Permaculture magazine is the publication for permaculture enthusiasts. Last year I reviewed a book about off-grid living for the magazine (and Living Woods). You can see the Permaculture review below.

How to live off-grid – journeys outside the system (2nd Edition)
Nick Rosen
Released 31/03/2008

This is the second edition of Nick’s Rosen’s book about ‘off-grid’ living – i.e. no national grid electricity, gas, water or sewerage –and is a surprisingly addictive read. It becomes clear from the outset that Nick was keen to sample the off-grid lifestyle now adopted by thousands in the UK for political, environmental or monetary reasons (or a combination of all three). However, he wasn’t ready to uproot his family and live it full-time. This raised concerns that this book would turn into a half-hearted eco-second-home advert, encouraging the carbon-offsetting middle class to head to the hills to get away from it all. While he devotes a section to moving abroad, it soon becomes clear that he is personally more enlightened about the environment than to advocate jet-setting off-grid holidays.  His need to balance keeping his comforts, bringing up his family and setting up a bus to go off-grid in are real concerns that many would-be off-gridders battle with.

Nick spending time with the people who are living in forests, fields, caravans and boats, visiting them in-situ all over the country is what has made this book so readable. His chapter, ‘Meet the people’ provides a series of sketches of the reality of off-grid living at present in the UK – and it’s fascinating to absorb.

Offering practical advice which he has gathered over  the course of his lengthy research has made this book an ideal first stop for people who want to learn more about living off-grid – what it takes, where to compromise and how to find the right place for you. He doesn’t make it sound easy – the long legal battles which have been fought by people to live and work the land they own are well documented.

Going off-grid requires lifestyle changes and new habits to be made. Permaculture is an important aspect as it dovetails neatly into the lifestyle where all ‘waste’ must be managed, and for many, is a reason they went off the grid in the first place. Although Nick doesn’t go into permaculture in any depth, he does learn about it as he visits communities who work their land by it’s standards, such as Steward Wood in Devon.

Nick clearly enjoys the liberty – and the low impact, low cost lifestyle (as he says, “Putting the free into freedom”) and the vast knowledge he has gained from the one of the founders of Tinker’s Bubble , Simon Fairlie, about gaining the right to live and build on your land provide great insights for those planning to go off-grid.

This book is clearly an entry point into off-grid living and many of the aspects required to embrace it such as alternative power, water access and self builds. But it also makes a fascinating read for seasoned permaculture enthusiasts who haven’t yet made the move off-grid.

I have recently begun contributing to Building Products magazine, as one of my interests revolves around houses and homes – inside and out, and the more green the better! You can see the online feature below and feel free to visit it on their website.

Innovative products at Welsh green building show

This year’s Greener Homes and Buildings show was again held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells. The exhibitors reflected the market with a Welsh slant and included timber frame suppliers, renewable energy providers, a traditional thatcher and wood pellet boilers galore, among various green insulation materials, innovative wood products and joiners.

The Centre for Alternative Technology, Energy Saving Trust and BRE were also on hand with green advice and ideas. With a bigger programme of speakers and demonstrations, including Dick Strawbridge (from TV’s It’s Not Easy Being Green), who spoke about his Cornish project and demonstrated small scale hydropower, the show is much more than a Welsh self-builder’s day out.

Demonstrations during the exhibition included erecting a wind turbine, plus seminars on subjects such as sustainable drainage and responsible design, giving thought-provoking discussion for experts, consultants and architects alike.

It was fascinating to note the innovation taking place within Wales, especially from Coed Cymru. The organisation has devised various techniques to add value to Welsh timber, including heat-treated beech windows, flooring made from cross-cut timber to give a pleasing ‘ringed’ pattern, and the Ty Unnos modular housing system.

The event provided an opportunity to catch up with timely new developments and thinking in the sustainable building sector, with the new sustainability legislation taking effect in Wales in a few short months. Next year’s event will no doubt prove even more popular as greener building begins to go mainstream – expect even more innovative thinking and exciting green products from Wales to appear over the next 12 months.

Words by Building Products’ contributor Charlie Duff

Buzz Magazine is a free entertainment monthly for south Wales. Over the past year I have contributed several short articles, on subjects varying from food to anarchism. The most recent hasn’t been published yet – I covered the final od BBC Cardiff Singer of the World for the magazine.

There is power in a union – commemorating the 1984 miner’s strike

The National Union of Miners (NUM) year-long strike of 4 March 1984 to 4 March 1985 was without doubt one of the most bitter industrial actions in Britain’s history. Mining was a way of life and central to communities in south Wales. The work was hard and dangerous, but essential to keep not just Wales but the whole of Britain’s power stations running. Following victories in the 1970s Unions were strong, but the conservative government under Thatcher had other ideas. The strike was called under threats of mine closures but was unofficial – no ballot of members was called by the president of the union, Arthur Scargill, which discredited the movement. South Welsh mining came to a halt and communities closed ranks to the outside world. Finding support from other unions and groups, they suffered the hardships together, making food parcels and distributing money and goods to those most in need. Miners from tiny villages faced riot police brought in from the cities to control the picket lines and break the strike. On 3 March 1895 the NUM voted to return to work, defeated but not broken. But the unions were weakened by the long dispute and coal mining in south Wales was never the same again. 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the 1984-5 strike and commemorative events begin in earnest this summer. Billy Bragg, social justice singer and supporter of the strike will go on a tour of the mining areas of south Wales, beginning at the Workmen’s Hall in Blaenavon on 5 June. Big Pit, the colliery in Blaenavon is still officially a working mine and remains a symbol of mining in Wales as a living museum. An exhibition of photographs, entitled’ Through My Eyes’, taken on the picket lines in by NUM member Mike Thompson will go on display there from 22 May through to 4 September. The photographs illustrate some of the most dramatic scenes of political dissent in recent history. Entry to Big Pit and the exhibition is free, and tickets to Billy Bragg’s concert in Blaenavon are available.

I predict a riot: Cardiff’s first Anarchist bookfair

Anarchists might not like rules but they love books! London has hosted Anarchist bookfairs since 1983, so it’s high time Cardiff did too. It’s billed as a chance for some real social networking with people who want a world without oppression and inequality, and you can’t say fairer than that (literally). There’ll be literature aplenty and a host of workshops to attend. Discuss practicalities of anarchism, such as the abolition of prisons, deal with stop and search and get an untraceable computer for free.

Saturday 23 May, 10am to 6pm at Cathays Community Centre, 36 Cathays Terrace, Cardiff, CF24 4HX. It’ll be a riot!

The fussy eaters guide to south Wales

Healthy eaters…
Japanese food is typically simple and makes a healthy and delicious meal. Watch chef Peter-san make fresh sushi at Cardiff’s only conveyer belt Japanese establishment, Zushi .  With ultra-nutritious portions of sushi, salads and endame (baby soya beans) starting at £1.50 you can pick out as many dishes as you want from the belt.

Can’t cope with gluten?
When you are allergic or intolerant to wheat, it can be hard to eat out. Although chain restaurants aren’t ideal, they have the quality control to make food which is safe for those with allergies. Spanish eaterie La Tasca, found in Swansea (Wind Street) and Cardiff (The Old Brewery Quarter) comes recommended by Coeliac UK.

Vegetarian but want somewhere individual?
Give Awen restaurant in Newport a try. This small and homely B+B restaurant can cater for all types of diets. Everything is freshly prepared so book a table well in advance and find out what they can rustle up!

Not nuts
Those with nut allergies know it’s always best to call ahead and asks, but the advice from Peanut Allergy UK is that Pizza Express can cater best for your requirements. Find them in Castle Street, Swansea, or High Street and Mermaid Quay in Cardiff.

…and if you dig…vegan food
Actually a place for the omnivores and vegans alike, The Plan in Morgan Arcade, central Cardiff has loads of tempting treats for all. The two-storey restaurant is an architectural joy and food is always filling and delicious. The cafe is a favourite for lunchtime takeaway – and it’s well worth the wait.

Contacts

Zushi
140 Queen St
Cardiff, CF10 2GP
029 20669911
www.cardiffzushi.com

La Tasca
Cardiff
Unit 6 – The Old Brewery
Quarter
CF10 1FG – Cardiff
02920 230 087
Swansea

Salubrious Place
Wind Street
Swansea
SA1 1EF
01792 643246
www.latasca.co.uk
Awen
Penrhiwgwair Cottage
Twyn Road
Abercarn, Newport
Gwent, NP11 5AS
UK

(01495) 244615

http://www.awenbandb.com/dining.html

Pizza Express

Swansea

40 Castle Street
Swansea
SA1 1HZ
01792 474 320

Cardiff

28 Mermaid Quay, Cardiff
Cardiff Bay
CF10 5BZ
02920 472006

29 High Street
Cardiff
CF10 1PU
029 2023 3091
www.pizzaexpress.com

The Plan
Morgan Arcade
Cardiff
CF10 1AF
029 20398764

A vegetarian guide to south Wales

The Plan
Situated in the famous arcades of Cardiff, this restaurant is a favourite lunch spot for Cardiff’s veggies. With its spiral staircase and large windows, this is a pleasant and relaxing place to spend time in. The menu is varied and imaginative and the food is tasty and reasonably priced.
Find it
28-29 Morgan Arcade,
Cardiff, CF10 1AF
0845 200 8613

Ozone Cafe
This organic cafe is a welcome respite from the busy Cardiff city centre. With many organic and local ingredients, most of the dishes are made from scratch, including the bread for the filling sandwiches. The helpings are generous and menu vegetarian and vegan friendly. Real hearty, healthy homemade food.
Find it
11 Charles Street
Cardiff,
CF10 2GA

The Retreat
Home of the Rainbow Faerie Cafe, the Retreat has recently been put up for sale. In the meantime you can still enjoy a vegetarian snack or light lunch in the cafe which is just outside Swansea’s city centre. The current owners hope a buyer will be found to continue the business.
Find it
The Retreat
2 Humphrey Street
Swansea
SA1 6BG
01792 301739

Hunky Dory’s
The all vegetarian Newport cafe is unpretentious and serves good homemade meals at reasonable prices. Always a good choice for lunches, it is also open for theme evenings when you can bring your own alcohol – phone to find out when these are taking place.
Find it
17 Charles Street
Newport
01633 257850

Vegetarian Food Studio
Serving freshly prepared, delicious and traditional south Indian and oriental fare, this restaurant is extremely vegan-friendly too, with a clearly-marked menu and even vegan lassi to accompany your meal. The prices are good and there is a special tiffin deal for students.
Find it
109 Penarth Road
Cardiff, CF11 6JT
029 2023 8222

Jikoni
This Grangetown gem is a wholly vegetarian restaurant serving good value Indian fare, Jikoni is known for good food alongside great service. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly, the meals inexpensive and the restaurant can cater well for vegans. They also provide special event catering.
Find it
177 Clare Road
Grangetown
Cardiff
Cardiff
029 2022 7209

Govinda’s Vegetarian Restaurant
This Hare Krishna-run establishment must be one of the most vegan-friendly restaurants in Swansea, even serving vegan desserts. A very inexpensive place equally good for a light lunch as an evening meal, the food is varied but specialises in Indian fare. Well worth a visit.
Find it
8 Cradock Street,
Swansea,
Wales
01792 468469

Living Woods is the magazine for anyone who loves wood, forests and trees. I was lucky enough to be able to help editor Nick Gibbs during the launch period and wrote a feature on Welsh timber housing for the first issue: see extract below.

Britain’s getting kitted out in wood – join the kit house eco revolution!

 A dream green home could become a reality with timber kit housing – but what is it, how is it green and is the rise in timber construction going to benefit the UK, or just European forestry?

The word prefab might conjure images of horrible tin-shack like housing reminiscent of the 1950s, but prefabricated housing today is very different. The use of timber to make prefabricated houses which come in kit form means that designers are increasingly coming up with beautiful, ecologically-friendly homes which are affordable and desirable. From Grand Designs to Wimpey homes, prefab is the way to go. And with the Sustainable Homes regulations including Carbon Zero targets becoming mandatory in 2016, architects are turning to the past to look to the future of house-building.

  New Stuff magazine – The Genius Guide to MP3

02 APR 2008

The latest issue of Stuff magazine – the genius guide to MP3

Go go gadgeteers – the new issue of Stuff is out now! Get the greatest portable music experience ever with our genius guide to MP3, from audiobooks to Zune and everything you need to know in between 

We’re also speculating on what future technology is going to give to sport. Find out how a new football could make the beautiful game fairer – and could linesmen be out of a job when robots take over?

At Stuff we’re always trying to make your life easier, so this issue we showcase the best labour-saving devices for the ultimate tech-filled lazy life of your dreams. We also put shiny new sat-nav phones to the test for your driving pleasure. For those commuters among you, we have the best lightweight laptops for working on the move.

As well as all the hottest new gear, gadgets, tech and toys, if you haven’t already taken the plunge with HD, we show you how to go hi-def on a low budget.
Grab the new issue from shop shelves now, and see what else is in this month’s Stuff magazine.

Above is the content from the online article I wrote during my work placement at the fantastic Stuff magazine. I did some other pieces which will be printed in the forthcoming issue. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot during the two weeks I was there. In other exciting news, I will also have a book review printed in Permaculture magazine this month.

The below are extracts from some of my work during my Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University (2007-8).

My final project concerned carbon zero building and living. It was written and designed (using InDesign) in the style of Grand Designs magazine.

 How low can you go?

Greener living is something many people strive for today, but how about reducing your household annual carbon count to nil? The government says we can lower our home’s footprint to nothing – and that by 2016 all new buildings must meet these strict environmental standards.

The carbon emissions produced from building and living in our homes make up 45% of the total produced in the UK. A carbon zero building means a property is highly efficient and actually produces more energy than it uses over a year. This is achieved by a combination of reducing energy use, and using renewable energies which produce extra power which is fed back into the national grid. The construction of low carbon housing enlists new – and old – building technologies to ensure new builds are as environmentally friendly as possible.

With cooperation, there’s life after 50

Communities, schools and cooperatives are helping older people to break through age old stereotypes to lead more fulfilling lives.
Help the Aged claims older people are typically excluded from social situations which could increase their quality of life. They say that three quarters of a million elderly people feel out of touch with the world, and nearly half a million say they never see their friends. Many older people – 150 thousand – never leave their homes. However, there are people and organisations out there trying to do something to change this, including the Cooperative Group.
This feature was written as part of my postgraduate course at Cardiff University. It wass aimed at Network, the magazine of the Cooperative Group. The topic we were asked to tackle was social inclusion. My article was shortlisted for an award.

Honey, the kids have joined the circus (Online project, includes film footage and audio clip)

Cardiff hit national and international headlines earlier this year [2008] when it was discovered that there was a council-promoted pole dancing session for children under 16 due to be held in the city’s St. David’s Hall. It was quickly cancelled, despite organisers pointing out that it was envisaged as a circus skill rather than as one akin to pole dance as practiced in strip clubs. Pole dance has become a popular fitness technique, but is still associated with the sex trade, whereas circus skills are a more suitable and unusual way that kids can keep fit, have fun and learn valuable skills.

You’ve come a long way, Babar (interview with Babar Luck, aimed at Big Cheese magazine)

Babar Luck used to make noisy punk with King Prawn. His solo music might be easier to listen to but has fatherhood mellowed his attitude to life? Not at all, discovers Charlie Duff.

Babar Luck is not the average old punk rocker. His hair is not expertly styled into a new high-maintenance emo style, nor does he sport an old school mohican. Instead, his head is shaven, but not in a skinhead way:  his beard and the long cotton tunic he dons to perform in betray him as a practising Muslim.  His skin could make him Indian, or North African, and his eyes fix you with dark brown intensity. He talks continuously, but frequently checks you are following, asking, “Do you understand?” Babar coughs occasionally as he speaks. I ask him if he’s ok, and he replies, “No, I’m not OK! I’m not going to be OK until there is world peace!”  He laughs throatily: but he’s serious.

My mother gave me one of those Oxfam gifts for Christmas. Apparently someone on my behalf is now raising awareness about HIV and AIDS in Africa somewhere. My brother, meanwhile, has donated thousands of condoms to the cause – according to his fridge magnet. I asked my mother why she had chosen this particular charitable present and she said “Well, you’re mouthy, aren’t you?” Yes, I am. But only in one language.

Ok, I admit, I can speak a little French. My beloved and I went to Paris last year and we got by on my French. (He can’t speak any, although he can chat you up or insult you in Welsh.) Considering I took French lessons from the tender age of nine until I was sixteen I should be fluent by now…but I’m not. I was so proud in Paris when I managed to share a joke with some locals (we were in a restaurant, they mistook me for a waitress…oh, you had to be there) but I had to summon French from the very depths of my being, and rely a lot on mime.

The G2 today ran a very moving feature about the last native speaking Eyak (one of the peoples of Alaska) who died last week without passing on her native tongue to her children. Really, she did this to protect them, because the Eyak, like the Welsh, were for a long time punished for speaking their own language in schools.

Wales has managed to save its language – just about. Lessons in schools are taught through the medium of Welsh, and it’s common to see children playing and talking in Welsh. Meanwhile, my four years in Wales means I have ‘train station’ Welsh, which means I almost understand the announcements when waiting on platform 3 at Cardiff Central. Basically, I’m not very good. I have been saying since I moved here that if I have children I want them to be born and educated in Wales, and therefore Welsh. Oh dear. We’ll just have to hope they will be better at languages than I am.

My website is finally, offically, live!

You can now get in touch with me here.

I have put up a few columns but will be adding more, so check back, or subscribe to my RSS feed. This will allow you to keep up with the news I post as well.

I’m very excited about my new site, I hope you like it as much as I do!

Charlie

This website is the home of my columns. I started them last year, writing for my student magazine, and want to continue them now I am a postgraduate at Cardiff University studying Magazine Journalism. I will be updating both the columns and the news regularly as I launch my professional career. This is going to be a very exciting (and somewhat scary) next twelve months for me, and I’d like to be able to share my news, as well as my writing.

The course has just started: over the next nine months I’ll be learning all kinds of new skills, which will all help equip me for my career. I’ve had my first lecture in shorthand this morning, which was challenging, but I’m confident that with practice it will become second nature.

 If you’d asked me a year ago how I felt about marriage I would have told you firmly that there was no way anyone would be able to get me up that kind of aisle. I don’t need a piece of paper to want to be in love with someone.

Hell, I don’t even want to live with anyone else, and given a choice I’d live on my own with no flatmates. I like my own space, my own company and I don’t need a wedding. If I want a really nice dress one day, I’ll buy or I’ll make one, and wear it round the house and to every party if I want. If I want to hold a huge expensive party, I’ll do that. And if someone really loves me, then they’ll love me enough to not push me into getting married regardless of their feelings about marriage.

They say all little girls plan their wedding. I never did; I couldn’t imagine it ever happening.The only reason for getting married, I thought, would be for emigration purposes, or to ditch my hideous surname!

At the time, I was with a man who felt even more strongly against marriage than me. We used to regularly propose to each other, and say no. We thought it was hilarious. I also have a mother who told me never to get married, and that if I did she wouldn’t come to the wedding. Even at the time I was a little freaked by that; I don’t often change my mind, but I like to keep my options open.

And on this occasion I have changed my mind. I never had a problem with other people getting married, if that was right for them. My step brother got married last year, and I’ve never seen anything so emotional and real and heartfelt. He cried throughout the vows, his voice cracking; his future wife smiling and holding his hands. He suffered a horrible divorce between his mother and my father; for him, deciding to get married must have been the most frightening thing ever, but it was clearly something he really wanted to do.

And then my friend at uni decided to get hitched. At university? Are you mad! Clearly he probably was but you know what – I spoke to him about it and his reasons seemed good to me, if that’s what they wanted. I went to the meal afterwards and it was really special. All these things combined, it doesn’t seem so shallow or stupid anymore. I’m not saying I want to get married right now; or that I see it as a ‘must do’ of life; I’m just saying that I think…it might not actually kill me.