Recreation Ground
As you will have seen if you have visited the Children’s play area recently, the vandalised slide has been replaced. The new slide faces the opposite way to its predecessor so that the sun does not make the metal slide surface too hot. Over the next few months there should be more
changes taking place in the play area. The developers of The Recreation Ground Committee will be working closely with B&NES to ensure that the best value for money is obtained and all safety factors are covered. As the Committee consists, on the whole, of ‘senior members’ of the community it was decided to form a sub-committee with parent representatives from High Littleton School and Bo-Peep Pre-School to decide upon the equipment to be installed. It is hoped that the choices made will prove popular and appropriate. One item of equipment considered, impressed the sub-committee when it was viewed in action in a supervised area. Unfortunately, further investigation showed that it would cost around £16,000 to install and that there had been several injuries resulting from its use – and this in a supervised area (which the Rec. isn’t). So that has gone from the “wish list”. So far it has been agreed that all safety surfaces will be replaced. Existing equipment will be freshened up and we hope our customers have noticed that the swings and climbing frame have already had a coat of paint. We hope that this exercise will result in a play area of a high standard, as is fitting for the children of our Parish.
The Mendip Wind Turbine
A new feature, a wind turbine, has appeared on our southern skyline! It is located at Shooters Bottom Farm between here and Wells. It is one of 2032 turbines in the UK which together generate 2545 megawatts of electricity capable of supplying 1.4 million homes. This one is rated at 2 megawatts and is capable of supplying 1118 homes from Mendip wind energy. Putting this into perspective, this turbine is capable of supplying about 1000 electric kettles rated at 2 kilowatts, all switched on at once. Surprisingly, we hear more about wind turbines than we do about biomass, which includes the use of methane gas generated by land fill sites (rubbish dumps) to drive electricity generating equipment. Currently more electricity is generated from this source of energy than wind. However there is a down-side; the gas engines that drive the generators produce some carbon dioxide gas, but using methane gas in this way prevents it from escaping and contributing to global warming. Wind power is a very clean form of energy; the only consequence of its use is that down-wind of the turbine’s blades the wind slows down, having had the energy taken out of it. By 2010 wind capacity is expected to be 5% and by 2020 the chief aim is to produce 20% of our electricity from renewable sources. Currently 35% of our electricity comes from gas, 35% from coal, 18% from nuclear and 10% from renewable. Some European countries already generate as much as 20% of their electricity from wind power. Anyone who has driven across the north German plain recently will be astonished by the number of wind turbines. Between the Polish border and Leipzig there is nothing but wind turbines as far as you can see in all directions! History of Local Mining
Greyfield, Mearns, the Batch; the names are there but the physical evidence of the heritage they represent is all but gone. It is easy to forget that, from the mid 17th century to the early 20th century, High Littleton and Hallatrow’s economic and social life was dominated by coal, and our villages were just one small part of a mosaic of settlements, roads, tramways and canals which focused on coal and its transportation. Coal mining in this part of the Somerset Coalfield had always been challenging due to the underlying complex geology, with coal seams running obliquely to the surface. Seams were narrow and the coal was of varying quality. William Smith (the “Father of British Geology”) lived in High Littleton from 1792 to 1795. He recognised that the dip of the coal strata followed a predictable pattern and, using fossils, he identified where the coal would lie. The first deep mine was Mearns Coalworks, which started in 1783; with the growth of mining the population of High Littleton more than doubled between 1760 and 1800. The last pit in High Littleton closed in 1832, but this year also saw the birth of Greyfield Colliery (originally known as Clutton New Coal Works); it became the local pit for High Littleton miners. For the rest of the 19th century coal mining was the main occupation in the parish, High Littleton being a dormitory village for active pits in Timsbury, Paulton, Farrington Gurney and Clutton, all within easy walking distance. In turn, this gave us our rich variety of public footpaths through the parish today. And venture into the Cam Valley to discover the Camerton branch of the former Bristol and Northeast Railway, opened in 1882 primarily for the transport of coal and other goods. This line closed in 1932, and nature took over the track. Today all that is left to signify our historical debt to coal is the route itself, the iron railway lines that were used as straining posts and the remnants of the halt at Goosard Bridge. There is more information available on the High Littleton website, with a valuable link to the High Littleton and Hallatrow History and parish Records website of the late Michael Browning. Zero Waste Challenge Week
See how little you can throw away during the week Monday 29th September to Sunday 5th October. You don’t have to reach zero, but B&NES would like you to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost as much waste as you can. Call Council Connect on 01225 394041 or councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk and you will be sent a free pack of information and ideas, a record form for the week and the chance to win £50 in a prize draw. Distributing the NewsletterWhen the council decided five years ago to publish a newsletter it was agreed that it should be delivered to every household in the parish. This was to be achieved by means of a distribution network, based on the post code system, whereby no single distributor delivers more than about 10 newsletters. It didn’t altogether work out this way and some distributors deliver considerably more, but this was the aim as it is easier to find volunteers for small tasks. From time to time, due to changes in personal circumstances, we lose the services of distributors and at present we need help for the following post codes:- Hallatrow BS39 6EG 10 households in Paulton Road Hallatrow BS39 6EQ 5 households in Paulton Road High Littleton Help in any area will be welcome The newsletter is published 3 or 4 times a year. If
you are willing to help with this task of keeping the parish informed of
the council’s activities your assistance will be very welcome Please
contact The editor takes this opportunity to thank those who currently help, or have helped in the past, with this service to the community. The
Council: Paul Wyatt
(Chairman), 470743; Bob Hitchens (Vice Chairman, Newsletter Editor),
453496; Dr. Ian Hale,
472913; Keith Marshall,
453526; Clerk:
Pauline Young, c/o Waterside Farm, Short
articles by local bodies may be submitted to the editor. The Council
retains full discretion to decline publication or to edit.
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