Hidden in a small village in Marysville Victoria, southeastern Australia, is a magical world where the sculptor Bruno Torfs has 25 years contributing his work to combine the beauty of art with the beauty of nature around him. Born in South America, at age 15 his family moved to Europe in search of new opportunities.With frequent trips, sometimes alone and sometimes with his wife Marleen, to form the artist’s personality, which is reflected in the form of paintings and sculptures . After years of living like this, Bruno and his family decide to go to Australia to create a garden with sculptures that immediately became a permanent attraction. After finding the ideal site in the small village, it took a further five months preparing the park for opening to the public. Bruno began with just 15 sculptures and today you can find over 150 and he continues to add some from time to time. He has gone to live there with his family in the area of rainforest that he bought to live happily with their creations. Looks very Worthwhile.

Carmichael's Declared Open!

Local shop owner Wasim and his family have invested time and money to ensure the people of Coldstream continue to receive value for money and have a local shop with better facilities.

Carmichael’s closed it’s doors on the 11th of February for 10 days whilst a major refurbishment of the premises took place.

Although the shop opened its doors on Monday 22nd, it was officially opened by local MSP John Lamont (who kindly provided the photographs) with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday 24th Feb.

The opening was attended by local patrons of the shop who were greeted with a buffet and a glass of wine (or 2) to celebrate the fantastic achievement.

Even shoppers who called in to shop during the ceremony were greeted by Wasim, and being a true salesman, he guided them to the buffet or offered them a tray of food or a drink during their visit. He did slip out on occasion though, but only to take plates of food to owners of other local shops who couldn’t attend.

John & Naureen

The conversation was primarily about the new shop, and everyone agreed that the transformation to the Carmichael’s they had known for so long, had not only made the premises look bigger, but the shelving made it easier to reach the products.

However, the conversation was dominated by expressions of how pleasant, hardworking and friendly Wasim, his family and all the staff are.

I wholly agree with this and would also add, what a fantastic chef Naureen is! and live in hope that her meals will soon be seen on the shelves in Carmichael’s.

Many commented on the new chillers, that accommodated a range of soft drinks, beers and wines and all were very happy to see the change to the old shop.

Wasim & Naureen with John Lamont

Wasim and Family moved to Coldstream from Glasgow less than 6 months ago, and have quickly earned a place in the hearts of many Coldstreamers and forged solid friendships. This blog follows on from a previous blog that highlighted the importance of local business during the time Coldstream was cut off by the snow, when the larger corporations like Co-op failed to obtain supplies of milk, fresh bread, fresh fruit & veg and fresh meat, it was the local businesses that came through for us.

I would also like to congratulate G.J Sanderson our local butcher on winning top awards for their Haggis & Black Pudding Pie and their Steak Pie. Out of 83 contestants, our butchers won joint first. Starting off with 100 points they lost only two points, resulting in 98 points for their product.

And this also highlights the commitment our local business’ have to our continued custom. Carmichael’s has not only undergone an expensive refurbishment but a change of supplier to ensure that prices maintain to be competitive and affordable. Our butcher has gone to great expense to ensure their product is proven to be at the top of it’s class.

Our small local businesses do a great deal behind the scenes to attract our attention and favour our custom, I for one have noticed and I am applauding their loyalty to me, a local.

Sean

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Jacques Brel-Ne me quitte pas

Forth Radio Edinburgh 

Graham Bell

Graham Bell talks to Radio forth about the positive aspects of the Royal High School, hotel development:

“Talking about the Royal High School Edinburgh“.

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In this interview Grahm Bell talks to Liz Gorrie about Edinburgh and the welcome development of the Royal High School.

Good Morning Scotland

Graham Bell

Hear this interview with Graham Bell and John McCormick, Chair of the Scottish Association for Public Transport:

“Discussing the proposed plans for Highspeed rail to Scotland“.

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In this interview Graham Bell and Dr John McCormick discuss the benefits of High Speed Rail in the light of recent reports that the Conservatives have only suggested extending the line as far as Leeds. In reality Labour look set to commit only as far as Birmingham. It is imperative we agitate for Scotland to be included from the outset! Al the indications are that the best wins come from Manchester to Edinburgh Glasgow (or indeed the other way round!). If you haven’t done so yet go to http://www.hs2s.co.uk and vote in favour!

Good Morning Scotland

Graham Bell

Hear this light hearted interview with Graham Bell and Scots Comedienne Janey Godley:

“Talking about National “Sicky” Day“.

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In this interview Grahm Bell and Janey Godley laugh about the variety of excuses employers receive when someone has a sick day.

Graham relates the “Monday Syndrome” and the slightly more serious nature of recession, seasons, and stress as root causes.

Due to the time constraints of live radio the interview was shorter than allocated and Graham didn’t get to talk about “Samaritan StressDown Friday”, a time to destress and look forward to the weekend.

We were asked to comment by the Scotsman newspaper on Glasgow’s proposals for a Sustainability plan.  Our response was that whilst everyone would appreciate ‘the dear green place’ being greener, no-one would appreciate it being dearer.  Why was that?

Scotman Article Jan 28^th 2010

The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotland’s second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow. There had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. Between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of burgh from King William I of Scotland, allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives to this day as the Glasgow Fair.

Glasgow, originally called Glas Cau since 6^th century from the brythonic language of 4^th century Brython, can take it’s translation directly from today’s spoken Welsh. Glas which means  Green  and Cau that means Close, Enclosure or Hollow. As Cau is an adjective in this instance the translation today means Green Hollow.

 The brythonic language survives today, predominantly being spoken in Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Patagonia. Cumbric, which was once a brythonic dialect, and believed to be the source of the name Glas cau, is now extinct from use by Albions throughout Pritani.

With the later settlement of Gaelic in the region, the original name of Glasgow (Glas cau) was changed to Glaschu.

Mackay (2000) has a more romantic version of this translation, believing it should be “interpreted” as “dear, green place”.

But whichever translation one chooses, there can be no doubt that Glasgow has always been associated with being Green.

This image of Glasgow’s roots, has come under scrutiny from  the University of Strathclyde. Mr Richard Bellingham, a Senior Research Fellow at theUniversity and Manager for Sustainable Glasgow has published findings showing that throughout the whole of Scotland, Glasgow with it’s 8% energy consumption, no longer lives up to it’s historic impression.

With Glasgows current needs in terms of earthly consumption, Mr Bellingham has offered a means of reformation of what he terms, radical ideas to ensure a sustainable Glasgow.

Mr Bellingham proposes that Glasgow should introduce and implement the following:-

The tram network. A tramway existed In Glasgow but was demolished. The new network will accommodate mixed passenger and freight use, in pedestrian areas – such as between Queen Street and Central stations at a cost of £90 million.  OK so we think Edinburgh tram is a difficult build?  Imagine how this will wreck Glasgow!  Not an easy solution.  Is this the case for Edinburgh has one, so we (Glasgow) must have one?

Congestion charges: Originally a military method on the road into the city to determine “friend or foe”, for those entering the city. The road was then given a gate and called a “Turnpike”. The “turnpike” was later adopted by government of the time to impose a “Toll” on those entering the city. This scheme has been used in London and found to not only reduce traffic but has benefitted the life of London’s inhabitants according to a BBC report.   So why would we want to disadvantage the City of Glasgow by making it more expensive than anywhere else? The result would be discriminatory.  Businesses would move beyond the periphery to avoid the charge, and a vacuum would be created instead of the much needed inner city development.  Also Glasgow has the highest rate of deprivation of any Scottish City.  So why would you want to encumber your poor further than they already are.

That’s why Edinburgh rejected these proposals 3:1 in the highest turnout seen in any election in living memory.

Of course there are health benefits.  Apart from increasing poverty!

BBC News – Congestion charge boosts health

The plan also suggests charges for the entry of commercial vehicles to the City.  Every product we need and use, and many services too have been delivered to us by road.  Accelerate the cost of delivery and you make products and services more expensive.  And your city more uncompetitive. Who’d vote for that?  With one of the highest deprivation rates in the UK the poor of Glasgow especially don’t need this.

Lower energy tariffs. This appears to be a two edged sword, as people are to be expected to embrace sustainable, renewable, green energy sources but will be penalised for its use. Therefore the use of electric vehicles and a family household will expect to pay a higher rate for their electricity usage than a single person with no vehicle. What an electricity bill does currently, is provides a non discriminatory method of paying for what is used. There is no mention of Dynamic tariffs for low energy usage or off peak usage.  Sigh – get real!

Electric vehicles. There are a wide array of benefits offered for using electric vehicles. Battery powered vehicles are still some way behind hybrids in terms of practicality and range. The Toyota Prius has a range of 10 – 20 miles on full battery power. However if the vehicle is used in Hybrid mode, or another vehicle such as the Honda FCX Clarity, that also uses a Hydrogen cell to create energy for the battery, the range and practical aspects are improved. And with only H2O emitted this also means zero emissions.

Also with Scotland being a pioneer in hydrogen technology, Hybrid useage also ensures a sustainable Scotland, in terms of employment.

Scotland’s own Ross Gazey (as seen on BBC Coast) may offer some insight into this aspect as the PURE developer of modern hydrogen powered vehicles which are capable of travelling around the Shetlands at 45mph and are the size of a small city vehicle today.

Great ideas but a ways to go yet guys!

Hydrogen Association

Telegraph – Shetlands’ Hydrogen Pioneers

Benefit & Barrier of Development of Renewable / Hydogen Systems

But with electric hook ups being provided for the electric vehicles in car parks, will the reduced congestion charge and lower parking fees offset the cost of recharging the vehicle in the city? The question of cost for vehicle recharging has not been clarified.

Wind Turbines and Water Power.  The opposition to the wind turbines in terms of public acceptance as a method of producing renewable energy, is not rooted in the public’s denial that the energy production is green. The opposition simply stems from the landscape intrusion in which this technology is currently being implemented.

Currently it requires a massive wind farm to produce enough electricity for this method to be viable. The man made Tin Forests that are erected as a result, generate opposition to this method of green renewable energy production.

BBC Scotland reported last week that the rejection by Berwick upon Tweed for three proposed Tin Forests has been upheld following an enquiry after plans were first rejected. To quote the Tin Foresters “We’ll have to go away and learn from our mistakes“.

The simple reason was that it was ugly, and a blot on the horizon. No amount of education will force acceptance to something that can only be perceived to impact on the aesthetic of the environment and surrounding areas.

The Glasgow report does suggest that “brownfield” sites will be used for the development of windfarms and that there will are 10 sites chosen around the city. 2 Robroyston South, 1 Queenslie, 1 Springhill, 2 Easterhouse, 1 Cuninger Loop, 1 Clydesbridge,1 Dolmarnock, 1 Polmadie.

No water power sites have been listed to date.  The idea that we might derive electricity from canals is bizarre and no explanation for how this might be achieved is given.  Tidal power in the Clyde is a possibility, but here the shallow waters are an obstacle.

A minimum energy efficiency in homes: This would also cover the phasing out of coal and oil for heating. Loans will be provided and repaid through council tax to enable improved energy systems for homes.  Such as making use of the proposed Biogas creation through recycling city sewerage.  

Coal remains a massive resource and our withdrawal under the Thatcher regime is in hindsight missing the potential for energy supply to ensure energy security across many years.  The trick is to control emissions and we have the technology to do this available and in development.

Changes to current law designed to protect privacy: Privacy laws prevent sensitive information about us being published. The proposed scheme offers to change the law, in order to publish an individual’s energy use, as it is not currently legal to do so. On the surface this could be interpreted as a finger pointing exercise designed to shame an individual into compliance.

 This is a rocky road to go. Once you open that door where do you stop. Diet, habit, sexual preferences? What else do you want publicised about you and your neighbours.  I’d say – nothing!

Urban development of vacant ground.

 To provide woodland areas throughout the city, increased cycle paths and to work with local communities, business and schools to champion the improvements, may be a worthy ambition. 

Green lungs for a city are hugely beneficial.  There may be resistance to committing unused land in this way, but why not.  You can always cut the trees down again if the land is needed for other purposes.  

Overall

Whilst the ideas are radical in terms of applying them to one city, there is nothing radical about them individually.  The ‘plan’ also lacks coherence as it has no explanation of the practicalities of delivery – engineering, financial or legal.

The one vital strand of Sustainable Glasgow that has not been covered is that of the people of Glasgow, and how their will is determined. Also, who will ultimately pay for the development, and how?

The cost is reported to be £1.5bn from private sector funding, Scottish Power being one such investor. However one can see that the cost will be met through penalties being imposed on those who can’t afford to modernise in both terms of finance and reputation.

With this being hailed as a blueprint for all Scottish towns. One might call this venture a guinea pig, some may wish to call it a prototype, but one would hope that this is a platform for learning from our mistakes.

MORAL:

We don’t live in a virtual world, we live in a real one.  If you want someone to tell your story well, employ a professional!

Luckily Coldstream still has local Bakers, a Butcher and a Hardware store. Supplies of bread, milk and meat are still strong in these essential local shops, the milkmen keep delivering to the doorstep, whilst the larger concerns run out.  (Not that I’m crowing about that as a Co-op member!)

More emphasis is starting to gain momentum for supporting the dwindling local shops as they fall to the larger supermarkets. And with extremes of weather comes an even greater need to support and sustain what is finally seen as  important services to a local town,the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.  Luckily he hasn’t been needed yet as the electricity has held out. 

Also useful as our dispersed electronically dependent business model has continued to function through days when the main roads were shut, it went down to -11 centigrade, the buses and trains were cancelled and the world became silent beautiful and potentially deadly.  We’ve all been able to communicate with each other, clients and the media; written parliamentary briefings and lead articles for the papers; arranged broadcast interviews; and researched and promoted policy papers.  Rural based doesn’t mean we’re other than resilient, reliable and ready!

All around local people pull together to keep us all open for business and supplied.  Special thanks to Henry Wallace and the Scottish Borders Council team and to Colin Macgregor (and Richard who dug us out, especially!) at Coldstream Mains for their tireless efforts.

The floods hit Coldstream in the evening but thankfully no major issues were reported.

However there is a crucial sustainability issue that also needs to be considered.

On the Tweed, Ghillies cover the river beats, and speaking to one  Ghillie who covers the Tweed between Coldstream and Cornhill, he was matter-of-fact when it came to the flooding and the inability to fish the river during the floods:  “You just can’t fish!” and this is the recognition of many fishermen during the floods. We know of certainly one Welshman who travelled up for a day’s fishing on the Tweed, only to be greeted by a river that was 1/2 a mile wide in areas.

Needless to say that Fishing day was a “wash out”.

The flooding of Leet Water was high, not the highest, but enough to make cars, buses and people stop to look.

The area in the photos is a natural nursery for the Salmon and Trout:  many parr are seen here. And the Leet Water is usually only 5ft wide,.  But what is of concern to the Ghillies is the affect that this huge volume of water will have on the redds of the Salmon and the impact of it will only become apparent in 3-6 years time. The Tweed generates a lot of business and is one of the few places in Britain that the Atlantic Salmon can be caught reliably.

Morning Extra

Graham Bell

Hear the interview with Graham Bell and Patrick Harvie discussing:

“Should there be a new Fourth Road Bridge“.

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