June 1st - June 9th

Okehampton to the Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington,
the finish of the walk, and the performance of "The Wind Thing"

The cast do some Street Theatre

The cast do some Street Theatre

The "Wind Thing" cast do some street
theatre in the Square

June 1st View of Yes Tor from Hatherleigh Common. If erected, the Yelland farm turbines would be visible in this view The Salar Gallery	Goodbye to Mel, Ray and Connie and off on the trail again... Through more of the search area.... you can`t blame the Devon County Council for this - the government has imposed targets for renewable energy upon them. At one Planning meeting I went to, one councillor dared to ask, what happens if we don`t meet them? Why can`t they be given the choice to subsidise other forms of renewable energy instead, that not only leave the countryside unspoilt but would actually be more efficient? And help reduce ordinary people`s bills, rather than make a few developers very rich? I walked from Okehampton to Hatherleigh. A wonderful walk in beautiful sunshine, through blissfully peaceful countryside, with only the cuckoo and other birds breaking the silence. At Hatherleigh, I called in on the Salar Gallery, and saw the Exhibition there: Celebrating Tarka Country www.salargallery.co.uk I stayed the night with Sally Vick, the gallery owner (an artist herself, and also a keen walker) and had spaghetti bolognese followed by one of my favourite puddings, rhubarb crumble, with Ambrosia Custard.
June 2nd Sally and Helen near Jacobstowe	Walked from Hatherleigh to Dolton with Sally Vick and her friend Helen. The sun came out again and it was hot! My ankle could take no more by the time we reached Dolton (perhaps I had done too much on Thursday) so the last leg to Torrington was a bus-ride (still Green but I was sad not to walk it, as I had been looking forward to that part of the journey.) I caught the No.315 bus, which goes from Exeter to Barnstaple, and continued on toBarmstaple, home again. Came back to 275 emails including a worrying one about another proposed wind farm at Bickham Moor, near Rackenford (Two Moors Way area). I will have to go there as well.... after the Art Trek is over, no more time for now
June 3rd This is a painting by John Wray of the Two Moors Way Campaign, a very large oil based on a smaller version of a Painting by Poussin. Click here for more about artists I met on the walk	Trip to Winkleigh by bus put off until Friday June 9th, so time to work on the website and catch up with some washing. Took a short walk to Somerfields for some shopping, with my very Green shopping trolley. I often wonder how to make shopping trolleys more fashionable. If only David Cameron or Zac Goldsmith or Bob Geldof or Jonathan Porrit would start using one. At the moment, they are associated with old ladies. It`s time they were associated with saving the planet.
June 4th This is a photo of some of us at the Plough in April, talking to Henry . It includes Joanne Bell who walked with me near Instow (I couldn`t take her photo then because of the rain) Click on image for more photos.	Shock news! If you ever plan to lose weight by doing a marathon walk around Devon wind farm sites, staying with wind farm campaigners, think again! I have to admit here and now that as well as all the other good reasons for doing my walk, the raising awareness of the issue, the giving support to lonely campaigners, the being close to nature, etc.... I had one ulterior motive... I wanted to lose a few pounds. Today I weighed myself, and I am heavier than when I started, thanks to all the wonderful meals I have been given on my way. Was it the Foghanger tart, the Goodman roast potatoes or the Morwenstow lemon meringue pie that added on the pounds? I could mention many other meals, and still leave some delicious meal out by accident. All I can say is that despite the weight gain it was all worth it, and thank you to everyone for such wonderful hospitality and support every step of the way.
June 5th	Sadly had to abandon plan to walk from Dolton to Petersmarland, where I had hoped to visit Helen Bailes, a potter and Art Trek artist, and her husband Mike Lamprey. (They came to the Wind Thing on the Friday night, so I saw them then) Still limping and having to rest, but more work on the website, and preparing for the Exhibition - framing the pastel painting of Batsworthy Cross that was used in the Big Art Challenge The photo on the left is from the Press Launch in April at the Plough - I am talking about the walk, and Ray from Bowerlands is holding the map of Devvon for me.
June 6th One of my paintings of the countryside near Torrington This is a painting by Gillian Cronk, an artist I met at Rose Ash. It was displayed in the Exhibition. Click on link for more about artists on the walk	To Torrington to set up the Exhibition. This time I travelled by car, firstly to save my ankle (it`s about a mile and a half to the bus station) secondly because I was being given a lift by someone from the CAWT group who brought paintings and displays for the Exhibition. Thanks to everyone who came over to help. The giant painting from Rose Ash looked very impressive.. I had planned to visit the people living closest to the site of the three (proposed) Higher Darracott turbines, but had to abandon this, as I was still limping badly. Back home again on the No.71 bus, still having problems with the ankle and worried about doing the last leg on Thursday. Also on the bus was Jon Hooper from the Green Party: We had a long but amicable argument about wind farms, neither of us changing the other one`s mind. The walk home was difficult as the ankle was troubling me.
June 7th Blackcraig Hill Stephanie Ware - one of the stars of The Wind Thing Henry Lewis, talking about the show this April in the Meeting Room at the Plough, click on image for more before the walk photos In the vicarage garden with the puppies - Bridget and Clarissa Hummerstone	Artists Against Wind Farms Exhibition at the Plough (June 7 - 9) The painting on the left is called "Hen harrier hovering over Blackcraig Hill" This beautiful hill is where the Artists Against Wind Farms website was launched, in the presence of Professor David Bellamy, who sent a message of support at the beginning of the walk. The peace and serenity of this hill is under threat, as is much of the Scottish Landscape. Down to Barnstaple again to catch the No.71 bus to Torrington. There were still some adjustments to make to the Exhibition, and I want to give special thanks to a friend of mine, Tricia Martin, from Torrington, for the help she gave me in hanging the last paintings, which made such a difference to the Exhibition. Henry Lewis and the cast of The Wind Thing came down to Torrington, by train to Umberleigh, continuing the Green Theme, with the last part of the journey on one of Henry`s favourite branch lines, the Tarka Line. I would like to make the point here that our emphasis on Green travel is not just a gimmick: neither Henry or I own a car. We don`t wear hair-shirts either though: Henry did not expect the cast to walk the last eight miles from Umberleigh to Torrington! Caroline Harvey from the Two Moors Way Campaign gave them a lift, and after they had settled in,they went out to do some street theatre in the Square. More details about the cast. I spent the night at Torrington Vicarage, in Calf Street, staying with my friends the Hummerstones. Jeremy Hummerstone is the vicar of Torrington and he had kindly put details of my walk in the Church Newsletter. His wife Clarissa (who has helped me with this project in numerous ways) was extra busy this week, but made me welcome despite this. They have seven children, all grown up now, and when many years ago my house was in a state of collapse, they gave me and my three children a home for more than six weeks. Ever since then, the Vicarage has seemed like a second home, and it is always a pleasure to visit them there. More photos of puppies to come as soon as I can upload them. Visit the Church website, especially if you are of a libertarian nature (some very interesting links)
June 8th Daisies at the Reservoir, which would be just below the turbines Foxgloves Torrington ahead The Plough Arts Centre I was a volunteer here from about 1987 until 1998 John Constable, seen here with Noel Edmonds Finishing the walk at last Street theatre in the Square John Constable, Richard Wolfenden-Brown and Ricky Knight at the debate	The Finish (of the walk) Click link above for the last leg of the walk, from Higher Darracott, the site where three turbines are planned, back to the Plough Arts Centre in Torrington itself. Clarissa drove me out to the Darracott Reservoir by car, not having a pony and trap or any other suitably Green vehicle. Not knowing how my ankle would be, I didn`t dare risk walking both ways, especially as I was to be filmed on the way back, and had to be able to walk properly. She then left me to walk back after we had looked sadly at the field where the turbines will go, unless a last ditch attempt to stop them (at the European Court of Human Rights) is successful. Left alone at last, I took hold of my trusty stick, and began to walk again. The ankle had been so painful that I was very apprehensive, but - as if by magic - it was better at last, and for the first time since the accident I could walk without a limp. It was wonderful to be walking properly again, and to be alone in the quiet countryside. May 13th at Brent Tor seemed a long time ago. Then, it had been shivering cold, with a grey sky, and primroses and bluebells on the hedgerow banks. Now, it was hot, with a blue sky, ox-eye daisies on the Reservoir bank and foxgloves in the hedgerows. It was bliss, to be walking on my own again, in the Devon countryside that I have come to love so much. In the distance, above the hedgerows, I could see the steeple of Torrington church, and the chimneys of the little town that has been called the English Jerusalem, perched as it is upon a hill. I lived in Torrington for 12 years, from 1986 until 1998, and the countryside around it has been my foremost inspration as an artist: how fitting it was to be finishing my walk coming up the hill to this little town. At a bridge, less than half a mile from the Plough, I met the TV crew who had filmed me walking at North Tawton back on May 28th. They are working on a documentary about the Den Brook Wind Farm application, and had come up to film the finish, and the evening`s show, when Den Brook members would be present. We met at a little bridge, in the bottom of a valley. It was very hot by now. They filmed me walking up and down, then wired me up, and followed with cameras for the last part of the walk. By the bridge, we could have been in the depths of the country: the only sound you could hear was the water in the river. We went up into as Lane, past the Roman Catholic Street, and suddenly we were iin the busy modern world again, with the traffic rushing by on Calf Street. In the distance I saw Clarissa`s son Gabriel Hummerstone, another Art Trek artist (a stonecarver) just going into the Vicarage. We crossed the road, and went up Potacre Street, then right to the Plough, where a crowd was there to greet me. And a finishing tape, held, I think, by John Constable. It was a strange finish for someone who once used to run flat out, but very welcome. In all my years as a runner though, I was never met by an all singing all dancing cast! And of course, Henry, who had been there at the beginning, on that cold grey day, dancing a jig on the road from Brent Tor. And so many friends there to greet me, including to my delight Mel and Ray Quirke, all the way up from Bowerlands near Okehampton, Ashley Gray from the Two Moors Campaign, and Muriel Goodman from North Tawton, among others. Plus ITV and reporters, as well as the documentary crew. It was very hot. We all went into the Plough, while Henry and the cast went off to do some street theatre in the Square, enlivening Thursday morning shopping for the residents of Torrington. For me it was almost over: for Henry and the actors, the big moment was to come. August note Still updating The photos I have been waiting for have come at last! Apologies for long delay.... but unlike the wind power companies or many of their political suporters, we are none of us paid professionals and we get caught up in the necessary business of earning a living. See this link for more news about the evening, the show, the debate, Friday`s second visit to Higher Darracott and Saturday`s visit to Reg Gale`s Open Day... and guess who came to see the play.... Simon Holt from Npower, supporting yet another of our ventures. Now the photos have arrived (August 23rd) there will be more to look at very soon. The Wind Thing at at the Plough Arts Centre , starting at 8pm, .followed by a debate with John Constable (Renewable Energy Foundation ) and Ricky Knight (Green Party) speaking. The subject of wind energy that was being debated is of special importance to all those who live in Torrington and the surrounding area, since the three turbines at Higher Darracott will - if erected - dominate the landscape, and make it increasingly vulnerable to further development (as at Bradworthy). I was looking forward to meeting up again with many of the people who have been such great supporters during the walk. I like to think this is not an argument between "us" and the "Greens" but an argument within the Green Community, and I hoped very much that the debate would be treated in this manner. The true debate, in fact, pits those who love the countryside ( and can certainly be called "Green" by any definition) against the big energy companies and government, with its arbitrarily imposed targets. Wind is the new oil rush, fuelled by lavish government subsidies that make a few people very rich, while dividing small communities, and devasting our countryside.
June 9th Dartmoor still visible, from this turbine site, so would the Yelland trubines be visible too, and the turbines here be visible from Yelland?	In the morning, a visit to the home of the people who live closest to the Higher Darracott tubines. A walk round a most beautiful and unusual garden and then a walk back to Torrington through the field where the turbines would be sited. The Wind Thing at the Plough Arts Centre, also a power point presentation by John Constable, plus possibly another talk or a question and answer session... now the photos are here (August 23rd) this is being updated
June 10th	Taking the Exhibition down and visit to Reg Gale`s Open Day - go to this page and scroll down to see Reg and some of the artists there