NATIONAL Trust bosses have revealed they hope to repeat and extend a pilot festival held at a historic Bretforton pub aimed at inspiring discussion about climate change.
The 17th century Fleece Inn, which is owned by the Trust, was renamed the Green Man during Great Big Green Week and hosted a wide range of events, from panel sessions, to raucous comedy and a Saturday fete with Pebworth Morris Dancers and Bretforton Silver Band.
Speakers included DIY SOS regular Charlie Luxton and Ash Smith, co-founder of influential rivers campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.
Pub regulars mixed with sustainability advocates and there was discussion of practical ways to be climate-friendly, such as payments for exporting power to the grid and using Repair Cafes rather than throwing tools or devices away.
Cheryl Martin, who lives in Bretforton and has taken many steps to improve energy efficiency in her home, told fellow audience members to ‘have some courage – see what can be done’ with green measures.
National Trust expert Imogen Wood and Cotswolds-based sustainability consultant Matt Fulford described the growing number of Grade I listed buildings, like Gloucester Cathedral, with solar panels.
Tom Appleby’s dairy farm in Bretforton is powered by a 150KW solar array, and he wants to install a solar battery next.
“We’re always trying to increase our efficiency not just because it’s good for the planet, but because it’s good for our bottom line,” he says – with a strategy that includes breeding cows that expel less methane,” he said.
Toqueer Quyyam from Birmingham, who campaigns with Friends of the Earth and interfaith organisation Footsteps and blogs at Toqueer Green experience enjoyed his first ever visit to the Evesham area. “Everyone was fantastic and friendly. This is the way to open up the climate justice space,” he said.
Next year, as well as a return to the Fleece Inn, the Trust is looking to take the climate festival to different settings such as an inner-city pub in the Midlands.
