“‘We used to say ‘where there’s muck there’s brass’ but we’d had enough muck when mining came to an end,’ says Stan Crawford, the former president of the National Union of Mineworkers in Nottinghamshire, who heads the group’s remarkable creation, Sherwood Energy Village.

Looking out over wind turbines, ponds and modern offices angled to trap sunlight, he can now count 600 jobs on the site, as many as when Ollerton colliery finally closed in 1995.

‘We knew two other things back then: that we wanted a diverse economy, after years of the pit for the men and the clothes factory for the women, and we didn’t want anyone else imposing our future on us,’ says Crawford.

The energy village also includes rainwater harvesting, and is currently the construction site for some 196 sustainable homes. The project has been so successful that it has won the Silver Jubilee Cup, the Royal Town Planning Institute’s highest award.”

It can be done, folks.  We can convert to more sustainable sources of energy, the question is, what are you doing to affect the change?

They could be scared of a plummeting book sales, but my bet is that they and many others are scared of a world where kids aren’t well educated enough to read and savor Roald Dahl. Seriously, childhood without Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The Witches can barely be called childhood.

And before anyone even suggests it, the movies do the books no justice. Grab a cup of cocoa, snuggle up with your favorite Dahl book, and relive your childhood this weekend. I know how to recognize a witch, do you??

Original article

(looking for some Dahl for Christmas?)