- Details
We're happy to report that the website has been successfully upgraded to Joomla 5, with significant support from local tech wizard Sam Benson. (We apologise for the temporary glitch while he was away on his honeymoon.) At present Nigel and Alison are familiarising themselves with the new controls, encouraged of course by Baldrik, who claims to have a good eye for website design.
We've also been liaising with Mark Johnson, our Comms coordinator, on the criteria for a minor restructure. We can make these available for discussion at our AGM on Saturday, 31 August. And of course all members who would like to take part in adding content or helping to manage the site would be most welcome. If you fancy having a go, why not contact us via
- Details
How and where should renewable energy best be generated in the Staffordshire Moorlands? This is a question that has exercised some of the district’s residents in the last few years but is one that will come into even sharper focus with the advent of a new government determined to meet its legal requirements under the 2008 Climate Act and to decarbonise electricity generation by 2030.
The government has already lifted the de facto ban on wind turbines and has proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework that would give more weight to the benefits of renewable energy applications when they come before a Planning Committee. Each council will also be required for the first time to identify sites they deem suitable for renewable energy.
At Moorlands Climate Action, we clearly welcome this decisive shift away from the uncertainty of the last few years, believing that everyone deserves access to clean, affordable and home-grown energy. We also believe that a council that (under a different administration) freely committed to Net Zero by 2030 and set targets for renewable energy, is honour bound to try and achieve them.
Read more: Spotlight Summer 2024 - Renewable Energy on our Turf?
- Details
MCA’s fourth Hug Green Arts Festival was the biggest and – we think – the best we have yet held. Well over 500 people came though the Foxlowe Arts Centre’s doors in Leek to enjoy a full day of music, poetry, arts and crafts. The sun shone and visitors of all ages flocked from across the district and beyond. The Foxlowe ran out of food for the first time in anyone’s memory.
This year, the central theme was the importance of trees. Participants ran tree-themed activities throughout the day, including the opportunity to construct a tree mandala and drop-in workshops making eco-prints with leaves. The latter were so popular that people did not want to leave.
There was an astonishing variety of things to do with wood on offer. Storylogs saw visitors making small ash logs to create pyrographed artworks; Cheshire Bodgers showed how to – bodge! Anthony Hammond demonstrated willow weaving; Heather Smith whittled; while our own Peter Oakley put on display the gentle beauty of the pole lathe. For those with energy left there was a guided tree ID walk, as well as the launch of the Leek Tree Trail (thanks to Chris Thompson).
- Details
The swifts are back! These delightful harbingers of spring and summer have returned to the skies over Leek, with reliable reports of sightings (plus the sound of their distinctive scream) coming from Haregate and several other locations.
Although hugely appreciated by us, they are not the only indicators of a rosier picture in the Moorlands. As we report in our articles elsewhere, there have been many positive developments locally, some already in train, some in the pipeline and some potential opportunities (we hope not mirages) for the future.
On the Energy front, the encouraging news is that parts of Leek have been mentioned as a possible target in a government consultation on Heat Network Zoning, which simply put could provide a community heating system for houses in tightly packed terraced streets. We have also been asked to take part in a consultation on barriers to community energy projects, so please contact our Energy team (
- Details
Last month, two of our members, Sally Perry and James Firkins, met our local MP Karen Bradley for a discussion on climate issues affecting the Moorlands. We were delighted to get the opportunity, even though the time available was short, as we’d been requesting a meeting for quite some time. Here are the questions and her summarised replies. See the link at the end for a full downloadable report.
Local Public Transport
We know you’ve very active on getting the Leek to Stoke rail line revived, and we wish you well with that project. But bus services in the Moorlands are in a parlous state. Could you tell us what you’re doing to save what we already have and bring back the kind of routes that can help residents get to work, education or even hospital appointments?
Her response -
- Details
This wonderful film is a spinoff project from Save Our Wild Isles that brought together young people from across the UK to tell their story through film, and take action for nature. Over a hundred young people took part in the workshops and the completed film will premiere on YouTube on Monday 27 November. It showcases the action being taken by young changemakers, and their vision for the future of our world.
We are thrilled to be able to join with some of the filmmakers and participants in hosting a screening at the Foxlowe Arts Centre at 7:00pm on Wednesday 29 November. It will be introduced by our panel of participants (Alana Wheat, Ed Daly and Xander Wood), who will share their stories on the project, and followed by a Q&A session, possibly also including the producer, Ben Sandbrook.
So, watch the trailer, make a note of the date and look out for our publicity on Facebook and elsewhere. If you can share and like the posts, so much the better.
- Spotlight Autumn 2023 - Making Moorlands Houses Warmer
- The Stoke-on-Trent Sustainability Summit
- Staffordshire Climate Expo and Sustainability Conference
- Well, We Only Went and Won It!
- Spotlight Summer 2023 - Fiddling the Figures while the Earth’s in Flames?
- Mark Cocker Talk – One Midsummer’s Day
- Take a Punt on Us!
- A Bloom of Bees at HuG
- Carbon Literacy Training Opportunity
- Peak Cluster
- Spotlight Spring 2023 - A Clear Warning that We Need to Act Now
- Rare Woodlouse Makes a Comeback in the Moorlands