Carlisle & District

Environment

This Autumn we will meet online on Thursday September 3rd to decide which areas we will use as a theme for this year. Although we have a general topic there is always room to discuss any news items that come up during the month!

If anyone wishes to join the group you would be very welcome. We are happy for you to come for a few taster sessions to see how things go.

What we do:

Since we started in 2009 the group have been keen to try to understand some of the complexity surrounding the environment we live in so we tackle current aspects that interest us.

We have covered a number of areas such as:

• water (eg water management problems and solutions in the Lakes)
• oceans (problems caused by warming and sea level - ocean transport - pollution)
• energy (eg fracking, nuclear energy, use of renewable sources, and nuclear waste storage)
• climate change (eg what we can do and what the politicians are doing)
• food and farming (global and local issues such as size and ethos of farms and GM)
• waste (we have considered plastics and the problems they cause among other issues)
• flooding (why, when and what can be done to alleviate it?)
• land use (overall and looking at many aspects of Forestry, wilding and uses of wood to improve sustainability)
• transport (how can it be made more sustainable and environmentally friendly?)

We consider problems as well as positive ways to move forwards to improve things sustainably; looking at these issues from a local perspective but include national and international views to see some of the 'bigger picture' where we can.

The group has enjoyed talks by experts and visits as well as sharing ideas among ourselves. Our far-ranging discussions are a great place to air views, ask questions and maybe get them answered. The visits have included trips to Drumburgh, Thacka Beck and Eycott Hill Nature Reserves, Grizedale Forest's restoration scheme for native woodland, Low Lucken's Organic Resource Centre and the National Trust 'Footprint' which is an educational centre built to show how to reduce energy consumption. We have visited Cragside to see the newly installed Archimedian Screw which generates hydro electricity following Lord Armstrong's early ideas on electrical energy and the Blencathra Field Study Centre to see how they are becoming more sustainable. We also visited the more local Linstock Castle Farm Anaerobic digester and RSPB Geltsdale. Our trips in 2019 were guided tours round the amazingly successful Watchtree Nature reserve and the Northumberland National Parks centre at The Sill.