Between bursts of rain and long dark nights we continued our preparations for replanting this month. We slashed and sawed down sycamore regrowth, and towards the end of the month we started some larch and spruce felling during the visitors weekend. When the rain kept us inside, the kitchen and longhouse were improved - the kitchen getting a drainage overhaul, further draughtproofing and some general maintenance, the longhouse a library make over and some additional fireproofing around the burner.

We have finally received our Felling Licence which means that we have agreed with the Forestry Commission to fell the Larch around the settlement area and thin out the Ash, Pine and Spruce in the rest of the wood. We will replant the felled areas with Oak trees. Would anyone like to buy some wood from us…? A for sale page will appear on the website soon.

We were donated a Rayburn Royale, which we hope to put in the kitchen and use to heat water for the bathhouse as well as providing us with roast dinners. Our present Rayburn is a smaller model and is in a fairly knackered state. We haven't tried to get the Royale up the hill yet, it is waiting in the trailer for a final location to be decided and for lots of strong arms to pull it up the hill. The boiler leaks a little, but with the help of a local metalworker we think we have found the problem and can fix it.

The sustainable technology side of things is moving on as well. With our new (second hand) forklift batteries and inverter (this really was new - eek) we now have dangerous levels of voltage in the longhouse - domestic 240 volts as well as our original 12 volts. We will be able to run power tools in both kitchen and workshop with this, once the supply is up and running from our hydro improvements. We are still relying on solar panels at the moment, as our new (eek) Pelton Wheel needs some time in a fully kitted out workshop before it is fully operational . We have opted to build the housing and transmission equipment ourselves. Once running we hope to be getting 30W from the hydro while the streams run,and right now they are certainly running.

A few of us visited the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp in Plymouth this month. The government is planning to overhaul and refit its Trident nuclear submarine fleet at Devonport in Plymouth for the next 8 years, which will mean lots more radioactive waste flowing into the Tamar and more nuclear waste and reactors being stored in the centre of Plymouth, as well as enabling Britain to help the US illegally threaten the rest of the world with weapons of mass destruction (much like Iraq is supposed to be doing). Not to mention the horror if one of the fifty odd missiles was actually used somewhere.
So, anyway, the camp took place over a long weekend, and included non violence workshops, video screenings, lock on practice, a multi faith peace service, leafleting, large planning meetings, lots of sandwiches, a mass blockade of Albert Gate, and plenty of banner making. The highlight of the camp was a citizens' inspection of the submarine currently being refitted at the dock by two of the protesters. For more information visit www.tridentploughshares.org, or the ever informative www.indymedia.org.uk. We also took part in some street theatre in Plymouth based around the problems of rampant modern consumerism as part of the international 'Buy Nothing Day' celebrations. (see www.buynothingday.co.uk or www.adbusters.org for more information. A report also floats on www.indymedia.org.uk".)

Pete and Cheryl honed their tool sharpening skills at a Proper Job workshop run by Eric Hodge. Ten of us packed into the wonderful straw bale barn and learnt about blade angles, oil stones and stropping! Also useful was the news that spiderwebs make decent plasters - pete's billhook proved to be quite sharp enough after a little work (after tool sharpening, one's respect for the sharp tools needs to be sharpened also...).

The month also featured two excellent gigs - we saw the superlative Seize the Day doling out their beautiful protest folk and ballads in Newton St Cyres, and we danced and sang and had a great time. At the close of the month we bounced along to Jiggery Pipery in Lustleigh, and their blend of celtic folk dancing music had its traditional effect on our legs and arms and senses of propriety - a great local band.