Well the old adage "third time lucky" seems to have worked. Bristol was just awarded the honour of European Green Capital of the Year for 2015. The community and teams in Bristol had put heart and soul in to two previous bids, short listed but coming second each time. Was it worth a third attempt, was it like Eurovision where the politics was stacked against us? Well clearly not. The bid won on merit, and each year Bristol had more to show: it had taken the pragmatic and positive approach that win or lose the energy should not be lost to keep pushing. And while this all took many years to get right, having a new independent and sustainably minded mayor certainly helped: George Ferguson, famed for his trademark red trousers has sworn to wear green if Bristol won ... we shall see.
Bristol is a great city and together with Bath the region is lucky to have two great but contrasting cities: and both an easy drive, or simple bus and train, or bike and train ride away from Cheddar. Hopefully by 2015 the activities will all be in place to celebrate all year with initiatives to inspire people wherever they live in how an urban area can still push at being more sustainable. Meanwhile this week is the third, latest and greatest, Bristol Big Green Week. Lots to see, enjoy or find out with over 100 happenings over 9 days.

We were worried: the long cold spring has meant that everything in the garden was almost a month late, including the blooms and blossom. And when it did come - in a riot of cottage garden colours - where were the bees? We are used to the garden in late May being alive with all sorts of bees: hundreds of them. And not just the lovely but common "honey" bee, but all sorts of different bumblebees, large and small, and solitary bees. The buzz and drone as they meticulously navigate from flower to flower is a powerful reminder that it is the little beasts that do so much work in nature.
But had the late spring done for them? Well we are delighted to say no. After a faltering start, the odd bumble bee here or there, the garden is now pretty much as busy as ever.
Hopefully we all know that the bees, all varieties, are crucial to humans and their food. Without the pollination they accidentally carry out as they feed, many of our foods would fail: including all the lovely fruits. The worrying thing is that the bee is suffering and under attack from loss of habitat and pesticides and herbicides, monocultural crops and more. Almost all of it due to us. So the least we can do (and really this is just enlightened self-interest) is to help where we can. There are lots of good initiatives to grow more bee and butterfly bee friendly plants, and Friends of the Earth have started their Bee Cause campaign. You can find out more from the links below. If you really want to know more then seek out Brigit "Bee" Strawbridge who is a passionate and well informed campaigner for the bumble and solitary bees.

Friends of the Earth - The Bee Cause (and go get a Bee Saver Kit today)
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Brigit Strawbridge's blog

Hot on the heels of Somerset Local Food direct (offering to have fresh produce delivered ready for your arrival see earlier blog) another useful new venture has been started up near Cheddar by passionate foody Alison Finn who has already been running a successful Supper Club in the area. 
Her new businesses "What's Cookin'?" offers home-made food cooked freshly and delivered to the cottage: either for your arrival or during your stay. She just needs a day's notice.
There is a standard and quite extensive menu of mains, starters, sides and snacks, and cakes and desserts. She is though delighted (indeed enthusiastic) to take on board special requests and especially special dietary requirements. She makes her dishes using local produce wherever possible either from her garden or from local organic suppliers. Costs are reasonable and delivery is free (or you can collect). 
So if you fancy a break from cooking, but something a bit different to the usual take-away options this is a great option. Alison can be contacted on 01934 733964 or 0755 2178268 and we'll be adding her leaflet/menu to the cottage information sheets, but ask if you'd like one send on ahead by email.

We love to cycle the Strawberry Line - the reclaimed old railway line that used to connect Wells and the Cheddar Valley villages to the mainline at Yatton and (amongst many things) take fresh strawberries to London markets on specially designed well-sprung wagons. The line closed along with so many others with the 1962 Beeching Act. Then 20 years ago the headmaster of the local comprehensive school (Keith Herring) was shocked when a schoolboy narrowly escaped death in an accident cycling from Axbridge to the Cheddar school along the main road, busy with traffic including school buses and occasional quarry lorries. Looking for a solution he and a small group realised that the old railway track would make an ideal traffic-free cycle route and so worked to get the council to buy it and lease it to them. And so the Strawberry Line track started. Now it extends 10 miles, almost all on the old track, to Yatton and the mainline station (complete with community café). It is adopted by the UK's major cycling charity Sustrans (based in Bristol) and forms part of National Cycle Route 26.

Well, cycle it as we do, we have been taking for granted the trusty volunteers who keep the cycle path in good condition: battling brambles, trimming trees, removing rubbish and whacking the weeds. So as we hosted a gathering of a UK sustainable group here at the house and cottage we decided to spend a busy half-day as a line gang: covering much of the Cheddar-to-Axbridge section. Not such hard work, and the weather was lovely. Very little rubbish at all (how refreshing): mostly nettles, brambles, branches and saplings to trim back. 
We now hope to get more involved over time and maybe make this a more regular event. Onwards and upwards!

Somerset is pretty much synonymous with cider making. Around this area are many small farm scale producers each producing a fairly heady mix (called 'scrumpy' in its rawest form). Of course cider seems to be having a revival, and when anything gets popular all the big industrial businesses try and cash in with bland and not-very sustainable versions, using lots of sublte branding and marketing to push it.
But the traditional are getting overwhelmed and one producers stands out as a big British success , and that is Thatchers Cider. Still family run (for over 100 years) they are based just a few miles from Cheddar, on the North side of the Mendip Hills and indeed if you cycle the Strawberry Line you'll find a section passes through and along the edge of their extensive home orchards (thanks to Thatcher's providing a critical off-road link for the route). They do a great range of ciders, and perry's (from pears and not apples), bottled and draft, and some single varietal ciders from single apple types (and not blends). You can sample of of this if you care to pop by the "cider shop" at Myrtle Farm in Sandford (a minute or two off the Strawberry Line).

Good local product is one thing but the point of this blog is to acknowledge the great sustainable work Thatchers do, most recently resulting in them being awarded the J.D. Weatherspoons CSR award for their care in reducing energy, water and waste in all areas of production. And it gets better as they have recently been working with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to develop the orchards even more thoughtfully to support Bumblebees and solitary bees which are hugely important in pollination (and not just for orchards) and which have been seeing a worrying decline in recent years.
Of course a delightful way to support Thatchers is by sampling one of their ciders: either in the local pubs, or by taking a bottle of two back to Gorge View Cottage to enjoy in the sun.