Silent Haven, Devon

03/04/2023

Page 5 of issue 1 of The Land Magazine; Deep Left Retrospective: 'A Community Right To Buy for England?' Continuing my retrospective series on The Land magazine from the UK. What would a truly liberatory 'community right to buy' look like? See supplementary notes under the video.

The Land Magazine; Deep Left Retrospective: full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk3DVGARsIlS5B-lY5rUeJ5cDJYub4HS0Supplementary notes to the...

02/05/2022

DAYTIME VOLUNTEERING THROUGHOUT MAY AT SILENT HAVEN

* Come and help, or just come and hang out
* Bring your own food
* Work as much or as little as you want
* Experience this beautiful woodland project firsthand

SIMPLE! Get in touch to discuss further.

20/04/2022

26/02/2022

Hi this is Matthew. I'm starting to write regular blog posts again, including short commentaries on my YouTube uploads. Here's a very short piece on my interview with Helen Beynon, author of Twyford Rising, a book about the Twyford road protest of the early 90's which kick-started the road protest movement in the UK. Please consider having a quick read, it will take you all of two minutes. All serious UK activists need to know about the 90s road protest movement...

It was a great learning experience to interview Helen Beynon for E.T. YouTube, regarding her book Twyford Rising. Twyford Rising is about the Twyford Down direct action road protest that kick-start…

17/02/2022

It was nice to see my old dad the other day, for the first time in many months. He dropped off some old gardening and labouring tools that he doesn't want any more, for me to use for my gardening services:

a sledge, a spade, a long-handled shovel, a pick, and something like a hand rotavator, the likes of which I haven't seen before...

I'm really looking forward to working outside again. I'm quicker than the average, with a good attention to detail, so whatever you want done, whether it's scything (my favourite!), pruning, weeding, digging, clearance work, or whatever else...get in touch!

23/12/2021

Hey it's Matt. A while ago I interviewed a guy from Uganda, Solomon, about bamboo. Does anyone know where bamboo is being grown in Devon at scale? Potential for international partnerships here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haNLA3Manco&t=1s&ab_channel=EpicTomorrows

Fascinating chat with Solomon Anomet from Kampala in Uganda. With Samuel Tenywa, Solomon runs Eco Bamboo International, growing bamboo in Uganda and linking ...

01/12/2021

01/12/2021

A continuation of the previous post...

The roof

The east side was finished two years ago and the tins for the other side have been sitting there since then. Mike and Steven came in April to do the west side. They did well, but the flashing had to be done again. I think they tried to get it done quickly for me. It’s really tricky to put on and needs time. They came and redid it. I cut it out meticulously with the angle grinder. We still didn’t couldn't get it quite right. Then I noticed that the roof wasn't square and so would need extending.
So I reordered 2 more side flashings, 2 more roof flashings and two more tins. Another helper, Dean, came along. We took our time this time and worked it all out to the last millimetre. It was all looking so good, and he put the last screws into the side flashing and went to look at it from the garden. I couldn’t look and he didn’t sound enthralled. The flashing was wobbly!!!

I’d like to say that I give up, but something in me won’t stop until it right. It goes round and round in my head and won’t go away. I think I know what it is but I have to put it aside for now. Any Tileform fitters out there?

10/11/2021

Hiya. This is a continuation of the last post describing what I have been up to in recent months...

Mice in the roof!

Disaster!

I love my silence and so the mice drove me mad!. I hate the thought of them making it dirty inside the room. I had already meticulously beaded and painted the ceiling in the bedroom…

I heard them running about in the night...This is my nest; how would they feel if I gatecrashed their house?!

So, to remedy it, I have been round the whole place blocking up holes everywhere. That is a big job, especially as a part of it was to line the underside of the roof. Not only is it high up, I bought 18mm ply and it is heavy. I did the north side myself and at some points, I had to summon up the energy to haul the heavy wood up, hold it up to the underside of the roof and fix it. I was up and down the ladders measuring it up as well. An exhausting job. Still didn’t stop them.

Then I bought a sonic box where the sound repels them. I made a hole in my lovely ceiling and fitted this box into it. That did nothing either. I bought poison but can’t bring myself to put it up there. I psyched them out but that hasn’t worked. I know it is mice, because I saw one come out of a hole in the roof. I blocked up the hole.

I’m looking for perfection and it keeps eluding me!

Any humane advice on mice?

02/11/2021

Hello again folk, after a long silent while. This is Jules speaking (someone else is posting this for me). I thought some of you might like a little update as to what I've been up to at Silent Haven.

This past September, the plan was to finish the roof of the cabin so that it was completely watertight, reinsulate the compost loo and put a new roof on so that it stays dry inside. I also intended to figure out and remedy why the water barrel cupboard keeps
getting wet inside, and clad the woodshed.

Come October, the only thing that is just about finished is the first job of the roof, and what a mammoth task that was! The compost loo is half done and I did figure out why the water barrel cupboard was getting wet after a lot of head scratching, consultations, diagrams and burning rubber! Turned out to be pretty simple!

The reason why this all took so long and is still unfinished is because best laid plans…

I'll be putting up some photos soon, so stay tuned and be well...

28/02/2021