Self sufficient
Hands up who pulled it off.
posted by Alp at Sunday, May 21, 2006
21 May 2006
About this
Something unusual was happening in SW Wales when I was a child – subcultures, social experiments, naked hippies dancing around maypoles. I'm researching a PhD project into remembrances of things past - how our sense of the past informs our sense of self. This enquiry presumes that the past is not fixed, rather it is partly constructed through a shared or collective consciousness, which is why I’m inviting you now to share your memories of certain events, moments, and ideas. A childhood in Wales gave a lot of us a unique experience and a lot of the ‘hippy’ kids, I think, have a wonderfully insightful way of perceiving and interacting with the world. But we also have a very different past from many of our peers, and some ‘site specific’ hang-ups! There were some amazingly off-the-wall characters around and some pretty weird shit happened. I’d like to know which bits you remember, in words and photos. Some of this stuff might be sensitive, so if you are posting photos or texts or relevant transcripts or notes or poems or songs (you could scan them or send them to me ‘snail-mail’ – I will be very careful) onto this weblog please be aware of that, and do so with an open mind.Previous Posts
- Psylocybin
- Operation Julie
- Nostalgia
- Non-competitive
- NAKED!
- Mud
- Mother earth/back to nature
- Montessori School
- Kahlil Gibran
- Institutions
3 Comments:
fyi
The Roundhouse cost just £3,000 to build
A Lord of the Rings-style grass-roofed roundhouse built by eco-villagers known as "the lost tribe" must be demolished by mid-summer.
Members of Pembrokeshire National Park said the decision on Wednesday was made with a "heavy heart and sympathy" but that no other option was available because the structure contravened planning laws.
The ruling brings to a close a saga which began when an entire community - who had eschewed the trappings of the modern living - was spotted by the pilot of an aircraft flying over the 165-acre site in rural west Wales.
The house was built for Mr Wrench and partner Jane Faith
Among them was former local government official Tony Wrench who built the turf-covered roundhouse - resembling the home of Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings - as a home for himself and partner Jane.
An 18-month temporary planning permission he won for the structure at Brithdir Mawr, in Pembrokeshire, is now coming to an end and planning officials recommended the park authority orders its demolition.
Made up of timbers cut from a nearby sustainable wood along with natural and biodegradable materials, the home generates all its own power.
The village was set up in 1993 by architectural historian Julian Orbach and his wife Emma in the foothills of Mynydd Carningli.
No one - including Pembrokeshire National Park - realised the community existed until it was spotted by a plane doing an aerial survey about four years ago.
When authority officials went to investigate, they discovered a community of about a dozen adults, some with children, living contentedly and quite comfortably off the land.
A hydro unit supplies power to the community
Insisting on their rights to lead an alternative lifestyle, the villagers became known as "the lost tribe".
But the entire settlement had been built without planning permission and after a series of initial demolition orders were dropped, in January 2001 the park insisted Mr Wrench pull down his turf-roofed building because it failed to conform to strict planning regulations.
Following a successful appeal to the Welsh Assembly, he was given an 18-month stay of execution.
Mr Wrench has insisted that the roundhouse is the sort of low impact dwelling that should be encouraged.
"We are not messing about here," he said.
"We are working hard to improve the landscape and the land."
Brithdir Mawr has been included in an assembly review on low-impact development.
Mr Wrench wanted planning permission for a further two years until the assembly comes to a decision on its policy.
Other homes at Brithdir Mawr have been given retrospective planning permission.
See also:
08 Nov 00 | Wales
Eco house may have to go
09 Mar 01 | UK
The land that time forgot
17 Nov 98 | UK
Secret village to be pulled down
30 Sep 00 | Wales
First tenants meet house of the future
23 Feb 00 | UK
Home sweet alternative home
21 Mar 00 | Wales
Wool insulation may aid farmers
Internet links:
Brithdir Mawr community
The Roundhouse at Brithdir Mawr
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
The Land is Ours
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Top Wales stories now:
Soap actor killed in holiday fall
Wales leads UK bust firms league
Husband jailed for rape attack
Festival town prepares for euros
Plea for more kidney donors
Rowing team arrives back in UK
Families opt for single jabs
Hain turns fire on Greens
Links to more Wales stories are at the foot of the page.
E-mail this story to a friend
Links to more Wales stories
In This Section Soap actor killed in holiday fall Wales leads UK bust firms league Husband jailed for rape attack Festival town prepares for euros Plea for more kidney donors Rowing team arrives back in UK Families opt for single jabs Hain turns fire on Greens Muslim cleric defies speech ban Queen 'could block Camilla title' Former Clydach suspect sues police Identity of Georgian kidnappers known Record numbers at da Vinci exhibition Police probe mystery barrack deaths Honest Bob rains feeling on audience Americans discover Welsh roots Hannan's Call to Order Price on the mend Joubert ready to quit Cardiff Tigers strengthen their pack Date set for murder trial
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^ Back to top
News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© MMIII | News Sources | Privacy
Moppy sent me this stuff about a 'secret' (ie the media didn't know about it) self-sufficient community in Wales. V interesting. Moppy said it was a bit like what people were trying to do in the seventies - 'doing your own thing' that is. Which sounds really appealing and slightly antiquated and I'm not sure why. Why?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1930763.stm
Have a look. Lots of links.
Post a Comment
<< Home