Dear all
Theres no denying spring is here, so time for a bit of optimism! There’s lots to read below about what we’ve been up to but first perhaps a bit of ‘blue sky thinking’?
What else could Green Ilminster be doing to help our planet? We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about these things – rivers, trees, bees….
We imagine amazing things like creating a Community Woodland or forest garden where people could enjoy being together in nature and growing food. A place where we could forget our troubles and have our hands in the earth and find some peace of mind, a place where life and wildlife is considered and encouraged and valued – perhaps we could achieve it? How great would it be for people to have more connection and understanding of our natural world and feel part of it? Producing a bit of food for the community, taking some action on the biodiversity and climate emergency…what a beautiful idea! We are hoping this won’t always be just a dream and are working on it!
In the meantime, here are the reports from our project leaders:
GI Talks – next date 16th April: Pollinators, Predators & Parasites
In a couple of weeks we welcome zoologist Nigel Stone, who has identified more than 800 species of insects and animals in his Somerset garden. Nigel will present a fascinating selection of them with a multitude of photographs in this engaging talk. Having studied Zoology at Manchester University Nigel has had a career in environmental and countryside management culminating in 17 years as Chief Executive at Exmoor National Park Authority. As usual the venue is the Arts Centre and the talk starts at 7.30pm. Entry is free, but donations are welcome. [Chris Bestley]
River Isle Water Monitoring
As we move into our second full year of testing we are beginning to build up a body of data for the Isle that can act as a baseline for the future. The Westcountry Rivers Trust (for whom we collect the data) rate the River Isle to be in ‘Fair’ to ‘Good’ condition, but phosphate levels are letting it down. Our aim is to increase the level of testing and increase what we are testing for; currently we are only measuring phosphates, turbidity, dissolved solids and temperature and making visual notes on things like visible pollution and invasive species. In 2025 we are adding invertebrate monitoring (the canaries in the river) to the mix via an organisation called Riverfly and may in the future consider testing for bacteria and other pollutants, if funding can be obtained. We still need more testers – particularly in the Lower Isle, between Ilminster and the confluence with the Parrett, so if you live in that area and can spare a couple of hours a month to do some Citizen Science, please do get in touch. [Chris Bestley]
Ilminster Share and Repair Shop
The 26th February 2025 marked three years since Ilminster Share and Repair was born! Given that around 60% of new businesses in the UK fail within their first three years, the team were thrilled to have reached this significant milestone. We are so incredibly proud of all that our volunteer-led enterprise has achieved to date. We want to thank all of our customers and supporters but, most importantly, our fantastic volunteer team who have made all of this possible.
The project celebrated its birthday in the shop on Saturday 1st March, sharing cake with those who popped in and proudly presenting a new, wider, range of soap refills to help Ilminster further reduce its environmental impact. Customers are invited to bring in their empty plastic bottles and refill with household cleaning and personal care products.
We have submitted, and await the outcome of, a significant grant application to further develop the project. Also, we now benefit from some additional storage within the building which has enabled us to improve the customer and volunteer experience in the shop and make room for the sale of donated goods, which has become an important income stream for the project.
New volunteers are being welcomed to the project, but special thanks must go to Stan Cookson and Dave Amor who provide the backbone of the shop cover and ensure the smooth running of the Share and Repair operation.
The shop, at No. 18 Silver Street, continues to be open Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings between 10am and 12pm. If you have items to repair or would like to see what items we have to share, then do pop in! [Natalie Wainwright]
The GI Tree Group
The GI Tree Group now has a hardcore of about ten volunteers who turn up come rain or shine to our regular monthly sessions held on the last Saturday of every month. We have about sixty on our group mailing list and can expect any number between zero and ten to join the ‘hardcore’ for any particular event. The more the merrier!
It is a very sociable and cohesive group which now has significant specialist knowledge through two of these regular members (Caroline Orchard and Robert Archer) with horticultural and arboricultural backgrounds.
As a good example of where we are, we had a very successful planting on Saturday 22nd February. Thanks to The Dillington Estate, the Tree Group planted 200 trees at a site no more than twenty minutes’ walk from the centre of town (Townsend Farm). There are two facts that make this simple statement more important than it seems at first sight.
- With this planting we have now taken our total of trees planted in and around Ilminster in the last five years to over 4,000! When we started in 2019 we set ourselves a target of planting one tree for every man, woman and child in the parish of Ilminster and neighbouring parishes – so, 7,000 trees. As of now we are well over halfway to our target. It’s taken longer than we hoped… but we keep planting.
- The second factor, and actually the more significant one, is that this planting has been carried out on land owned and managed by the biggest local landowner, The Dillington Estate. About a year ago we contacted the Dillington Farm Manager, Ollie Blackburn. In a series of conversations it became clear that we had some goals in common and the upshot was an invitation to plant on a site on the farm that was difficult to cultivate, being very steep, but that was ideal for tree-planting, and represented a good option for increasing tree cover and species biodiversity in our local environment.
Green Ilminster is very pleased to be working together with The Dillington Estate on projects that both parties feel are meaningful and are contributing to our shared fight to combat climate change in a significant collaborative approach.
I am pleased to say that the regular members are also keen to meet more frequently than monthly and are also very keen to contribute new ideas for the future. I am very happy with the group and its current contribution to the goals and aspirations of GI. [Colin Hyde]
Thank you very much for reading our newsletter and being interested in our work here at Green Ilminster,
With the warmest of wishes
Sarah and all the team
Ps Our next Litter Pick is on Sunday 13th April, starting from the shop in Silver Street at 11am. Litterpickers provided!