INISHOWEN SUMMER GATHERING

Photo's: The Inishowen Summer Gathering started in 2005




(Click on title for Living architecture link.)

Thanks to all of the organisers of the Summer Gathering in Culdaff this year. The whole event was very enjoyable and relaxing. I was there a day early to volunteer my services and there was plenty to do to keep the volunteers busy. Poly tunnel frames, straw bales, tarpaulins and lashings of hemp rope, all needed combining together to make the temporary structures to house the talks, stallholders and musicians over the weekend. There was a massive turn out of campers on Friday. I counted at least 100 tents and campervans that congregated on the field, which made an instant community of peaceful festival goers who mostly stayed for the whole weekend.

I am not very good at just sitting around in the sunshine and as I was there for the weekend I ended up looking for something constructive to do. For some reason I ended up being the toilet monitor for the weekend (I think it was because I pitched the tend near to them) There were only four cubicles for all of the campers so I thought it was important that they were all in working order. The toilets consisted of wooden cubicles with a raised up seat over a four-foot hole in the ground. Sawdust was used instead of flushing which meant that a least there were no pipes to unblock. The main problem was the fact that the wind blew the doors off of their hinges regularly. Most campers are not opposed to a bit of nature but using a loo with no door in front of hundreds of people might be a bit daunting. The screws to hold the doors on got longer and longer over the three days but thankfully managed to stay on until the end. You will be pleased to know that the holes in the ground have been filled in and the microbes in the soil will totally de-compose the waste within months.

I did manage to attend one or two of the talks that were on, in between toilet duties. I particularly enjoyed Peter Cowman from the Living Architecture centre in Leitrim village. His ideas of houses being living structures hit a chord. He runs courses both in Leitrim and by correspondence. (Check out his website by clicking on the title above)

Because I was involved in the construction of the event I found myself learning so much. I spent time with Andy Wilson from Westport setting up his wind turbine and solar electric panels. I now have a better knowledge of the workings of the machinery, Andy also taught me some very fancy rope knots. Thanks also to Brendan who showed me what you can make out of a pile of straw bales and willow rods. The temporary structure that was put up housed showed me how Jim Mullins solar panels created enough hot water for everyone on the site to wash their dirty dishes and Diagon also had their pipes laid out for us to see how undefloor heating actually works. My lads came away with new skills too. Michael tried his hand at wood turning and Ronnie can now milk a cow!

Environmental