147 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
147 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
PRACTICAL ANARCHY
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EAST MIDLANDS ANARCHIST BULLETIN
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NOVEMBER 1995
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If one of the basic ideas of Anarchism is
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that of people taking back control over
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their own lives, then examples of local and
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individual control of Housing, Food
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Production and other essentials of life, are
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much needed evidence of the practicality
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of the Anarchist ideal.
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Two ongoing examples of such endeavours,
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indeed of Anarchy in Action, carried out
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by non-anarchists, are the allotments at
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Tarporley, Cheshire, and the self built
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'Yurt' of Bob, Jules and Amber in North
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Nottinghamshire.
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The Tarporley Allotment site differs from
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many Municipal sites insofar as the
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ground of the site, donated in past years
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by a local benevolent landowner, is owned
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by the local community, and managed on
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its behalf by a local body with a large,
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voluntary membership, albeit the British
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Legion. The land is approximately 3-3/4
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acres in extent, and has around 15 good
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sized allotments. Unlike many municipal
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allotment sites there are usually no vacant
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plots. The site is of light, salldy soil and
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slopes slightly to the south west.
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The full range of garden produce is grown.
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Everything from potatoes to leeks, cabbage,
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peas, beans artichokes, apples, pears,
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tomatos, courgettes, marrows, sweetcorn.
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strawberries raspberries. Walking around
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the allotments this September bore ample
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witness to the practicality of Kropotkins
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vision of a largely self-sufficient and
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economically Autarchic Anarchist Society.
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There were racks of onions and shallots
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drying in the sun, runnerbean plants still
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laden with beans. On those allotments
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with trees apples and pears were ripening.
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In the Greenhouses tomatos were turning
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red on the plants. On one allotment there
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were Italian Plum Tomatos, Cherry
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Tomatos and 'ordinary' tomatos. On
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another there were onions the size of
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melons. Main crop potatoes were being
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harvested, as they were needed.
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Many of the allotment holders had shown
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great improvisation in recycling materials
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to build sheds, coldframes and
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greenhouses. One such greenhouse was
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constructed out of old double glazing
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panels salvaged by a worker from a
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windows installation firm. Most sheds had
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gutters and barrels to collect and save
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rainwater. Most had good sized compost
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heaps.
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The quality and freshness of food grown
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on such allotments far surpasses that
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available in supermarkets. Among the
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allotment holders there is much practical
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mutual aid. Manure is bulk purchased
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from a local farmer and delivered in piles
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around the site. Seeds are swapped.
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Surplus produce exchanged or given away,
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neighbour' s allotments watered when they
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are ill or on holiday.
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There are now vast tracts of derelict land
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in urban and inner city Britain, there are
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also vast acres of ' set-aside' in the rural
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areas. It would be a real step towards
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'Practical Anarchy' if people were to
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demand the right to use this land for
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allotments or low impact homes, and
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Anarchists become active in local
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campaigns to achieve such ends.
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One example of such a 'low-impact'
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home is that self built by Bob and Jules.
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After a difficult time in their lives when
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they had to give up their city based flat
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and live for a year in a van, literally on
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the road, they decided they wanted a
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better living space. After much planning
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and research into 'Yurts' the mobile Tent
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/ Hut / Shed of asiatic nomads, they
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took the first step in March 1995.They
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started by pollarding Willows at Lowden
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to make poles for the lattice work of the
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walls and the roof poles. This entailed
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hours of laborious work stripping bark,
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steaming the poles and bending them to
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shape, sanding the poles smooth, building
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the lattice work. The beautiful polished
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wooden floor of the ' Yurt' was
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constructed from wood salvaged from a
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Police Station, the Wooden door was
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constructed from salvaged weather boards
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from the same building. They carried out
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much of the carpentry work, including the
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making of the central 'crown', this being
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a strong circle of wood into which slot all
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the roof poles, while living in their van
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parked behind the rented workshop.
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Having thus 'prefabricated' all the
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different elements of the ' Yurt': lattice
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frame, roof poles, crown, canvas covering,
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blanket lining, flooring, they took two
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days to construct the Yurt on site. The
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result is a beautiful and comfortable home.
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Cool in Summer, and warm in winter.
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Sturdy enough to survive the worst winds
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of winter. With its own box stove for heat,
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water supply near at hand. The interior is
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a round, domed room, with chimney and
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stove in the centre, with a polished wood
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floor. The willow lattice work is backed by
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overlapping blankets for insulation. The
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lattice work provides anchorage for small
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shelves and to hang up all the tools and
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implements of a practical life. The ' Yurt'
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is capable of being dismantled and
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reassembled on other sites so enabling Bob
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to move from job to job. He hopes to be
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able to make a living by hedging, ditching
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and tree nursery work. He also has plans
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to document and publish a book /
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pamphlet on how to build a 'Yurt'. Jules
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hopes to be sufficiently settled to allow
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Amber to attend School, though she feels
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their lifestyle will give Amber a more
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balanced view of life than other children
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experience.
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Neither Bob nor Jules are Anarchists, Bob
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is a Buddhist, but their life of practical
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self reliance, their vision of 'living lightly
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on the earth' is one which many
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Anarchists share, and which many would
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want to follow if they had the courage.
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JPS
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BOX EMAB, 88, ABBEY STREET, DERBY, UK
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