Everyone welcome at the second Green Weekend in the Lambourn Valley in East Garston and Eastbury from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 October.
Entry is free to all events except the meal on Saturday evening.
We are collecting the following at all the events over the weekend:
- donations for Ukraine – please only bring requested items from the list on the HUGS Aid to Ukraine website.
- any aluminium (foils, cans, saucepans etc) for recycling by Hungerford Rotary
- unwanted or broken electronics (inc mobiles, hi fis, devices, cables, screens) for refurbishing and recycling by Green Machine Computers near Ramsbury
Friday 13 October
6 to 7pm: Carbon Footprint Workshop, East Garston Village Hall
Do you want to find out more about carbon ‘pollution’, or share your experience of reducing your own carbon footprint? This friendly hands-on session will use the WWF footprint calculator (bring your smart phone if you have one) to estimate our own footprint and discuss how, even without government or industry involvement, most of us have the potential to reduce our footprints by 50% by 2030 in line with IPCC science-based targets.
Followed by an optional ‘pot-luck’ veggie supper – bring a favourite veggie dish to share. The village hall bar will be open and local apple juice and organic wine will also be available.
Saturday 14 October (East Garston Village Hall & Meeting House)
Lots of free events and activities in East Garston Village Hall, RG17 7EX and the Quaker Meeting House opposite. Refreshments available from Priscilla’s Kitchen.
Travel options: Number 4 bus can be taken to East Garston but if you need to drive parking is available in the Millennium Field (what3words: choppers.lifeboats.mime) with access from Newbury Road. Disabled parking is available in the Jubilee Meadow in the middle of the village.
10.30 to 11.30am: Guided Eco-walk around East Garston
Start at the Village Hall, waterproof shoes and appropriate outdoor wear recommended.
- See how our wild-life hedge, planted last November, has coped with visiting muntjac, a dry June and prolonged Thames Water works.
- See for yourself the pros and cons of retro-fitting a 1970s bungalow.
- Find out about a new food growing scheme in the village with the opportunity to have a go at planting or harvesting (depending on the weather). Bring your own tools and gloves.
10.30am to 1pm: Apple-pressing and Seed/Produce/Plant Swap
Bring your eaters, cookers and pears to press into delicious juice to take home. Bring your own clean bottles (glass or plastic). If you use plastic bottles, the juice can be frozen, otherwise it will need to be drunk within three days. A shocking 90% of garden apples in England normally go to waste so thanks to Hungerford Food Community and Sustainable Wantage for this opportunity to press our surplus apples conveniently in the village.
Bring seeds/produce/plants to swap or just make a donation if you don’t have any to swap.
11.30am to 4pm 10 Green Bottles display (local milk round with a sustainable difference)
If you are interested in local produce delivered to your door by sustainable transport and in recyclable packaging pop along to have a chat with Chris from 10 Green Bottles based in Wroughton.
12noon Scything Demonstration
George Dolling from Manor House Farm will demonstrate how to scythe long grass at the Quaker Meeting House Garden.
12noon to 4pm: Repair Café, Bike Repair and Tool Sharpening
Bring your small electrical appliances, clothes and household items for help with repairs (if we are busy we may have to limit to one item per person). Bike repair, tool & blade sharpening also onsite. Last entry 3.30pm.
1pm to 4pm: Home-energy and general eco talks and displays
Topics will include: insulation, home energy, green investments
- register to borrow and learn how to use a thermal imaging camera to find out where the cold is getting into your home and the warmth is getting out
- find out about the choice of insulation
- heat pump information from Peter Dawson, Heat Pump Federation
- benefits of curtains for draught excluding and how to line them
4.15pm Gina Cooke, Citizens Climate Lobby
Gina Cooke lives locally and is the Membership Secretary for Citizens Climate Lobby
5pm: Hungry for Change film screening and autumnal supper
Following on from the BBC Save Our Wild-Isles series earlier this year, we are showing a 30 minute documentary Hungry for Change, a collaboration between WWF, RSPB and National Trust. Hungry for Change reveals the impact of the food system on nature in the UK and explores what actions businesses, employees, and farmers can take to reduce their impact.
The film will be followed by a discussion panel including:
- Rosie Kindersley, Sheepdrove Organic Farm
- Andrew Davis, Farming Journalist
- Adrian Abbs, Environmental Portfolio Holder, West Berkshire Council
- Lucy Handley, Slow Food & Berkshire Trout
Sunday 15 October (Eastbury)
Eastbury Eco Church welcomes you to a full day of talks and activities at St James Church, Church Street, Eastbury.
10.30am to 1pm: Apple pressing and Seed/Produce/Plant Swap
Bring your own cookers, eaters & pears to press into delicious apple juice to take home. Bring your own clean bottles (glass or plastic) if you can. If you use plastic bottles’, the juice can be frozen, otherwise it will need to be drunk within three days. A shocking 90% of garden apples in England normally go to waste so thanks to Hungerford Food Community and Sustainable Wantage for this opportunity to press our surplus apples conveniently in the village. Contact us on details below if you need help harvesting them!
Bring seeds/produce/plants to swap or just make a donation if you don’t have any to swap.
10.30am: Eco display
Full-size electric SUV, race solar-powered Scalextric, browse the toolbox used to sustainably manage and maintain the habitats of our SSSI chalk stream and riverbank. Find out how a heated pew seat, thermal imaging camera and a data logger work and how they help to reduce our carbon footprint.
12noon: Insightful ways to maintain sustainable waterways by Andrew Gorton
Andrew Gorton has looked after Eastbury’s stretch of the River Lambourn for many years and has fascinating tales to share.
Please book your free ticket here, OR just email eastburyecochurch@gmail.com to reserve your free place.
1pm: lunch
Our local pub, The Eastbury Plough, is famed for using locally sourced ingredients, so we recommend you book a table for Sunday lunch, or you are also welcome to bring a picnic lunch to the church.
2pm: Guided Foraging Walk
Learn about the wares of a local foraging family and their traditional recipes. Meet in the Church.
Please book your free place here, OR just email eastburyecochurch@gmail.com to reserve your free place.
3pm: Talk on Richard Jefferies, the first and truest nature conservationist by Dr Mike Pringle, Director, Richard Jefferies Museum
Edward Thomas, whose nature poetry is immortalised in St. James’ Whistler window, wrote of Richard Jefferies that “no other writer leaves us with such a sense of infinite riches as Jeffries’.” Mathew Oats of the National Trust writes of Richard Jefferies that “he allowed Nature to absorb him, so that he became part of her and that it is hardly surprising that his writings inspired our great nature poet, Edward Thomas.”
Please book your free ticket here, OR just email eastburyecochurch@gmail.com to reserve your free place.
Copies of Dr Mike Pringle’s book Richard Jefferies Nature Writer & Champion of “WILD LIFE” will be for sale as well as pots of local honey.
4pm: Afternoon Tea
Enjoy some delicious homemade and seasonal cakes.
For more information
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Any further enquiries please contact Pat Watson and Penny Locke (East Garston Eco Group) on ecoeastgarston@gmail.com or Deborah Phillips (Eastbury Eco Church) on eastburyecochurch@gmail.com