The Bulletin
To download your copy of the latest Bulletin click here.

CPRE
The latest Campaign to Protect Rural England newsletter is available here.

The Hungerford and Kintbury Ward news can be found here.

North Wessex Downs National Landscape
There is a body, often referred to as the ‘NWD National Landscape’, which is charged with doing its best to protect where you live. It works alongside BBOWT, West Berks Council and several other district councils, Natural England, Historic England and lots of other bodies, and it meets just a few times a year to try and work out what is happening to our natural green spaces, and what to do about it. It really is important to your life, but I would guess that you don’t know much about it, if anything.

Do take a look at their website, https://www.northwessexdowns.org.uk/. There are events, consultations and updates. What they do is especially important given the way in which climate change is impacting the world, our world. Get to know the way in which this body works for you, the challenges it faces, both financial and legal. Considering the way in which recent governments have at best sidelined the protection of our green spaces and at worst put them under increasing threat, let your local MP know that your environment is important to you. Once green, natural spaces are gone, it is unlikely that we will get them back again.

Switching off your Outside Lights

The North Wessex Downs NL ask people to switch off their outside lights when they’re not absolutely necessary. Wildlife groups ask the same. Neighbours living next to someone that keep their outside lights on at night want the lights to go off and the police tactfully suggest that leaving outside lights on simply helps burglars. Switching off your outside lights helps the environment and saves money.

Any suggestions about how to incentivise people to switch off unnecessary outside lights would be gratefully received. Email inkpen-climate@outlook.com.

Inkpen History Society Meeting
We’re just coming into Spring, and people are out in their gardens taking plants out and putting in new ones. This is your golden opportunity to help us. Ideally you need a coin and a smart phone or camera. As you disturb the soil the chances are that you will see a beetle. Please, please, please don’t kill it. Take a picture of it alongside the coin to give us some idea of its size. Send the picture to inkpen-climate@outlook.com.

Beetles (and there are around 4000 species in the UK) are our most efficient recyclers, but they are in decline thanks to our use of pesticides. We want to record the numbers, distribution and variety of beetles in our area. Please help us with this. If the decline in beetle numbers continues, then this study will enable future groups to do comparisons and chart the decline or otherwise. We’ve recently done a similar survey with moths and the results are currently being collated. They will be published on our history website history.inkpenvillage.co.uk.

If you look on the website, on the climate change page, you will see where we have large gaps in out tree age survey. Estimating a tree’s age is a relatively simple task with no special equipment needed. If you live in Inkpen and think you could help us with this, please get in touch at enquiries@inkpenhistory.uk. Thank you.

March Pop-In Café
Don’t be a fool this April, come and try our Pop-In Cafe, at the Inkpen playing field pavilion. It’s open every first and third Thursday of the month, between 10am and 12:30pm. Join us for a tea/coffee/hot chocolate and a piece of cake this April 3rd and 17th. Come and have a chat or just sit and contemplate.

Join residents from Kintbury, Hungerford and Inkpen. Have a game of chequers or arm wrestle (just joking). There’s something for everyone. We’re also here on May 1st and 15th. Make a note in your diary.

If you want a breath of fresh air and some exercise, check out the Inkpen walks, but keep your distance from others, that's at least 6 feet apart in old money. If you feel that you should wear a face mask when outdoors, then checkout the design given on the News page.

On the news page this month there are a number of updates including from the Inkpen Primary School and pre-school, from the Playing field trust and Village Hall, and there's this months Police Report .

Climate change issues.
The IMPFT, the playing field trust, is in the process of installing solar panels and a key entry system. The trust, chaired by Brian Cox, is aware of the need to reduce its carbon footprint and is making what progress it can. The solar panels are clearly there to reduce the trust's reliance on fossil fuel energy, and to feed whatever extra is generated back into the grid. The key entry system is there to make sure energy is only consumed when the facilities are in use. Many of you are choosing to adopt private energy saving measures - the trust is focused on trying and do the same.

We are depending on renewables to help us get to net-zero carbon emissions. If you'd like to see what contribution renewables are making on a daily basis, have a look here.

Please give us a hand – Oak Trees in Inkpen
We need your help to measure oak trees. Measuring tree girths helps us to evaluate changes that have taken place in Inkpen and enable future researchers to evaluate the effect of climate change on tree growth and distribution. This is work of real value, be part of it. Go to inkpenhistory.uk to find out more.