Transition Town Dorchester has been overwhelmed by outpourings of readers’ concerns on hearing of the demise of the polytunnel – ‘But what of poor Castro the cat?’ they have asked aghast.

Castro is a survivor, as his ragged ears clearly testify.

But this time he had some assistance – we put up a little octagonal summerhouse in the Poundbury orchard, furnished it with a chair and his bowl, put a special cat flap in it, someone donated a cosy igloo, and Castro appears to be perfectly at home. He even has a fence between him and the geese.

Our intention with the new polytunnel is to offer space to people in the area who would like to grow food under cover. To this end, we will be holding a meeting sometime at the beginning of February to invite local people to bring their ideas and suggestions about how they would like to see the polytunnel, and even the new farm, evolve. Everyone is very warmly welcome to attend and there might even be some refreshments.

We have endured a lot of theft the past year of tools and other equipment, but are happy to see that the Duchy are now putting a fence up for us. We would love a space where people can wander in and out, but we have accepted the necessity of some sort of fencing. It does mean that we can now really make a start on our new farm – exciting times ahead!

If you would like to join us for our weekend workdays at our community spaces, or would be interested in space in the polytunnel, or to know more details about the meeting, email info@transitiontowndorchester.org

KATE FORRESTER

TRANSITION TOWN DORCHESTER