The Ragged Optimist 63
3D printed porcelain, steam railways, and old buckets
“Anything is possible. It might require a little or even a lot of imagination at times. You may need a large army to help and you might need to do things differently. But if you can dream it, you really can do it.” Jazz Turner, sailor.
I’m down in Brighton this week, for two workshops in Whitehawk. We’re going to put the estate at the centre of the world, in an act of renegade map-making. At the end of the project I’ll be making a giant map that explores hope, optimism, and joy - which will tour the UK in an exhibition later this year. ‘ll be taking Jazz Turner’s words as a bit of inspiration.
I’ve also started my role as Writer-in-Residence on Sittingbourne Steam Railway, and will be inviting you to come over and join me at the Kemsley site very soon. Watch this space, and all that.
Oh - and at the weekend I popped up in The Telegraph, talking about why Margate’s story isn’t as simple as ‘everyone went to Benidorm instead’.
Jazz Turner will be home for the 27th birthday a doctor told her she might not live to see. The terminally ill British sailor has just become the first disabled woman to sail solo and unassisted round the British Isles.
3D-printed porcelain structures might revive an ancient way of cooling buildings. They’re filled with sand and then water, which seeps from inside the outer shell of each column. As the water turns to vapor, the heat is absorbed and dispersed from the column, thereby cooling the air surrounding it.
The Bromeswell Bucket is a beautiful find from Sutton Hoo, and the Time Team found the missing bottom last year. They’ve just finished this year’s dig.
The Hemspan factory will make components for around 2000 homes per year. The first showcase for the factory will be Rochford Park, a 130-hectare site located northeast of Rochford, where they’re planning 2000 climate positive homes, which store more carbon than they emit during the construction phase. They produce near-zero embodied carbon over their lifetime. Each home generates all the energy it needs, creating warmer homes, lower energy bills and a lighter footprint on the planet.
Rangers at the Ickworth Estate in Suffolk planted 1300 trees to restore a landscape devastated by ash dieback, and support the growth of the next generation of ancient and veteran trees.
They’ve got some catching up to do. Ten million trees have been planted by the Mersey Forest project.
Meanwhile, East Devon District Council has set out a plan to increase tree canopy cover to 30% by 2035, improve biodiversity, and ensure equitable access to green space for all residents. And it supports beavers - they’ve been living there since about 2008.
Triodos Bank has provided a loan to fund a major rewilding initiative in Selwood Forest in Somerset. The £1.5m loan has assisted with the purchase of a 133 acre site, which will link existing rewilding sites, creating a connected landscape-scale network of restored habitats.
After a local councillor in Kent tried to pretend he’d banned a book, and imade himself look rather daft, a group of local bookshops have declared their support for trans people.
Nice one, Dan!