Author Archives: SAS

Pooh Sticks!


SHARE Hydro Feasibility Update, March 2022

Regular readers will remember earlier articles describing our initial investigations into the potential of water turbines. For the benefit of newer readers, those investigations involved installing a measurement weir structure, however this unfortunately came to a premature end when the Environment Agency took an active interest. Temporary measurement weirs are permitted, however in this instance the EA considered that expensive licences would be needed, and that special provisions would have to be put in place to enable eels and migrating fish to move upstream unhindered.  To our knowledge, eels and migrating fish haven’t been seen in this tributary of the Lynher in living memory, however the possibility that Samantha Salmon might take a wrong turn and find her path obstructed was enough to keep the good folk at the EA awake at night. Also, the required licences were unaffordable, and so the measurement weir had to go. Continue reading →

South Hill Parish news


April 2024 South Hill Connection Newsletter.

In this edition:

  • Happy Easter enjoy the Egg Hunt, Trail & donkey
  • New council kerbside collection starts
  • Council Housing in the parish
  • Comedy Evening at The Parish Hall
  • St. Sampson’s Open Afternoon
  • Internet, which is the best provider?
  • Seasonal car parking ticket
  • All our local Advertisers here
April.News_Download

As well as the on line newsletter we also offer a print copy which can be delivered to you within the parish. We love your feedback and articles email to editor@south-hill  or call Ali on 07305 044049.

You can follow us on our South Hill Parish FACEBOOK Group  Where you can share posts of interest, lost cats and dogs, for sale or wanted items…

THANK YOU, AND ENJOY READING THE NEWSLETTER.

From The Connection Team

Archived newsletters (all of them!)
can be found in our public Google Drive folder – here…

Business advertisers can be found on our Local Business pageSave

SHARE – Spotlight on Recycling


Thank you

First of all, we’d like to thank our Cornwall Councillor Sharon Daw for a recent grant from her “Community Chest” fund.  We’re having hi-visibility vests made, with our logo on the back, for volunteers.  This will help reduce any risk to our regular volunteers collecting recycling (see below) in various locations; also planting trees, and helping with the firewood project.

SHARE Recycling for Charity project

The project continues to grow, thanks to our enthusiastic volunteers that help monitor collection bins, pick up, sort into boxes and send the vast amount of items to Terracycle every month. By saving these otherwise hard to recycle items from being incinerated, we are generating funds for charities.

Continue reading →

Tom Brewer


Tom was married to his beloved wife Ann for 58 years. Ann was the niece of boxer Len Harvey, a national sporting idol. Their son Andrew lives in Tavistock and daughter Elaine still lives locally in Golberdon.

Tom is pictured below assisting Ley Daniel (South Hill Parish Chairman), Fern Friend and Les Hambley, Tom Brewer and one other, with the construction of The South Hill Parish Hall, which was established by an Order of the Secretary of State in 1965.

Fund raising from people of modest means via Whist and Beetle Drives meant that construction took a long time, as shown by the ivy growing on the structure.  Prior to and during this time Parish matters were discussed in the Sunday School of The Chapel in Golberdon. Tom’s unbroken service on The South Hill Parish Council exceeds 50 years and whilst he remembers Golberdon being a very tidy and clean place, with well-kept gardens, hedges and verges in his youth, he accepts that growth and infill of property amongst the original properties was a necessity.

Tom’s unwavering commitment to others is demonstrable in many ways. He gave up smoking his beloved pipe on the spot 16 years ago, when his son asked him not to blow smoke in his grandsons’ face. Years earlier he was part of the fund-raising efforts for the bereaved families of the Aberfan disaster and remembers The White Aces band came all the way from St. Austell to play. In recent years Tom has served by checking the Parish Hall children’s play area every day since its installation. He championed the alteration of the parks metal safety barrier onto the road, so that children leaving the park faced the oncoming traffic rather than away from it. The wildflower area, soon to be installed by The Parish Council was Toms’ idea, as was the bench within it that will benefit from a magnificent view of Caradon Hill.

Renowned and respected for his patience and compassion for both the animals he dispatched and for their often distraught owners, Tom travelled over 1000 miles a week working as a slaughterman. He recalls his first horse to dispatch was a large dray at Courage brewery, so tall in fact that Tom had to climb onto a beer barrel. He served the local hunts and attended the point to points of Spooners, Lamerton, Bolventor, East Cornwall and Tedcott hunts. Tom recalls the BSE (1980 – 1990) and Foot and Mouth (2001) outbreaks as being hugely traumatic for all involved, with millions of animals slaughtered.

Tom prefers to focus instead on the many animals he has saved over the years, one a horse, which survived for a further 6 years, and another, a heifer, for 18 months, following his advice to treat instead.

Tom’s eyes dance with merriment as he recalls the numerous bottles of whiskey bestowed upon him over the 55 years he served the Cornish and Devonian communities. Tom drinks whiskey, and always accepted it graciously. He remembers teaching young ladies, who were studying to become vets at Duchy College, about horse anatomy. Their gratitude was such that they bought him a fabulous statue for his retirement. Toms recalls that his leaving party at Duchy College was attended by over 50 guests, who of course brought him more whiskey. Nowadays Tom enjoys relaxing in his bright, sunny lounge reading the daily paper from PaperPhil. He loves to travel and is an avid fan of coach tours to Scotland. His warm personality draws others to him and his many friends clamour to meet up with him again on a trip at Christmas and next July, and of course Tom has readily agreed.

Looking backwards, looking forwards


The New Year is typically the time when we reflect on the past and then look forward to the coming year in the hope that it will be better.  The desire to have something to hope for that will improve our life is strong. The month of January gets its name from the Roman god Janus who has one face looking back and the others looking forwards. He is the god of gates and transitions.

Often, we can’t move forwards unless we have looked back, retraced our steps and asked some serious reflective questions such as: Is there a pattern in my behaviour and relationships that keeps repeating itself? Is there something I need to acknowledge and take responsibility for? Do I recognise my reactions could have been different? The key is to learn from the past and not just glance at it, so we don’t get stuck in the same old patterns of behaviour. If we do this well, we will grow and develop ways and means of working better with others; as well as being authentic to ourselves.

Continue reading →

SHARE Hydro – update


By now, we had expected to have a live website, updated continuously, showing the potential of the Lansugle stream to provide a small scale generation scheme .

Back in 2020, SHARE volunteers had already completed the metalwork for the measurement weir and reinforced the banks along the short stretch of the stream that suffered flooding in November 2019’s torrent. We completed putting in place a 65mm (2 ½ inch) high weir ready to use the electronics to measure the fall over it. We’d checked in the Environment Agency’s guidance that a measurement weir didn’t need any additional permission. But for reasons unknown to us the Environment Agency took an interest in our work, and sent a fisheries expert to take a close look, and we were then advised that changing the flow from turbulent to smooth along the weir structure (just three feet long) would contravene the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act. It turns out that we would need at least three extra items: a salmon ladder, an eel pass and a supplementary licence, the application fee for which is an additional £1500!

The impact of the Environment Agency intervention was that the metal weir structure had to be removed. This was done quickly and the site completely restored to the state that it has been in for the past 50 years. The purpose of the metal weir was to straighten and smooth the water, resulting in “laminar flow” over a clean edge. This, in conjunction with a water depth measurement system, would have enabled flow over the weir to be very easily calculated, with little manual intervention. It would in fact have been possible to monitor the flow closely over a 12 months period, in a fully automated way. Occasional site visits would have been necessary to ensure that the metal channel and weir remained clear of obstructions such as branches and other debris.

But we’re determined to complete what we originally set out to do; it’s just that we had to find a method that meets these additional regulations. We still want to characterise the catchment area and stream flow, throughout the year – even on a weekly basis. We also want to be able to assess the power generation potential of small streams such as this one, and so put ourselves in a better position to be able to subjectively judge alternative potential power generation sites. Consequently, we have purchased a small water turbine flow meter and started to measure flow with this equipment on a regular basis. The site has concrete piers that were used in the distant past to provide the greater head of water needed to drive a water pump. These piers provide an area that constrains the flow and makes it relatively easy to carry out a matrix of flow speed measurements. Although it is still early days, we are gathering some interesting results.

We have already seen that flow can vary widely in a short space of time. In the dry weeks of November, the flow would only have been sufficient to generate around 1kW of electricity. In early December, following heavy rain, 6kW electricity generation would have been possible. 6kW round the clock, entirely independent of wind or sunshine would be a very valuable local generation capacity – equivalent to the average energy used to power around 15 homes.

Green Tips for Black Friday (and beyond)


The recent COP26 event in Glasgow has got everybody thinking about how to be “more green”.  While it’s clear that governments around the world need to take action, they aren’t the only ones.  So what can we as individuals do in the meantime? There are heaps of advice and information “out there”, but as my mother used to say, “Enough is as good as a feast”, so here in a nutshell are a few ideas:

Black Friday – not all it’s cracked up to be

(excerpts from an article on the Consumers Association Which? website, Make Black Friday green: Five ways to shop small and buy better

Many winter bargains aren’t as attractive as they first seem.  So is it worth forgoing the shopping frenzy and seeking out smaller, independent shops and more sustainable shopping instead?

Since it caught on in the UK around a decade ago, our enthusiasm for Black Friday has grown exponentially. According to Statista, shoppers spent £7.95 billion over the 2020 Black Friday weekend.

Offers now appear weeks in advance, and many continue well into December.

But not only can the deals sometimes be duds, the November shopping rush can also add to your environmental impact.

If the rush for bargains is leaving you cold, here are our tips to ensure you don’t end up regretting a purchase, plus some alternative ways to shop.

  • Do your research before buying
  • Only buy what you need
  • Spend your money where it makes a difference
  • Buy nothing on Buy Nothing Day, 26 November 2021

The UK Buy Nothing Day campaign began in 2000, with a simple message: Shop less, live more.

You can participate in Buy Nothing Day by literally doing nothing at all. It’s a 24-hour detox from consumerism, and it’s free.

So if you’re determined to avoid over-consumerism and save money this Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day could be the answer.

Read the full article here…

Also, explore the Which? Website for ways to save money while reducing your carbon footprint, and look out for this logo in their many product reviews.

Do you really need a new computer?

With the introduction of Windows 11 coming up shortly, many people will feel they are forced into buying a new laptop or desktop computer. But your old computer may be capable of upgrading – you can find out how to check here…

Machines that can’t upgrade will still be perfectly capable of doing everyday tasks such as browsing the internet, word processing, and playing videos. Before you go out to buy a new machine, have a look at what your requirements are.  Sometimes it may just be a matter of upgrading a component (e.g. a new stick of RAM) instead of buying a whole new machine. If you do need a new machine, then consider donating your old one to someone in need https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5SqHJMTKZx5sYhlltXJvB1Q/give-a-laptop

Cold Snap – Energy Efficiency

The temperature has dropped by about 10°C in the past few days!  If your house is anything like mine (1980s bungalow!), you’re really feeling the difference, but what can we do about it? Make a note to do some research before taking radical action, but there could be some easy solutions.   Have a look at our SHARE booklet “A Guide to Saving Energy In The Home” for inspiration.

Guide to Saving Energy

South Hill Carbon Footprint

SHARE is revising their carbon footprint analysis from October 2019, and will share the detail in the new year.  Households in South Hill are relatively well-off, with an average carbon footprint roughly twice that of the UK average. So far it is clear that as a parish our main carbon emissions come from heating (mainly oil), groceries and travel.

Heating Is your precious warmth leaking out through windows and doors? Close curtains and doors to keep the heat inside. Turn your thermostat down by 1°C. Can you feel the difference? If so, are you wearing a sweater? If not, go get one! Seriously though, most people wouldn’t notice the one degree difference, and it can result in huge savings, of cash and carbon.

Is your house properly insulated?  It can be difficult and expensive (though not impossible) to retrofit an older property with external or internal insulation, but there are some simpler solutions (e.g. thick curtains, draught excluders, insulation of roof spaces). When the time comes to replace that old fashioned oil boiler, be prepared to consider the greener alternatives.  If your house is well insulated, a ground source or air source heat pump could be the answer, ideally powered by renewable energy (e.g. solar panels). There are currently incentives available from the government, such as Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and the government’s recently announced heat pump grant scheme.

Groceries Buy your food locally to reduce the amount of food miles, and buy seasonal.  Think rich soups and warming casseroles!  There are many local suppliers that you can buy directly from, for example our advertiser Callington Fresh Produce, or Dupath Farm Shop,  Applejack Barn and Tamar Valley Food Hub.  Meat farmed locally has a much lower carbon footprint than imported meat, so check out for example our advertiser Phil Cole (Coombe Bridge, South Hill), or Chris Rounsevell or Tamar Valley Meats.

Travel Can you reduce your mileage by car sharing, or using public transport?  If it is local, walk or cycle instead of using your car. Consider working from home if you can. Even just working from home for one day a week can make a big change to your annual mileage.  Consider taking a staycation instead of a faraway holiday.

Don’t forget:

TOY SWAP SHOP   19th December, 10.30-14.00 at the Parish Hall, Golberdon.  Find a new home for your pre loved items and swap for something different.   Contact Ali 07305 044049 or email SHARE@south-hill.co.uk   

Full details here…

And finally…
Watch the Eden Project’s call to action for all Earthlings – from world leaders to individual citizens – to come together to create a better future for the planet.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at SHARE!