Welcome to Greener Living in Upton Grey
GLUG for short !
"Enjoying village life in an environmentally friendly way"
VILLAGE SPRING CLEAN
About 50 people joined in the Village Spring Clean and Picnic on 10th May, an excellent turnout for our first full event helped, of course, by it being such a beautiful, sunny day.
Groups were sent off in all directions and managed to find a surprising amount of litter. The prize for collecting the most litter was awarded to Paul and Sarah Gray who managed to lug back to the churchyard a rusting iron frame of apparently agricultural provenance which some thoughtful person had left as a rather dangerous addition to the children's playground. They are now the proud owners of a water-powered Digi-Alarm clock donated by Basingstoke & Deane B.C.
The winners of the "Know Your Village" quiz were Anne and Vernon Appelboam who answered all 20 questions correctly - we hope they enjoy GLUG-ing their bottle of fizz! The answers will be found at the end of this article
By the end of the event, the churchyard had been much improved by the efforts of those who had stayed behind to help tidy it up.
Most people stayed on to enjoy a picnic in the sunshine and the majority expressed the hope that the event would be repeated next year. It was great to see so many children involved some of whom found sweets hidden in the churchyard.
GLUG "Know The Village" Quiz
Q1 Can you name the 3 thatched buildings in the village ?
Q2 Upton Grey church is dedicated to which saint ?
Q3 Which river has its source within the parish ?
Q4 Which 1956 film starring Max Bygraves was partly set in the village?
Q5 A plaque on the village hall is a memorial to which past village benefactor ?
Q6 Upton Grey Manor is famous for its gardens, designed by who ?
Q7 Which of the following is NOT a road name in Upton Grey - Little Hoddington-The Orchard-Woodmanfield-Limbrey Hill-The Butts?
Q8 A house on Chruch street has advertised which insurance company for over 100 years?
Q9 Upton Grey lost its cricket pitch several decade ago, where was it ?
Q10 Which of the following is NOT the name of a house in the village - Upton Grey Place-Upton Grey Lodge-Upton Grey Hall-Upton Grey Manor-Upton Grey House ?
Q11 What are the names of the former disgraced Government Minister and his actress wife who lived in the village until a few years ago?
Q12 How many manors were there in the parish in medieval times?
Q13 How many people from the parish died in the first world war?
Q14 Where would you have found the blacksmiths house in the 19th century?
Q15 What game was formerly played on the site of the old court house ?
Q16 Name two houses with fake windows painted on their walls?
Q17 Who sang "shout" and attended her sons wedding in the village last year ?
Q18 In which garden will you find 2 birds that cant fly and a fish that cant swim?
Q19 In which years did Upton Grey win the "Best Kept Village" competition?
Q20 What is the speed limit through the village ?
Quiz Answers :
1 Beam Ends, Wayside cottage and The Folly
2 St Mary
3 River Whitewater near Bidden
4 Charley Moon
5 Charles Holme
6 Gertrude Jekyll
7 The Orchard
8 Norwich Union, Spinners
9 The filed opposite the Hoddington Arms
10 Upton Grey Hall
11 John Profumo and Valerie Hobson
12 Two Upton Grey and Hoddington
13 15
14 The Old Forge
15 Tennis
16 Minnack Cottage and Compton House
17 Lulu
18 Willow Cottage
19 1996 and 1997
20 30 mph
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VILLAGE FETE REPORT
We had a stall at the church fete on Saturday 13th June which was strongly supported by Basingstoke & Deane B.C. with their environmental road show. There was another chance at the fete to sign up to the GLUG Promise scheme and win 10 bottles of wine later in November. Please contact John Griffiths if you would like to sign up.
We were really pleased with the response to the stall at the fete. NPower had donated free ebergy saving light bulbs (Thanks to Hugh Chevalliers persuasiveness) and Blanche Miles from B&DBC brought along lots of information and giveaways - mugs-pencils made form recycled banknoes, frisbees and heaps of green information wwhich we were able to put together in free recyclaable bags and sell for 1 pound per bag. This also allowed entry into the GLUG Green Quiz. Over 60 people paid their pounds and entered the quiz which was won by 1st Richard Harker with 20 out of 30 right, 2nd the Shelley family with 19 and 3rd Gale McGarry with 18 right. We hope they all enjoyed their GLUG-ing wine prizes.
Ecotricity- the company that owns the wind turbine on the M4 at Reading sent us lots of their leaflets which were distributed to many interested visitors throughout the afternoon. anyone interested in switchingover their electricity can claim 25 pounds off thier first years billand 4 free energy saving light bulbs by quoting GLUG1 when they apply. Their phone number is 01453 769358 and website www.ecotricity.co.uk.
More people signed up to the GLUG 10 green Bottles Promise scheme which now means that we have over 10% of village households supporting the scheme. Promises will be monitored and the Prize draw will take place in November
Thanks to all who helped on the day including Hugh, John and Richard Griffiths, Dave and Cas Peace and Blanche of course.
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The GLUG Bookswap stand is now in place at the Village Shop and we hope that many of you will make use of this by both buying or borrowing and donating books. The suggested donation is £1 and all proceeds will be shared equally between the Village Shop and GLUG
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Why Greener Living in Upton Grey?
The catalyst for setting up an environmental group was my son's declaration that he was unsure whether it was morally right for him to bring children into a world that might be doomed. He works for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and is very committed to doing what he can to save the environment. He is involved in the international discussions that will lead up to the successor to the Kyoto Treaty. His mood swings from frustrated pessimism to fleeting optimism as he sees politicians playing Russian roulette with our future.
His concerns have made me very conscious both of the scale of the problem facing mankind and of the fact that each and every one of us has a responsibility to act; firstly, because our generation has been particularly materialistic and, consequently, very greedy in its use of the world's resources and, secondly, because if we leave it for the next generation to do something, it will almost certainly be too late.
Clearly, it is imperative that world leaders co-operate with each other to reduce carbon emissions on an international scale but leaving it to governments means we pass the buck as individuals. International negotiations are interminable and usually result in an ineffective compromise based not so much on trying to make real progress but more on balancing the self interests of politicians, who must seek re-election, and industrial pressure groups, who must satisfy shareholders. Whilst our leaders wrangle, we can make adjustments to the way we live on an individual basis which could have a substantial impact when added together.
Consumerism is so powerful and competition is so great that we can force large organisations with whom we deal on a daily basis to change. Major companies, such as Tesco and Sainsbury's, are now competing with each other to be green. Have a look at Marks & Spencer's " Plan A - because there is no Plan B " page on its website to see just how green the company is trying to be (http://plana.marksandspencer.com). Being cynical, it is likely that their plan is motivated more by the profit than altruism but that does not matter if it succeeds.
It is no hardship to take your own bags when you go shopping; it is what used to happen, as a matter of course, not that long ago. We can make other similar, minor changes in how we live at little inconvenience and many of them will result in a significant saving of money: for instance, driving more economically or turning lights off when you leave a room. This is what our proposed promise scheme, to be launched in May at our Village Spring Clean and Picnic, is all about. Few can claim that their actions and homes are totally green, least of all me, but we can all make a greater effort to be more thoughtful about what we do and buy.
Environmentalists are often perceived as tree-hugging, puritanical fundamentalists who preach a joyless message of a future demanding austerity and self-deprivation. Their stridency about others' wasteful lifestyles, usually accompanied by what are perceived as scaremongering overstatements, turns people off and is, thus, self-defeating. But caring for the world by being environmentally aware does not have to be like that; a more moderate approach must have a greater chance of persuading us to change our ways.
We live in an area which is not subject to any significant risk of serious flooding or desertification, at least in the foreseeable future. We are sheltered, therefore, from such life threatening effects of climate change. Our experience of the problem is likely to be limited to there being less predictable extremes of weather and a rise in the cost of things we buy. We all want to prolong the lifestyles we feel we have earned. However, our privileged position makes it even more incumbent upon us to try and help others who are likely to be more adversely affected, not least future generations which, I hope, will include my son's children.
So, GLUG is about us all, collectively and individually, promising to make a contribution towards saving the planet. It is hoped this can be achieved in the convivial manner that most of our village activities are undertaken. What better way could there be than to combine our efforts with drinking a little wine? Let us join together, therefore, and drink frequent toasts to the future in the knowledge that we have at least tried to make it a little brighter for everyone!
John Griffiths.
If you have ideas or comments or want to make a donation, do contact the committee.
This site is currently under construction - please visit regularly
We were really pleased with the response to our stall at the Fete on 13th June. NPower had donated some energy saving light bulbs (thanks to Hugh Chevallier's persuasiveness) and Basingstoke & Deane B.C.'s Blanche Miles brought along lots of information and giveaways - mugs, pencils, pencils and frisbees (all made from recycled materials) which we were able to put together in cloth carrier bags and sell for £1 a time. This also allowed entry into the Great GLUG Green Quiz. More than 60 people paid their pounds to us! Thanks to Cass Peace, Richard Griffiths and Blanche for all their hard work during the afternoon. Winners of the quiz were: 1st Richard Harker, 2nd the Shelley family and 3rd Gale McGarry with 20, 19 and 18 right out of 30 respectively. We hope they all enjoy GLUG-ing their wine prizes. The quiz questions and answers will be on our website.
Ecotricity - the company that owns the wind turbine on the M4 at Reading - sent us lots of their leaflets which were distributed throughout the afternoon. Anyone interested in switching over to their electricity can claim £25 off their first year's bill and 4 free energy saving light bulbs by quoting GLUG1 when they apply. Their phone number is 01453 769358 and their website is at www.ecotricity.co.uk
More people signed up to our Ten Green Bottles Promise scheme which now means that we have over 10% of households supporting our efforts. Promises will be monitored and the Prize Draw will take place in November.
