Amazing vibrant video clips captured by submarines

Fruits and vegetables in season are much more supportive of not only your health, but also the health of the planet, as food does not have to travel 1000's of miles to reach you. 

Veg: Jerusalem artichoke, beetroot, brussel sprouts, cabbages, cardoons, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, chard, chicory, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnip, potatoes, pumpkins, salsify, spinach, squash, swede, turnips.

Fruit: Apples, chestnuts, quinces.

Wild Foods: Blewit, Cauliflower fungi, Cep, Chanterelle, Chickweed, Dandelion, Fairyring mushroom, Giant Puffball, Honey Fungus, Horse mushroom, Jew's ear, Nettles, Oyster mushrooms, Rosehip, Saffron milkcap, Shaggy inkcaps, Sweet chestnuts, Velvet shank, Wood hedgehog

Wild foods list thanks to Natural Bushcraft

Local veg boxes Schemes Cornwall

Weather predicting. Art or luck? -

Walking in bad weather is better than sitting in an office in good weather.

Bad weather still means good walking; it’s just that great weather usually means great walking. So the game to be played with Mother Nature is how to be walking in good weather all week. With forecasts ranging from calm to indifferent via murky and difficult to predict locally I have to rely on a variety of well-used plans. These include the website Magic Seaweed which has the pressure charts and incoming rain bands for the coming 168 hours, plus the Met Office with the five day forecast and symbols from its 13 areas of West Cornwall starting with the weather for my home area of Falmouth.

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[walkitcornwall's feed]

Atlantic Diver was treated to a rare sighting of a pod of about 30 beautiful Risso's Dolphins today. They swam in pairs which is typical of this species of Cetacean and although not interested in playing with the boat...lucky anglers out on a Newquay Sea Safari and Fishing trip off Newquay were able to view them from a short distance away from the boat. It is the first time skipper Chris lowe has seen this species of Dolphin so close to Newquay. He identified them with a little help from wildlife guide  Annabelle when he at first thought they were Bottlenose Dolphins but was puzzled by their distance from the coastline and rounded shaped heads and short beaks....similar to Pilot Whales. Some were very dark in colour like Pilot Whales whist others were very pale , almost white like Belugas. Several were also scarred....this scarring is thought to be from fighting or teeth contact ( rake marks) from other Risso's Dolphins and maybe even from Squid injuries which makes up part of their diet. Their very Falcate fin was another identifying point. All of these identifying marks can be seen in the following pictures taken by Chris. ....Wow the passengers and skipper were blown away...."Fintastic!!!" It will be interesting to see what marine Wildlife we spot this winter as Atlantic Diver will remain in the water to continue trips throughout the winter period..please call the skipper to arrange any trips.

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The SITA incinerator: Cornwall Waste Forum calls for 'immediate talks' with Cornwall Council 

The St Dennis branch of the Cornwall Waste Forum has called on Cornwall Council for immediate talks to explore alternatives to the proposed incinerator, following their successful High Court action.

'We have a rare window of opportunity to build bridges with Cornwall Council' said Ken Rickard, the Forum chair. 'Our success in the High Court, where Lord Justice Collins was unequivocal in his finding for the Forum, means that there will now be a breathing space. This is the time to take stock and consider the best way forward for Cornwall.'

The Forum has long disputed Cornwall Council's case that there is no alternative to incineration. Indeed Cornwall Council itself was of the same view when it fought SITA's appeal last year. Current trends and new technology both point to opportunities for investment in Cornwall, with new jobs and businesses to support them. 'The most impressive change in the last few years is that recycling has become a profitable business, the amount of waste being generated is declining year on year, and we can now reduce dramatically the amount of waste going to landfill,' added Mr Rickard. 'There is a real opportunity for Cornwall to be at the forefront of new waste disposal technology involving the county's engineering talent. We don't need an incinerator.'

The Waste Forum's appeal comes after it successfully challenged the decision by Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to allow an Appeal by SITA to build a 240,000tpa. incinerator at St Dennis. The challenge was heard in the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London. The Forum was represented by Barrister David Wolfe supported by his Leigh Day and Co colleagues and our solicitor Mr C Hopkins. The hearing was attended by ten members from Cornwall and one from London. The judgement was given on 13 October and the written Judgement will be released this Thursday 20 October.

The challenge was based on the threat the incinerator would pose to nearby EU designated "Special Areas of Conservation". The Judge backed the Forums's claim that the inspector, whose decision was followed by the Secretary of State, was wrong to leave the question of an Appropriate Assessment to the Environment Agency, which had already announced its stance that the incinerator would have no significant environmental effects. 

The Judge ordered the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, to reconsider the decision and he did give the Secretary of State permission to challenge his decision at the Court of Appeal.

Whereas the Forum members are delighted with this decision they are aware of the self inflicted problems which now face Cornwall Council, and are committed to work with the Council and have taken the positive step of inviting the Cabinet portfolio holder for Waste and the Environment and some of his Waste Development Advisory Panel councillors to a meeting to discuss the way forward.

It must be emphasised that Cornwall Council had the opportunity to cancel the controversial and costly Waste contract with French Company SITA in 2010. This contract has continually been blamed as the reason for the pursuance of incineration as the technology to disposal of Cornwall's waste.

Ken Rickard 
Chair of Cornwall Waste Forum St.Dennis Branch. 

Tel. 01726822636.

E-mail: kenrick.trelavour@tiscali.co.uk

Autumns approach: An awareness of change -

Saturday September 24th to Saturday 1^st October 2011.

Intensity: Wind: Light: Waves: Perfect insects’ final dance: Natures last throw of the dice: Birds knowledgeable, warbling their mournful autumnal tunes.

Blink and you miss the subtlety of change; the announcement that we are in the death throws of growth and vibrancy and we are entering the time of decay, death and reinvention. If you are tuned in to natures warning then sit back and enjoy the intensity. Of crashing waves: of the last dance of butterflies that care not for which species they have their final flutter with: of mists hugging hills: of ripples in the warm wind that fast forward in their restricted rock pools.

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Lizard Peninsula walking holiday in Cornwall 2011 -

Saturday 7th September to Saturday 24th 2011.

The Lizard coastal walk. 60kms or 37.5 miles of coast path from Porthleven to Helford on the Helford River around the Southernmost point of the UK.

This was made for a five-day walk with neat 7.5-mile chunks for five days. Now all we needed was good weather and some friendly faces. With Linda and Stan from Seattle, Yunsuk from Germany, Helen from the UK and Mascha from Holland we had an International troupe tramping the coast path.

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Tata Motors is taking giant strides and making history for itself. First the Landrover-Jaguar deal , then the world's cheapest car  and now it is also set to introduce the car that runs on air, compressed air.

With spiralling fuel prices it is about time we heard some breakthrough!

India's largest automaker Tata Motors is set to start producing the world's first commercial air-powered vehicle.  

The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine's pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets by August  2010.  

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Tourism has its 'green' credentials, there are many accolades available to accommodation providers such as the GTBS and Green Acorn, but one aspect of tourism sits very uncomfortably as the elephant in the room -  the fuel that every visitor uses driving to and from and around Cornwall. If Cornwall is to be the green peninsula then it must take this bull elephant by the tusks and do something to not only reduce it but also ensure that the reduction is an ongoing process. 

How much fuel?

At an average of 40 mpg and an average 250 miles driven while in Cornwall, visitors would use approximately this much fuel...