A Walk Around Britain

Using your Loaf

Have you ever noticed how, in the old stories, people throve on a diet of bread and water?

And have you ever met a culture where bread is still a fundamental part of the daily diet?

Bread was once known to be valuable in Britain, too. The very word proves it: bread-winner, your bread-and-butter, etc.

So how do we reconcile these ideas of bread, against its modern incarnation, the plastic bag of thick sliced white?

For bread, it seems, is not what it used to be.

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Under the the Elan Aquaduct

Running from the Elan Valley to Birmingham, there is a waterway wrapped in stone.

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gosh

Ryan Weston. A name that strikes fear into those who watch the Canterbury skies at night. Young women quiver in pale delight, when this monster comes scalloping round the lofty corner.

mr Ryan at ease

Ryan Weston. A pal to us all. When Ed and Will were midst dreadful turmoil this winter, while living in the woods, it was the visit of friends like Ryan who brought the simple smile back to our faces.

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Her on lond, a tale withoute lesinges:

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Thre folk of man wandringe geten livinge,

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Thre menes song singeth of haslewode,

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Hem wend awei – the best of al manne fode.

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Hem slepen al withouten hous or hom

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For liken hem in wildernesse to rom.

How we make electricity

Being a detailed account of our experiences with electricity this winter, and how to build your own simple bike generator.

Food energy pumping directly into a battery.

Living in the woods, there are no convenient plug sockets. It is of course pleasant to live in a house without walls full of piped electricity – but it is also a fundamentally difficult thing. We know we don’t need much electricity to survive – our kettle, oven, hot tap and central heating are all provided by the wood-fire, and our lighting is most candle-powered. But, a little leccy does really make life easier.

Our daily focus, this winter, has been on the more obvious commodities – wood, water, fire and food. But the intangible force of electrics, in trying to document our findings, tell our tales and sell the CD, is still very important. We need power flowing into our two mini laptops, fairly alrmingly regularly. These devices are also used to charge our telephone. They are our main electricity requirement.

Everything else, such as head torches, cameras and voice recorders, are so infrequent to need charging that they can be carried to a local friend’s solar and wind inverter station.

But we wanted to become a self-sufficient group, and so for this electric issue we decided to put our faith in one of the cheaper and more hands-on forms of electricity generation – the bicycle generator.

None of us knew much at all about this sort of thing, but with Rose as our driving force of discovery, we soon found that it was very easy to bodge a machine that will gather (make?) the electricity we need.

To find out more, please read on…

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It has been a naive assumption of mine that when we talk of herbs to heal ourselves on this website, those reading will have some knowledge of what herbalism is and its relevance in health, healing and a closer integration with our natural environment. Thinking about it, this is unrealistic with the voices of pharmaceutical giants resounding loud, and oft drowning the soft whispers that beckon as we pass the humble hedgerow. So here i will attempt to remedy this ommission of ours with an outline of herbal medicine within a modern context,  if thats possible.

St. John's Wort. A great healing herb.

Read on to find out more………

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“If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference. ”

R. Buckminster Fuller

The first Paul Cummings artist lives in London, and makes digital art. He is closely associated with Saatchi.

His single piece of art, “Road Side”, seen below, is shortlisted to win the  £25,000 Threadneedle prize. BBC tell more here.

Road Side by Paul Cummings

The second Paul Cummings artist lives in Wiltshire, and often paints with coffee, toothpaste, and cigarette ash, the only materials available in HMP.

His work, called ‘Lydon’ or ‘We’re So Pretty’ (below) was also in a competition. It was made with chalk pastels, during a period of liberty. and Paul took first prize, to walk away with a cheque for £100. Local papers tell more here.

Lydon by Paul Cummings

SO…the question is NOT which do you prefer, though tell us if you want.

The question is: what puts Paul Cummings the first in position to contend for a prize fund 250 times bigger than Paul Cummings the second?

Two pictures, two artists, one name, and 250 times the money. A very marked difference.

If, like us, you feel a desire to even things out (but unlike us have the means to do so) email us here, and we can arrange contact with Paul 2.

thanks.

Ribwort Plantain and Greater Plantain

Plantago lanceolata and Plantago major

Folk names: Way bread, Lord of the ways, Wodan’s Herb, Slan-lus (plant of healing)

The flower heads of ribwort are used as ammunition by children and adults alike.
A very common wild plant, it likes to grow on compacted soil and is always found around human habitation. It grows abundantly on tracks and by foot paths hence it’s title of “Lord of the Ways” and “Way Bread”.
It is resilient and resistant in its character.

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“These families, who had formed the backbone of the village life in the past, were the depositories of the village traditions, had to seek refuge in the large centres; the process humourously designated by statisticians as ‘the tendency for the rural population toward the large towns’, being really the tendency of water to flow uphill when forced by machinery.”

Thomas Hardy – Tess of the D’Urbervilles