Does Apple care more for cash than the environment? @SumOfUs

I recently signed a SumOfUs petition to ask Apple to keep the standard headphone jack in the iPhone. Almost 250,000 people have signed, and it's really starting a conversation about the mountains of waste created whenever electronics companies force people to "upgrade".

Apple plays up its green credentials, but the truth is that Apple only invested in renewable energy, and began phasing out toxic chemicals when public pressure became too strong to ignore. People power did it before, and we can do it again.

Please sign:

https://action.sumofus.org/a/iphone-headphone-jack/

Thank you!

Petition @SumOfUs against That Disgusting Daily Mail Cartoon

I was disturbed by Donald Trump's recent comments about requiring

American Muslims to carry identity cards. To me, that immediately smacked of 1930s Germany and I wondered if Trump, or other American wannabe leaders, might go further and suggest some form of distinctive badge to be worn at all times? I am amazed at the outpouring of hatred towards followers of an entire religion, although our recent visit to the fortified Crusade town of Aigues-Mortes reminded us that such religious intolerance is sadly nothing new. And the inflammatory rhetoric I keep seeing is beyond belief. Do so few Western people really understand that These Refugees Are Risking Everything To Escape From ISIS and civil war? They need our help, not our anger.

I have also heard that our dear Tory government is threatening to spend British taxpayers money on further bombing of Syria, despite overwhelming evidence from elsewhere that such aggression may well end up causing even more chaos in this war torn country and, therefore, resulting in even more refugees. I have emailed my MP, Kerry McCarthy, via this Care2 petition asking her to take a stand against such shortsighted madness.

We seem to be plunging headlong into 1984.

This morning I received an email from SumOfUs drawing my attention to a disgusting cartoon published in The Daily Mail and asking for signatures to a petition demanding apologies and removal of the cartoon. I am not going to republish here as I am sure that, if you haven't already seen it, the image will be easy enough to Google. I know The Daily Mail has a history of supporting fascism, but to see this kind of blatant bigotry in a mainstream British 'newspaper' in the 21st century turns my stomach. This is not representative of my country.

SumOfUs said "The Daily Mail published a racist editorial cartoon that suggests Syrian refugees are ISIS terrorists - depicting them as rats. It's imagery right out of 1939 Germany. Literally. Tell the Daily Mail to withdraw the cartoon and apologise now.

Millions of people are fleeing a brutally oppressive regime and almost certain extermination. And The Daily Mail depicts these people as rats and mocks their desperation. It’s appalling and hard to believe, but true. The Daily Mail published a cartoon depicting Syrian refugees, one carrying a rifle, and a throng of rats streaming into Europe. It closely resembles an infamous piece of 1939 Nazi propaganda depicting Jewish people as rats shut out from democratic countries after escaping Hitler.

There is no excuse for this hateful, dehumanising cartoon. Tell The Daily Mail to apologise and withdraw the image. Anti-immigrant forces across Europe have already been trying to demonise and dehumanise the four million Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS and a catastrophic civil war back home. With the recent Paris attacks, that trend has only increased. For The Daily Mail to join in, with imagery literally used by the Nazis, is beneath contempt.

The Daily Mail has been here before. It ran articles supporting fascism, the rise of Hitler and Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, and later whipped up a frenzy of fear when Jewish refugees were seeking shelter in the UK fleeing the Nazis. Now the Mail has turned its hatred on Syrians fleeing war, violence and persecution. We can’t let the Mail’s portrayal of desperate people to stand unchallenged. Join us in demanding that The Daily Mail take responsibility for its cartoon that could have come straight out of Nazi Germany.

Thanks for all you do, Martin, Hanna, and the rest of the SumOfUs team"

Please sign the SumOfUs petition.

Please sign the Care2 petition and email your MP.

Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum - a timely reminder of Trade Union importance

Tolpuddle is a pretty village within walking distance of our current

Thompson Dagnall sculpture outside the Museum 

Puddletown campsite. If it weren't for a terrible misuse of power in the 1800s, Tolpuddle might be a mostly unknown agricultural community. However, the events of 1834 and their repercussions mean that the name Tolpuddle is still, nearly 200 years later, synonymous with workers' rights and triumph over abusive working practices. It is depressing that the Trade Union struggle for basic rights continues to this day and that our current Tory government seems intent on repeating the arrogant mistakes of their landed gentry forbears! Do you remember the SumOfUs petition I publicised in August about proposed Tory restrictions on British Trade Unions? 114,125 of us have signed at the time of writing and the petition is open for more!

In 1834, six Tolpuddle men 'clandestinely' grouped together, swearing an oath of allegiance, in order to present a united front demanding that their farm labourer wages be raised from starvation levels. The wage was about nine shillings a week and a breakdown within the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum illustrated very basic outgoings for a labourer's family to be about thirteen shillings a week. And this is still the era when a married woman was expected solely to look after the family home not having independent employment of her own. Although forming a trade union was legal at the time, the fledgling idea was not popular with the majority of landowners who preferred the theories that social class was static and poverty-stricken peasants should be grateful for any wage at all! Indeed, slavery across the British Empire had only been officially abolished the year before. A completely unconnected law was subverted regarding the Tolpuddle men's swearing of an oath and this was used to crush them.

George Loveless, his brother James Loveless, James Hammett, James

Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum 

Brine, Thomas Standfield and Thomas's son John Standfield were all arrested and sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. Massive public outrage eventually forced the men's return, but this took several years to achieve. The Museum details the harsh life endured by the men in the colonies and for weeks on disease-ridden prison ships before they were even deported. The display room is quite small but well presented with printed fabric banners hanging in chronological order. It was interesting that, despite the Tolpuddle Martyrs fame in the 1830s, the only original image was of James Hammett, and that was a photograph of him taken in old age when his story was rediscovered by the trade unions movement. Yet, all the 'villains' of the tale had been painted, some images even being from the National Portrait Gallery. Another glaring omission was information about what happened to the families while their men were under arrest and imprisoned.

I was moved by the story of the six Martyrs, especially because it is so relevant to our society today. (Please do consider adding your name to the SumOfUs petition if you have not already done so.) One of the Museum banners showed a book cover, The Victims of Whiggery: Being a Statement of the Persecutions Experienced by the Dorchester Labourers which was written by George Loveless after his release and before five of the six, with their families, decided upon emigration to Canada for the remainder of their lives. I definitely want to read this account! The Museum has an excellent gift shop with t-shirts, stationery, and an extensive selection of books. I didn't see any edition of Victims Of Whiggery though, but have learned that Cambridge University Press will be publishing it in June 2016. The title is already available to pre-order via Amazon (and, yes, I do appreciate the irony of linking to a company who aren't exactly at the forefront of promoting worker's rights!)

We get heavy rain in Cynghordy and Now neonics are killing our birds as well as our bees

There's ever more frightening news emerging regarding not only the fate

of Britain's bees, but now also, it is being discovered, our wild birds too. I received this urgent email yesterday from SumOfUs:

"The bee-harming pesticides we’ve been fighting for years are worse than we imagined. Research suggests that neonicotinoids aren’t just decimating bee colonies - they’re hurting birds too. Researchers found that in areas with high concentrations of neonicotinoids, bird populations declined every year. This means our worst fears are coming true - neonicotinoids may be moving up the food chain and killing our birds and our bees.

For the sake of the birds, the bees, and the whole food chain, we are challenging one of the biggest neonicotinoids producers of them all: Bayer. In two weeks, we’re going straight to Bayer’s door with our massive petition - and we hope to have your name in our massive petition box."

Please sign and share this vital SumOfUs petition.

And now you've done that, let me show you our lovely new campsite in

Cwmcuttan lake 

Carmarthenshire! We are now at Cwmcuttan in the village of Cynghordy on a Camping And Caravanning Club CS for a change. It is very lush and green - the grass is absolutely sodden - but we have a large hardstanding pitch with room enough for Bailey and the awning as well as the car. The CS is full, but doesn't feel it as all five pitches are a good distance from each other. We have electric hookup, water and waste, and recycling facilities close by. Plus we get to use the site wifi and all for £12 a night. The wifi is a real bonus as we are already getting close to having used up our month's allowance on the Osprey and there's still a lot of month left. This will save me having to spend another tenner buying a data add-on. For anyone else using an Osprey while travelling, as we are, we've discovered that poor internet reception can sometimes be remedied by propping the device up in the skylight. We found this out when on the valley campsite at Broadgate Farm and it served us well at Crab Mill Farm campsite too.

Cwmcuttan is right by Cynghordy railway station which has four trains a

Our pitch at Cwmcuttan 

day stopping here. We can just glimpse them through the trees. Otherwise there is practically no noise at all other than a yappy dog on one of the other pitches. The site is adults only due to safety issues because it has a beautiful lake with waterlilies and good sized fish. There are ducks here too and a black cat who spent the afternoon snoozing in the shade by the bins and was definitely not impressed by our driving up and disrupting siesta time!

When I say 'no noise', this isn't strictly true as the rain has been

Pitched up at Cwmcuttan 

thundering on the roof in short bursts this evening. It was gloriously hot and sunny when we arrived - can you spot Dave recovering from his intense three hours of navigator duty? - and we managed to get pitched up, lunched and had the awning all done before the clouds found us again. Part of our drive here, on a high section of the A483, necessitated us driving through low cloud for about fifteen minutes. The road was nicely windy and pretty narrow by this point and the cloud was effectively thick fog so that was fun. Fortunately we were following a large slow motorhome so I could just hang back and see which direction their tail lights swung to judge the next bend in the road.

We are forecast lots more rain this week and are planning to stay holed up here until after the Bank Holiday weekend. Hopefully we will get to do some walking and sightseeing. If not, you can expect a glut of book review posts!

Driving over an 1820s suspension bridge and visiting Chain Bridge Honey Farm

There were two items of great news awaiting me when I returned from

Bus cafe at Chain Bridge Honey Farm 

our bridge and honey outing yesterday! An email from PETA celebrated the government's decision not to go ahead with its proposed vote on repealing the fox hunting ban today - I am very happy that the weight of public opinion actually broached their ivory towers! I also got a 'heads up' from my Half The Sky Kiva team that 'free loans' were on offer from The Chegg Foundation so I rushed to their website to get mine. Thanks to the Foundation I have lent $25 of their money to Rosa Enid who is a coffee farmer in Costa Rica.

Union Bridge from above 

Coffee farming leads, in a tenuous way, back to the main events of

Union Bridge cables - stronger
than they look! 

yesterday because we had more of the delicious Northern Edge coffee in an adapted cafe-bus at Chain Bridge Honey Farm! Our drive there was along tiny, mostly single-track roads which are very pretty, but somewhat nerveracking for the driver, in this case Dave. Then just before the farm, we knew that the a bridge ahead had a two ton weight limit, but had missed the two metre width sign. Our car just crept between solid concrete bollards and we were driving across Union Bridge! Opened in 1820 and, at the time, the longest carriage-carrying suspension bridge in the world, I am glad we drove over it before parking up to take a closer look. I would have had a major Michael-Palin-in-GBH moment otherwise! As we walked on the bridge it was very obvious that it moves significantly with passing traffic. Three children jumping in unison could also make it sway and ripple - thanks to them for that! I know it was safe, but the real sensation of its hanging-ness was bizarre.

Union Bridge 

We chose to walk for a couple of hours to Horncliffe and along the River

Herriot's Walk at Horncliffe 

Tweed's banks. At one point we joined the Herriot's Walk for a very pretty loop. We learned from an amazingly woodworked and gravelled bench installation in their memory that the Herriot in question was not the famous author but Paddy and Alan who were 'Good Village Folk'. A chatty dogwalking woman advised us against continuing too far along the riverpath as the grass would become waist-height and 'saturated'. We turned uphill and paused on another impressively located bench. We were happy to see a swift flying alongside swallows. It's easy to tell them apart when they are together! I photographed some more beautiful unknown flowers. Perhaps there is a floral version of the RSPB's bird identifier somewhere online? no-longer-unidentified flowers! Thanks for sharing the info, Gemma!

A now-identified flower! Himalayan Balsam which I
learn is invasive and we are trying to eradicate it 

Chain Bridge Honey Farm is a working bee farm that has some 2000 colonies, a vintage bus that has been converted into a cafe, and lots of bee information in an information centre by the shop. We can highly recommend the lentil and vegetable soup, the honey sponge cake, the gingerbread which is served with butter, and the aforementioned coffee. We thoroughly enjoyed starting our thirteenth year together with this lunch out! It was a Bristol bus too!

A collection of vintage vehicles is mostly farming-types, but also had a

Gentleman's caravan at Chain Bridge Honey Farm 

couple of motorcycles, scooters, a steam engine, and this Gentleman's Caravan - actually owned by a woman and used to take her family on holidays. The caravan is about four metres long inside and has a lovely built in wooden dresser sink unit at one end. Too cute! This section of the farm also has a mezzanine with hundreds of vintage domestic and garage items including oil cans, food packaging, 1940s newspapers, matchboxes, .... The collection reminded us of the madness of the similar Amberley Museum, although Chain Bridge is on a much smaller scale.

A real bee hive behind glass is a feature of the visitors' centre and there

Some kind of vetch 

is also a viewing platform from which we watched a trio of operatives filling plastic pots with fresh honey and securing the lids. We purchased a jar of honey from the shop and also picked up a copy of Still Alice from bookshelves outside. Walking, cake, honey and a book - my perfect day!

I hope independent bee keepers such as Chain Bridge Honey Farm continue to exist. Its eccentric mix of attractions and cafe made for an excellent afternoon out. However, as we all know, mass-produced chemical products are threatening bees with global extinction, possibly as swiftly as within three human generations. They pollinate as much as a third of all our food plants. What will be the cost of replacing them - environmentally as well as in cash on our grocery bills? We may soon find out as "a contractor for Bayer -- one of the biggest producers of bee-killing pesticides -- is threatening to sue SumOfUs if [they] don’t back off" in their campaign to protect bees. Can you chip in to help SumOfUs fight these bullying tactics? Even if you can't spare money to help, please share the campaign on social media networks and by chatting with friends. The more people who stand up against the likes of Bayer, the more chance we have of keeping bees. Thank you.

Tree tunnel near Horncliffe 

My longest walk ever: 15 miles across the North York Moors

It seems that Dave tempted fate recently. In a conversation with our

Cairn at the top of the hill above Chop Gate 

friends Chris and Marta he mentioned our then recent 10 mile walk and said that we'd never equal their recent 15 miles. About a week later, and with a combination of gorgeous sunshine and stunning scenery, we did! The North York Moors are a fabulous place to walk. Clicking this link will take you to a Google map of the route we actually walked - as opposed to the one we planned. Several of the paths wind more than the straight lines imply so we are confident of more than 15 miles 'on the ground'. We took a picnic lunch, should also have taken an afternoon snack, and the walk was just over seven hours plus twenty-five minutes for lunch.

Dave had planned us an eightish-mile route starting in the village of

View back downhill to Chop Gate 

Chop Gate. Their village hall car park is accessible to walkers and I loved their Pay And Display system: take a numbered ticket as if for a supermarket deli counter and drop a pound coin into the box. Just a pound! Brilliant! Our route started uphill straight from the car park and we jockeyed for position several times on the climb with another couple who had parked at the same time and were following a five-mile route cut from the Northern Echo newspaper. All our best walks seem to start with a knackering incline. This one was half an hour and very steep in places, but with a cushioned grassy surface. The cairn in the first photo was a welcome sight marking the top of the hill, yet, strangely, looked somehow different at the day's end so we weren't sure of our descent!

We walked on mostly sandy paths and saw dozens of hides for grouse

Babbling brook 

shooting parties as well as what looked like cat litter trays everywhere which we assumed were also grouse-related. We did also see several of the birds themselves - they seem just as daft as pheasants. Babbling brooks were remarkable by their absence - we only spotted a couple including this one and another by Rye Farm where we perched on a convenient pile of cut logs to eat our lunch. Other bird sightings included lapwings, curlews (probably) and another peregrine falcon. This one flew low over us so we got a very good look. There were skylarks everywhere and I enjoyed listening to their songs tumbling from the wide blue sky. It was very hot at times so our carefully packed fleece jackets weren't needed at all and I actually ended up with a little sunburn! Sunburn in June? Who'd have thought it! An unexpected 'No Entry' sign started us on a detour which we then compounded by adding a good burst of enthusiasm. During the day we managed to walk 'off map' from two sides which made navigation interesting and which wasn't helped by an almost complete lack of phone signal. Were we downhearted though? Surprisingly not (much)! A tall mast provided a visible anchor and we just kept striding out enjoying the fabulous views and colours around us.

We were both tired by the time we did get back to Chop Gate and,

I loved the colours in the heathers and lichens 

fortunately, the descent was a firm grassed surface which I could walk practically normally - instead of my usual Bambi-on-ice tiptoeing when faced with scree. We were confident of having got into double figures of miles, but didn't know for sure how far we had gone until Dave gmapped the route today. This was the longest walk I have ever done and is also the longest we have undertaken together. Dave did complete 15 miles previously - from Falmer to Alfriston - but said he felt much better physically this time. I think we both could have done more had we needed to, but it was a relief to see a waiting car!

I'll finish up talking about our walk with this great image of the moors

Oh look, more moor!

rolling off into the distance and please keep scrolling for an important petition underneath ...

I received the following email from SumOfUs this morning and it has made me pretty angry with not only the Conservatives but also everybody who voted them in! Scarcely back a minute and they are already starting to sell off taxpayers' assets at knock-down prices. Please sign the SumOfUs petition, then tweet or email your MP to protest this waste of Our Money, share and reshare on social media, and generally throw a right hissy fit! The extra £13bn we won't be getting could make a huge difference right across Britain and we need to act fast to have any chance of keeping it.

SumOfUs said

"By George, he's gone and done it. It's official:

George Osborne has just announced Britain's biggest ever privatisation. He's going ahead and selling off RBS at a loss of £13bn -- a huge loss to the taxpayer. It's part of the rush to privatise Britain -- an ideological move to hand over power and profit to corporations.

But, we own 79% of RBS.

Rather than selling off our stake at a loss to the bankers who got us into this mess in the first place, the government should be finding ways to make the bank work for the good of the nation and using this as an opportunity to fix our broken banking system.

Just as he's pushing through £12bn of welfare cuts that will hit the poorest and most vulnerable in society, Osborne is prepared to sell RBS off at a £13bn loss. £13bn is enough to plug the gap, protecting our public services and preventing austerity."

Please sign and share now.

To Manchester! for murals, trams and The Car Man

In a change from hill walking, we jumped on a NorthenRail train today to

Blue tit mural in Manchester 

briefly visit Manchester. Our reason for going was the Matthew Bourne ballet, The Car Man which is playing at The Lowry this week. It is fantastic! Not as light-hearted and jokey as Sleeping Beauty which we also thoroughly enjoyed in Wimbledon a couple of years ago, but with the same level of inventive choreography, loads of stunning dancing and superb set design. This is now the third Matthew Bourne ballet we have seen and we were trying to decide if we have missed any or if that's all of them. A brief google later, we learn that, fortunately, we still have Edward Scissorhands and Lord Of The Flies to look out for. I do love his work! The Car Man does have strong 'adult' themes, so not really a half term treat for the kids, but if you aren't so encumbered, there might be some good tickets left in Manchester and the tour then moves on to Sadler's Wells.

We didn't have any sightseeing time in Manchester other than what

Steampunk style sculpture on
top of something 

flashed past the trains and the excellent Metrolink tram network, plus what we saw on the short walks between the two. I loved the blue tit mural pictured above and also this steampunk-style dragon. I didn't find out why either were created. Do you know? Dave got new paintbrushes in a dangerous shop called Fred Aldous - multiple floors of art and craft supplies for all budgets. They even had the scraping foil picture kits that I used to love doing as a child! We both liked the mix of ultra-new and vintage industrial architecture that we saw from the tram out to The Lowry. In common with many cities I guess, the old industrial areas are being reimagined as modern housing and flats. Some here are metal and glass towers and others are created within old factory walls. I thought this gave a real sense of energy to the city without losing its sense of heritage. There was quite a lot of work still being done, especially along the tram lines which must be irritating for those travelling every day. But it will look fabulous when it is finished! We have decided that we would definitely like to return to the Peak District again for another few weeks - perhaps next year. I would also like to return and see more of Manchester when we do.

On a different note, SumOfUs emailed me this afternoon with the below petition that, while it only affects El Salvador, a small country on the other side of the world, at the moment, could have far-reaching effects for all of us if El Salvador loses its fight:

"In just a few weeks, a World Bank tribunal could decide whether the tiny

Central American nation of El Salvador will have to dish out millions to a Canadian-Australian mining giant - just for rejecting a destructive gold mine. OceanaGold is suing El Salvador for a whopping $301 million under investor laws that allow corporations to shamelessly sue countries.

El Salvador has the right to reject the mine to protect its water and people - 90% of the country's water is contaminated already, and OceanaGold’s mine would ruin its last remaining sources of clean water. With a decision coming any day, now is the time to pile on the pressure. Let's raise an outcry the World Bank can't ignore, and convince it to throw out this deeply unpopular case."

Please sign this SumOfUs petition telling the World Bank to throw out OceanaGold's case!

From Bakewell to Eyam: two museums, new boots and a pudding

The Peak District town of Bakewell has been on our bucket list for years,

Bakewell Pudding! 

mainly due to Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells being one of Dave's favourite foods - ever! We wanted to see if the genuine article was indeed better so we bought ourselves a traditional pudding and a can of custard today. I'll let you know Dave's Official Decision after our Tamarind Chicken dinner ... (and, while I remember, if you forget to buy fresh tomatoes, it turns out that a tablespoon of tomato puree is a fine substitute.)

In the meantime, it turns out that there's more to Bakewell than pastry confections. The town is the capital of the Peak District and has an abundance of outdoor clothing shops, cute cafes and estate agents. It is very touristy which must have destroyed much of its original charm, but there are still lots of old buildings to admire from street level. The oldest house in town, dating back to 1534, is now the Old House Museum - see what they did there? A little away from the commercial centre and up a hill that's not a patch on Calver Edge, the Museum houses a hotch-potch of domestic and industrial artefacts, tells the stories of local residents, and has an interesting short film about the history of the town. Apparently the name Bakewell is likely derived from Scandinavian language roots with early names being Badeca's Wells in Danelaw times and Badequella in the Domesday Book.

Bakewell's Museum showing its age on the outside 

We spent an hour or so exploring the varied exhibits and I thought it was all good value for the £4 per person admission charge. My particular favourite exhibits were the inlaid table top - want one! - and the massive wooden Tudor cupboard - it will never fit in Bailey! Architectural details are also highlighted such as very early windows and a huge Tudor fireplace that had later been walled in for a pantry. Outside, we could see the sagging walls. On show were also recycled battery cases from a defunct local battery factory, now functioning as planters. They reminded me of this fun planter we saw in Castleton - I should have kept hold of my worn out Karrimor boots!

Recycled planter in Castleton 

We lunched at Bean and Bag, a lovely cafe in Bakewell, before wandering around some shops and then heading to Eyam in time to beat last admissions at the Eyam Museum by fifteen minutes. The ticket seller didn't seem best pleased - apparently we should spend longer than 45 minutes there, but it's quite a compact presentation and we skipped the war section. A little local history includes a great model of a leadmine and some archaeological finds. Eyam is famous for being a village that isolated itself during the Great Plague of 1665 in order not to pass the disease to neighbouring

Present-day Eyam 

villages. The museum doesn't actually say whether their sacrifice worked and hardly mentions the whole isolation and how it worked. However, there is lots of information about the plague year - the volume of deaths, historic plague remedies and preventative measures, most of which are ludicrous by current thinking. I was shocked to learn that bubonic plague is still with us. For some reason, my school teaching that the Great Fire of London's wiping out of the last vestiges of the plague had led me to believe it no longer existed anywhere. Not so. An estimated twelve and a half million people in India died of plague in the fifty years prior to Independence and, in certain areas of the USA, people are warned against coming into contact with local wildlife as rodents there carry bubonic plague. Scary stuff!

Eyam Museum is another great value visit at just £4.50 for both of us. Plus, if you're in the area around the middle of June, there is a production of Roses Of Eyam to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the first plague victim in the village. The play is on from the 17th to the 20th June 2015 and tickets are on sale at Eyam Museum.

On a happier note, let's talk shopping! There's a dangerous shop on the

My new Gabor boots 

way back from Eyam to Hope. It's called the Peaklander Factory Shop and they have lots of outdoorsy shoes and clothing. I popped in hoping they might have some convertible trousers, but instead I bought these Fabulous Boots! I love boots! Dave gets the credit for spotting them and they are by a German brand called Gabor. Super comfy and they look great with black jeans. Oops!

We are doing well for local shopping having walked into Hope twice from the campsite, once even In The Rain although we sweltered on the way back uphill in all our waterproofs. The cheeses below are from the excellent Watson's Farm Shop and, further afield in Castleton, the bakery shop whose name I forgot is Peveril Stores and they also have their own honey and jams.

Buying Local 

You will notice a few petitions creeping into these blog pages from now on as I use a bit of the space to raise awareness of issues that are important to me. My friend Sally Willow commented on Facebook that we're going to be signing for a lot more causes since May 7th. So true! I will be promoting campaigns from SumOfUs, Compassion In World Farming and 38 Degrees. If you agree with any, please click through and sign. If not, just scroll past. It's not like I'll know!

Last month, a SumOfUs petition helped convince Yum! Brands, owner of

Pizza Hut and KFC, to announce a policy to only buy 100% deforestation-free palm oil. However a new report shows that one of Pizza Hut's largest international franchisees, Jardine Matheson, is responsible for massive destruction of rainforests and endangered elephant habitat. Pizza Hut cannot claim to be deforestation-free while its franchisees are cutting down the rainforest. Please sign this new SumOfUs petition to convince Pizza Hut to honour its public commitment.