Potato Lane

This small part of Potato Lane is now a lot cleaner than it was a few days ago. This is the stretch between Peter's Field and the footpath off to the right (between a third and half a mile). The ditches were recently cleared, and a concerned citizen has just been along and removed the visible litter.

We wish Low Carbon Ringmer could claim credit, but we can't. This was done by an individual on their own initiative. This is the sackful they cleared from less than half a mile of ditch. It looks less than it is, and it's really heavy.

I wanted to open the sack out a bit more to give a better impression of what is inside it, but it's too disgusting, so I'll leave it to your imaginations.

It's full of bottles and cans, plastic bags, empty food receptacles and a lot of other stuff. Most of it was recyclable. None of it needed to be left there in the first place.

If you take it there, take it home.

Our citizen cleared the left hand side going away from Ringmer and half the right hand side, and is now exhausted. If anyone else is up for it, the rest of the right hand side could do with tidying. But if you do take up the challenge, make sure to take stout gloves and a big sack.

Vrac tea shop and bar

Vrac has been open in Lewes for a few months but I have only just found it. Their teas are carefully chosen and ethically sourced. It is nicely situated on Lansdowne Place. Their teas (which you can also buy online) are clearly very important to them. To my mind cake is just as important, and I can vouch for the fact that their cannelés, cakes to me and you, are delicious, and the portions small enough for the calories to be wilfully discounted. There is no picture of the cake; I ate it before I could photograph it.

You can find Vrac on Twitter and on Facebook.

Turners farm shop

Turners farm shop has a new man in charge, Andy Dean. Check out the shop at Highfield Farm on the Halland Road. They're open 9 - 1 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

And some lovely meat.

And some other stuff.

We have tested the beer on your behalf. It is excellent.

The Toning Lounge

Low Carbon Ringmer welcomes The Toning Lounge to Ringmer. It is in the precinct where Middleton's used to be.

Here are Tracy, the manager (on the right), and Clare, trying out the machines.

Your intrepid reporter has not yet tried the machines. His excuse was that The Toning Lounge is currently only available for women. But Tracy is keeping a list of interested men and is considering opening mixed or men only sessions if there is a market. So if you're a man, particularly with any kind of physical issue like MS, arthritis, stroke etc - let her know.

Access is via a membership scheme, but everyone can have a free taster session. See their website for contact details. At the moment (7th Jan) the phone is not working, because of BT - nuff said. So drop in there, or email them. 

As I understand it, toning is very gentle exercise, done for you by the machines. You can, if you wish, gradually increase the resistance, and hence the amount of work you do. it is said to be very helpful for people with various muscular and other issues. Definitely worth a try; I feel quite deprived.

Zero heroes: oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.

The Zero Heroes waste minimising campaign is now up and running. £40,000 is available to be shared according to how much waste we save between now and June 2014.

And we have not got off to a very good start.

Here's the map showing Newick in the lead.

















And here is us. We have not only failed to reduce our waste, we've actually put more in.

So it's time to start sorting out our lives, folks, and putting less stuff in the waste bin.

Incinerator

We've been assured all along it's completely safe. But issues emerge about carcinogens escaping.

Norman Baker kicks up a stink about incinerator emissions

One to keep an eye on.

Rush hour in Ringmer