Category Archives: Clubs/Groups

SHARE AGM – save the date


This year’s SHARE AGM event will be held at South Hill Parish Hall from 7.30pm on Thursday 22nd  September 2022

This is our plan for the evening:

a.     Information Event, open to all.  SHARE will be publicising what we’ve been able to do since the last AGM, the status of our ongoing plans and projects, and many of the items that fall under the agenda item “Annual Report”. This will be an informal chat and question event held in the Hall. We’ll be planning to cover: wood projects, hydro, recycling, energy, carbon footprinting and wider “green” issues. The displays and discussions will be manned from 7:30pm.

b.     The formal part of the AGM (i.e. that bit we are legally obliged to do) will start at 8:30 in the Main Hall, taking advantage of the new display that the Hall Committee have installed. There we will conduct the formal finance business, table the legally required motions and elect the Directors for the next year. Only full Members are allowed a vote.

This year there is a vacancy for a new Finance Director, as Graham Beven is standing down. His has been an invaluable contribution into the success of SHARE, its projects and its stability. We collectively thank Graham for his help and support, and the guidance he has given us.

We hope that this event will make it easy for everyone to voice their opinions and express their aspirations for SHARE, without the rather formal setting of a big Hall meeting. Non-members are welcome to come and see what we’re all about, and maybe join.

Please come along and bring us your hopes, criticisms and aspirations to prepare SHARE for the next year.

SHARE PV Annual Reports


SHARE has published its annual reports on our two solar PV installations in South Hill Parish.

The domestic scale (4kW) system on the roof of the Parish Hall has been in place for 7 years. It is supported by a battery, and works well in conjunction with the Hall’s ground source heat pump. SHARE and the Parish Hall share the Feed In Tariff income between us. Read the report here…

The larger 40kW system, at Church Park South Hill, has been in place for 6 years, providing electricity for the house and business at Church Park and exporting the balance to the grid. The system is financed by investments from SHARE members, and SHARE receives income from the Feed In Tariff and from sales of electricity to Church Park. Read the report here…

SHARE Update May 2022


South Hill Jubilee Orchard

On April 24th, volunteers were invited to help plant a sapling hedge alongside the new parish Orchard.  Altogether, 15 people turned up to help for varying amounts of time, and we were able to plant more than 420 trees in just over 4 hours.  Species included Rowan, Elder, Dog Rose, Crab Apple, Blackthorn and Hazel.  Refreshments were provided and, after a damp start, the weather was kind to us.

On April 24th, volunteers were invited to help plant a sapling hedge alongside the new parish Orchard. Altogether, 15 people turned up to help for varying amounts of time, and we were able to plant more than 420 trees in just over 4 hours. Species included Rowan, Elder, Dog Rose, Crab Apple, Blackthorn and Hazel. Refreshments were provided and, after a damp start, the weather was kind to us.

The new hedgerow will form a boundary between the Jubilee Orchard and the new allotments, and a wildlife corridor along the internal boundary of the orchard.

A Grand Opening is planned at the Orchard on June 3rd as part of the South Hill Parish Jubilee Celebrations, with information for the public and entertainments for young and not so young.

Energy Crisis

Recent events have thrown into sharp relief the reasons why SHARE was formed by a group of concerned residents 7 years ago.  Our mission statement, “Powering renewable energy into a secure and sustainable future for all”, set us on a path which saw the installation of 40kW of solar PV panels at Church Park, South Hill.  To date this has generated 22.6MWh, saving 4.81tonnes of CO2 equivalent.  Unfortunately the abolition of the Feed-in Tariff made further similar installations financially unviable.  However, we have high hopes that in the near future it will be possible to have local energy networks, in which power generated locally can benefit local households directly through cheaper tariffs.  Totnes Renewable Energy Society (Tresoc) are on track to deliver this in Totnes, and we are watching with interest.

Meanwhile, what can we as individuals do to reduce our energy usage (to save both money and CO2 emissions)?  A recent post by Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert outlined ‘90 Ways to Survive The Cost of Living Crisis’, which includes many hints and tips for energy saving.  The Consumers Association website, which.co.uk is also a good source of advice e.g. ‘Ease the squeeze: how to save on your energy bills’

The Hydro-power struggle

More recently, regulars will have read about our attempts to measure the generating potential of a small river in the parish.  It seems we’re not the only ones to have our hopes dashed by the regulations and fees imposed by the Environment Agency.  Tresoc have recently had to abandon their hopes for a hydro scheme on the River Dart, a much more promising project than ours, at a location which had historically generated electricity for the Dartington Estate in the 1930s.  You can read about it here…  

To quote Rupert Armstrong Evans of Evans Engineering (Water and Power engineers since 1810), “Decades of environmental legislation designed to protect rivers have inadvertently caught small domestic scale waterpower and watermills in their web and will kill them off in a few years if nothing changes.”  Rupert’s home, Trecarrell Mill, a working mill for around 500 years, was one of the first to feed ‘green electricity’ into the National Grid.  Rupert was upgrading it to produce enough electricity for around 30 homes when the EA imposed new conditions that rendered the project unviable.  Trecarrell is only one of many historic water mills across the UK with the potential to become sources of renewable energy.

Congratulations from SHARE to South Hill Connection 


100 editions of the newsletter – what an achievement! SHARE is proud to be a regular contributor to the Connection since our early days in 2015.  We registered as a Community Benefit Society that year, and together with the Parish Council, installed our first solar PV array on the Parish Hall roof.  This continues to supply power for the Hall and will do so for years to come.

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 →

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!