community
June 2014
Didsbury
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Lapwing Lane Arcade restored
Contents
June 2014
Festival time
As the two year project comes to an end, Friends of Lapwing Lane celebrate their success
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Didsbury Festival is back on Saturday 7th June
Painting a thousand words... South Manchester Camera Club’s annual exhibition is at the Old Parsonage 21st - 29th June
Joe Beech Editor
editor@communityindex.co.uk 07875 895 604
Lesley Swann
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On the cover Image by Deborah Conibear Didsbury Open Gardens
Director
Deadline for next edition
Linsey Parkinson
10th June 2014
Marketing & Development
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149 Ayres Road, Manchester M16 9WR
Contributors Mike Bath
Deborah Grace
Katherine Watson Geoff Garnett
Linsey Parkinson Maria Stripling
Didsbury People by Deborah Grace
Styx Kershaw
Styx Kershaw is one of a group of Manchester cyclists embarking on an extraordinary charity bike ride this month. Their mission - the WW100 Challenge - is to raise a massive £100,000 by cycling 100 miles across Britain to deliver 100 hand-knitted poppies to 100 World War One memorials in just 24 hours! A chartered surveyor and grandfather of three, Styx has lived in Didsbury for 17 years.
www.WW100Challenge.co.uk How did the WW100 Challenge come about?
Is Styx your real name?
It’s actually John. I grew up in Read, Lancashire, where we ran the village shop. When I was five, it was my job to make kindling from the empty fruit and veg boxes. One day my two friends and I decided to make a bit of money, so we went door to door, offering kindling for a penny a stick. When my mother found out she was horrified and made me pay everyone back, but from then on I was known as ‘the stick-man’ and eventually Styx!
We’re seven friends who enjoy a challenge and every couple of years we come up with a plan involving all three British nations. Our previous adventures have included the Three Peaks and rowing the three largest lakes in England, Scotland and Wales. This time around, it’s longdistance cycling. 2014 coincides with the centenary of the First World War, which we wanted to commemorate while raising money for Parkinson’s UK, a charity close to our hearts. We’ve never raised anything like £100,000 before, so we’re hoping as many people as possible will support us by making a donation (details below).
So what’s the plan?
We set off at 4.00 on Saturday 28 June, which is exactly 100 years since the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, an event that helped to trigger the First World War. Our aim is to finish at 4.00 the following day after cycling 33 miles in Scotland, 33 in Wales and 34 in England. We start our journey at Edinburgh
Castle and end it at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, where we’ll place a chaplet of poppies. Our poppies have been made by an army of knitters from as far afield as New Zealand and will carry a selection of personal tributes. If anyone would like to pay a tribute, they can do it at our donation page.
You must be training hard! I’m running three or four days a week with a three-hour bike ride every Saturday. During the challenge we’ll have to complete three three-to-four hour bike rides in 24 hours!
How do you relax?
I read a lot, I love going to the cinema, eating out in fine restaurants, walking in the mountains and spending time with my squeeze, Brenda!
Please complete the sentence, ‘I love Didsbury because …’ … of the trees on Elm Road where I live; the fabulous local shops, the bars and the Albert Club.
Make donations at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/WW100Challenge 4
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Friends Of Lapwing Lane Arcade finally have it covered! “I was glad when FOLLA started up, because it reminded me that there are some things you take for granted, until one day they are gone…What can badly muck up neighbourhoods is not necessarily the loss of the major things, but losing far too many of the fairly minor ones”. By Mike Bath, FOLLA Secretary and Treasurer This is how we felt when we launched Friends of Lapwing Lane Arcade (FOLLA) in 2012. The beautiful iron and glass canopy in front of the arcade of shops was approaching its 100th birthday, but had been neglected to the point of near-collapse. We talked to the shopkeepers who told us that repairs would be too costly, not all the owners of the units could agree and the legal position was unclear. A bit of capital investment would have paid dividends, but it’s been ‘community-ism’, not capitalism that has come to the rescue.
Our volunteers talked to local residents outside the shops and within a month, about 200 people had subscribed £5 each, signed up
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for a newsletter and thanked us for “getting something going at last”. Using free legal services generously offered by Clear Law Solicitors, we set up a charitable company and then negotiated a licence with each owner. FOLLA would take responsibility for restoring and maintaining the canopy for 25 years; a time period stipulated to satisfy funders that we were not simply paying the owners’ repair bills. Tracking down all the owners and convincing them of our altruistic motives was no easy matter, but once done, we were able to get grants from Manchester City Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund totalling £41,000. We thought we’d need around £50,000, but spiralling estimates meant we had to raise about £90,000. We could not compromise on the quality of the restoration,
so our fundraising efforts were redoubled. Our Pay for a Pane scheme has been a great success. For a minimum £100 donation, local people have their names added to a commemorative plaque at the arcade. To date, it has raised over £25,000. When we reached our target, we found a contractor - Phil Coppell Ltd - that we knew would do a good job. Our faith has paid off and their craftsmanship is evident for all to see. Missing and damaged columns and spandrels have been faithfully recast and others have been sandblasted and treated. When the work is finished and the plaque goes up, we might throw a bit of a party. This time though, we won’t be fundraising, we’ll be celebrating what we can achieve as a community.
Didsbury Players
Didsbury’s favourite amateur dramatic society takes on a classic The cast of characters at Didsbury Players keeps growing, so to make sure that everyone gets to be part of the action, the group is performing not one, but two plays this season. In June, the Players are tackling Oscar Wilde’s well-loved and timeless comedy The Importance of Being Earnest - with a twist. The play has been modernised to become an analysis of today’s celebrity culture.
‘The Importance of Being Earnest will be 120 years old next year, but it is still is very relevant today,’ says Louise Plevey, its director. ‘We have two gentlemen pretending to be someone else to escape their everyday lives (Facebook anyone?);
two very ambitious girls with an extraordinary talent for politely insulting each other; an overbearing mother; a teacher desperately trying to control her unruly pupil and the local vicar trying to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. It all proves that some things in society never change.’ We’ve also heard from good sources that Simon Cowell will be making an appearance... See it at Didsbury Cricket Club, Friday 6th & Saturday 7th June at 7pm. Didsbury Players’ second production, Friends in Low Places, written and directed by James Bartley, is in July.
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South Manchester Camera Club
Martin Malies Love photography? South Manchester Camera Club (SMCC) is one of the leading clubs in the North West and has offered a varied programme of speakers and events for over 60 years.
A typical meeting involves a talk, usually by professional photographers, on a variety of photographic subjects such as wildlife, weddings, portraits, sport, music, travel - even astrophotography! The club also organises practical sessions, from studio lighting techniques to outings to Appleby Horse Fair. SMCC is for all levels of experience and ability: professional photographers, keen amateurs and
Phil Portus anyone just starting out. It meets every Monday evening at 8pm at the Didsbury Methodist Church. Guests are very welcome to come along and visit before deciding whether to become a member. Your £2 visitor charge includes tea, biscuits and lots of friendly advice. The club’s annual exhibition is at The Old Parsonage on Stenner Lane, Didsbury, 21st29th June. Entry is free, there’ll be an outstanding collection of photographic images on display and prints you can buy. www.smcc.org.uk
Find us on Facebook or Twitter SouthMcrCC.
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Book Reviews by Deborah Grace
Once in a House on Fire Andrea Ashworth
A very different account of childhood is given in Andrea Ashworth’s memoir, Once in a House on Fire, which paints a grim picture of poverty and abuse in 1970s Manchester.
When Ashworth was just five years old, her father, a painter and decorator, died in a freak drowning accident, leaving behind two young daughters (Ashworth’s sister, Laurie, was three) and their mother Lorraine, 25. When the story opens, the little family is financially secure (the life insurance money having paid for their terraced house) and mother and girls form a
loving, close-knit unit, but with the introduction of a new father - the first of two - the family’s woes really start. Beaten black and blue by the men in her life, Lorraine retreats into a haze of cigarettes and sleeping tablets while her three daughters (Andy and Laurie have been joined by younger sister, Sarah) try to avoid their share of the punches. There are endless house moves and series of a new starts, all doomed to disaster. Excelling at school – a haven from the violence and chaos at home – Andrea finds an escape through English literature
and the promise of a brighter future in a happier world. Andrea Ashworth tells her story of traumatised childhood without a hint of blame or self-pity, but with quiet compassion for her subjects, including the mother who so badly let her down. Truly inspiring!
Counting Stars David Almond
David Almond’s remarkable debut novel Skellig launched him as a major new voice in the field of young adult literature, but its inspiration came from his earlier short stories.
Based on the author’s own childhood as part of a big, Catholic family in 1960s Tyneside, the stories in Counting Stars introduce many of the themes developed more fantastically in later novels. The nature of religion, love, loss, joy and the presence of magic in ordinary places run like shining threads through stories of extraordinary beauty and lyricism. Early tragedies - the loss of a younger sister and the untimely
death of Almond’s father – infuse the book with haunting sadness. The importance of storytelling and the power of memory and imagination to recover what has been lost are key themes. Everyday objects and locations acquire special significance. The family kitchen is the setting for one story where the Almond family – living and dead – are reunited to eat buttered toast and listen to stories ‘that for an impossible afternoon hold back the coming dark.’ In The Angel of Chilside Road a neighbour reports seeing Almond’s dead sister, Barbara, walking along the road dressed in radiant white. In another story, Where Your Wings
Were, an adolescent Davie dreams of being swept to heaven by a sexy angel ‘clothed in white fire’. Magical! David Almond will be in conversation with Livi Michael at the Manchester Children’s Book Festival on 4th July. Visit: www.mcbf.org.uk
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Want a change from the salon experience? By Linsey Parkinson I once had my hair cut by a hairdresser with no eyebrows.
When I commented that this must make life awkward, she laughed and said she could draw them on at an angle that made her look interested in what her customers were saying. A big city centre salon experience can all too often feel like that’s what’s happening. You’re on a conveyor belt: in the chair, holiday chat, out again. I broke my leg recently, so decided to let the hairdresser, Clive Victor Gale, come to me. For the first time ever, I
had my hair cut in my own home. Lovely. Clive listened – really listened - then offered his advice and we agreed the cut between us. I’ve always found it strange that hairdressers have so much expert knowledge, yet choose not to engage in dialogue. Who wouldn’t be interested in free haircare tips or adapting the magazine-photo cut you brought in so it works a little better for you? With Clive, you get the salon director every time. He takes enormous pride in his work and took time to make sure I had a cut that made me happy. We had a
Model : Jess Brotherstone laugh too – who knew that trainee hairdressers get lessons in smalltalk? If you want blaring commercial radio, inane chat, strange smells, and a hairdresser with one eye on the next customer waiting in reception, get yourself into town. If you want a careful, thoughtful haircut from someone who cares, give Clive a bell. The tea and coffee’s better too….
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Didsbury Festival 7th June
The flags will be flying in Didsbury Park on Saturday 7th June for the 35th Didsbury Festival. As ever, it’s a day jam-packed with family entertainment, which includes turns from the Didsbury Theatre Dance School and the Broadoak Cheerleaders. There’ll be Zumba, Tug of War and the
finals of the Inter-Schools Tag Rugby competition. Want more? There’ll be live music all day long, with local bands and talented solo performers; a climbing wall and bouncy castle; beat the goalie and mini tennis, plus lots of stalls raising money for good causes. Loads of activities, plenty to eat
and drink and the unmissable Fun Dog Show. This is a wonderful Didsbury tradition and it’s open to everyone. The fun starts at St Catherine’s School (School Lane) at 11am when the Festival Procession sets off on its way to the Park, arriving at 11.30am.
Alexander Technique individual sessions and groups
Sue Fleming MSTAT www.alexanderteaching.co.uk ☎ 861 8848 mob 07796470163 Chequers Road Chorlton Cycle-technique day June 7th
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☎ 445 8530 mob 07821470349 The Didsbury Holistic Centre and Lidgate Grove Didsbury
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Didsbury Open Gardens 8th June Most of us are naturally nosey, especially where other people’s houses and gardens are involved. Does this explain why Open Garden events are such a big attraction? Perhaps it’s the love of an English garden, good design and the wonderful perfume of summer blooms? Or could it be the tea and cakes?
Whatever the reason, this summer, gardeners across the UK will open their gates to visitors who will show up in their thousands. The icing on the cake - and perhaps the best reason of all - will be the money the events raise for good causes. On Sunday 8th June, Didsbury Open Gardens will celebrate its sixth anniversary with 30 private and public gardens opening their gates – that’s a record number. St Ann’s Hospice will be the main charitable beneficiary, as well as local charities chosen by the garden hosts. Maria Stripling who started the event says: “We’ve raised over £35,000 to date and we’re hoping that visitors old and new will join us this year, come rain or shine. There are gardens to suit all interests, with new ones alongside the old favourites, which include a church
0781 0147 070 info@greendesigns.eu
www.greendesigns.eu
garden and guided allotment tours. Artist Juliette Hamilton will be showing her willow sculptures and there’ll be a chance to win a wooden owl made by local wood sculptor, Andy Burgess (recently seen in May’s Community Index, as well as on TV with Alan Titchmarsh). And look out for a spitting elephant too!” The day isn’t just about plants, however. For the first time in Manchester, there will be a pop-up Pestaurant, where you can sample
• • • • • • •
the delights of insects, either deep-fried or dipped in chocolate. A falcon will fly across the lawn at Broomcroft Hall and some gardens will be hosting live music. It’s a really friendly and fun event - don’t miss out! Pick up a programme (£5) from The Cheese Hamlet (Didsbury village), Inman’s Newsagents (Lapwing Lane) or via the website at; www.didsburyopengardens.org
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We’d just like to hammer it home that we do property maintenance. If you have a property that needs work, however big or small the job, choose JP & Brimelow Property Services.
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Learn Spanish with Instituto Cervantes
Now that our thoughts are turning to holidays, there’s a good chance that many of us will be reaching for the Spanish phrasebook. In 2013, over 14.3 million visitors to Spain – that’s one in every four tourists – came from the UK. Spain is most definitely our favourite holiday destination. Spanish is now the second most spoken language in the world. It’s the second language for international communication, the second language on Facebook and Twitter, and the third most used on the internet as a whole. More than 500 million people speak Spanish, not only in Spain, but also in America. The Instituto Cervantes on Deansgate is a corner of Spain
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right in the heart of Manchester. A non-profit organisation, endorsed by the Spanish government, its mission is to promote the languages and culture of Spain and related countries. It can currently operates in 86 cities around the world. Here in Manchester, you’ll find cultural events, workshops, film screenings, book clubs and kids clubs. There’s a wide range of options for learning Spanish with native speakers, no matter how much or how little you already know. There are also intensive classes, courses for children and teenagers and online learning with a tutor. You can even learn flamenco, tango or salsa: the centre buzzes with music and
activity all year round. If you’re heading to a Spanish speaking country for business or pleasure, or you just want to liven up your summer with a bit of Spanish sunshine, now’s the time to broaden your horizons. Try it for free! On Saturday 21st June, 12-5pm, the Instituto is throwing open its doors for a fiesta! There’ll be free language and dance taster classes, paella and sangria and a chance to win courses both here and in Spain. Enrol for a course on the day and you’ll get some exclusive discounts too.
For more information call 0161 661 4201 or email cenman@cervantes.es
www.manchester.cervantes.es
Community share offer: local wood for sustainability Wood is an amazing material and if properly managed is a genuinely renewable resource. The local wood economy can and must play a vital role in the transition to an ethical and sustainable world. We make firewood, sawn timber and biomass woodchip mainly from wood produced by routine treework.
Do you share our vision? Then become part of it by buying shares in our community enterprise! Get more information at www.treestation.co.uk/about/support-invest
Our aim – to raise £230,000 by 31st July 2014 for: • More equipment for more efficient firewood-processing and delivery • A biomass powered kiln so that we can dry our sawn timber ourselves, without using fossil fuels • Increased working capital
You get: • Membership including full voting rights • Interest on your investment • Shares repaid on request, subject to board approval • Enterprise Investment Scheme relief – a tax refund of 30% of the amount invested (subject to approval and eligibility)
www.treestation.co.uk 0161 231 3333 Greater Manchester TreeStation Ltd - Reg No 31552R
Next meeting : Tuesday 17th June Breakfast meeting (7.45 - 8.45am) at Deli Didsbury All welcome
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Summer in Didsbury Didsbury Car Show Calling all automobile enthusiasts! July 13th sees the return of Didsbury Car show with over 80 vintage, classic and custom cars exhibiting in Didsbury Park to raise money for Christies Hospital.
In addition to the huge selection of cars on display, the event also promises a junior go karting competition.
If you wish to exhibit your own car, get in touch with the organisers at didsburycarshow.org
Heard any Didsbury Ghost Stories? If so, Didsbury Film would be very interested in hearing them with the possibility of using them for their next production. The community group is putting together a series of films inspired by ghostly legends that haunt Didsbury’s past.
Didsbury Guitar Trail In July, Didsbury Guitar Trail is back for another year with musicians performing throughout picturesque Fletcher Moss Park. Proceeds raised from the day will be donated to Music In Hospitals, a charity that aims to improve the quality of live for adults and children through musical performance. To apply to perform at Didsbury Guitar Trail 2014, contact Peter Gidman on petergidman@gmail.com
Didsbury Film is also recruiting new members, so if you are a dab hand at direction, aspiring actor or master of mis-en-scene, they would love to hear from you!
For more information or to submit your stories visit didsburyfilm.org or find them on Facebook.
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June In Your Garden
By Katherine Watson, Fat Grass Garden Design
I’ve always been fascinated by the way our plant likes and dislikes can oscillate over the years. When I first started gardening and designing, there were certain plants that I really couldn’t abide – Astilbes and Asters were at the forefront of my disdain, both of which I have embraced in my own garden and in design more generally. Another perennial that has caused me grief over the years is the Heuchera in its many forms (and there are many forms). I think the root of my uncertainty has lain in the Heuchera’s ability to produce a frilly, showy, bordering on the dreaded bedding effect if not used carefully.
The Heuchera is a plant that’s been very widely bred, pushing the range of its colours into places it should have never gone – some of the peaches and flesh coloured specimens I can definitely live without, and I don’t think I’ll be changing my mind in any great hurry. I do think, however, that Heucheras, if used in certain
combinations can produce some fantastic effects. The very dark Heuchera ‘Obsidion’ works especially well with the fluffy foliage of Stipa tenuissima and the small red buttons of Sanguisorba ‘Tanna’ – a combination used by a designer friend of mine in many of her gardens. Some of the best uses of Heuchera, in my opinion, are in much more naturalistic schemes where subtler green varieties provide interesting texture and shape amongst similarly coloured foliage. I was particularly struck by Piet Oudolf’s planting of the High Line in New York when I visited a couple of years ago. A disused, elevated freight rail line turned into public park, the High Line showcases some wonderful naturalistic schemes including huge swathes of Heuchera villosa ‘Brownies’ coupled with Centranthus rubra, Sanguisorba and Aruncus. In this example, the humble Heuchera sings.
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Sport in Didsbury By Geoff Garnett
Golf: Keith rewrites the record books
Golf: Northenden ‘old boys’ return to their roots
Former police officer and regular Seniors’ star at Didsbury Golf Club, Keith Buckley rewrote the record books in a remarkable burst of success at the club. Keith began his hot streak playing in the Didsbury Seniors Yellow Ball, Team of Three, Stableford with Ian Sedgwick and Bob Collins.
Northenden Golf Club’s new professional team of Joe Mannion and Danny Hartley (pictured) have great plans for the development of the club where they got their love of golf as juniors. And junior development will be a key part of the future.
Joe said: “We will be promoting the Junior Academy and encouraging local schools to participate. We’re introducing an Inter League junior team competition to the Mersey clubs and sharing competitions. “We’re building a swing studio, using Flightscope technology and we’ll have the fastest camera on the market! “By the end of the summer we’ll have built driving bays at the top of the driving range to allow all year round use and we’re also introducing more golf competitions with different formats, enabling members to enjoy their club more and meet new people along the way.”
They set off well with nine points on the first hole, but on the 148yard sixth hole they went into overdrive as a neat hybrid wood from Keith went into the hole to record his third career ace. But as it was the yellow ball his five-point score was doubled to ten to give his team a real boost. They went on to post a remarkable haul of 125 points. This had the club officials searching the archives and it turned out to be a new club record. Keith, in traditional manner, duly treated the other seniors to a welcome taste of amber nectar.
Darts: Great double for Dancing Master The Albion Captain, John Glover (pictured) is the new South Manchester Log End League individual champion. John, famed for his dancing prowess with Ashley’s Banjo Boys, beat Dave Yates in the final.
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The losing semi-finalists were father and son duo Steve Moane and Dillon Wimbury. Then John made it a double as he won the league’s individual crib championship. He beat Turnpike landlord Rob Higgs, who was runner up for the second successive year.
co mmunit y Get in touch today to reach 20,000+ South Manchester homes for only £110 Didsbury, Chorlton and Whalley Range - on your doorstep
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Community Index Local groups and useful numbers Clubs, Societies & Groups
Friends of Fletcher Moss Park Alan Hill 215 0971 awhill@globalnet.co.uk
Acting For Fun Central, Didsbury 431 4794 Didsbury Civic Society didsburycivicsociety.org.uk Didsbury Cricket Club didsburyccsports.co.uk Didsbury Good Neighbours Every Tues 10-11.45am coffee morning. Holt Pavilion, Didsbury Park 07749 504298 www. didsburygoodneighbours.org.uk Didsbury Ladies Probis Club Alternate Monday afternoons in East Didsbury. Joan Woodall 434 2532 Didsbury Lawn Tennis Club Bob Peel, 445 0465 didsburyccsports.co.uk Didsbury Players celestaplayers.co.uk
Didsbury Village East Residents Association dvera.co.uk Didsbury Village WI didsburyvillagewi.co.uk
Dolls House and Miniatures Group 2nd Monday of each month, 8-10pm, Whalley Range Venue. Ann 07814 861285 Eat Green free cookery school, food bank, garden tool libraries and community growing activities. info@eatgreen.co.uk www. eatgreen.co.uk
Ford Bank Residents Association fordbankresidents.org.uk
Frets community guitar and singing, Fridays 10am, Didsbury Sports Club 07813 121478 Friends of Didsbury Park friendsofdidsburypark.co.uk
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Friends of Marie Louise Gardens marielouisegardens.org.uk Manchester JKF Karate Club Didsbury MMU Sports Centre, Tuesdays 8.30pm Ben Pollock, 07894108944
Oneness Deeksha Meditation Saturdays 11am-12 at The Didsbury Parsonage. Donation ÂŁ2 Christine 07734 072040. South Manchester Camera Club Mondays at 8-10pm, Didsbury Methodist Church smcc.org.uk Didsbury Over 50s Group 247 2323
South Manchester U3A 1st Tuesday of the month 2pm, Emmanuel Church. Edna 434 2509
West Didsbury Bookgroup Meets every four weeks at 7.30pm. Lively mixed group of all ages. Call 445 4483 leaving your name, address & landline West Didsbury Residents Association Pam Siddons 445 5406 westdidsbury.org.uk Withington Civic Society Roger Smith 445 1473 withingtoncivicsociety.org.uk
Social & Support Groups Manchester Diabetes Support Network Details/ venues/ monthly dates etc diabetesinmanchester@gmail.com 860 5688/07414 635992 New Family Social UK charity for LGBT adopters, foster carers and their children. Meets every
month in south Manchester. newfamilysocial.org.uk email: nwdevelopment@newfamilysocial. co.uk
Useful Numbers Didsbury Library 227 3755
Environment on Call 954 9000
Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service 905 1100 Manchester City Council 234 5000
Didsbury East Councillors Andrew Simcock cllr.a.simcock@ manchester.gov.uk Andrew Taylor cllr.a.taylor@ manchester.gov.uk
Bridie Adams cllr.b.adams@ manchester.gov.uk
Didsbury West Councillors Mark Clayton cllr.m.clayton@ manchester.gov.uk
Carl Ollerhead cllr.c.ollerhead@ manchester.gov.uk David Ellison cllr.d.ellison@ manchester.gov.uk
Local MP John Leech - MP
8 Gawsworth Avenue M20 5NF Tel: 434 3334 johnleechmp@ parliament.uk
Are you part of a voluntary or community group? Drop Joe an email on editor@communityindex.co.uk
Draught Dodgers creating Manchester’s cosiest Victorian home By Eric Fewster and Ruth Shepherd The energy needs of a house, especially an old house, can be radically reduced if you know the right people. While it’s true that loft insulation and draught excluders will save a few pounds a year, Ruth Shepherd in Ladybarn opted for a more fundamental solution. Her home is now warmer and she’s using significantly less energy, but it’s the draughts which have been virtually eliminated that have contributed significantly to making it a more comfortable home, thanks to Passive House methodology and survey work by Eric Fewster from Coldproof. This is no quick fix. Whole-house energy efficiency improvements have to be seen as a major investment, because you’re looking at the thermal properties of the very bones of your building – its walls, floors and roof – to create a home that’s more energy efficient, airtight and definitely more comfortable.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach because every house is different. After Eric’s survey and calculations, it became apparent that the biggest problems were air leakage and external-facing walls, which together accounted for around two-thirds of all heat loss. The survey calculated what could be achieved within the available budget and what the priorities for spending should be. The most pressing tasks were making the house more airtight, adding whole house Mechanical Ventilation with
Heat Recovery and wall insulation. Passive House surveyors can find leaks in the most hidden places: light fittings, unplastered brickwork (such as on walls in the floor void), and even electrical sockets – and that’s before you look at fireplaces and air vents. Membranes went in and were carefully sealed, all the while balancing the need for insulation with healthy ventilation. Ruth says: “This was a huge upheaval, like any building project, but worth it. My carbon emissions are much less than what they once were and my house is really cosy. Everyone notices the difference.” When the house was built in 1888, making it airtight wasn’t
an option. Given that houses were heated by open coal fires, ventilation was a much more important consideration. Now we have cleaner forms of domestic energy, we can drastically reduce heat loss and our dependence on fossil fuels, and we can still enjoy a warmer, healthier home. If you’re planning renovations and want the full story on the Ladybarn Passive House retrofit, contact Eric at ericfewster@ coldproof.co.uk / www.coldproof.co.uk or Ruth at ruth.m.shepherd@ btinternet.com
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Business Index Bathrooms
Bathroom Angels
Building & Maintenance
Best Cellars Leapfrog Interiors M & H Building Contractors Window Wise
Carpenter
Didsbury Carpenter
5
Cleaning
Oven Wizards Profresh Carpet Cleaners
Cookery
Cracking Good Food
Chin Up Duck
11
Estate Agents 20 11 20 18 20
Chimney Sweep Acorn Chimney Sweeping Services
Copywriting
JP & Brimelow
14-15
Furniture & Joiney Karl Hutton
Gardening
Bud Garden Centre Fat Grass Garden Design Green Designs
Health & Wellbeing 26 26 20 10
Alexander Technique
Jobs
Laura Dunlop Instituto Cervantes
Didsbury Village Map
Clive Victor Gale
11
Painting & Decorating Carol Smith Home Improvement
8
Village Physio
7
Physiotherapy
12
Solicitors
21 13
Trade Association
12 8
Language School Local Map
7
Hairdressing
Slater Heelis
27
Didsbury Traders
Tree Services Tree Station
18 17
Woodland School We Are Adventurers
28 19
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open fires, boilers Agas, multi-fuel stoves, birds nests removed www.acornchimneysweepingservices.co.uk
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Š Elin Beckmann
Are you separating and unsure which path to take? Slater Heelis has provided clear direction for over 240 years. Our team of Resolution family specialists are here to support you with first class legal advice and provide the direction you need. The team focuses on divorce, separation, civil partnerships, same sex marriages, finances, pre-nups/post-nups and children arrangements. Our family team all live in and around the South Manchester area; living within the same community offers us a unique insight into what affects all our daily lives. You are just a tram ride away from one of our offices in Manchester city centre or Sale.
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