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Berwick Area Heart Support Group
December 2009 newsletter
Our speaker for November was Karen Burn who, with her husband, family members, run a farm and holiday cottages at Hunting Hall, near Lowick. The difference being, and what Karen was there to speak about was, where possible, it has been designed and run as environmentally friendly as possible.
Hunting Hall is working farm with arable land, sheep and rare breed pigs, but there is another side to Hunting Hall.Karen story begins; way back in 1951 when her husband’s grandfather bought the farm. For many years, even as a small girl Karen and her family came to Hunting Hall for their holidays.
Karen has always enjoyed the outdoor life, and as part of her college studies on wild life, Hunting Hall proved the ideal place for her to compare the types of wildlife found in rural and suburban gardens, and also study many aspects of animal life.
Karen married the farmer’s son, Tom, who by natural progression, took over the running of the farm on his father’s death, and together they made some changes to the farm to help with productivity. Initially they decided to drain a boggy wet section of land, in order to grow crops. But, later, on reflection they decided on a pond / wet land area at the same site, and in doing so created a successful wildlife area.
About this time, there were a group of youngsters at Belford who were interested in wildlife and environmental issues. This group found themselves leaderless, and Karen and her husband stepped in to fill the breach. This group were known as The Northumberland Eco Wild Team. NEWTS for short. Many of the meetings were then held at Hunting Hall, where there was plenty of room and scope for these kids to try out their ideas.
With the help of the NEWTs, and their daughter Meg they have created more substantial hedging, to give animal and bird life more secured shelter, and bigger choice of food. There is also a 6 metre strip of wild land around all growing crops. This encourages more flowers and grasses to grow, and also encourages the wild life that prefers these types of habitats. Meg has also created her own pond, and has various themed wildlife areas around the farm including a three acre mixed wood which she planted with help. These measures are also respected by their tenant farmers
For their work, and the practices they followed, the NEWTs entered a national competition and won. Their prize was a study holiday in Devon.
As their next project, Karen’s thoughts turned to an empty, (but in need of some TLC) cottage on the farm. The older NEWTs researched all the eco friendly measures that could be incorporated into this building with a view to it becoming an eco friendly holiday home. Consideration was given to energy, insulation, materials used, flooring, soft furnishings and even the type of paint. All the findings were then incorporated into the architect’s plans. Funding was sought and granted and work began on the cottage.
Heating is supplied via an Air Source Heat Pump. It’s like a fridge working in reverse and the heat generated keeps the house warm relatively cheaply. Hot water is from solar panels, these are very efficient, even on winter days it gets the water to 62 degrees. Insulation is a combination of rock wool and lambs wool, all wood throughout is European larch, with ‘osmo’ oil on all unpainted wood, and unbleached organic cotton bed linen is used.
Everything that can be recycled is, and all rainwater is collected. Local business, where possible, is used. When the cottage was finished it had a compost toilet, which is something the NEWTs had seen when in Devon. In a normal domestic situation this type of toilet would work, but in a holiday home, not the best idea, but it goes to show the
thought that went into this cottage. This has been in operation for a few seasons now, and works very well with visitors returning several times. This cottage is known as Newt Cottage.
Another of the NEWTs projects is a farm trail. Funding was sought and approved, and there is now a 2 ¾ mile long trail. Walk along this trail and apart from the peace and quiet, there is a chance to see an array of seasonal wild flowers including orchids, insects and birds. Wildlife includes deer, otter, badger, foxes, rabbits, hares, owl, grey partridge, and skylark.
Following on the success of Newt Cottage, another cottage on the farm was destined to receive the same treatment. The only difference being the heat source was the ground, and under floor heating was used. Whilst professionals are used, Karen and Tom do do a bit of labouring, and whilst preparing and clearing out the cottage, and stripping plaster where needed, several bricked up fireplaces, doors and windows were found, one room had seven bricked up doors in it, suggesting its use and layout had changed several times over the years. No crocks of hidden treasure were found though. The cottage has been completed and is also a holiday cottage, again with visitors returning. This cottage is called The Fuffins.
Between the two cottages they have received 4* and 5* gold awards, and various other awards in ecological and sustainable tourism categories.
Karen’s talk was supported with slide show which made the whole talk very enjoyable.
Karen can be contacted at Kburn.huntinghall@btinternet.com or wwwhuntinghall.co.uk.
Many thanks for you time Karen.
Wallys Yarn
Sometimes it DOES take a Rocket Scientist!! (true story)
Scientists at Rolls Royce built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners and military jets all travelling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.
American engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the American engineers.
When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console,snapped the engineer's back-rest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin like an arrow shot from a bow.
The horrified Yanks sent Rolls Royce the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the British scientists for suggestions.
You're going to love this......Rolls Royce responded with the following one-line memo:
Defrost the chicken !
Vitamin D and Health
This time of year when the days are short and skies are grey is a very relevant time to be thinking about Vitamin D and the links to health. This is a big story in medical science, and it is growing every year. We mainly get this vitamin when our skin is exposed to sunlight. White skins are probably a recent acquisition for the human race and very useful for our early ancestors as they moved north. Pigment helps protect the skin from too much sunlight, but the converse is true; less pigment allows more Vitamin D production. Even for those of us with white skins, evidence is mounting that most of us in Europe and USA are actually deficient in the active form of the vitamin circulating in our blood, especially as we get older.
From a recent study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. (2008;168(12):1340-1349.) Quote: “In cross-sectional studies, low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are associated with higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease.
That is by no means all. We have long known the connection with bone health, particularly for children and the elderly, but another 2008 article from the same journal of scientific medicine (Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(15):1629-1637.) says, quote; “Observational data suggests that low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25[OH]D) are associated with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cancers”, and goes on to report an independent association with all-cause mortality in the general population, using data from 13,331 adults in the USA. A review article (‘meta-review’) from an earlier study in 2007 had already reported the probable link between higher levels of colon and breast cancer associated with deficiencies (serum levels of 25[OH]D) in the general population. According to this latter article, raising the levels of the active form of the vitamin would require supplementation, but encouragingly went on to emphasise the low toxicity, that is the safety of the much larger doses likely to be required.
We need safe exposure of skin to ultraviolet light. Luckily a few minutes exposure, (that is a fraction of the time we might expect could cause any reddening of the skin), is all that is needed during summer, if we can bare a good proportion of our skin for a few minutes on several days in a week. This should be enough to produce a large amount of the active form (25[OH]D) in our blood. If we can not do that, then we need supplements of the non-active form found in small quantities in some foods, because these foods are normally insufficient to make up for a lack of sunlight. This extra ‘dietary supplement’ is converted in the body, albeit not very efficiently, hence the high doses required for production of enough of the active form. An earlier editorial article in another medical journal (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85, 3, 649-650, March 2007) argued there was an urgent need for a public health policy to encourage supplements: quote; “Correction of low 25(OH)D concentrations can happen only if some or all of the following are implemented: the encouragement of safe, moderate exposure of skin to ultraviolet light; appropriate increases in food fortification with vitamin D; and the provision of higher doses of vitamin D in supplements for adults.”
It seems that supplement doses of 1000 international units per day of Vitamin D3, in some cases much higher doses, are required to make much difference. These are available now in the UK at reasonable prices, but as a Heart Group, we can not recommend you start supplements without discussing the matter with your doctor or specialist.
Large enough intervention studies are still needed to show that taking supplements will help protect people from cancer or reduce risk from heart disease, even if the supplements do raise the active form significantly in their blood. We await further knowledge.
(Please note that exposure to UV light is potentially dangerous and the danger of sun-beds is rightly warned against.)
Phil
Recipe of the month
Cullen Skink
Scottish Finnan Haddock and Potato Soup
680g (1½lb) potatoes, cooked and mashed
450g (1lb) Finnan Haddock or Other Smoked White Fish
1 Onion, chopped
Fish or Chicken Stock
Milk
Salt and Pepper
Place the haddock into a shallow frying pan with the onion, just cover with stock.
Gently bring to the boil, removed from the heat and allow to continue cooking.
Remove the skin and bones, then flake the flesh.
Mix the potatoes and onions in the cooking liquor to produce a smooth mixture.
Place into a saucepan.
Add milk to create the desired consistency, either a thick or a thin soup, depending on taste.
Add the flaked fish to the saucepan, mix gently to avoid breaking up the flakes.
Heat gently.
Season to taste.
Serve with fresh crusty bread.
Serves 4-6
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