Transition Kentish Town Newsletter September 2019
As September rolls around we’re sharing and celebrating the harvest – and harvesting and celebrating community. And with the Autumn Equinox coming up on Monday 23rd September, it’s all about change too, and gathering and sharing the seeds of future growth. So, scroll down to find out local abundance harvesting, end of summer street parties, local events on the World Car Free Action day on 22nd September, greening up gardening. And, importantly, there’s news of local Climate Crisis Action – from both local communities and groups, and from Camden Council.
Kentish Town Bike Workshop
When: Monday 2nd September 6:30pm - 8:30pm.
Where: Kentish Town Health Centre.
A free monthly drop-in bike maintenance workshop run in collaboration between Camden Cyclists and Transition Kentish Town. Our mechanics will support you to fix your bike. Tea and cake while you wait! It's always the first Monday of the month, except when there's a bank holiday, when it's the second Monday instead.
Apple Picking
 Join our nw5 pickers for some fun events picking unwanted apples off street trees and harvesting windfalls. If you have a tree with unwanted fruit that needs picking, get in touch. The harvested apples will be turned into delicious juice at York Rise street party: see below.
Wednesday 4 September, 6:30pm on Fortress Road. The exact location is on the following map: https://what3words.com/hogs.whips.matter. Please share information on any unpicked apple trees in public locations in the area.
Thursday 5th September, 6:30pm on Roderick Road. The exact location is on the following map: https://what3words.com/walks.hobby.than.
 Saturday 7th September, 11am-4pm. Meet at 11am at Belsize Park tube.
Locations yet to be confirmed but Ali, our NW5 Pickers co-ordinator will scout out a route nearer the time. We’ll be driving (electric car)/cycling around our fruit tree map picking from various spots we know of. Cider in the pub after!
York Rise Street Party - our Annual Neighbourhood Celebration
When: Sunday 8th September, from midday onwards.
Where: York Rise, Dartmouth Park, NW5.
- THREE STAGES OF MUSIC
- STALLS GALORE
- PLENTY OF GRUB AND GROG
- APPLE PRESSING
- CAMDEN CLIMATE ACTION AREA
- PLAY STREET
- PUPPET THEATRE
- STORY TELLING
- ARTS, CRAFTS and WOOD WORKING
- RAFFLE AND AUCTION
- AND MUCH MORE
Transition Kentish Town are taking over half a street and packing it with apple pressing, hop deliveries, straw, scarecrows, and lots of info on inspiring actions we can all take to address the Climate and Ecological emergency in Camden. Do join us. We also need volunteers to come and help set up the area. For more info and to get involved contact debbiebourne21@gmail.com
Transition Live action includes eco fashion, seed saving, renewable energy, rewilding back gardens and local green spaces, kids activities, clean air action and many more stalls all set around straw bales supplied by our very own city farm,. You can even sign up to Transition Kentish Town’s very own local Veg Box scheme – or if you can’t make it to the party – by emailing info@vegbox.org.uk
Apple Juice and community brewed beer!
 At the York Rise Street party, the TKT apple press will be juicing freshly harvested windfall apples, and St Mary’s Brewery, based in a church crypt in NW3 - land of hop and glory! - will be there selling their locally-produced brews.
For those of you who have been growing hops this season there will be a delivery point for our ‘grow your own beer campaign’, where you can also sign up if you’d like to be a Transition Town hop grower in the coming year.
The message from the brewery is:
All hops welcome - please leave your name and email with them. I’ll let everyone know when they are going to be used and all are welcome to visit. We look forward to a Green Hopped IPA by the end of September. Any questions drop me an email. Many thanks. Steve & Roddy.
Email: steve@stmarysbrewery.co.uk
Website: www.stmarysbrewery.co.uk
Get involved in Transition Town Camden
Transition Kentish Town and neighbouring groups in Transition Towns Camden are cracking on with organising events projects and action to bring our community together to create local well-being and a sustainable future on our finite planet. In these Climate Emergency times, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, or to fall prey to the thought: ’Nothing I can do can make a difference.’ Well, we are here to convince you otherwise! Transition Towns - that started in the UK and are now all around the world, including here in Kentish Town and Camden - believe that positive local actions can and DO make a big difference.
So during the Autumn we’ll be holding a Transition Towns Camden ‘Visioning Event’ to plan projects, actions and get-togethers for the coming year, and to consider ways that Transition can best support Climate Emergency Action in Camden, following the Citizen’s Assemblies held over the summer, and the launch of a Camden Climate Emergency Action Plan in early October. It’s about ‘living the change you want to see’ – in our own lives and local communities. The date will be confirmed in our next newsletter – and we do hope you can come along and get involved in helping to agree and organise some great Transition Towns action.
Transition Kentish Town Web of Well Being
Our Web of Well Being around the area continues to grow. We are sure you will all agree that our community garden on Platform 1 is looking glorious - as is The Listening space in the Caversham group practice. And earlier in the summer, the wildflowers and wild habitat areas on Highgate Enclosures in Dartmouth Park once again lifted the spirits of local residents and school students on walks to local shops, bus stops and the schools in Highgate Road.
The next development in our Web of Well Being will be the launch of our Rewilding Camden campaign in partnership with Camden Council. Our aim is to rewild every spare green space in Camden. On Saturday 14/9 2pm-4pm come to the Raglan Street estate gardens (Raglan Street runs between Holmes Road and Anglers Lane, just behind the west side of Kentish Town Road, NW5) to hear about our fantastic plans to rewild the Raglan estate, Growing Raglan: Growing Community. With this inspiring greening up project we will be planting a wildflower meadow, native hedgerow and fruit trees. We will be launching a community crowdfunder later this month. If you would like to find out more or get involved: debbiebourne21@gmail.com.
Climate Emergency Camden
Transition Kentish Town is part of Climate Emergency Camden which has been working with the council as it prepares to declare a Climate Emergency at the full council meeting in October and to set out its climate action plan. Stephen Evans and Dee Searle made presentations on behalf of CEC. The 17 recommendations can be seen on Camden Council's website.
As well as attending and participating in the Assembly itself back in July, CEC has been holding a series of discussions with the Council on the next steps. In addition to advocating for continued strong engagement from the community, and from groups such as Transition Towns Camden, as the plans are developed, we have been thinking about how we can work to raise more awareness in the community about the climate emergency and what we can all do to respond. We are hoping to roll out a CEC ‘road show’ in the autumn - let us know if you have ideas about schools or community groups who would like to have a discussion.
On Monday 16th September, CEC will be holding an open discussion upstairs at the Pineapple, Leverton Street, NW5 2NX, 7.00 -9.00pm. Please come along if you want to find out more about what CEC is doing and/or have ideas and thoughts to share.
Street Level Action for more sociable, friendly and sustainable communities
What if you reached out to your neighbours and suggested you all get together to green up your street, whether by planting up tree pits, or lobbying the council to turn unwanted parking bays into pop up parks – and quite literally ‘put the park back into parking!’.
This is exactly what Jo did recently in Leighton Rd. She has had a really enthusiastic response from neighbours she did not know, and an immediate result is that the council have agreed to close the road for a community event at lunchtime on Sunday 22nd September. The event will be part of World Car Free Day and is designed as an opportunity to reimagine our streets as public spaces for people rather than just cars. We are hoping to have a pot luck lunch, games for the kids and a discussion about how we can work with Camden to transform some of the space currently given over to parking cars into community planting areas. Kentish Town Transition will be there with our apple press, teaching kids how to make their own NW5 apple juice! The event is being supported by the Council, which is liaising with TFL to divert the buses, and we hope will also be attended by some members of the Camden Climate Citizens’ Assembly, which recommended more car free days and greening the borough. If you are thinking of doing something similar, do let Jo know, she would be keen to swap ideas: joannamacrae@me.com.
London Wide Car Free Action Day
When: Sunday 22nd September
In the biggest London car free day yet, Camden is calling on residents to make the pledge to turn their street into a play street for this year's Car Free Day – for a taste of what life could be like if we put community and our children’s rights to grow in a safe and healthy environment first. Sunday 22 September will be London's biggest ever Car Free Day and each play street will be part of a worldwide event and one of at least 200 play street events across the capital on this car free action day.
‘I Love Lissenden’ Annual Street Party
When: 22nd September, 12 noon – 5pm.
Also on the 22nd September, and up the road in Dartmouth Park, the Lissenden Gardens community will be closing its street to cars for what’s becoming an annual end of summer celebration. Events include a shared community lunch, street sports and play street games, a ‘Not So Serious Dog Show’ and dangling donut eating competition, Lissenden Bake Off and community exhibitions and stalls. Plus, this year, a Climate Crisis Challenge Event organised by students at neighbouring secondary schools in Highgate Road and local families at Gospel Oak school. Live music, DJ and a ‘battle of the bands’ from local school student bands.
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