Transition Buxton report on the Hustings held at Poole's Cavern

Programme to celebrate 50 years of BCA on 18th May 2017

BCA 50th Anniversary Programme

Celebrating 50 years "Remember the Past, Shape the Future."

Inspired by the book "Remember the Past, Shape the Future." By Olive Middleton and Dr Trevor Donald, BCA have made a film to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The film was shown for the first time tonight (18th May) at the Devonshire Dome as part of the celebrations.

You can watch the film by clicking on the link below. Alyson Phillips has written a short piece about the film which you can read on this website.

The Film of the Book - by Alyson Phillips

The making of "Remember the Past, Shape the Future"

This film, promoting the work of BCA, was inspired by the book, Remember the Past, Shape the Future written by Olive Middleton and Trevor Donald, to celebrate the first 50 years of Buxton Civic Association.

A young student asked, ‘...so what does civic mean?’ Our film aims to be BCA's answer to this question.

Civic obligation, and its links to citizenship, is as important today as it has ever been. It concerns our shared duties and relationships, rights and responsibilities to care for where we live.

The film has been made by members and staff of BCA with original music, 'Poole's Theme', composed and performed by local musicians.

We set out to contrast Buxton 'then and now' in order to ask the question, 'What would Buxton have been like in May 2017 without the BCA?' We promote the efforts of individuals, who became the founders of BCA, and made a difference. The tradition of membership continues to shape the future of this unique town.
Fifty years ago anything Victorian was seen as expendable. The Pavilion Gardens could have become a private zoo, the Octagon a casino and Buxton's rail links were set to be axed. Buxton's River Wye was polluted, and lime dust from quarries and lorries caused concerns over poor air.

Buxton Civic Association generally challenged the local authority over these plans and lack of public consultation. They went on to create Buxton Country Park from woodland gifted to BCA by Chatsworth Estates and reopened Poole's Cavern.

Without this Civic Association, Buxton would have become a different place.
This promotional film is also a snapshot of a moment in time; this spring 2017, when Buxton Civic Association marks its 50th year. It raises awareness that it is up to us to help save, protect, repair, prevent, rejuvenate and pressurise.
Today BCA is a registered charity, managed by a board of volunteer directors, employs over twenty people, owns, preserves and maintains almost two hundred acres of land, including nine woods, and welcomes over forty-five thousand visitors a year to its show cave. We have an Environmental Quality Mark and maintain high standards to ensure a balance between safe public access and preservation of wildlife.

Volunteers work hard to help keep the woodlands maintained.

Volunteers work on our committees for Planning, Places and Spaces, Corporate Affairs, Membership and Community, and Woodlands.

Volunteer and you could be starring in the sequel!

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the making of the film.

The film will be available to view by the public from 7.40pm this evening (18th May 2017). And will be available to view on this website.

I

It was good to see Ashfield U3A enjoying a relaxing and well deserved rest in the Cafe at the Cavern today. They had been walking from Brandside to the Race track and then back to Poole's Cavern via the Health and Safety site up at Harpur.

They do three walks a month and their next planned walking trip is to the Goyt Valley. Hopefully we will see them again soon.

A report on Gerald Price's talk on the work of the Woodland Trust - by Simon Fussell

Gerald Price began his talk to members of Buxton Civic Association on the ‘Importance of Trees and the work of the Woodland Trust’ with the story of the origins of the Trust.

In 1972 Kenneth Watkins a Devonshire farmer looked out one day at the wooded hillside across from his farm. He was struck by the thought that, if the grubbing up of trees and hedges continued, the beautiful ancient woodland that was such an important part of his world, would be gone. Burnt and ploughed up in a blaze of subsidies and ‘modern’ agricultural practise.

He decided to do something about it. He bought it. And rather than hide it away behind ‘keep out’ and ‘do not enter’ signs, he encouraged the public to come in, to walk, to linger, to enjoy the shade and the wildlife of the woodland. To share his woodland, if they were responsible about it of course.

Now 45 years later the organisation that he and other enlightened folk started, The Woodland Trust, has 1100 woods and 250,000 members. They have an objective. Currently 12.5% of the country is wooded. The Woodland Trust want this to be 25%, and they are launching a Charter, 800 years after the Charta de Foresta, which provided protection and recognition of the rights of the commoners to the woods and forests, that had been so ruthlessly eroded in the years since the Norman Conquest.

The new Charter for trees, woods and people will provide a set of policies and guidelines to ensure that we protect and cherish our woodlands for centuries to come.

The Trust celebrate trees wherever they are. The urban trees make up a vital and increasingly importance part of our national woodlands. The percentage of land with trees in places such as London and Leicester is around 20%, far higher than the 12.5% National Average. As well as providing a welcome break to the city skyline, they are a refuge for wildlife, and a source of wellbeing for the city dweller.

But of course you cannot plant a woodland, only a plantation. Woodlands take time and evolve over centuries, 4 of them for a decent ancient woodland. They need deadwood to flourish, and insects, animals, plants, fungi and mosses to establish themselves to live and die and provide the lifeblood for the next generation, all across the ebb and flow of a thousand seasons.

For the Woodland Trust, small can be beautiful. A 2-acre wood, where once there was a waste ground, has a beauty and a utility that far out strips its size. It does not take long for a difference to be made. Within 5-10 years the land can be transformed from dull monoculture to the chaotic tangled beauty of a young wood.

It provides a refuge for wildlife, and extra biodiversity, becomes a cherished place to walk or to sit. A place to think. Somewhere to appreciate the rhythm, the hum and throb of the seasons.

And of the Wildwood that once cloaked so much of our island? It is gone. Long gone. We cannot recreate it and it is perhaps best not to try. The wildwood took many millennia to evolve, and who knows it may return. But in its own time and at its own speed.

In the meantime, we have the Woodland Trust to thank for helping to ensure that trees stay important to us and our children.

The Woodland Trust

Press Release

Link to Mark Cocker's article in the Guardian - Amphibians of Prodigious Procreation

The Guardian Environment Column 4th April 2017

Spring 2017 Newsletter

Mike Wilde and friends dine at the Cafe at the Cavern

We are four friends who share a taste for the good things in life and food is near the top of our list.
We were not disappointed. We ate well, were served well and the atmosphere was pleasant. The members of the Cavern Catering Team had done well to create a venue for fine dining from what is essentially just a café.

The Evening

We were greeted on arrival and taken straightaway to our table by Café manager Paula. We were given free iced water throughout the evening, which was a sensible addition to the favourite white and red wines we had brought with us. Individual members of staff were happy to discuss all food questions we had during service.

We were soon brought a plate of freshly baked bread and a lightly salted butter as an appetiser. It was simple well baked soft bread with a delicious combination of oil and Rosemary that could only be improved if served warm.

The boys started with onion soup. There was no shortage of nicely softened onions and an agreeably large and tasty cheese crouton added extra flavour. The soup had a distinctively strong taste due to the Buxton Brewery ale used in the stock.

The girls had opted for the pigeon breast that was neatly presented on a white profile plate and topped with potato crisp, pea shoots, dabs of celeriac puree and very nicely complemented with mushrooms, bacon and beetroot. The meat was tasty and the whole dish was a brilliant combination of flavours.

For our main course, three of us opted for the Ox cheek which arrived on a large white platter with substantial portions of dark leafy green kale and red cabbage. This assured me I would have at least two of my five-a-day and was a good healthy choice. The smoky mash was smooth and creamy, just as I like it, and the sweet baby carrots gave a nice colour and taste contrast to the other vegetables.

The Ox cheek was cooked to perfection, being tender and tasty with just the right amount of the cooking juices reduced to a bold sauce. This was truly a flavoursome dish which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

The other main course choice was the Chicken Ballotine. It was a colourful plate of food with 4 generous slices of the ballotine. With mushroom and thyme combining to create a delicious stuffing for the moist and tender chicken breast, the whole was complemented with an ample amount of buttery velouté sauce, potato croquette and seasonal vegetables.

For dessert, one of us chose the Panna Cotta that turned out to be an absolutely winning combination of pear, elderflower, ginger and honey comb. It was a wonderful take on a favourite Italian dessert.

The rest chose the Tarte Tatin. This was another taste triumph. It was a perfect slice of tart. Sugar dusted apple slices with a caramel glaze on a sweet pastry base, an amazing smidgen of rhubarb coulis and a gorgeously light, hot Cardamom custard. Heaven! We all agreed.

To finish we had a decent cup of coffee and a morsel of smooth, sweet and creamy hand cut fudge. It was a nice finale to an excellent meal.

The keys to great food are the right ingredients, the right recipe and the right techniques.
Well done Hattie. You nailed it. Do it again soon.