Little Storping-in-the-Swuff

I’m drunk, damp and deafened. I’ve had a very good time.

The Grand must be cursed…

Here’s a great tip for Brighton & Hove dwellers: stockpile bus tickets before the prices go up.

On Sunday week, Brighton and Hove are putting up their fares. You can already save money buying your tickets online. Save a further 20p on journeys you make after the 23rd by getting the tickets now. I’ve contacted B&H and tickets bought at current prices will be honoured after the rise.

I’ve already purchased myself a stash.

The “unleashing” of Transition Town Lewes was rather an inspiring event. There were about 400 people in Lewes Town hall, and when I arrived, there was standing room only.

The highlight of the evening was a talk from Rob Hopkins, who gave an account of Peak Oil. I learned that global discovery peaked in 1965; apparently production usually peaks 20-30 years after discovery!

Chris Johnstone gave an interesting session on change (climaxing in the use of a harmonica as an alternative energy source…) a choice which recognised that much of the audience already has the motivation, and reflects the importance of taking action.

What impressed me most about Hopkin’s response (and I haven’t been impressed by responses before) was the focus creating a vision of an abundant post-oil economy. Most commentators seem to focus on the negatives, which leaves the consequences and the alternatives wide open: great if you want to sign people up to your theory, but useless if you want people to cooperate to move things forward.

I liked:

• trying to visualise a positive vision of an abundant, low energy future (it is possible)
• starting from where we are now, planning the transition to realise it
• setting a realistic timeframe: 10 years to adapt
• capturing local knowledge of the pre-oil (boom) economy
• engaging the challenge as a community: avoiding “them and us”

This last includes engagement in the political process (there’s a planning group for liaison with the council) without being constrained by it: the only way change will happen is if, as a community, we make it happen. Being positive is not about looking forward to the oil running out (some do: Soil Association director Patrick Holden admitted to feeling smug before he met Hopkins, whilst the BNP are ready to make political hay). It’s about being creative and constructive; and making positive choices.

A couple of years ago I saw a film about Peak Oil, screened by the Green Party here in Lewes, followed by a discussion. I was not impressed. I said it was preaching to the converted. I cited the Jevons Paradox in explaining that individual efficiencies could make the problem worse rather than better. I concluded that the only solution was to lobby for government action.

Tomorrow Transition Town Lewes is unleashed.

I only heard about transition towns on the Welsh local news at Easter when Lampeter held its first meeting. Once again the focus is on individual collective action, but this time the focus is on preparing for the peak - essentially being ready to live without oil. Promoting the local economy, communal allotments and solar panels are amongst the first projects; and seem worthwhile in their own right. Totnes, another transition town, has its own currency to promote the local economy. I don’t know how effective any of this will actually be to wean us off our oil dependency, but if the pessimists are right about the oil peak, being it a bit prepared will surely be better than not being prepared at all.

So here’s another film, screening right here at Little Storping, and it’s very Lewes. Where else could you wear a woolly orange hat and still hope to be taken seriously?

Yesterday, as expected (following their review announcement) Greene King finally climbed down and announced Harveys has returned.

The lastest post on The Lewes Arms blog is simply headlined WE HAVE WON. The beer should be ready for drinking on Friday.

Three months ago a fire on the high street exploded because of fireworks stored in the building.

Today, sadly, two firefighters lost their lives at a nearby fireworks factory.

It’s astonishing that the utter pyro-chaos that engulfs Lewes each Nov 5th can leave the place in tact and then these incidents occur at times of apparent calm. At least, I suppose, we can be thankful that this fire occured after bonfire night, so that the storage wasn’t stocked up in preparation.

Greene King is a company well known and loathed by Lewes people for their habit of buying up pubs and then stopping them selling beer from our local brewery, Harveys. Lewes people express dislike by burning effigies on Bonfire Night. Greene King was burned three years ago, around the time my local got taken over and Harveys was taken away.

One pub survived the take over; a particularly good pub (in a town with a good many good pubs) just under the unique second motte of our medieval castle. Due to local resistance, they’re still selling Harveys, which is great, until I read in Private Eye that Greene King were planning to remove Harveys even from there: a pub where four out of every five pints sold are Harveys.

It turns out this hadn’t just made it to the Eye, The Guardian picked it up and John Humphrys interviewed the MD of GK on Today. These articles and more are gathered on the “Hands off our Harveys” Lewes Arms blog.

Today was to have been the last day of Harveys, but there has been a stay of execution while local negotiations continue between GK and local MP Norman Baker. There’s a good few votes in this for him if he can pull this off. I hope he does.

Last night, another spectacularly entertaining evening of “mock” sectarian hatred and people dressed up as North American Indians.

These pictures aren’t up to the standard of the picture I posted last year taken by The Pirate King, but they give a flavour…

This year the bonfires were on the 4th because they don’t hold the event on the sabbath. Don’t forget, after all, that this is religiously motivated. Lewes’ Jireh Chapel is, I believe, the only church of Ian Paisley’s fanatically protestant Free Presbyterians in England. There’s also an article on ianpaisley.org in which the Rev talks about the Romanist conspiracy and describes the Lewes bonfires as a “vital reminder”.

So this probably won’t be of much use to readers of the world wide web who might come across this post, unless you happen to live in Lewes, Brighton or Hove. Hence a new Lewes category.

If you do, this widget gets real time bus departures from the council transport site for any stop you nominate, much as the Tubetrack Dashboard Widget can do for National Rail stations.

And for Lewes citizens, this brings us real time information that we could never even have at the bus stops, as they don’t have indicators here… Nice one, Quentin North!