets and homesteads such as Huntham, Sharpham, Pinkham, Stathe, Currilode and Woodhill. The connecting paths would be alongside streams, through uncleared woodland or across the commons. As fields were enclosed with hedges or fences, footpaths were incorporated along the boundaries, with stiles or footbridges, to enable workers to access different parts of the farms and for everyone to go about their daily lives. When Slough Lane and Dark Lane were dug out to create gradients that made it possible for a laden hay cart to be horse drawn up to the top of Woodhill, steps were added, such as the ‘Clammer’ in Slough Lane. Some of the old paths remain, though, as the few ‘cross field’ paths we have in the parish. Nowadays our footpaths are mainly used for recreation, although some are still used for journeys to school, shop, pub and churches. Some have been linked with newly created permissive footpaths, to create the East Deane Way and the Parrett Trail. There are also interpretive trails at Coates Willow & Wetlands Centre. The Open Spaces Society is Britain's oldest national conservation body. Much of the Society's work is concerned with the preservation and creation of public paths. Before the introduction of definitive maps of public paths in the early 1950s, the public did not know where paths were, and the Open Spaces Society helped the successful campaign for paths to be shown on Ordnance Survey maps. It advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and local authorities are legally required to consult the society whenever there is a proposal to alter the route of a public right of way.

The Big One 21st - 24th April 2023 Tens of thousands of people are set to gather outside the Houses of Parliament in London later this month to highlight the UK government’s failure to act on the climate and the related crises. Climate change activists will be standing alongside health workers, anti-racism campaigners, and many well known and respected national organisations for a four day gathering starting on 21 April, dubbed ‘The Big One’. It’s four years since XR brought parts of the English capital to a standstill, parking a pink boat in Oxford Circus. Following that the UK parliament declared a climate emergency. But, says Greenpeace UK’s head of climate, Mel Evans: “The UK government is failing to deliver the kind of wholesale action needed to avoid full-blown climate breakdown.” Since bursting onto the global stage a few years ago, the main co-organiser of the event, Extinction Rebellion , has been doing some soul-searching of its own. In a New Year’s statement titled ‘We Quit’ , the protest group announced it would now “prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks.” The Big One is the first major event since this resolution. Pitching up outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster from 21 to 24 April, it promises to be family-friendly, accessible, welcoming, creative and engaging. “Awash with colour and culture, the politically powerful streets of Westminster will be transformed with People’s Pickets outside government departments and a diverse programme of speakers, performers and workshops,” Extinction Rebellion UK says on its website. The invitation is open to everyone and if the co-host list is anything to go by, it promises to live up to its name. XR is calling on 100,000 people to attend, making them “impossible to ignore.” It certainly seems to be capturing the imagination of diverse groupings. For example, faith groups expected to take part include: A Rocha UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Christian Climate Action, Green Christian, the Iona Community, Just Love, Operation Noah, the Student Christian Movement, Tearfund, Young Christian Climate Network, Quakers, Faith for the Climate, and many other faith based members of the Climate Coalition. Global Justice Now is a social justice organisation working to create a more just and equal world. They are campaigning for compensation for the global south to be paid by the big polluting corporations in the fossil fuel industry. Praising the “vital role” that XR has played in the past, director of Global Justice Now, Nick Dearden says that the Big One’s potential lies in its inclusivity. April’s mass action can help foster a “generational movement.” Mel Evans, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, makes the point: “It’s clear that only through working together will civil society defeat the vested interests intent on putting profits over people and the planet . “We either win as a movement or lose as individual organisations. That’s why The Big One promises to be such a key moment in the fight for climate justice and why we’re getting involved.” Robin Wells, of Fossil Free London comments: “The climate crisis can be easy to ignore because it is continuous. It exists in the periphery of our attention all the time - in the weather when we wake up in the morning, the prices of the food we buy at the shops, and on the fringe of the news reports that we watch when we get home. But there are moments that cut through and grab our attention. One is the release of scary warnings from scientists like in [yesterday’s] IPCC report. Another is freak temperatures beyond what we’d have ever imagined, and another one, that we campaigners can make happen, are moments in which we are brought together and reminded of our power and unity in shaping the world we want to see. The Big One will be one such moment.” How Can I Get Involved? All the main information is on The Big One website , including ways to volunteer and donate. Click HERE We know of at least one multi generational group that will be travelling to Westminster from Stoke. If you are on the Stoke Environment Group mailing list you will have had details, and an offer of advice if you are thinking of going. For others in the area contemplating the trip please get in touch and we will try and 'put people in touch with each other' . Contact Dave at envirostoke@yahoo. com

Glut Recipes Autumn - Apples, Beans, Courgettes, Damsons, E?, F?, G? . . . This one originated in Diana Silk's kitchen. It came to us via Sally Morrice and then Karen Gormley . Sticking with courgettes, amongst other things, here is Sarah Evans' recipe for chutney. "The main ingredients of most chutneys are malt vinegar, soft brown sugar, raisins or sultanas and add whatever you have a glut of - courgettes, runner beans, beetroot, apples, pears, green tomatoes, etc. Guess other quantities as it starts to cook. " In fact you need to guess all the quantities, and guess how long it takes. If you would like a little help try this courgette chutney recipe HERE Susan Crabbe used a Gordon Ramsey recipe for Gazpacho - see HERE "This is what I made yesterday with my cucumber and tomato glut. Although, looking at the weather today, I would have been better off making hot tomato soup!" Dave Evans has a few more suggestions for using up the courgette glut. Seared Courgettes: Heat a griddle pan until very hot (maybe open all the windows first). Cut the courgettes into 5mm slices and lay on a large plate. Brush the tops of the slices with oil then put them oil side down on the griddle. Let them smoke until they are charred. Brush tops with oil and turn over. Cook until second side is charred. Season, and eat hot, or cool for a salad. Pan Fried Courgettes: Cut the courgettes into 5mm slices and lay on a large plate. Dust the topes with flour and wait for the flour to get absorbed by the veg liquid. Turn the slices over and dust again. Repeat until a crust has formed on the slices then fry in shallow fat on a medium heat. Alternatively, bake in a single layer in a moderate oven (around 180 degC). Grated Courgette: Grate the courgettes and freeze in boxes or bags. Use in winter soups and stews. Courgette Fritters: Grate the courgettes into a large bowl. Add any seasoning - salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, mint, etc. Add some plain flour and keep adding small amounts and stirring as the courgettes give up their juice, until you have the right consistency. Fry in shallow heat over moderate heat. [This works best if you use gram (chickpea) flour as it binds the mixture better.] The fritters are improved if you add some grated carrot or beetroot. Let's have some more recipes! What are we going to do with all those runner beans? envirostoke@yahoo.com