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• UNDERCURRENTS, the magazine of radical science and alternative


technology [ISSN 0306 2392], was published from London, England, from
1973 to 1984 [No. 60]. This text version has been created in 2006-9 by me,
Chris [Hutton-]Squire [a member of the now-dissolved Undercurrents
Collective], by OCRing scanned images of a print copy; the text has been
spell-checked but it has NOT been checked against the original.
Health & Safety Warning: The practical, technical and scientific
information herein [though believed to be accurate at the time of publication]
may now be out of date. CAVEAT LECTOR!
The many stories that Undercurrents told will interest students of a period that
is both too distant and too recent to be adequately documented on the Web.
The moral, philosophical, social, economic and political opinions herein
remain, in my opinion, pertinent to the much more severe problems we now
face.
Readers who wish correspond on any matters arising are invited to contact me
via: chris[at]cjsquire.plus.com
This pdf version is formatted in 15 pt Optima throughout, so as to be easily
readable on screen; it runs to 139 pages [the print versions were 48 - 56 pp.]:
readers wishing to print it out to read are recommended to use the text version
and to reformat it. The many pictures that embellished the print version are
sadly not included here. There no restrictions on the use of this material but
please credit individual authors where credit is due: they are mostly still with
us.
Page numbers below are for this pdf version. The beginning of each section or
article is indicated thus:
• • • • • • • • • • • •

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The magazine of Radical Technology: Contents


Number 13 November-December 1975
6 EDDIES. Six pages of news, scandal, gossip, horror and happiness.
24 DIGGERS ANCIENT AND MODERN. The film Winstanley and the
Leeds Land for the People Conference.
30 ENERGY AND FOOD PRODUCTION. From Stonehenge to
Supermarket.
41 LUCAS. Soft Technology for Hard Times - Dave Elliott sets out the
back·ground to the Bradford Conference on Industry, the Community, and
Alter·native Technology.
57 ALTERNATIVE ENGLAND AND WALES. An update to Nick Saunders'
guide.
85 PLANNING - A COMMUNESENSE GUIDE. Chris Day and Michael
Edwards with some advice on defeating the bureaucrats at their own
game.
94 NATIONAL CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY. Gerard
Morgan-Grenville sets out his view on where AT is at.
97 NUTS IN OCTOBER. Guy Dauncey on the May lectures.
101 "OON·YELLIMON TO YOU TOO". Undercurrents grasses on
transcendental meditation.
102 THE GASPERSON COMETH. An extract from L John Fry's book The
Practical Building of Methane Power Plants.
106 WOODY WINDS UP. Part 4 of his essay Towards an alternative
culture: "Stop saying it and start doing it."
109 REVIEWS. Unilever/Synerjy/Alternative England and Wales/Anarchy
theory/ Magic/Truckers' Bible/Can Britain Feed Itself?/Alternative
Medicine/Save your seed/Roundup.
129 LETTERS: your chance to get back at us.
134 SMALL ADS
137 RADICAL TECHNOLOGY is coming!

This magazine was produced by Duncan Campbell, Pat Coyne, Tony


Durham, Richard Elen, Dave Elliott, Chris Hutton-Squire, Martin Ince,
Barbara Kern, Martyn Partridge, Dave Smith and Peter Sommer. It
certainly wouldn't exist without Graham Andrews, Godfrey Boyle, Sally
Boyle, Geoffrey Cooper, Herbie Girardet, Nigel Thomas or Woody.

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UNDERCURRENTS is published bimonthly by Undercurrents limited, a


non.profit organisation at 275 Finchley Road, London NW3, and 11
Shadwell, Uley, Dursley; Gloucs. It's printed by Prestagate Limited, 39
Underwood Road, Reading. ISSN 03062392. Copyright © of everything
in this magazine belongs to Undercurrents Limited; nothing may be
reproduced without permission, which will be gladly given to people we
like. If you want to phone us, try 01·891 0989 evenings, 01·8364363
x144 daytime, Chris Hutton·Squire, or Uley (045 386) 636, Godfrey or
Sally Boyle. Subscriptions cost £2.50 for six issues, surface mail
any·where in the world. This is about $6.50, but check the exchange rate.
For the USA, Canada and Mexico copies are airfreighted and the
sub·scription rate is $7.50. Our US agents are Air and Sea Freight Inc, 527
Madison Avenue, Suite 1217, New York, NY, 10022. Second class
postage paid at New York, NY.

Back cover: David Bramley as Parson Platt in Winstanley. See page 24.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Eddies
MAKE THE ELECTRICITY BOARD YOUR BATTERY
The national grid system could be the best electrical ·storage system·yet
devised, and may be ideal for storing energy from windmills. This notion,
which the CEGB will regard as high treason, has developed from a new
·inverter·which is used to turn DC power from windmills to AC. The
device·a "synchronous inverter" made by Windworks of the USA, allows
independent energy producers to feed power into the electricity grid·and
even run their electricity meters backwards when production exceeds
consumption.
It·s true, of course. that even in Britain large companies with their own
private generating equipment have been running synchronous generators
and feeding their surplus power into the national grid for years.
But Windworks·synchronous inverter, christened the ·Gemini·, is the first
we·ve heard of that·s specifically designed for smallscale use in
conjunction with intermittent energy sources like wind generators.
Gemini works by taking the varying, direct·current output of a typical
wind power plant, smoothing out its fluctuations, and using
the resulting power to drive
a high·power transistor oscillator which produces up to 8kW of
alternating current at exactly the voltage and frequency of the normal
electricity system.
As Windworks put it: "In operation, all available DC power is converted
to AC. If more power is available from the DC source than is required by
the load, the excess flows into the power grid. If less power is available
than is required by the load, the difference is provided by the power grid
in the normal fashion."
The beauty of such a system to the windmill builder is that you don·t
need any energy storage. The electricity grid provides instantaneous back
up power, to whatever degree is required, whenever the output of your
wind generator falls below that needed to supply your needs at any given
time.
Conversely, if you happen to be producing more power than you need,
you can ·sell it back to the electricity board by getting Gemini to run your
meter backwards.

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But what does the electricity board have to say about such practices? In
America, Wind works have not apparently encountered any problems so
far. Ben Wolff
says the group are "working with our Utility company to try and establish
a rate structure for this type of system. It has worked well with no
technical problems since February. The Utility agrees there are no
technical problems...;.. only economic ones ...
To the wind generator owner the economics of
a Gemini inverter appear very attractive. Windworks say
that "for wind systems with capacities up to 20 kilowatts, synchronous
inverters are approximately one sixth the cost of conventional inverters,
per kilowatt capacity."
The main obstacle to the introduction of such devices in the UK will
probably be the unwillingness of the Central Electricity Generating Board
to accept the concept of a decentralised network of independent
small·scale electricity producers.
At present in Britain, the relatively few private concerns that produce
their own power find that backup energy from their electricity board is
charged at a higher rate than normal, and that the rate at which the CEGB
buys their surplus power is very low. If faced with the prospect of
a much larger number of smaller power producers, the reaction of the
CEGB would probably be to make the differential between its buying and
selling prices much larger ·or else refuse to buy any privately·generated
electricity at all and modify all electricity meters to prevent them from
running backwards.
The arrogant zeal of our nationalised monopolies in suppressing any
innovations which might upset their technocratic assumptions IS
depressingly predictable.
More information:Windworks, Box 329, Route 3, Mukwonago, Wisconsin
53/49 USA

A Lovely Network
There·s a new game to be played on the phones in Paris. But, courtesy of
the automatic international telephone system, anyone can play.
The game is Le Reseau (the Network). There are a large number of lines in
Paris which are disconnected or where, for one reason or another, the
line is connected to a recorded announcement only. Fortunately, because

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of the way the telephone system works in France, the engineers cannot
prevent two people who call the same (disconnected) number at the same
time hearing each other. So one can have a conversation with random
callers who also know the Reseau
number. According to Undercurrents·Paris correspondent, now a regular
listener to Le Reseau, all kinds of weird and wonderful names are used,
and people arrange meetings. A lot of gay (and straight) contacts are
apparently fixed up on the network. And its
a forum too ·you can have a conference about anything.
You can try it from Britain, or indeed anywhere else. One number, which
was working recently is Paris (code from Britain 010331) 272 5428. Have
some fun.
The same does not happen in Britain. Only very occasionally when a
fault arises in some part of the phone system does a ·conference
circuit·come about. British phone phreaks occasionally find one.
Perhaps the most famous was the Case of the Exploding Exchange. A few
years ago the I RA blew up Strabane telephone exchange, putting
it out of action. Lines to Strabane from Londonderry, used for STD calls to
Strabane were converted by the blast into a conference circuit. Phreaks
and even people could have a free conference merely by dialling the STD
code for Strabane.

The Number Go Round


BRITAIN·S FIRST alter·native computer centre is now running and making
sufficient money for its founders to be actively looking for new alternative
projects on which their high technology tool can be used.
The Galdor alternative computer is located in a now rather elegant shed
at the bottom of a suburban garden-in Surbiton, Surrey. The main
computer is an amalgam of International Computers and Tabulators
1301s cannibalised over the years, to provide
a highly useful computing capability. In the last few months two of the
main workers, Andy Keene and Stuart Fyffe have been able
to devote more time to the project instead of running it
as a hobby while working elsewhere. Most of the paying business at
present is in processing and addressing membership lists and circulars for
local clubs.
But in the two years that Galdor has been operational there has always
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been con·siderable time spent showing people ·school kids, friends,


neighbours .... ·just what the machine can do, letting them press the
buttons and get on with it. Not something you·d normally find; most
computer installations now·adays like to keep everyone but the operating
elite as far away as possible.
Unfortunately, since the centre was set up as a project in itself the plans
to have the computer serve as an alternative tool have not been entirely
realised. Although the running of the centre is at least one kind of
alternative ·"the small scale democratic use of relatively sophisticated
machinery", according to Stuart Fyffe. Those with
an urge towards AT labels might call it AHT ·Alter·native High
Technology.
The WdY the computer has been set up has both demonstrated this idea
and been
an exercise in the cunning use of establishment resources. The machine is
repaired by cannibalising other machines of the same kind ·in 1974, the
Metropolitan Police provided two redundant 1301 s which they had been
using for computing Traffic Warden pay. And the Galdor workers were
recently to be found in the Department of the Environment at Hastings
adding a fifth c?computer to
their collection of reusable scrap.
A nucleus of half a dozen people, most with other jobs, have kept Galdor
going. And there seems plenty of continuing enthusiasm. What they need
now is suggestions for useful projects. One possibility could be to adapt a
programme already running at
a Scottish University, and available to the community. This allows single
parent families, pensioners, and
other claimants to find out what benefits they should be paid by the
Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). The DHSS never
tells anyone, but on completion of a questionnaire which is input to the
machine, their full entitlement is printed out, with explanation. Suitable
software for this kind of programme already exists at Galdor.
Survey analysis work has been done, in addition to more esoteric studies
of UFO data. The cost of running the machine is little more than
electricity ·so the Galdor centre may soon prove to be
a useful thing to have around. Galdor centre. 52 Brighton Road. Surbiton.
Surrey: 01·3991300. They·ll be pleased to hear any good ideas.

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Just Plain Windmills


A summer holiday in Crete led to the discovery of the Plain of Lasithis. A
bumpy 3hr bus ride from Heraklion, and 4000 ft up in the Cretan
mountains ... before us lay a 5 mile plateau, covered in a forest of 10000
windmills. ,Was this AT heaven ... or hell?
The Lasithis plain is dis·tinguished from similar areas of Crete by diversity
of farm·ing.
These were small integrated units; women with goats picked their way
amongst apple trees. The windmills, used for irrigation, c:seem
responsible for the flourishing agriculture.
Each m ill pi ac ed over a well was exactly alike·the ·Mediterranean type·.
Each was mounted on a similar
Lasithis·the windmills go for miles
iron frame·prompting us to wonder at their origins.
Was there, dare I ask, a windmill factory ... or was each machine
constructed by individual farmers? These questions elicited little help
from residents of Lasithis.
The increased produc·tivity of the area is obvious, so why hadn·t the
revolut·ionary devices been adopted elsewhere on the island? Was their r
adoption due to the foresight of some wily Athenian entrepreneur, a
long dead AT freak?
Perhaps there is something to be learnt from the plain of Lasithis. Small
scale technology can obvious·ly improve the productivity of land. By
utilising rather than dominating natural processes, greater diversity
is also possible.

Red Bishop·s Move


Hypocrisy is an attitude of mind that comes naturally to both Anglican
bishops and Communists.
So it is no surprise that on the very same day that ·Red Mervyn·, the
fellow travelling Bishop of Southwark, put down with his left hand
Arch·bishop Coggan for his total neglect 9f the problems of class and
inequality, with his right he killed off ·Beginning Now·, a promising shoot
of
the growing radical environmental movement. ·Beginning Now·was a two
year project set up by a group of radical Christians at Dartmouth House,
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an adult college in the diocese of Southwark, led by Mark Collier.


What bugged the Bishop was not a disagreement over doctrine but over
diet. ·Beginning Now·wanted to focus on the Politics of Food·who eats
and who doesn·t, and why. So they set up a vegetarian restaurant to bring
home to their (mostly fairly straight) visitors the iniquity and folly of our
high protein diet in a world of starving people. The cus·tomers, according
to Mark, were "happy and intrigued", Not so the Bishop. He thought that
not to serve meat was to deprive people of their right to ·a choice·.
·Beginning Now·refused to compromise, so he disbanded them. Just like
that.

ECO·HOUSEWORK
Construction work on Granada Television·s almost·autonomous house is
well advanced and most of the insulation and exterior effort has now
been completed. The production team have been tripping around the
country collecting film footage of people, places, and bits of gubbins, and
they are beginning to assemble the components of their programmes.
Up till now, most of the effort has been directed to coming to terms with
the coach·house·s transformation to ecohouse.
They seem to have stuck fairly closely to their desire to keep the exercise
at an almost DIY level. It was always thought that a good part of the work
would be done by Geoff Grant, the wood·and metal·work teacher whose
family are to live in the ecohouse, and it has been good to see that
contractors have been brought in only for major work like strength·ening
the roof.
The problem of course, is that the situation is a little unreal. Building a
house to go with a tv programme means that manufacturers will be much
more helpful and will embarrass .. you by offering cavity insulation and
the like for the house (which has no cavities anyway), for the house of
anyone on the programme and for anyone who happens to be related to
anyone on the programme.
In terms of hard construction work, nearly all the
insulation has been installed-underneath the floors, and beneath the new
timber clad walls. The solar roof, which
is the BRAD model, arrived
in beautifully machined sections which nearly refused to go on because
of the irregularity of the roof. A good deal of bodging was required. Brian
Trueman tells us
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that the BRAD roof


may not operate well on all buildings. The Granada ecohouse is loftless ..
·the bedrooms are in the eaves·and in those circumstances the BRAD roof
needs a venting system below its main body to transmit away excess heat.
If metal pins are used to secure the roof, in hot weather heat will be
trans·mitted right through to the eaves·if really hot weather, the wood may
become scorched and the whole structure unstable. Venting (or a loft)
may cure this. So watch out. Trueman is also a Iittle anxious that he is
using too much high·energy material, like aluminium.
The next task is the heat sink which was originally to be a couple of tanks
of water, but they are now looking at rocks and salts (we hope
not Glauber·s, which, despite its fame doesn·t seem all that effective).
They have
a location for their windmill, which will either be a Cretan type or be a
prop developed by UMIST. Trueman says he wants the windmill to be
used for heat generation as heat is more readily stored than electricity.
We have explained this against AT’s Conventional Wisdom, but he is not
impressed. The garden/allotment is being ·thought about·.

Nuclear Noose
Latest body to join the burgeoning nuclear protest movement in the US is
the American Civil Liberties
Union which has provided
an attorney for the hearings into the licensing of the Wolf Creek plant
near Burlington, Kansas. The ACLU will link up with several
environmentalist groups including the Mid·America Coalition for Energy
Alternatives, a Kansas City based group, co·ordinating anti·nuclear
activities in five states, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma
Oklahoma.
The ACLU is involving
itself on the basis that nuclear power is a threat to civil liberties in the
future because of the strict protective measures necessary to safeguard the
material throughout the fuel cycle. Coalition tactics include lobbying for
moratorium bills in the various various state legislatures. Political support
in the midwest is reckoned to be strongest in Kansas where the farmer·s
union has come out strongly on the anti·nuclear side. Opposition has
been aroused by both safety fears and the rather tactless business antics of
the utilities. At
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Wolf Creek attempts were made to acquire the land cheaply by


condemnation and in Missouri, while the local farmers got a good price,
they thought they were selling the land for a nudist colony.

MANSON
Already reeling under the combined pressures of inflation and
environmentalist opposition, the nuclear lobby has received a body blow
(literally) from another,
rather less expected quarter ·Charles Manson.
"Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the people who are building nuclear
power plants, the people that are polluting the air, the people that are
poisoning the water, the people who are killing the wildlife, the people
who are
falsely advertising to the public ·all of them will be butchered in their
bedrooms because they are living off the blood of the little people ...
So said Sandra Good, disciple of Manson and roommate of Lynette
·Squeaky·Fromme, recently indicted for the attempted assassination of
President Ford_ In
a radio interview in New Orleans Good named six businessmen on the
assassination list of the
·International People·s Court of Retribution·, who she described as
"several thousand people throughout the world who love the earth, the
children and their lives". In
a later interview the list was enlarged to 72 people.
NUCLEAR PATTERSON
Friend of the Earth and certain FOE of the nuclear industry·Walt Patterson
recently mingled with the electro nuclear industry
in Switzerland. A
believer, if in nothing else, of
bearding the nucleon in his den, Walt was in Basle for Nuclex 75, the big
European nuclear exhibition, billed as the event where nuclear power
would demonstrate its ·maturity·(sic).
Patterson·s contribution to Nuclex, where the predominant mood was far
from the confidence one would expect from a mature industry, was a
lecture given to about 400 people, industry figures as well as critics. His
main target was not safety, which has had a fair airing in Switzerland as
elsewhere, but a topic which was much less familiar to his listeners, the
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overall economics of nuclear power.


It is not simply a question of reactor economics, where premature aging,
unexpected failures and licensing difficulties have exploded the
optimistic cost forecasts of only a few years ago. The biggest question
marks hang over the rest of the fuel cycle. In reprocessing spent fuel there
is no plant in the world capable of handling uranium oxide fuel, the
commonest type. Three commercial US plants which were supposed to
be working by now are unlikely to get going before the end of the decade
and British Nuclear Fuel·s plant
at Wind",le will not be ready before 1981. Meanwhile the fuel has to be
stored ·and available storage space in the US will be used up well before
1980.
Uranium compounds added to false teeth to make them fluoresce could
result in mouth and gums receiving
a radiation dose of 2 rems
a year say the British National Radiological Protection Board. This is more
than the 1.5 rems maximum recommended by the International
Commission for Radiological Protection
Strikes
Autarky Strikes!
Cambridge University·s Department of Architecture Autarkic House group
recently made a new application for government funds to the tune of
£400,000. They want the money to develop their house to the stage of a
production line unit, and seem totally opposed to readily accessible
·do·it·yourself·technology. In a document describing their proposal, one
useful type of solar collector (used at BRAD) is dismissed as "not
commercially exploitable for reasons of simplicity". The entire_
philosophy is directed towards an ·integrated unit·which will roll off some
production line.
The design of the Autarkic House, which is being developed by a
proposed team of 14 led by Alex Pike, the Department·s Director of
Technical Research, has been described as "the result of rampant
commercialism and academic opportunism." The house is generally
known as ·Alex Pike·s Box·, and seems rather small for the design family
of 4.
The document speaks glibly of ·widespread applications·for the house,
and hopes that
production line techniques may enable it to be ·u universally adopted·.
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But the estimated cost was revealed at a Solar Energy Society meeting to
be over £50,000 per unit. The mind boggles at the thought of men on the
autarkic house production line monotonously tightening nuts on the same
solar collector panel day in, day out ·while bosses and academics tell
them about ·widespread application·.
Astoundingly, the design
for ·customary patterns of living·with ·generally acceptable standards·is
based on material from the Reader·s Digest. This middle·c1ass dream
home includes a dishwasher as well as TVs, toaster and electric
can·opener. Why bother with an ·alternative·house in order to reproduce
current consumerist living patterns? The group accept that ·complexity
will be unavoidable·, and the house may be very difficult to live in. Their
application does not both·er to discuss basic issues of energy and
resources.
The house still has several likely design problems. A windmill on the roof
is likely to cause noise and vibration, while the house only has one door.
What the design does not lack, however, arc computer models,
simulations,
and wind tunnel tests. But it probably doesn·t have enough ambient
energy systems to make it self·sufficient in energy all year round.
Better financial support for alternative technology may generally be a
good thing, but not here. Perhaps the Autarkic House will eventual!
eventually go into production ·with its £400,000 and 14 researchers ·but
to us it is likely to be useless. A misbegotten daughter of high technology,
created on an alienating production line, it will be financially
inaccessible to most people. Th is type of ·alternative·technology is
an academic toy which may one day be used by the trendy and wealthy
·but has little relevance to people·s technology.
Unnatural Habitat
For students of UN conferences the idea of yet another major conference
on mankind·s predicament must come as no surprise. Identify a problem
·give it a title and organise a conference is by now the all too familiar
response of the UN. So was born the Stockholm Con·ference on the
human environment, the Bucharest conference on population, the Rome
conference on food ,the Mexico conference on the status of women ·and
now the Vancouver Conference on human settlements. It all conjures up
an idea of permanent in·transit diplomats waltzing from one cocktail
session to the next to the strains of the world·s problems. But perhaps

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there is a point. After


all, Stockholm led to the creation of the UN Environment Program, Rome
to the World Food Council and so on. Nobody is thinking seriously yet of
a world settle·ments agency but there is still time.
Governments are by now well advanced in their thinking for Habitat and
major themes begin to emerge. The
principal problem is the fantastic drift of rural populations into urban
conurbations. Discussion, ideas and solutions to the many planning,
financial and human problems that this migration causes
arc the major point of the exercise for two·thirds of the world. However,
the West, fully aware of this priority, are left wondering just what to do.
The UK is no exception.
So far HMG have put together a film on ·habitat·in the UK and, under the
guidance of the ex·DOE chief road planner, are writing
an historical analysis of planning in the UK ·including citizen
participation. We shall sec!
Governments are not the only ones who are asked to join in the fun.
Non·govern·mental organisations, to adopt the jargon (that, for the
uninitiated, means clubs, societies, pressure groups, non·government
research establishments, industry groups, etc. etc.) are also an important
ingredient and Vancouver is laying on a truly remarkable array of facilities
for them. Aircraft hangars for AT demonstrations and exhibitions, a vast
meeting place, workshops, talkshops you name it they have got it right
down to a wire TV service to all hotels on what is going on. All of this is
under the co·ordination of two units ·ACSOH (P.O. Box 48360, Bentall
Center, Vancouver) for the Canadian facilities and
Mr. van Putten (International Union of Local Authorities,
45 Wassenaarseweg, The Hague 2018, Netherlands) for the organisational
arrangements. Interested parties should unhesitatingly contact either.
Back home a few things are being planned. The first event is a
conference, co·ordinated by the National Council for Social Service (Sue
Forrester, NCSS 26 Bedford Sq., WC1) provisionally called ·Settlements
and popular participation·.
The conference in January plans to discuss public participation in
housing, transport and strategic planning. Many groups are involved
ranging from Shelter to the RIBA and from FOE to the CBI. In April John
Turner of the Architectural Association hopes to hold a seminar on the
Chilean experience in housing. All being well some inter·mediate/
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alternative/appropriate technology group will hold


a meeting on their ideas for the future and the development interests
(WDM ·Oxfam etc.) will pull together some event to emphasise their
point of view. All in all the habitat conference in Vancouver (end of May-
June 1976) could turn out to be
a useful peg for discussion of what we ·rather than our bureaucrats ·can
do to shape the future.
Richard Sandbrooke

TINKERBELL·S FAERIE FORTUNE


It will be interesting to see how the new United Nations publicity
organisation, the International Institute for Environment and
Develop·ment (liED) resolves its directors·apparent conflict of interest.
The liED is part of the United Nations Environmental Programme, and the
unit, based in London, has the task of "commissioning features on key
global environment problems and then placing them in leading world
publications." The director is environmental journalist and leading
environmental person,
J Tinker.
But Tinker·s capacity to do this public relations job for UNEP seems likely
to be hampered by his part time membership of the Royal Commission on
Environmental Pollution. As a con·dition of joining this august body, his
lips are firmly sealed on the topic of air pollution. Important topic of
environmental concern, you would have thought. To add to the
confusion, Tinker is also the press officer for the British Ecological Society.
But the most disconcerting juxtaposition appears in
a recent issue of the magazine New Scientist in which the
II ED was advertising. Accord·ing to a list in the magazine, Tinker is their
·Environment Consultant·, and is paid an extremely substantial retainer to
be available for comment·ing on news and develop·ments. And when he
writes
an opus for New Scientist extolling the works of UNEP, he demands
considerable sums not unadjacent to £200
(Froth overhears in Long
Acre bars).
This multiplicity of interests must cause New Scientist readers some
concern. What
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is to be done, for example, when a significant environmental story


conflicts with UNEP·s interests? Can readers expect the same
dispassionate and penetrating analysis? Or
c
will the same happen to Tinkerbelle as to other journalists who tread the
unholy path of PR? See the next six months issues of IPC·s scientific trade
journal.

TRANSCENDENTAL MYSTIFICATION?
ONE FEA TURE of today·s mystical and ·enlightened·cults is a certain
secrecy about the inner processes of the
cult. Once initiates are admitted, on payment of a
a not insubstantial fee, they are instructed not to reveal the ceremonies of
the inner sanctum. Spiritual processes must retain their mystique.
Some will accept this as legitimate behaviour; others, cynical like Froth,
suggest this is an important element in the cult marketing strategy. New
initiates must reinforce their beliefs in the cult and be enticed into further
costly courses to higher levels of consciousness. For outsiders, the secrecy
may likely encourage beliefs that there is something worthwhile to hide.
Either way, some dissidents have come away unsatisfied, ready to blow
the gaff. Dave Jackson of Manchester recently took the initiation course in
Transcendental Meditation (TM), and decided it wasn·t worth his £25.
TM consists essentially of repeating a simple word ·the Mantra ·in your
mind. Your own personal, totally secret Mantra is given at a quasi-
religious ceremony involving you and your personal teacher
only. You must swear to secrecy over what takes place. Dave thinks this is
probably to keep the £25s rolling in, and he didn·t take it too seriously.
So what happened? First, he took his shoes off.
He entered a darkened room sweetly smelling of joss with his teacher. An
altar like table covered with a white bed sheet displayed the Maharishi·s
portrait eerily lit by two candles. The teacher started chanting in an
"obscure Indian dialect".
Then, just as Our Person In The Darkened Room was wondering what all
the crap was about, he was told to participate in the chanting now
consisting of only one word ·the Mantra. He then meditated thereupon.
Curious, though, that everyone else he knew was given the same personal
Mantra. Perhaps there·s only one mantra, or maybe all his friends have

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the same psychotype when it comes to Cosmic Consciousness.


The Word, folks, is ·Ein·gar·. See you in the Higher Realms Of
Conscious·ness.

TRANSPORT WELL·OILED
The total lack of imagination in liberal environmental thinking was
demonstrated at a conference ·Transport without Oil?·in Newcastle at the
end of September. Local environmental groups organised the show of
transport planners and others with the clearly significant if little-known
Tyneside Branch of the Light Railway Transport League. But the so·called
experts had no ideas except whether cars were to be in or out in their
dream futures. The most startling contribution to the conference was
the effective demonstration of the same idiocy with added irresponsibility
from the head of the Tyne and Wear Road Users Group ·a Mr John who
lives in Kent.
The one·day conference didn·t actually get round to discussing alternative
means of transport or organisation of production and distribution
to achieve this. Well done the clearly significant if little-known Tyneside
Branch of the Light etc, etc.
Undercurrents/NewcastIe

PROGRESS WITH the Undercurrents/LID Wind Generator has been a bit


slow lately. The main task at the moment is to try to arrange for the relay
to "cut in" at voltages which only produce a small charge to the battery.
The relay system we·ve been using, based on an old Ford Popular 6volt
·control box·, is not sensitive enough.
One or two readers have suggested an alternative approach to the
problem namely, to connect the field and armature terminals together and
connect these in turn via a diode to the battery. This arrangement is
known as a ·self·excited·generator. Unfortunately, as we found when we
tried this system out, the self·exciting effect does not begin to work until
the armature is turning considerably faster than the highest propellor
speeds we·re likely to encounter.
In bench tests, with the dynamo turned by our lashed·up electric drill (see
last issue). there was no output at all at 900 RPM ·though at
2400 RPM, a speed far in excess of the maximum likely propellor speed,
the system worked beautifully. Of course if we were gearing the

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propellor, then this would be


an ideal solution.
We hope to report on the results of our attempts to use toothed rubber
belts for gearing the dynamo (or an alternator) in our next issue.
Meanwhile, for those readers who are really keen to rewind their car
dynamos to make them operate at slow speeds, and who were
dis·appointed that we didn·t give enough details on rewinding in the last
issue, we·ll be happy to send photocopies of the original Practical
Mechanics articles on dynamo re·winding to anyone who requests them,
for just the copying cost (between 25p and SOp).
We still think that a geared system, especially if an alternator is used, is
likely to generate more power, with less effort, than a re·wound dynamo.
But the Undercurrents/LID wind generator is an on·going co·operative
project. We·re very grateful for all the feedback readers have provided so
far, and would be delighted to hear from other readers who have
alternative suggestions or who can give us the results of their own
practical experiments.
Godfrey Boyle

Oiling the Dollar Mills


The United States may decide to base its legislation concerning
exploration and production of the Con·tinental Shelf on British ideas of
government control, according to fearsome rumours now passing round
the oil industry. And renewed proposals for the dreaded FOGCO may be
on their way (FOGCO = Federal Oil and Gas Corporation).
The Outer Continental
Shelf Bill is now passing through the US senate and congress, and clauses
requiring 60% of all net profits to be paid to the US Treasury seem likely.
The Labour government here is to obtain at
least 70% of net North Sea profits.
However, ideas of state participation and control of oil companies
working in US offshore waters are still anathema in the land of free
enterprise. But other types of control over exploration and production are
on the cards such as the timing and number of wells. The senate
committee which is considering the legislation recently visited the North
Sea.
Will the Tories continue to attack ·state grab·now that the idea is seen to

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have profitable export potential?


Gusher
·
Metrication Madness
Failure to meet published schedules, from trains to installing telephones,
is
a charge that has been levelled more than once at our nationalised
industries. Undercurrents is pleased to report one schedule, which has
been strictly adhered to by one state industry, the CEGB ·which is why it·s
in trouble.
The CEGB took, folly of follies, the word of another group of bureaucrats,
the Metrication Board, that Britain would be more or less completely
metric by 1975. Well, give the British 25mm and they·ll take 1.61 km and
even now the average man doesn·t know a kilogramme from a killer
whale. I Why should he?·EdJ
But the CEGB, when they ordered the isle of Grain power station
specified metric. The rest of British industry dragged its feet, and although
the building was 100% metric, the electrical equipment was less than
500,A; and the mechanical engineering less than 40%. That·s quite a
mixed bag to operate for the next 30 years especially if the British unit
spares dry up.
Worse was to come when
the coal gas and petroleum industries and British Rail tried to lay down a
coordinated metric programme, with ·M·day·designated for you·ve
guess·ed it ·April 1st 1974. All the fuel programmes were deferred but the
CEGB found it too
difficult to halt its own metrication programme and went ahead. The
result was that the coal was delivered in tons and consumed in tonnes.
Measurement of supplied calorific values was in Btu/lb but in use kJ/kg
was employed.

The Regional Network


In the last issue, we related the changes in Undercurrents which follow
the readers meeting at COMTEK. In particular, the regional network of
·correspondents·was discussed and the way local news of interest might
be gathered. We haven·t got it off the ground yet, in time to report for this
issue. But the people are still there. So if there is something of interest

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going
on in your area, please get in touch ...
CORNWALL ·Jon Campbell. Lucastes, Lerryn, Lostwithiel, Cornwall.
GLOUCESTER ·Godfrey Boyle, II Shadwell, Uley, Dursley, Gloucs. (Uley
636)
POWYS ·Bob Todd (NCAT), Llwyngwern Quarry, Machynlleth, Powys.
(Machynlleth 2400)
CARDIFF ·Paul Downton, 139 Wyverne Road, Cathays, (Cardiff 43485)
BUCKS ·Kip Handling. Signal Cottage, Bledlow, Bucks SUSSEX ·Duncan
Campbell, 31 Franklin Road, Brighton, Sussex. (Brighton 686822) ESSEX
·Jan Wysocki, Hams Cottage, Back Road, Kirton, Ipswich
YORKS ·Leeds Future Studies Centre, 15 Kelso Road. Leeds 2. LANCS
·Nigel Ferguson,
21 Chatsworth Road. Lancaster NORTHUMBERLAND ·Geoff WatSon,
Church Cottage. Chollerton, Hexham,
Monica Frisch, EGIS Information Service, North Lodge, Elswick Road
Cemetry, Newcastle 4. EDINBURGH ·Michael Tribbeck, 10 Cannon Lane.
Edinburgh 10. (03t·447 4908)
WHAT·S ON ...
The Institute of Contemporary Arts at Nash House, Carlton House Terrace,
London SWl, are having a series of meetings on Communica·tion and
Community Action, at 6.30 pm on Tuesday evenings. Each month there
will be
a different topic, with four lectures per month. Topics are: November
·video, December lobbying and PR, January ·film, February tapes and
slides.
The Farm and Food Society is taking part in the First World Congress at
The World Exhibition of Survival at the International Rogier Centre,
Brussels, November 21·24. This is being organised by Universal Survival
whose declared target is Quality of Life. There will be sessions on Soft
Energy, Biological Agriculture, Nonviolence, Nuclear Power, Healthy
Food and Natural Medicine. Details from the Farm and Food Society, 37
Tanza Road, London NW3, 01·4550634.
Should Britain Feed Itself! is the title of
a conference organised by the Conservation Society and UK and Ireland
Agricultural Students Association on Saturday November 22, at the
Palmer Building, Reading University. One of the speakers is Kenneth

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Mellanby. The conference will discuss whether Britain should feed itself,
on the assumption that it could do so, given a drastic change of diet (see
review of Mellanby·s Call Britain feed Itself? in this issue). Registration £
1.00, lunch £ 1.00, payable to Conservation Society. Indicate your
requirements and enclose a large SAE with the money, to Stephen
Mottram, Sibley Hall, Redhatch Drive, Earley, Reading, Berkshire.
Turning Point is an all day meeting at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square on
November 29 at which activists, thinkers, and other concerned people
will discuss where to look for a solution to the present crisis ·towards
ecology, politics or technology. Speakers will include Jerry Ravetz, Colin
Hutchinson and James Robertson, author of Profit or People. For details
write to Alison Pritchard, Turning Point, 21 Phillimore Place, London W8
7BY. 01·9379766. Tickets are £1, pay your cheque to Turning Point.
The first European Sarvodaya Conference A Vision For a Communitarian
Society ·will be held on Saturday December 13 at Conway
Hall, Red Lion Square, London WCI. "The conference aims to gather and
express solidarity for a new set of principles and a programme for action.
All those who believe in a decentralised society, an ecological life·style
and a humane economy should gather and uphold these values." The
conference is jointly sponsored by the London School of Nonviolence,
The Ecologist, Christian Action, the Free J.P. Campaign and Resurgence
and participants include E.F. Schumacher, Geoffrey Ashe, John Seymour,
Leopold Kohr, Lanza del Vasto and many others. The Friday and Sunday
meetings will be at Eastbourne House. For details write to Satish Kumar,
Eastbourne House, Bullards Place, London E2. Tickets are £ 1 each,
payable to the London School of Nonviolence.
Network for Alternative Technology and Technology Assessment (NA IT A)
is holding a two day workshop at the Open University, Milton Keynes,
April 3·4 1976. This is aimed at bringing together groups involved with
com·munity technology development, AT, grass roots industrial struggles,
environmental lobbying, social audit, technology assessment etc, to
exchange experiences and compare strategies. Contact Dave Elliott via
Under·currents.
ORGANISING AN EVENT?? Please send any information for inclusion in
this section to Barbara Kern at Undercurrents.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Partridge Rise Up, Ye Noble Diggers
READERS WITH LONG MEMORIES may recall the Diggers·brave attempt
to seize Cambridge in the February 74 general election, (see
Undercurrents 6). A lost deposit having finally confirmed their distaste for
Parliamentary demo·cracy the scene of the struggle has shifted a long way
from Westminster .... right down to earth on far·off Bodmin Moor. During
the summer Poltesque Farm, an 80·acre site near the village of Temple,
was taken over for people·s use and now houses a population of fifty
souls, making it the largest agricultural commune in Britain. The farm had
been left unwanted since the original owner fled the country owing a
large amount in death duties. Until recently the land was used
unofficially by another local farmer, but faced with economic crisis he
has cut down the size of his stock and is now helping the settlers to
develop more
direct methods of food production. Much hard work had preceded this
move; an old stone barn was transformed into a cooperative dormitory
using material liberated from derelict sites all over Cornwall and work has
since begun on a second building. The community aims to have all the
land under intensive cultivation within two years and thereafter to
become a high·production unit assisting other groups with a similar
ideology. Although the community is very recent the framework of its
constitution is based on the teachings of Gerrard Winstanley, as laid
down in ·The Law of Freedom in a Platform·. The objective is a situation
in which leaders and committees are unnecessary.
The principal activity is spontaneous work; anyone finding a job which
needs doing either does it or lists it on a blackboard for others requiring
direction. A general meeting of all concerned sets down standards for the
way in which each job is done, and these are reviewed regularly as more
people acquire the necessary skills. The community intends to prove that
a sharing system is not only spiritually better, but can also lead to greater
material comfort through intensified and sensitive use of resources. The
latest news from Cornwall is that two more derelict farms have been
found, one with very fast water nearby_And Trago Mills, the local
out·of·town shopping centre, is running a special offer on fibre·glass
waterwheels this month.
Information from Nathan Moran.

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p
GERRARD WINSTANLEY was a 17th century English revolutionary whose
ideas deserve to see the light of day again. Radical history, with its more
recent exotic heroes, has rarely paid much attention to the original
home.grown product, but there is no doubt that Marx himself was quite
familiar with Winstanley·s writings. The Civil War and the English
Revolution were cornerstones of his historical understanding ..... basic
examples of the transformation of society from feudalism to capitalism.
The Civil War, (1642·1650). was the point when the old established
aristocrats were overthrown by the rising merchant class. But it was a
long exhausting struggle and, as in most wars, the bulk of the fighting fell
to the lot of the ordinary folk of the shires and the country towns, who
also contributed to Cromwell·s cause by raising heavy taxes and giving
free quarter to his troops. With the execution of the king and the
proclamation of
a republic (commonwealth" therefore, they naturally expected to be
relieved of the old feudal burdens of high taxation and unequal
ownership of land. But they were disappointed., for the victorious
Parliamentarians merely appropriated the privileges of the vanquished
Royalists for themselves without doing anything to ease the condition of
the poor.
The levellers were the ultra·leftists of Cromwell·s revolution; they were
not satisfied with a simple change in the personnel at the top of the
tree ..... they wanted society to be made more equal throughout. And to
the left of the ultra·leftists came the True levellers, led by Winstanley, who
aspired to a complete common·ownership of the land and the
introduction of a social system based on wider community objectives
instead of the narrow personal interests of its separate members. Thus the
bourgeois concept of individualism was being challenged right at the
inception of the bourgeois state. _ ... a fact which may come as a surprise
to many who regard this current of opinion as a much more recent
phenomenon.
In April 1649 a number of men armed with spades arrived on St Georges
Hill in Surrey intending to till the common land and grow food for the
needy. They were mostly poor residents of neighbouring Cobham and
Walton·on·Thames, landless
labourers of a class dispossessed by the enclosure system and subject to
tremendous hardship in that period of economic chaos. Their leader was
Gerrard Winstanley, who had expressed the aim of the project in his
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pamphlet ·The New law of Righteousness·published in January of that


year. Their intention was to ·work together, eat bread together·. They were
opposed by local property moguls who were jealous of their grazing
rights.
The ensuing months saw widespread political unrest, as the bourgeois
government·sought to contain the efforts of the poor to take the land for
themselves and their own needs. Although the number of participants in
this insurrection was at all times few, Cromwell and his generals were not
slow to perceive the serious threat which lay behind their socialist ideas.
The news·sheets of 1649 contain accounts from many parts of England of
conditions bordering on famine and pestilence ... all this in a country in
which, as Winstanley himself remarked, "there be land enough .... to
maintain ten times as many people as are in it"
Eventually the True levellers were defeated .... the courts, the army and
the enraged local bourgeoisie proved too powerful for a small band of
men with scant leisure for litigation and politics. All that remains of 5t
Georges Hill is a slick housing estate where the private swimming·pool
class are currently entrenched. But of Winstanley there remains a
remarkable body of communist writings many years ahead of their time,
expressing a perpetual disillusionment with movements that begin
revolutionary, rapidly become reformist, and end up reactionary. The
most important of these is ·The law of Freedom in a Platform·addressed to
Cromwell at the height of his power, detailing the misery to which the
people were returning under their new overlords, and outlining the
theory of a just, sharing society. In 300 years it has lost none of its
relevance or its elegance. The most accessible collection of Winstanley·s
writings is entitled Winstanley. The Law of Freedom, edited by Christopher
Hill and published by Pelican at 75p.

A Full-length FILM about the leader of the True Levellers and the events
on George Hill, 1649·51 has been directed by Kevin Brownlow and
Andrew Mollo, two exponents of a peculiarly British variety of
non·establishment cinema: the low·budget feature·movie with amateur
actors, shot at weekends, yet striving for, and often surpassing, the
technical standards of the big·money boys. ·Winstanley·will be making its
British debut at the London Film Festival in November.
Great political issues of the period haunt the action, though for the most
part unobtrusively. The film does not set out to make abstract statements
·it is simply a record of events with a commentary taken from
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Winstanley.·s writing .... an account of turbulent ideas as they find


expression in people·s behaviour. particularly towards each other. It
doesn·t say that Diggers are good, or that landowners are bad; it merely
observes the individuals that inhabit broad stereotypes and tries to come
to terms with their particular identities. Thus the ambivalence of General
Fairfax, setting the needs of state against the stirrings of his conscience.
Or the inconstancy of Mrs. Platt, with her passion for Winstanley·s
democratic vision, yet her refined abhorrence of the common people.
The Diggers failed to achieve their aims, and they failed abysmally. After
less than two years on barren heath land, harassed at every turn by the
authorities, their spirit was broken and the movement crushed. The film
sets out to show the human elements that underly this short. sad fact .....
how the unity of the movement was imperilled by lunatics, (Ranters
·self·ended spirits·), and by the simple pragmatism of those with families
to support, who could not live up to Winstanley·s standards of
self·denying honesty. And. more than anything else, it demonstrates the
cruel reality of living by the land ..... the dirt, the hunger, the unremitting
toil, set against a back·ground of ever·changing weather. The most
memorable scene is the recurrent prospect from the hilltop, a leitmotif
depicting all the seasons, sometimes assailed with storms and at other
times shimmering beneath the hot sun. Anyone who wants to live closer
to the earth must learn to love it in all its moods.
Winstanley is a didactic movie of great importance ..... a typical piece of
our history featuring property, poverty, gentleness and power. It asks
questions which were put into cold·storage in the 17th century and are,
this day. still waiting to be answered. The words of Winstanley, and Miles
Halliwell·s remarkable voice, still linger: " .... here I end, having put my
arm as far as my strength will go to advance righteousness. I have writ. I
have acted. I have peace." How many of us will be able to say as much?
Martyn Partridge

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FOOD for PEOPLE: The Land for the People Food Event at Leeds, Oct 18 &
19.
IN AN IDYLLIC GREEN FIELD with two horses, among miles of deserted
farmland but close to the London·Leeds railway, is a horrific sign:
TAYLOR WOODROW BUILD EVERYWHERE. This wooden structure is
itself the only evidence of building in the whole area so far, and appears
all the more threatening when there is no·one around except the
occasional solitary tractor·driver. The fields themselves are. beginning to
look visibly unhealthy as the tractors become bigger and better machines.
But you can·t eat tractors. In Leeds almost all discussion was actually on
some aspect of communication and exchange of information itself:
A Land Registry ·People living locally could most easily check out each piece
of land to find out details about the condition of the soil and who owns it, etc.
Many local groups could usefully exchange accurate knowledge of possibilities
in each area. There was already a lot of commitment from people at Comtek
(sec Undercurrents 12) to look but for usable land nationally.
A Catalogue of People ·their skills, interests, commitments, resources and
present requirements, something which the Futures Centre is trying to do
already. land for the People has produced a rough list for people to make
contact with each other locally. (In the Bit library there·s
an amazing 1 50·page directory of people who attended a conference on
Alter·native Agriculture last year in America, where the movement back to the
land is obviously growing very large_)
A Land for the People Handbook ·Some people offered to write on
particular topics such as ·the cities·exploitation of the countryside·. We
still need articles on subjects like Agribizness and its dangerous practices.
agricultural ·science·. reclaiming waste land, building regulations and
ecodesign, alternative technology, the ecology of human settlement and
so on. Information is badly needed in such areas as: setting up collective
organisations. legal frameworks and how they work in practice,
organisation of meetings; up·to date statistics, facts and details on land
ownership in Britain; radical methods of land (or swamp?) cultivation,
game farming, wild foods etc; nutrition, planning laws, Community Land
Bill, squatting land, alternatives to industry, alternative economics, village
co·operatives, compost, recycling waste _ .... the list is probably endless.
We can·t ignore the tremendous amount of land that now lies waste in
small and large plots all over the country. Every spare bit of land will
become important to grow food sooner or later ..... who can tell how
soon? Action to create community gardens and to secure more allotment

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space will be a necessary part of our campaign as they will be essential to


the food·supply of city·dwellers. If people want to find themselves small
rural plots this can be useful, too, and we should aid and work with them
also, but not in a way that detracts from our main aims. The greater part
of our work will be the creation of whole new agriculturally based
villages. This necessitates a cam·paign to change our restrictive planning
laws, setting up of a co·operative society housing association, acquiring
land, building new eco·houses and community work·shops and the
setting up of learning exchange centres where people can learn from the
experience of others about farming, crafts or whatever.
For a bit of practical experience I suggest contacting WWOOF (Working
Weekends on Organic Farms). c/o Veronica Phillips, 39 Somerset Avenue,
london SW20. There arc plenty of squatable houses with large gardens
available in the Yorkshire area. There·s even a farm, but it would require a
great deal of dedication and hard work from many people. Contact Leeds
Future Studies Centre, 15 Kelso Road, Leeds 2, or land for the People, 8a
leighton Crescent, London NW5.
Steve Hobbs

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Leach From Stone Age to Supermarket:
ENERGY AND FOOD PRODUCTION
The rise in agricultural output of the developed West has been almost
entirely due to massive inputs of energy, putting agriculture in the UK, for
example, on a par in energy intensiveness with industry. The result, as
Gerry Leach of the International Institute for Environment and
Development points out here, is a highly energy·inefficient system,
comparing very poorly with pre·industrial and present third·world
methods and entirely inappropriate to the needs of the vast bulk of
mankind. To increase yields, quality and reliability, without high costs,
environmental damage or massive unemployment, the way forward must
be through self·sustainable and renewable resources.
This is a shortened version of an article appearing in the first edition of
FOOD POLICY. Thanks are due to the author and IPC for permission to
publish and to Geoff Tansey for help with editing. A much fuller treatment
of the same subject is Energy and Food Production bV G. Leach,
obtainable from the International Institute for Environment and
Development, 27 Mortimer St, London Wl. Price £1.00.
SOLAR ENERGY alone is not sufficient for food production; other energy
inputs are necessary, While most traditional farmers achieve high food
yields for each energy unit invested, the industrialised food systems of the
West have raised food yields and quality and cut labour usage, but have
done so by heavy consumption of ·and dependence on ·fossil fuels. Most
developed societies now use 7 to 8 units of fossil fuel energy for each
food energy unit consumed, or an annual 0.8 tons of oil equivalent per
person.
These energy subsidies have helped transform working conditions and
living standards in modern societies, especially on the farm. They are also
a natural response to a period of high wages and cheap energy. Their
emergence is easily explained. Yet they do raise several important
questions for the future. Not least of these are whether recent trends in
the energy·intensive food systems of the West need to be reversed, or can
be without harm; whether they are a possible model for the developing
world to copy; and if not, what energy·food strategies can do most for the
energy and food·hungry majority of the world·s peoples.
The input range

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Table 1 show, that energy requirements for a unit of food energy or


protein vary by roughly 10 000 times as one spans the entire spectrum of
food production systems. For the subsistence and hunter·gatherer
communities of the first three entries the Energy Ratio (the ratio of food
energy produced to energy
____________________________________________________
Table 1. Range of energy ratios for food production systems
Energy in Energy out
Farm gate or dockside Protein out
Energy in (MJ/kgP)
Chinese peasants 1930s 41 3.6
Tropical crops, pre·industrial* 13.38 4·13
Tropical crops, semi·industrial· 5·10 15·80
Wheat, UK 1970 3.4 42
Maize, USA 1970 2.6 62
Potato, UK 1970 1.6 96
Allotment garden, UK 1974 1.3 58
Rice, USA 1970 1.3 143
Milk, UK 1970 0.37 208
Eggs. UK 1970 0.14 353
Poultry meat, UK 1970 0.10 290
Shrimp fishing. Australia 1974 0.06 366
All fishing fleets. Malta 1970·71 0.04 420
Fishing. Adriatic 1970·71 0.01 1770
Yeast on methanol 1974 · 170
Yeast on N·paraffins 1973 195
Winter tomatoes, Denmark 1134 mj/kg 0_004 14900
Winter lettuces. UK (230 MJ/kg 0.002 26100
All Agriculture UK 1952 0.46 251
1968 0.34 326
1972 0.35 315
USA 1963 0.87 158
·L·ND 1900 Ml
Total food system to shop door
UK 1968 0.20 796
USA 1963 .0.22 616
1960 0.19
1970 0.15
AUSTRALIA 1965·69 0.14·().20
____________________________________________________
* Pre·industrial systems have more than 95% of energy inputs in the form of muscular work

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bV men or animals. With semi·industrial systems the proportion ranges from 10·95% but is
usually 40·60%, the remainder being fossil inputs mostly for fertilisers but with some
machinery and fuels. All other systems shown are full·industrlal. with muscular effort
accounting for less than 5% of the total, and usually less than 1%.
____________________________________________________
consumed) is consistently high. achieving a traditional aim of agriculture,
which is to secure a net energy flow to man. With industrial systems
much more energy is needed per unit output. with animal products and
sea fishing requiring consistently higher amounts of energy than crops. as
one might expect. This last_ fact does much to explain why for the total
farm systems of the UK, USA and Holland the Energy Ratio is always less
than one and as low as 0.3. The Table also shows for the UK and Holland
a strong trend towards greater energy intensity in agriculture in the last 20
years. When one includes the entire food production and delivery system
to the point where food is sold in shops the Energy Ratios in developed
societies drop to around 0.2. giving an annual fossil energy requirement
of about 24 GJ (1 GJ is 10·Joules) or 0.56 tonnes oil equivalent per capita.
In most developed societies a further 5·10 GJ per capita is used in
transporting food to the home and in the home for cooking, refrigeration
etc. Many rural communities in the Third World consume much greater
quantities of fuel in the home than this, bringing their overall energy
consumption for food close to the Western level.
Energy and labour
An important consequence of the high energy ratios of primitive·farming
systems is that labour requirements for food supply are not abnormally
high, despite popular mythology. With an Energy Ratio of 25 a
subsistence farmer need spend only two hours per day on average in
order to feed a family of four with a combined food energy intake of 40
MJ per day. This figure is comparable to those of Western societies, where
roughly 25·30% of household incomes are spent on food and drink.
Table 2 makes this comparison more explicit by comparing food energy
yields per man hour of labour. Most nonindustrial cropping systems
achieve
10·50 MJ per man hour for raw food delivered to the home. With
full·industrial crops this productivity soars to around 3000·4000 MJ per
man hour of on·farm labour with food delivered to the farm gate. But
these high outputs arc then dissipated in two ways. Much of the crop is
fed to animals. which reduces the productivity enormously. It is down to
50·170 M J per man hour on most average UK livestock farms, for

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example. The second loss occurs when one includes all the other sectors
of the food system. The total direct and indirect labour force in UK food
production and supply is estimated at close to three million workers, with
probably a further one million providing food and feed imports. On this
total the labour productivity is as low as 35 MJ per man hour.
This is a notable figure in view of the frequent claims that modern
methods allow one farmer to feed 60 or more people. These methods
depend on, have allowed and indeed largely caused the vast social
changes ·including urbanisation and the factory system ·which
have put large distances between the field and the mouth in every sense
and greatly swelled the ranks of non·farm workers in the food system. In
fact a
food system worker in the UK feeds ·only·14 to 16 people ·a figure that is
typical of the middle to upper range for preindustrial farmers when one
counts actual working time.
Energy and land
Figure 1 compares energy inputs and outputs per unit of land for a wide
range of farming systems. It confirms two important relationships. The
first. demonstrated by the sloping diamond of the pre·industrial systems,
is that hard work can provide large yields. The highest point of this group,
for example, is for traditional Chinese small·holdings of 230 m2·with
labour inputs of 7064 hours per hectare·year and outputs as rice and
beans of nearly two tons of protein and 280 GJ per hectare·year. Most of
the labour was for collecting dung. Allotment gardens in the UK, with an
estimated 14000 hours of labour per hectare·year yielding 60 G J and
788 kg of protein as mixed vegetables, also score outputs almost as high
as any full·industrial cropping systems on record. In both cases high
outputs are achieved mainly by virtue of labour intensity and small scale,
which allows intensive fertilisation, weeding and double and
inter·cropping. However, it is crucial to bear in mind that high yields and
high labour intensity are rarely a recipe for wealth; for example
at 1974 prices the UK allotment produced a return of only £0.2 per man
hour.
The second relationship is the more conventional one that large fossil
inputs in the form of fertilisers and mechanisation can also give high
yields. The cluster of full·industrial crops (cereals, rice, potatoes and sugar
beet) have energy yields of 30·80 GJ per hectare·year, roughly three times
higher for temperate climates than the majority of pre·and semi·industrial

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tropical systems.
However, energy inputs are also much higher while ·at least on these data
there is a sharp tendency to diminishing returns. As before, the effective
yield is greatly reduced by feeding the crops to animals ·a shown by the
plots for UK livestock farms and animal products.
____________________________________________________
Table 2. Food energy outputs per man hour of farm labour
Output
Agricultural system (MJ/man hour)
Pre·industrial crops
!Kung Bushmen, hunter·gatherers 4·5
Subsistence rice, tropics 11·19
Subsistence maize, millet, sweet potato. tropics 25·30
Peasant farmers. China 40
Semi·industrial crops
Rice, tropics 40
Maize. tropics 23·48
Full·industrial crops
Rice. USA 2800
Cereals, UK 3040
Maize, USA 3800
Full·industrial crops plus animal
Sheep, cattle, pig and poultry, dairy farms, UK 5l>170
Cereal farms. UK (small animal output) 800
UK allotment garden, approx. 4·3
UK food system, approx. 3l>35
(all labour)
____________________________________________________
The UK farm system
A greater insight into food·energy relationships can be gained by looking
at the changing patterns of one country. As late as the 1920s UK farming
was a pre-or semi·industrial system, with only 10 000 tractors compared
to 410 000 today and an average fossil energy input of a mere 100·150
MJ per hectare year compared to 9000 M J in 1970. Only 6% of farms
had a power supply and their combined consumption was less than 1 %
of present levels.
The transition to full industrialisation occurred very rapidly and mostly in
the 30 years since World War Two. In England and Wales the number of
farm horses declined precipitously, releasing 10% of the total farmed area
for food production; wholetime farmworkers fell in 50 years from nearly
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700 000 to 260000; and the tractor population rose to about 350 000. At
the same time, while crop yields rose to roughly double their 1900 level
consumption of energy intensive chemical fertilisers soared. In the same
1900·70 period the total output of animal products roughly doubled, but
since the effective area of farm land increased by 28% (largely due to the
decline in grazing land for horses) and feed imports also increased, the
increase in animal yields per hectare was probably more like 50%.
The effects on energy consumption were substantial. From a very low
level at the start of the century, by 1968 the energy input to UK farming
had risen to 378 million GJ or .76 million tons oil equivalent, equal to
4.6% of UK primary energy consumption in that year. For
this investment, among others, farming delivered 130 million GJ of food
energy and 1.16 million tonnes of protein for human consumption
·enough to feed exactly half the population in energy terms and 62% in
terms of protein. A l*"breakdown of these energy inputs is given in Figure
2, while Figure 3 shows rather more approximately how the main classes
of energy input changed during the 1952·72 period.
The most notable changes were in the substitution of energy for
manpower. By 1972 each full·time farm worker was backed by a direct
energy input of 502
GJ or 11.6 tonnes of oil equivalent per year. Counting all part·time
workersl directors and the like reduces this to about 180 GJ per man year.
Even this lower figure puts agriculture, on this measure, well into the
category of heavy industries = in the UK the direct energy per manyear is
about 130·140 G J in engineering and 310 GJ in motor vehicle
production. Equally significant, the marginal energy cost of replacing
labour appears to have soared. In the early stages of farm mechanisation
it often took only 10·20 MJ of energy to save one hour of labour but by
1965·70 this quantity had risen to around 230 M J.
The UK food system
In a developedl urban society such as the UK farming accounts for only a
fraction of the total energy required for food supply. Food has to be
transported p(processed, packed, stored and sold in shops, and in the UK
it has to be imported in large quantities. Figure 4 gives an estimate for
1968 of the energy flow for the whole UK food system to the shop door.
The total input of nearly 1300 million GJ or 30 million tonnes oil
equivalent for a population of 55 million was 15.7% of national energy
consumption ·though of course a good deal of this energy was

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·spent·abroad.
These figures do not point to a very energy·efficient food system. Nor is
this a viable system for all people for all time. Copied on a global scale it
would demand prodigious quantities of energy ·4000 million people each
consuming 23.6 G) per year of fossil fuels in order to cat
(let. alone cook) gives an annual fuel bill of 2185 million tonnes oil
equivalent or 40% of global commercial fuel consumption in 1972.
This figure might be reasonable if other efficiencies were especially high.
We have already seen that they are not for labour usage. Each Briton
depends on at least 0.71 hectare for food ignoring all imports of food and
feedstuffs. This is little less than the global average of 1.1 hectare per
person counting crop land, permanent meadows and pastures.
Why are these efficiencies so low? The overwhelming reason is the high
propor·tion of animal products in the diet and
in farm outputs. The UK farm produces exactly equal amounts of dietary
energy in the form of animal products and of crops fed directly to man.
Vet while the latter are grown on 1.55 million hectare, animal production
requires 10.25 million hectare of crops and grassland and 1.52 million
hectare approximately for imported feedstuffs. Thus the crop
sector is seven to eight times more efficient in its use of land to provide
food energy than is the animal sector. This is a minimum estimate since it
ignores a further 6.65 million UK hectare of rough grazing suitable only
for animal raising.
As for fossil fuel efficiencies, a dramatic demonstration of the
energy·profligacy of animal production is given by Figure 5. This
compares the Energy Ratio for a variety of (average) farms in the UK, all of
them producing some crops and some animal products. As the proportion
of total energy outputs accounted for by animal products rises from 2%
(large cereal farms) to 93% (small specialist diary farms) the Energy Ratio
plummets almost 10·fold. Indeed, with data of this kind it is possible to
show that relatively minor reductions in consumption of animal products
can give dramatic reduc·tions in the energy inputs and the land
requirements for farming, giving for the UK 100% rather than 50·60%
selfsufficiency for temperate foodstuffs.
Energy conservation
Many minor opportunities exist for energy savings that do little or nothing
to alter the structure of farming or other food production sectors. The
really important routes to fuel economy, however. lie through the

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production of fuels and power on the farm by converting organic wastes


and byproducts or deliberately growing fuel crops. The theoretical
potential for agricultural fuel production or ·biomass conversion·is
enormous wherever population densities are relatively low, and solar
inputs reasonably high, as in the USA. A recent US Government study has
shown that a ·practical·development programme for biomass conversion,
mainly of farm and forestry wastes, could provide an annual 15800
million GJ (366 million tonnes
oil equivalent) for the USA in the year 2000. This quantity, 24% of 1971
total US energy consumption, equals 60% of the energy output of the
largest nuclear programme proposed by the late US Atomic Energy
Commission which called for 1400 GW (electrical) installed capacity in
2000_ The more modest USAEC target of 850 GW installed in 2000
would produce rather less energy than bioconversion. In more densely
populated high·energy societies such as the UK, West Germany and
Japan the potential for agricultural fuel production is much smaller. The
conversion of all 40 million tonnes of dung from housed cattle produced
in the UK would in an efficient system provide around 44 million GJ.
leaving nearly all the manure residues for returning to the land as
fertiliser. However, high costs (especially for gas storage to match output
to demand) appear to rule out wide·scale use of this source at present.
The global challenge
In the underdeveloped world the imperatives of agricultural development
are to increase food yields, quality and reliability ·and hence the wealth
of agricultural communities ·without high costs, severe environmental
impacts or reduced employment. Carbon copies of Western methods are
mostly irrelevant or at worst dangerous. New strategies are needed and in
these energy plays a peculiarly important role.
Table 4 shows how energy is supplied to six ·prototypical·villages in the
Third World. These are farming communities . Almost all the human and
animal energy is used in food production, including irrigation, and much
of the wood, dung and crop wastes are used for cooking . Several striking
points emerge:
When cooking is included energy used in the food system is comparable
to that in the West. With these fuels, per capita consumption for cooking
is about 5·7 GJ compared to 1·2 GJ for modern gas stoves and three G J
for electric stoves in the USA.
The cooking fuels are precious resources ·dung as fertiliser, crop wastes as

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manures or animal feeds, and "wood as ecological capital.


Energy supply is overwhelmingly from food or biological sources (the
Mexican village excepted) with extremely low efficiencies of use. With
draught animals the conversion of fuel to useful work is about 3·5%
compared to 25·30% for
a tractor. Similarly the conversion of fuels to useful heat in cooking is
about 5% compared to 20·25% in a modern gas or electric stove.
In all such communities, adequate power to work the fields and to pump
irrigation water (where available) is crucially important for raising yields
and
/·" avoiding the ravages of drought ·and hence for increasing the
wellbeing of people. Apart from the costly solution of providing more
energy from outside by commercial fuels and electrification, the single
most urgent need in the food-energy equation is to find cheap ways of
harnessing more effectively the energy that is locally available, ie, using it
with higher efficiencies.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that bioconversion (and the direct use
of solar power) provides the way out of this trap. The skills and
technologies are simple, and the fuel sources are widely available, forever
renewable (with care) and ecologically inoffensive (with care). Perhaps
above all, they are ideally suited to small·scale. self·help, decentralised
development which is so relevant to the great majority of the world·s poor
who still live in scattered rural communities.
Consider what a favoured technology ·the conversion of organic matter to
biogas (approximately 60% methane) would mean in general terms for
the villages of Table 4. In most of the tropics the year·round solar
insolation is in the neighbourhood of 80000·90000 GJ per
hectare per year, (260·290 watts/m·). Many tropical crops can capture on
a year·round basis from 0.5 to 1.0% of this energy without heavy
irrigation or fertilisation and about 2% with them. Assuming a low energy
capture (0.5%) to allow for energy used in growing and harvesting, and a
typical 55·60% conversion efficiency for biogas plant, one arrives at a net
yield of about 245 GJ of biogas per hectare year. If this also allows a
five·fold rise in the efficiency of using energy for tillage, cooking etc. it
would theoretically provide all the gross energy needs for 80 people in
Mangaon (India falling to 25 people in Quebrada (Mexico). At these
levels there would be little competition with land for growing food. In
practice, more land for crops would probably be made available. Most or

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all of the organic matter feeding the biogas plant would be crop wastes
(and dung) and by eliminating the need for draught animals (let alone
much backbreaking human labour) some land would be released for food
production. At the same time better tillage methods and irrigation could
both increase crop yields and the production of biogas fodder. It is not
hard to see how powerful synergistic effects can occur once the
stranglehold of the present low energy, low production system is broken.
A similar argument applies to other renewable energy sources which
provide concentrated fuels or power. These include liquid fuels
obtainable from plant matter by fermentation, destructive distillation or
pyrolisis for powering machines such as cultivators or small tractors;
electricity from biogas or fuel forests·; conventional solar panels to
provide hot water and space heating in colder mountain regions; and
solar-electric devices such as that proposed by the Meinels of Arizona
University for concentrating sunlight onto pipes, storing the energy in
molten salts or rocks, and extracting it as required (day or night) to drive
turbines to provide electricity at overall conversion efficiencies as high as
25%.
The development and diffusion of energy devices of these kinds
throughout the rural areas of the Third World is an enormous challenge.
Many of these devices have been cos ted by conventional economics and
have been found either to be wanting or only marginally attractive
compared to more conventional supply technologies. The question is
whether economics. with its high rate of discounting the future and its
failure to catch many of the most relevant factors in its net, is the most
appropriate guide. No one has yet thoroughly explored the multitude of
consequences and transformations that developments of this kind could
bring about ·not least on food production, on rural incomes, on personal
wellbeing and self·respect, on the invigoration of village life, and on the
mass migrations to the exploding cities of the Third World; in short, on
the whole development process.
____________________________________________________
Table 3. Summary of energetics of UK food system, ca. 1968
Biological flows 106 GJ per year
Solar radiation incidence 610000
Primary production harvested from plants 1 116
Imports of animal feed 104
Edible farm output: crops 65
animals 65

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Total edible farm output 130


Food energy consumed by population 261
Primary conversion efficiency (S/A) 0·18%
System efficiency [E/{B+C)] 10·7%
Overall efficiency IG X HI 0·02%
Food energy self·sufficiency IE/F) 50%
Food protein self·sufficiency 62%
Food energy output/ha of crops and grass in UK 10·6
L including rough grazing 6·7
Industrial energy flows
Energy input to agriculture (and % all UK) 4:6% 378
Energy input to food system (and % all UK) 15·7% 1300
. P. 0 counting home·related energy use (22%1 1 820
Energy ratio of agriculture (E/N) 0,34
Energy ratio for whole food system (FlO) 0:20
A including home·related energy (F/P) 0:14
GJ per year
Energy input 101 on per capita basis 23·6
Agricultural input/ha for crops and grass in UK 30·7
U including rough grazing 19·5
____________________________________________________
Table 4. Energy use in six Third World villages Gross energy (GJ per capita)
Village Wood. dung crop wastes Commercial fuels Human labour Draught
animals Total
Mangaon.lndia 4.2 0.2 3.2 7.9 15.5
Peipan. China 21.1 3.6 3.2 5.3 33.2
Kilombeo, Tanzania 23.2 · 3.2 · 26.4
Batagawara, Nigeria 15.7 0.05 3.0 0.75 19.5
Quebrada. Bolivia 35.4 · 3.5 10.6 49.5
Arango, Mexico 15.1 38.9 3.8 7.6 65.4
____________________________________________________

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Elliott Soft Technology for Hard Times: Back To The Drawing Board
A conference on Industry, the Com·munity and Alternative Technology
has been organised for November 15th and 16th at Bradford University
by the Futures Studies Centre, Leeds. Amongst subjects for discussion will
be the Lucas initiative ·described in UC12. This series of articles looks at
the conference, some possible contenders for AT production, and some
aspects of the US arid UK industrial context.
Industry, the Community & AT. The Bradford Conference
DISCUSSION WILL aim to explore some of the implications of the Lucas
initiative and ask just how (and whether) alternative technology can be
brought to the community by this type of industrial diversification. It is
deliberately broadbased ·there will be trade unionists, managers, futurist
and alternative technologists present. and, potentially, some lively
debates. The conference will be organised around a series of workshops
or, ·commissions·on specific topics, leading up to plenary sessions at the
end of each day. In addition to discussions centred on initiatives like that
of the Lucas workers, it is planned to have sessions dealing with other
aspects of the campaign against redundancies ·for example the idea of
community works programmes, and the various retraining schemes,
together with more general sessions on strategy and goals. What follows
is a guide to the sort of topics the conference will aim to tackle.
Problems and implications of the development of Alternative Technology
by industry The problem of organising the shop floor around the
campaign for the right to work on appropriate socially useful technology;
experience of study groups/project teams; industrial relations
aspect·extending collective bargaining to include issues of technical
choice, design and control; spreading the idea to workers in other
industries.
Managements response to this initiative. The attitudes and ambivalent role
of the middle manager. The response of industry in general ·will it absorb
AT and market it like any other commodity? (Undercurrents readers will
find some ideas on these issues in UC10 and 12).
The Meaning of work A more general discussion on the nature of work,
leisure, production and consumption roles ·should we be campaigning
for the right not to work? What is the role of techno·logy, e.g. automation,
AT, etc? Can we shift to a non·work society or a society in which work
and leisure are fused? The role of women in present society as a case
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study they do unpaid work, but it is not socially accepted as true ·work·.
The role of long range planners and futurologists Can and should these
experts help groups like the workers at Lucas? How should they relate to
management? What is the position of the various long range planning
groups set up by industry and government?
Community Works programmes and unemployment Can and should
unemployed workers be offered socially useful work on community
projects of various kinds ·or is this likely to lead to.exploitation of cheap
labour? Implications of the various ·emergency·schemes for jobless youth
currently being developed. Alternative programmes of com·munity work,
devised by and for local communities, rather than run by the state, Le.
self help. (See
UC 11 for a discussion of landsettlement ideas).
What is Appropriate Technology? Can we say what is appropriate without
relating this assessment to a social context? Are the traditional AT·s
necessarily ·appropriate·? What other options are there? General analysis
of the options available to firms like Lucas; assessment of the desirability
and viability of various examples of AT and a general discussion of
strategy. There could also be specialist workshops on specific
technologies ·windmills, solar collectors, heat pumps, solar cells, fuel
cells, etc.
Training, retraining and detraining If shop floor workers are to generate
and sustain AT projects they may need training to help them. Technical
training is probably less urgent than training in how to choose and
manage technologies and programmes. There are a number of relevant
courses in ·design·and ·choosing appropriate technology·. Can shop floor
workers (and others) be released to do these? Can retraining grants be
used for nonvocational training of this sort?
With rising unemployment, can some workers be sent on retraining and
further education courses rather than be put on the dole? Can the
temporary employment subsidies be used to fund this? Investment in
education is an intelligent response during a recession. With the ever
increasing pace of technical change, retraining is a vital need even
without recession ·as successive governments have realised. There is also
a vital need for access to technical and general training for women, if the
provisions of the sex-equality legislation are to have any meaning.
If the provisions of the Industrial Democracy legislation now being
framed are to be implemented, then many shop floor representatives will

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need access to ·management·skills, like accountancy, planning as well as


·trade union·skills, like negotiating. If collective bargaining is to be
extended to cover a wider range of issues then shop stewards will need to
develop their skill over a wider range of areas.
What role should be played by the various trade union colleges, WEA,
Open University, local technical colleges, evening institutes, the
Government training schools and the voluntary community organisations
(such as the ·Community Industry·project in Liver·pool)? Can direct links
be forged between workers and firms pursuing ·AT·projects, college based
research and the AT programmes being undertaken by local authorities
and some community groups?
Long term aims and strategy What do the various groups see as the
ultimate objective of the activities discussed at the conference ·just easing
some environmental problems by producing some items of AT for mass
consumption, or the beginning of a move towards a decentralised
self·managed society? What should be the role of producers, consumers
and community control in the future? Can we move towards a
participative democracy based on small·scale units? Is this desirable or
feasible? What are the obstacles to the transition to this type of society?
Alternative economic systems Discussion of the various possible
alternatives to market·based economics ·can and should Consumer
sovereignty be re·established? Can planning be made more responsive to
individual needs? How can autonomous self·managed units co·operate
economically with other such units without competition?
In our present economic set up ·consumer needs·are meant to be
reflected through the market. But this mechanism may not be an
appropriate (or even effective) way of articulating real needs. If people are
daily bombarded by messages from the advertising world telling them
what they should want it is not surprising that this colours their
aspirations and behaviour.
Many real needs are glaringly obvious ·housing, medical facilities, access
to leisure facilities, education and so on ·and arc not met by the present
mode of resource allocation. If we are seeking to meet these real needs,
how can we proceed? Through ·consumer·organisations? Or better
·market re.search·? Or by relating production much more directly to the
needs of local communities?
Since most ·producers·are also ·consumers·it seems possible that
democratic control of production by producers, coupled with
com·munity interest groups, could provide a possible mechanism. This
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implies having ·community representatives·sitting alongside ·worker


representatives·on some form of ·management board·established in each
firm.
In immediate practical terms how can production be geared to meet
urgent need? Can one rely on the needs expressed by local communities
·community groups exploring alternative technologies, local authorities,
amenity groups, environmentalists etc? Or can this sort of community
control only exist when industry and the economy generally has been
decentralised? i.e. Can it only apply to small firms who can react to local
needs quickly?

Saving Jobs AND the Environment


Some of the alternative products that the Lucas Aerospace Combine are
considering were outlined by Mike Cooley, one of the members of the
Shop Stewards Committee, at the recent Institute for Workers·Control and
Socialist Environment and Resources Association conference on ·Jobs and
the Environment·, One idea was to explore the feasibility of a dual
purpose road·rail vehicle, possibly running on rubber wheels of the sort
used on the Paris Metro, and powered by a hybrid internal combustion/
electric motor unit (see section on Electric Vehicles in this supplement).
Tests had indicated that pollution levels would be loweredJ noise
decreased considerably, and fuel consump.tion dramatically reduced.
Existing Lucas technology ·power units, electric motors, batteries etc
·could be integrated to provide a completely new form of public
transport.
Another idea was to develop a medium sized wind·electric unit for
community power generation ·possibly using a ducted windmill and
drawing on the expertise already developed by the aerospace industry in
devising auxiliary wind·electric generators powered by aircraft slip
streams. Other contenders were brake retarders for heavy vehicles,
various aids for the disabled, including kidney machines, artificial limbs
and the Hob cart unit (these arc all described more fully in the New
Scientist article of July 31975). A variety of Telechiric machines (as
opposed to Robots) were also being considered ·including remote fire
fighting units and aids for oil rig undersea engineering and maintenance,
the aim being not to replace operatives but to remove them to a safe
distance.
But it was emphasised that the Lucas engineers and designers were not

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necessarily committed to advanced technologies. The main aim of the


exercise was to find ways to meet social needs, and in many instances
this might imply fairly simple technologies. This might also mean that
some of the workforce had to develop J very different design philosophy
and learn new skills. However, the experience of designing the Hob cart
(a simple tricycle for children with spinal bifida) had indicated that given
a concrete situation engineers could very successfully turn their skills to
finding original designs. The experience had also been very rewarding for
the engineers involved ·they could actually relate to the ·customer·and
sec the relevance of their work_
The Lucas workers wanted to avoid patenting their ideas, even though
they realised that their work might be exploited for commercial gain.
They felt that it would be more appropriate to use their collective strength
to resist this sort of co·option. At the same time they would be
campaigning·to obtain funds from government (perhaps utilising
temporary employment subsidies, or money for retraining schemes and
job creation programmes, or even from the National Enterprise Board) as
well as from Lucas Aerospace itself. As more and more Lucas workers
face redundancies the demand for the right to work on these socially
needed technologies is likely to increase.
One of the aims of the conference was to discuss how the Lucas initiative
could be taken up by other groups of workers in other industries and how
it could be linked to other struggles in industry and the community, such
as those concerned with workplace health, pollution, community and
environment problems. All too often working people are faced with a
loaded choice between ·jobs·and a decent environment ·i e between the
dole queue and working in hazardous conditions, producing useless
products and pollution and environment. Employers claim that they
cannot afford to improve conditions or products without going broke and/
or cutting back on labour or wages. But, as the conference showed,
through their collective strength, workers and their communities can
organise to oppose this false trade off, and challenge a system which
condemns many to the dole while there are obvious and urgent social
needs to be met.

What Is To Be Made?
AS PART of their campaign for the right to work on socially useful
technology, the Lucas Aerospace Combine Shop Stewards Committee

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have been considering a wide range of alternative technology options.


Discussion groups set up at each site have been exploring new product
options and recommending new development programmes for inclusion"
in the combine·s corporate plan. As reported in Undercurrents 12,
suggestions have ranged from fairly conventional (but urgently needed)
technologies like eddy current break retarders for heavy vehicles, to fairly
original technologies (at least as far as large scale engineering firms are
concerned) like wind electric machines.
A number of questions have been thrown up in the process of selection.
What type of technology shouId the Lucas workforce focus on in order to
safeguard their jobs and make maximum use of their talents? Should they
aim at meeting urgent and obvious social needs by emphasising fairly
technically complex medical technologies, (home dialysis units, artificial
limbs), safety systems (break retarders, remote fire fighting equipment),
cheap conventional heating units and other domestic electrical services?
Or ,should they explore some of the more long term needs and problems
for example by developing equipment for undersea farming, telechiric
machines for use at work, robots to relieve men of boring jobs and so on?
Should they opt for some of the large scale alternative energy
technologies (solar farm equipment, hydrogen electrolysers) that are likely
to be in demand in the future? Or should they follow the AT
enthusiasts·advice and concentrate on small scale AT systems for the
domestic market?
The Lucas workers are certainly interested in the potential of AT, but even
here there are problems ·quite apart from whether there is yet a
sufficiently large market to be a viable proposition.
AT Feudal? If they focus on the classic small·scale, alternative energy
technology, solar collectors etc, under present conditions these might just
enable a few wealthy individuals to attain self(ish) sufficiency, thus simply
shoring up the existing structure, and perhaps even laying the technical
base for a type of feudal society. Would it not be wiser to focus on
technology that enabled people to explore the idea of collective, rather
than individual, autonomy, at the small or medium scale community
level?
The AT purists would of course argue that only small scale, simple
technologies are suitable. But surely ·appropriateness·depends on the
social context ·on the mode of development, production and use? Some
items of advanced technology could under certain conditions be highly
appropriate.
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The crucial issue is not technical complexity as such, but its social
implications. Complex systems usually require specialists to produce and
maintain them ·so that the average individual is frozen out. But in order
to ·gain control·one doesn·t have to become a jack of all trades, or reduce
all technologies to the ,imp lest possible.
If we are to ask ·What is alternative technology?·or ·What technologies
are appropriate?·we must keep a fairly open mind and consider a wide
range of options, including some that may not appear ·appropriate·when
judged by the standards of the AT enthusiast. The ideas that will emerge
from the process under·way at Lucas may be very different ·for they will
relate to the experience of a highly skilled workforce and to the
communities to which they belong.
I have selected a few examples from the more technically complex end of
the alternative energy technology spectrum in order to illustrate and
explore some of these implications. The Lucas plan is likely to include
some of the more conventional low technology AT ideas-windmills, solar
collectors etc: but here I am trying to assess whether there are any other
alternatives that should be con·sidered.
The Lucas alternatives I have chosen to look at possible alternative
energy and transport systems, consisting of combinations of existing
pieces of hardware. Most of the basic items already exist, the central
problem for the future is integrating them together so as to obtain the best
possible use of natural energy inputs. It is this sort of engineering effort
that Lucas could supply. Fuel cells, first proposed in the 19th century and
used on the Apollo flights can operate on a wide range of gaseous, liquid
or solid fuels ·including coal gas, methane, ammonia, methanol.
hydrogen peroxide and hydrazine.
Fuel cells work like electrolytic cell, in reverse, fuel is fed in and
produces dc electricity_ Some of the more advanced cells, using liquid or
solid electrolyte, operate at high temperatures and are not dependent on
platinum or other rare metal catalysts. But as yet, despite $100 million or
more spent on develop·ment, no commercial unit is yet widely available.
However the situation is changing fast. One reason has been the rise in
conventional fuel cost; another is the fact that centralised production and
distribution of electricity is inefficient.
Maximum energy conversion efficiency in a ·power station, is around
40% (coal) 33% (nuclear). Transmission losses drop this a further 5·10%.
A small domestic fuel cell, fed by locally produced methane or hydrogen
would be much more efficient. Fuel cells effi·ciencies of 70·95% have
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been claimed, although most existing units installed give 50·70% at


present. Waste heat inadvertently produced is not lost, it provides space
heating. For example
a gasfed 1 OkW fuel cell running an electrically serviced house (e.g.
electric lighting/heating/a heat pump/etc.) with a 60% efficiency would
produce 4kW ·waste·heat for domestic use.
Hydrogen, for use in fuel cells, can be produced on a small scale by
electrolysis using de electric power (from
a windmill perhaps); or by chemical decomposition of water or the
conversion of methane, or from hydrocarbons by ·steam reforming·. A
number of exotic biological (photosynthesis) techniques for producing
hydrogen are also being investigated, and it is possible to ·thermally
split·water at high temperatures (15OO°C), which can be obtained by
focused sunlight. The hydrogen must be separated by pumping the
mixture through a palladium metal membrane, but even so the overall
costs are fairly low. For example, one estimate, using a plastic Fresnel
lens, is $33 for each square metre of sunlight collected. Such a system
couId produce 160 gms of hydrogen per day per square metre of lens
area.
Fuel cell, could also be run on methane generated by anaerobic
digestors, on natural gas or even perhaps on organic matter. They are
small, compact, noiseless and they do not pollute ·they produce water
vapour as the only output. Their main drawback is the low power output
per unit volume and the sensitivity of the electrode/ catalysts to impure
input gases. They are claimed to give 20·25% more useful energy per unit
fuel than conventional power sources.
Heat pumps have already been accepted as members of the AT club.
Several electrical powered heat pumps, with ·coeffi cients of
performance·of around 5: 1 have been operated and typically can pump
heat at an overall (output) cost of about 5p/kWh. Interestingly, Lucas has
considerable experience in heat pump technology, although it withdrew
from the area some years ago.
Power could be provided by a fuel cell, or a windmill. Two basic types of
heat pump exist, vapour compression and absorption systems. In the first,
gas is compressed in a pump which must be electrically or mechanically
powered. In the other the gas is absorbed and then re·emitted by heating
·which can be by electricity, or more efficiently, gas (as in the standard
modern ·silent·gas fridge).

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One possibility investigated by the Cambridge University Autonomous


House Team, is to drive the compressor of the heat pump directly from
the windmill. This may require some gearing and compensation for
variable speed, but it is a highly efficient use of windpower. Overall costs
are estimated at 0.9p/kWh (output heat). Heat pump engineering is not
particularly complex ·they are identical to fridges in most respects. As
with fuel cells they could be used to provide heating for individual
houses or for district heating.
Solar cells Solar energy can be converted directly to electricity by
photo·voltaic devices selenium or cadmium sulphide cells with
efficiencies ranging from 10·20%. The cost has been prohibitive up to
now ·despite the widespread interest in solar cells for satellite power
applications. $70/watt is a good figure for a cell. However, new
fabrication techniques (borrowed from the electronics industry) are
altering the situation and it is estimated that with mass production, cost
can be reduced dramatically. (Remember transistor costs have dropped by
a factor of 100,000!)
The cost of installed power producing units is still fairly high, although
one enthusiastic estimate is that:, given mass produced thin film devices
used with focussing lenses, using $125/w cells it would be possible to
produce power which would compare well with conventional power
sources.
Thin film vacuum deposition is not a particularly sophisticated technique
although it is hardly a backyard craft But it may become so cheap that we
will be able to buy ·solar blankets·for 50 cents/sq ft. The cadmium
sulphide fabrication technique developed by Westinghouse is currently
expected to produce cells at $14 per watt. Although the energy
conversion efficiency is low (10% being the best available), silicon is a
widely available material. Solar cells do not pollute in operation
·although their fabrication is energy intensive and may generate some
chemical pollution. Lucas Marine, in conjunction with the Solar Power
Corporation of America, market a small unit ("·$30/w) for auxiliary power
for boats, caravans and remote sites .
Electric vehicles over which considerable enthusiasm has been expended
are nonpolluting, quiet, and have a good fuel economy. Battery power is
ideal for ·high torque·starting up situations and SCR·s can provide
loss·free control of power transfer. Overall efficiency (taking into account
the low thermal efficiency of generating electricity by conventional
means) is 14% comparing favourably with petrol engines (13·22%), and
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they are about 20% cheaper to run. Top speeds are fairly low ·around 50
mph ·and typically the range is 100 miles. The General Electric DELTA
has a top speed of 55 mph and an accelera·tion of 0·30 mph in 6 sec.
Several electric cars are now available including the Enfield. Lucas nave
also developed an electric delivery van, are testing a 34 passenger bus
and the Lucas Taxi has recently been demonstrated in London.
They have also developed a light weight 12 volt power unit for an electric
bicycle. The battery operates a small electric motor to give boost power
when going up·hill ·it is triggered by any abnormal pressure on the
pedals.
A prototype has a top speed of 17 mph, and a range, from each battery
charge, of about ten miles ·depending on the terrain. And in theory it is
possible to regeneratively recharge the battery when going down hill.
Hybrid transport systems, like the electric cycle, seem sensible. They are
also intrinsically attractive since they make intelligent use of muscle
power without discriminating against old or infi rm people.
Weather·protected pedal-electric systems could become wide·spread,
particularly in cities.
One general problem with electric powered vehicles is that at present
they would need electrical power from the grid and grid electricity is
inherently polluting, lossy and inefficient. Generation/transmission
efficiency is below 40%, and rectification and battery charging is only
80% efficient. The overall system would be something like 25% efficient,
but remember that petrol vehicles have typical efficiencies of only
10·25%. National generating capacity would have to be increased, by
about 50%, assuming current use patterns, although this does not take
into account the fact that charging could occur overnight, off·peak. A
more optimistic estimate is that we would need 43% on top of our
existing capacity to meet current transport needs.
We should not however be worrying too much about centralised energy
production but instead use local generation of de electricity. Wind
charged systems would obviously be ideal, there is no need for
rectification or current stabilising, just trickle charging at the local
community wind·plant overnight.
Steam powered vehicles, like electric power vehicles, have suffered at the
hands of the petrol engine lobby. Despite the 20% lower fuel
consumption and decreased pollution associated with external
combustion systems the i c engine still reigns supreme. Ec engines can
use a wide range of fuels, methane, hydrogen, petrol, all burnt at
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optimum temperatures, minimising consumption and pollution. British


Leyland were reported to have been working on a steam powered Mini,
but in general steam power has been seen as a threat to internal
combustion engines, in which so much has been invested. As a US
Senate Committee said in 1969: ·Without the myopic persistence of the
automobile industry in devoting most of its research funds to the i c
engine, a reliable, low polluting Rankine cycle engine could probably
have been developed 20 years ago.·
Stirling engines are the ec engines showing the greatest possibility
potential so far. Thermal efficiency is claimed to be 40% compared with
25% for petrol, and they use 30% less fuel, but the power to weight ratio
remains lower and capital costs higher. A unique small·scale solar power
stirling engine pump has been devised by West ·rated at 1.7w using solar
power input of 530w: efficiency is 0.3%. It would be ideal for third world
agriculture use-for slow pumping for irrigation or animal watering in
remote areas.
The shape·memory effect, in which some alloys which have been
mechanically deformed will return to their original shape when heated,
can provide useful work. One system has been devised to run off solar
heated hot water. The cost is around £200 and the unit would, again, be
ideal for remote pumping.
A question of scale
Given a ·community·context medium scale energy technologies can be
highly attractive. As the Energy Primer (Portola Institute 1974, p180)
indicates, most AT systems (solar collectors, windmills etc) are fairly
expensive if used for individual·domestic units. However if costs are
spread by sharing the service in a medium sized group (they estimate 40
or so people as optimum) then economics of scale apply. So it may be
possible to have community generated power from a fuel cell, fed by
wind generated electrolytic hydrogen, or methane from the community
digestor plant.
It is particularly important to keep emphasising that the
·new·technologies should not be used simply to replace the existing
technologies, so that the present system can go along as before. The new
technologies must imply a new pattern of consumption, production,
energy and resource usage and social organisation: but these changes are
not automatic, they must be fought for. The process of choosing and
developing suitable technologies is part of the struggle.
If we leave it up to the corporations-and there is no question that they are
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interested ·we can expect large scale centralised units to emerge,


designed simply as substitutes, to shore up the present system. Large
windmills; huge solar farms, large tidal plants, satellites beaming
microwaves to the earth and all the rest. At the very best they will try to
sell AT as a commodity to those few who can afford it. A vast amount of
money is currently being spent by governments and industrialists on
alternative energy sources·. The danger is that they will come up with
ecologically inappropriate and socially undesirable, expensive, complex
and large scale ·technical fixes·which will doom yet another generation of
workers to alienated labour and another generation of consumers to the
tyranny of centralised control and exploitation.
It is foolish to ignore the possibility of rescuing the situation by getting
involved with those who are capable of opposing these trends at the point
of production and further, helping them in their attempt to re·direct
production along more viable lines.
Dave Elliott
Where Is Lucas Going?
SOME PEOPLE argue that the many environmental problems that
advanced societies face can and will be solved by technical fixes devised
by the big com·panies in response either to market pressures or public
opinion backed up by government legislation. In Undercurrents 12 I tried
to show that at least in the case of US Aerospace industry this did not
appear to be the case. The race for profit dominated.
Is the same likely to be true of Lucas? The various divisions of Lucas (of
which Lucas Aerospace is part) are exploring to a limited degree some
alternative ideas-electric vehicles for example. Obviously it is hard to
predict in advance the outcome of these developments, but some idea
can be gained by reading Counter Intelligence Services·latest
·Anti·report·on Lucas ·Where Is Lucas Going? which documents the
management policy of Joseph Lucas and its various divisions (Lucas
Aerospace, CAY etc) over the years.
It is not a flattering report. Lucas won its monopoly power by energetic
takeover bids during the ·30s depression. It is now one of the world·s
major suppliers of electrical accessories to the motor industry. At present,
although making many of its workers redundant ·because of the
recession·it is maintaining healthy profit margins.
CIS document examples of mis·management in the industrial ball screw
section of Lucas Aerospace ·a situation which has recently led to 160

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redundancies, loss of orders despite a thriving market, and the threat of a


work·in. They describe some of the health and safety hazards faced by the
workforce ·and by school children who happen to attend a school
alongside the Joseph Lucas lead·acid battery factory at Formans Road,
Birmingham. They also relate Lucas·over·seas activities to its domestic
policy. Finally CIS takes a look at the work·force·s attempts at resistance,
illustrating that trade union organisation is fragmented between the
different sites and divisions, which can be played off against each other.
Only in Lucas Aerospace is there any significant inter·site co·ordination.
The Lucas Aerospace Combine Shop Stewards Committee provides a
basis for organisation and solidarity and has proved to be invaluable in
defence of jobs, winning improvements in conditions ·sick pay and safety
and so on; and a focus for the campaign for the right to work on socially
and environmentally appropriate technologies. CIS·s latest propaganda
offering has caused storms of protest and charges of ·bias·from the
business press. Certainly CIS seem increasingly to be opting for a more
polemical·treatmenL But it makes better and more informative reading
than the company·s report to shareholders ...

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Elliott Solar Power Politics
ALTHOUGH there is obviously a social need for cheap alternatives to the
existing range of energy technologies, there is as yet no major demand in
market terms for these items. Indeed it's hard to see how there could be.
A basic problem of capitalist economics is how can consumers show a
preference for goods or services until they are offered on the market? It is
no use asking the CEGB to provide you with windpower units; they are in
the business of central power pro·duction. Fords will say that there is no
demand for electric cars (you can have any sort of propulsion unit as long
as its a petrol driven internal combustion engine).
In theory it is up to small entrepreneurs to take the risk of putting a
radically new product on the market and thus begin to create a demand.
Unfortunately the big monopolies are often antagonistic to any rival
product and will buy up and bury the patent ·or absorb the new company
and it usually takes a lot of capital and considerable R&D effort to put a
new product on the market. It also requires a massive marketing
campaign to educate' the population. So normally only the big firms can
introduce new ideas. There are exceptions of course ·hovercraft, dexion,
letraset are examples (cherished by the small entrepreneurs of this world)
of original ideas which have broken through from small beginnings.
The marketing dilemma
Given this it is interesting to see that in the US considerable thought has
gone into how best to bridge the gap between need and demand in the
field of 'solar heating and cooling'. There is obviously a potential market
there ·one consultant has estimated it will be worth $1.8 billion annually
by 1985. But the market forces are sluggish and dominated by the
interests of the monopolies. The Govern·ment however is concerned to
get solar power off the ground ·for it is faced by a major energy crisis.
Consequently it must try to compensate for the 'imperfections' of the
market, by offering incentives to firms through government research
contracts. When it comes to military technology or space technology, this
is not too difficult, the state just pushes cash to the relevant agency and
the defence firms snap up the contracts.
The arms economy' and the associated military·industrial complex acts as
the major economic flywheel, independent of market forces. The space
effort followed a similar pattern. To a degree the US no longer has a free
market economy ·it has introduced a form of planning ·but planning
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geared to the needs of the big monopolies and managed by the state. The
emphasis has shifted to programmes of public works ·poverty projects,
pollution control technology, recycling systems and so on ·all of them
highly profitable. The state, through legislation, has aided this process,
making pollution control mandatory and creating a vast new market.
Priming the solar pump
The problem now is to stimulate interest in solar power. The government
can fund some projects itself ·though this is usually only pump priming.
As in the UK, government agencies do represent a fairly large consumer
of public techno·logies but the real market is the domestic and
commercial sector ·more so in the US since there are few state controlled
services Of industries. The result has been a spate of new legislation both
to encourage government agencies to investigate solar power and to
stimulate the wider market.
The 1974 Housing and Development Act is designed to encourage
lending institutions to accept the additional costs of solar heating and
cooling systems as part of the mortgage on a home, while the Solar
Heating and Cooling Act (1974) is intended to stimulate acceptance by
the private housing market. A national 'demonstration' programme is
aimed at spreading the idea. Of course, Federal funds can only act as
pump primers ·but coupled with tax incentives, prestigious research
projects, public demonstration projects and new legislation they can help
create a lucrative market for the big com·panies to exploit.
Now this may be all to the good. For a start it is amusing to see the US
explor·ing the idea of a planned economy, and it certainly will get AT off
the ground. Whether such a process can produce the sort of low impact
technology that is needed is far from clear.
In Britain of course, we already have a considerable amount of planning
by the state ·with all its bureaucratic con·notations. Firms can obtain
funds or grants or tax concessions from govern·ment if they comply with
government priorities ·for example, regional develop·ment grants. The
National Enterprise Board, the brainchild of Tony Benn, is meant to take
this a stage further ·in the hope of stimulating socially needed industrial
developments. One of the more progressive ideas ·which has been
watered down since Benn was removed ·was that long range corporate
plans should be aligned more to national needs through the 'planning
agreement' system. Corporate plans would be discussed at a tripartite
meeting of management, unions and government officials. The state
would seek to ensure that the firms plans fitted in with longer term
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national planning needs, and would induce accept·ance of these by


offering tax incentives and grants. The unions would be able" to bargain
over and try to change aspects of the plan which they did not find
accept·able.
Resurrection
To some extent the Lucas Combine's Corporate plan is an attempt to
resurrect the planning agreement idea ·although in this case it is the
combine that is intro·ducing the plan unilaterally. Whether it wIll be
possible to get government support for their programme of alter·native
technology development, and whether management will concede to this
sort of pressure from the workforce remains to be seen. But the possibility
does exist of attracting state funds·whether in the form of temporary
employment subsidies for workers who would otherwise be redundant, or
retrain·ing grants, or just straightforward capital from the National
Enterprise Board ·and thereby putting flesh on their proposals. If, under
the pressure of public opinion, incentives from government and the threat
of collective action by the work·force, the management were to accept
such a programme, the result would hope·fully be a range of products
that more nearly met the needs of the community.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Saunders: ALTERNATIVE ENGLAND & WALES SUPPLEMENT 1
NOT fully corrected
NW:: North West. NE = North East, W = Wales. WM = West Midlands.
EM = East Midlands. E ::: East Anglia, SW = South West. S:: South, L =
London. Page numbers and headings correspond to Alternative England
and Wales.
Impressions and Contacts
NW Changes (p.6·B) CoIne·Somewhere has finished.
NW Additions
Horse Fairs: Appleby Fair goes on for a week from the second Wednesday
of June·basically a gypsies·scene with up to 10.000 people. 1.000 trailer
caravans and still quite a few horse·drawn living wagons. Free camping.
Shipley Fair is held on Easter Tuesday on the road from Bradford to
Ilkley·one day with no camping.
NE Changes ()
Hebden Bridge. I·m told the freak population is now much more settled
and there are less free loaders (who got them a bad reputation). The
contact point is now Community Press and WISH (Well of Info on Self
Help) at 35 Market Street·an advice centre and book·shop. Also a local
community paper comes from there.
Barnsley. lifespan got muddled with another project I apologise deeply. It
is in fact in a row of railway workers·cottages, established over a year,
growing their own veg and educating their kids. They take both long and
short term students to live and work with them (by arrangement
only·don·t turn up without writing). Their aim is depth education in
alternative life styles.
NE Additions
Lee Gap Horse Fair is held twice yearly·24th August and 17th September,
at a site near Tingley on the road from Dewsbury to Leeds. Others are
held at Yarm, Brough and at Brigg·no details.
W Wales·changes (p.l()
Boncath: Meigan Fayre. Much bigger and better in ·75, drawing a crowd
from London and elsewhere though still mainly the local South Wales
freaks who organise it. Still free, though donations are asked for, and runs
for several days with camping. It·s the nearest equivalent to Barsham but
has amplified bands and a ·freaks only·atmosphere. Not now organised
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by Roger the Dentist (who·s now moved to Morfa)·the organisers·date and


place vary: hopefully details of next one will be in a further supplement.
Cardiff. The Quebec (pub), Crichton Place, city centre is recommended in
preference to those mentioned.
The Montmerence Club now has a ·real live music benefit·for Cardiff
Peoples·Paper, Cardiff Community Concern and the Women·s Aid Group.
It·s held on Wednesdays from 1().2 for 35p and is recommended the best
·alternative·meeting place.
WM Additions
I·ve been told that Oxford is far more active than the impression·I·ve
given with 10 community centres, 13 playschemes and 2 adventure
playgrounds. The East Oxford Community Centre in Princess Street is
particularly alternative ·in that it aims less to provide ready made services
than to be a place for local people to create their own activities·.
Above info from Uhuru who also mentioned several projects not included
in this supplement because they don·t fit in (like theatre groups) or
weren·t definite.
Newcastle·under·Lyme. Grapevine, 27 Well Street is a headshop with
noticeboard open 1 O.3()·6 except Thurs and Sun. Books, records. local
crafts and info.
SW Changes (p. 16·18)
Glastonbury. Nearly everything in this piece has changed! Tore hasn·t
been seen for a while and has a new address; Renaissance headshop is
gone and the Beltane ceremony isn·t really a freaks·event. And someone
says you·re no longer likely to be busted on the Tor.
The main freak event is simply to spend the midsum·mer solstice on the
Tor·no one organises it, it just happens.
Geoffrey Ashe who·s written books on Glastonbury lives at Chalice
Orchard, Well House Lane (G.32485)actually just off Well House Lane
beside the path that runs up to the Tor. He·s acted as contact point last
summer and offers a welcome, information and a place to leave baggage
to visitors, but not accommodation. For anyone interested in the
Glastonbury legends he is the best contact you could hope for.
Truro. There·s now an Earth Centre in Tabernacle Street opposite the
market·see under Help·which also acts as a contact point.
Blandford Forum. Seed Cafe closed·Dorset Bookshop, 69 East Street
opened.

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Brighton. Bright Times and The Garden have finished, also The King and
Queen has been first burned then cleaned up for a smarter clientele.
Southampton. Swan Crahs closed.
Housing
Rent Allowance (p.31). Easy to get and applies to anyone with a lowish
income. A couple in Norwich wrote to say
they get half their rent (£11 pw) paid now they earn £1 OOOpa; when
they earned £1700 they still got £2.50pw allowance.
A Birmingham reader earning £14pw now gets all the rent and most of
the rates paid, and though it took over 3 months to come through it·s now
automatic.
Communes (p.34). The Communes Movement is being revived by its
founder (in 19651 Tony Kelly who·s sent this piece:
Commune Movement, Cymdeithas Selene, Can y Lloer. Ffarmers,
LIanwrda, Dyfed, was founded to create a federal society of communities
concerned to help each other and others to each·s chosen ideal of
communal living, by shared work, money, resources and people.
Frequent newsletters. theoretical, practical and for contacts. Now in
collaboration with Communes Network (which see). Subscription about
£3 and some big envelopes, but variable. Information 20p.
The Communes Network is as described plus members get monthly
newsletters consisting mainly of news from com·munards. They had a
gathering in September and will have others every six months at least
Home Making (p.48·66)
Building Repairs·Materials (p.49)
Whistons, New Mills, Stockport, Lanes has mail order list (free) of nuts,
bolts, screws, electric motors, metal rod, sheet and strip. A reader
recommends them, but I once ordered a 141b mixed lot of nuts and
bolts·about half were useful, the rest consisted of 3 enormous bolts I
never used; so be warned.
Bargains (p.48·66) Rayburns .and Agas (p.581
A reader suggests asking central heating installers locally as they often
take out old boilers including these when heating goes in.
A list of parts and suppliers can be got from Agaheat Appl·iances,
Glynwed Domestic and Heating Appliances, Oxford Street, Bilston, Staffs.
NW Liverpool. Workshops for the Blind, 1 Cornwallis Street, L 1, are
recommended for cheap floor coverings.

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NW Burnley. Gregory & Hephrun, Old Hall (8.25536).


Government surplus.
NE Doncaster. Ibbotson, Field House. Hopgarth, Haxey (H.3621.
Government surplus.
NE Haworth. Joe Snowden, Chapel Works (H.3336).
Government surplus.
HE Keighly. Bridge Supply Co IK.5511). Govt surplus
including tools, rope, generators.
W Aberystwyth. To...." rubbish dump recommended.
SW Bristol. Eastville and Ashton Gate markets are closed. SW Barnstaple.
Little Barum Market (later called The
Uncommon Marked is now dosed.
SW Taunton. ·Priorswood Tip would be marvellous·but the council
prosecute anyone taking anything .,d mash up thousands of pounds·worth
of good gear every week. But if you take a load of weeds there with a van
you can sometimes nick good stuff, but it·s risky:
Food (p.72·80)
Wholefood Restaurants (p.72J
NE York. Aardvark, 108 Fishergate due open Nov 75check with Alligator
IY.5452S). Gumbo open Fri, Sat, Sun 10·2.
SW Exeter. City Ditch closed.
L London. Meandeer, Hanway St, Wl (by Hare Krishna
listed), Expensive evenings but cheap Iunch·eat off silver, drink from
pewter.
Whoktfood4ow profit shops and co·ops Ip.73·761
Natural Foods Union is now called Natural Foods Co·op. NW Lancaster.
Food co·op ·Community Foods·has now
got premises in the back room of Books and Things, at B6 King Street,
near the town centre.
HE Sheffield. DOlM1 to Earth Community Supplies have moved to a
bigger shop at 406 Sharrowvale Road, S11.
HE Hull. Bogus food co·op is closed.
W Llandrindod Wells. The Good Food Shop is now open
every day (Mon·Sat 1 O.3Q.S.30L They also sell bulk at 12%% on (retail
is +2S%1 and 10% on prepaid bulk. Have dropped surcharge mentioned.
May start wholesale or do a round of the market stalls·details next
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supplement I hope.
W C .. digan (Ceredigion). Now only open on the first
Saturday of the month·they sell 2% tons that one day I Their mark·up isn·t
8% ·more like 18%·.
Mrs Grisedale, Cledan, Nebo, LIanon (N.222/6581 sells goats·milk,
yoghourt and cheeses·a little expensive but cktan and good delivery
service·.
W Maehynlleth and Newtown. Natures Foods packed up.
W Welshpool. Richard and Mandy·s food co·op is no
longer.
W Hay·on·Wye. Country Stores, 14 Broad Street·whole·
foods and home·baked breads.
WM Binningham. Sunrise·s phone number is now 021·454 0435.
WM Newcastle-under·Lyme. Food co·op can be contacted through
Grapevine, 27 Well Street·see above under Contact.
EM Leamington Spa. Cornmother has moved to 42 Bath St. EM
Shrewsbury. Crabapple Natural Foods, 16 St Mary·s Street, due open
now·run by Crabapple Community mentioned on page 34.
HE Lincoln. See below under Mystical·Buddha Maitreya Sangha.
E Cambridge. Arjuna is now an independent wholefood
shop.
E East Anglia. Dakota doesn·t operate through all centres
now·main activity is at Prue Campbell·s near Norwich. She says it still
handles as much as before.
E Norwich. Food co·op run by Judith Dauncey, c/o
Bristol·WS Bookshop, Bridewell Alley. She also makes up a good muesli
(8Sp for Sibs).
E Chelmsford. Marriages (p.7]) also sell retail.
SW Bampton. I·m told a wholefood shop is being set up at 19 Fore Street.
SW Barnstaple. Barnstaple Whole food Supplies now have
a stall in Barnstaple Market on Tuesday and Friday and will soon have a
shop in Boutport Street.
S Brighton_ Simple Supplies due to open in George Street
run by Whole Earth Group.
S Reading. Reading Wholefoods, 1A Merchants Place. A

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wholefood stall in the Reading Emporium which gives info. Also


wholesale, and sells herbs.
L London. Wholefood bakery and food co·op at 39
Doynton Street, N19. Co·op on \weekly order basis; bakery sells bread
and cooked foods like granola ... and in·edible fruit and nut flans.
Address is a squat but should last another year at least.
Wholefood·bulk suppliers (p.76·781
NW Crewe. Morning Foods, North Western Mills. Recommended as
friendly oatmeal ,millers. Jumbo and Porridge Oats. Min 56lbs, delivery
most places.
W Cardiff. The Wholefood Shop (see p.74) is starting a
wholesale business in new premises nearby. Hopeful details next time
around·meanwhile phone C.395388.
E NoroMch. Read·Woodrow, King Street. Very cheap
(and fresh) wheatgerm. Minimum 56lbs.
Duffields, Newton Flotman. Stoneground wholemeal flour recommended
as better than most in 70lb sacks @4%plb.
Allen and Page, Quayside. Bran in 1 cwt and porridge oats in 561b.
SW With tel. Withiel Valley Wholefoods·phone is Lanivet 526. Peter
Dearman MO:; :eh; it is developing as a cooperative.
·Y7·Wholefood·granola (p.791
You don·t need all the ingredients listed·just 8·10 cups of cereals and nuts
(even just porridge oats to half cup oil and half a cup of honey·or golden
syrup. If you like it extra crunchy, use more oil.,d honey/syrup; cook
longer and slower turning several times.
Money·<:credit (p.82·831
NW LiverpooL.High Park and District·Credit Union, 176 High Park Street,
L8 (OSl·727 20521 has started and are interested in helping others set up
Credit Unions. There·s also one at 13B Granby Street, LB.

Work (p.90·94) Agencies (p.9,1


Ann Sales no longer finds work. for people in the Newtown area.
Remember that the new Employment Agencies Act which is expected to
come into force in 1976 will stop agencies from charging a booking fee
or a fee at all to staff looking for work.
W Meigan Workforce, Mark <rid Mary. Morfa. Blaen·ffoss.

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Dyfed (Boneath 459). This agency has about fifty people on its books.
representing about thirty different trades. They put an advertisement in the
local paper and in the space of a few months received about a hundred
jobs ranging from an £800 building job to burying a dead horse.
Common Ownership (p.90)
Whatworks 178 Oxford Road, Manchester 13 (M.273 11891. At other
times phone Mal or Mick at M.SSl 0492.
Help (p.l 06·120) Changes
Law reform (p.10n
NE c.uleford .. Ralph Gook·s new address is 1 Pentlands, Stony Stratford,
Milton Keynes.
SW Plymouth. John Whitby, 9 Reigate Road, Pomphlett (P.41901l.
Local Centres lp.l 09)
NW Liverpool. Women and Children·s Aid moved to 1 Smithdown Road,
L7 (051·733 6981),
NW Caine. Somewhere no longer exists.
NE Hull. Bogus does not now sell s/h books, records or run a food co·op.
W Cardiff. Cardiff Community Concern has moved to 58
Charles Street and is also open 1Oam·12pm on Saturdays.
WM Coventry. Foieshill information and Advice Centre, 436a FOleshill
Road.
Gingerbread·s phone has been OJt off. Housing Action Group is now
inactive.
Community Development Project is called the Coventry Legal and
Income Rights Service.
EM Nottingham. St Ann·s Community Craft Centre has closed.
EM Oxford. Uhuru no longer runs a food co·op though it does sell
wholefoods. It does not sell locally made crafts any more.
SW Truro. City of Cornwall Collective, Earth Centre, Tabernacle Street.
The collective has moved to bigger premises opposite the market which
will give room for an office, production and meeting place. Shop for
books, magazines, secondhand tools, pesticides (herbal only) and herbs.
Courses for people wanting to grow their 0·Nn food. Lectures on Diggers
every Friday
night and on the mystical approach of Diggers (Society of Levellers) every
Sunday.

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S Brighton. Open and Bit by Bit. The Whole Earth


Group will shortly move to Simple Supplies in George Street·number not
yet known.
Brighton Rights Centre: the new community centre is open Tues and Thurs
5.30pm·7.30pm.
Battered Women·s Refuge is now called the Women·s Centre at 79
Buckingham Road (B.27612 day, and B. 683348 in the evening). Open
daily. Come for company, help, play groups, pregnancy·testing, creche
and coffee·bar.
L West London. Portobello Project, 49 Porchester Road,
W2 (221 4425). Gives information on accommodation. employment,
education, welfare, legal rights.
L East London. East is now at 79 Barking Road, E6 (47.1
2276), but this is a short·life property so may have to move again by the
new year. They can phone sympathetic solicitors to give free legal advice
any time_ If you want to crash, ring first. East also has a theatre group that
performs free for free alternative festivals and political groups. Barking
Road is long ... they·re at Upton Park tube end.
Additions
EM Oxford. A women·s refuge is starting in Oxford. Contact Sue Lee
(Abingdon 21668),
S Brighton. Simple Supplies, George Street. Wholefood,
self·sufficiency and eco centre shop doe to open soon. Friends of the
Earth and Transport 2000 will also use the place as an office. Whole Earth
van will also do removals and can be hired cheaply for community
projects. Enquiries to B.693971.
Information (p.121·122) Information Sources (p.121l
Art Information Registry (AIR), Oriel, 53 Charles Street, Cardiff will deal
with Welsh enquiries which might otherwise go to AIR.
Libraries (p.1221
Commonweal Collection, Burntlands, Rochford, Tenbury, Worcestershire
(112 Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham up to the end of 1975). Pacifist
lending library including books on alternative living. Free, but send
stamps to cover postage plus lOp for guide/catalogue. The loan
service"";l1 be closed for the first quarter of 1976 while Commonweal
moves to new address.
Public Health Regulations
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Public Health Advisory Service, Cave House, Bigland Street, El (790


4507). Sponsored by Shelter, they have written We give advice,
information and where necessary practical assistance on the law,
standards and practice of public health; producing leaflets, explaining
step by step procedures to enable tenants to force the landlord (whether
private or local authority) to put the house into a proper state of repair.·
Publishing (p.124·129) Addition
Printing (p.126)
Oriel Bookshop will also display and attempt to sell any small press
publication or little magazine. Initial quantity should be five copies,
discount between 25%·40% and goods sent on a sale or return basis.
Bookshops (p.130·133) Changes
NW Liverpool. Atticus Bookshop. Alternative Books include
self·sufficiency, ecology, education, poetry. Open Mon·Sat 9.30am·6pm.
Progressive Books, 12 Berry Street, L 1.
October Books, 2 Temple Street.
NE Hull. Bogus Books, 21 and 60 Princes Avenue tH.
604441611. Alternative, sci·fi, philosophy.
EM Leamington Spa. The Other Branch, 42 Bath Street. EM Luton.
Partisan Books. Alternative/community.
EM Nottingham. Mushroom. Now open Mon·Sat 1O.30am·
6pm.
E Cambridge. Last Exit has closed down.
Mail Order
WM Mail Order Library. See under Libraries above. Additions
NW Liverpool. IS Books, 28 Berry Street. L 1. Left.
NE Hull. Socialist Books, 238 Spring Bank, Hull. Books, pamphlets,
posters on Marxism, trade unions, sexual politics. history.
NE Leeds. The Sorcerer·s Apprentice. 4 Burley Lodge Road, Leeds 6.
Occult.
NE Stockport. The Bookshop, 11 Mealhouse Brow. Alter·native/SF,
including s/h. Downstairs: handmade and old clothes.
NE Sheffield. UJAM, 259a Glossop Road. Sells crafts as well as books.
SW Bath. Mushroom, 94 Walcot Street (B.65738>·Occult. SW Plymouth.
Chapter and Verse, Drake Circus, Shopping
Precinct (P .20183). General and academic. .
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Publications (p.134·1391
Changes
People·s News Service, new address: Box 1949, 197 King·s Cross Road,
WC1.
Magic Ink produce a catalogue of alternative and radical publications
called News from Neasden.
Smoothie Publications has produced a pamphlet. Alternative Technology.

Gay (p.1371
Sappho. 39 Ward our Street, Wl. Local (p.13?)
NW Blackburn. Blackburn barker no longer exists.
NW Manchester. Mole Express (061·273 5379/65411 is not produced by
Grass Roots.
SW Bristol. Spam and Tenants·News are no longer being produced.
SW Glastonbury. Tore moved to 3 Jacobs Close, Windmill Hill,
Glastonbury·n·lt out recently.
S Brighton. Bright Times is closed.
Additions Information (p.1341
Folder. Titus Alexander, ·free House·, The Public House Bookshop. 21
Little Preston Street, Brighton. This folder, occasionally produced,
contains a magazine. ·Ideas into Action·, reviews. information,
supplements from alternative papers.
Ecology. Food, Survival p.135)
Whole Earth magazine. 54 Queens Park Road, Brighton. Ecology and all
things wholesome.
Head (p.136
New Fapto. 6 Cecil Street, Margate. Kent. Freak magazine. Polittes (p.
137)
Bosses Enemy. clo Stuart Daniels. 36 Sandford Road, Moseley.
Birmingham 13. lOp. Articles on culture. politics and unions.
Local (p.1361
NE Whitley Bay. Mutant. The Used Dromedary Co, Apple House. 8
Waterford Crescent, Whitley Bay. Tyne and Wear. Published occasionally.
5p. Alternative comic magazine. local news. gig reports. record and book
reviews.
EM Nottingham. NottIngham Voice. People·s Centre, 33 Mansfield Road
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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 67

(N.411227/41 1676). Monthly. lOp. Community paper.


EM Oxford. East Oxford News. 4 Bullingdon Road (0, 44078), Monthly
community paper.
EM Luton. Luton Street Press. Box A. 34 Dallow Road.
Monthly. 3p. Political news and views.
SW Bath. Bristol Voice, 46 Richmond Road, Bristol 6 (B.404911. Monthly,
lOp. Community. politics. what·s on.
S Brighton. Queensparlc, 14 Toronto Terrace. Paper for
Queens Park area.
Media (p.140·146) Changes
Centre for theatre and dance workshops, video, photography. film·making
(p.1421
W Cardiff. Transitions, contact them at One·O·Eight. 108
Salisbury Road. Cathays (C.289081.
L London. Association of Video Workers, 18 Wyatt
Road, N5 (359 2516). Non·profit video work in community development.
communication. education and art. Monthly business meetings and
monthly newsletter. Subscription £3.
Ra,Ho (p.1461
Script is now called The Rad;o Guide_
London Stereo is also on 96.4 VHF (stereo) and 49 shortwave,
Radio Invicta is on Bank Holiday Sundays starting at lOam for ten hours.
Radio Jackie is sporadically broadcasting on Sundays. Radio
Kaleidoscope. Every Sunday lOam·2pm, 226m. Radio Concorde.
Saturday nights. 1 Opm·l Dam. 225m. London Music Radio. Friday nights
about midnight, 225m_ Additions
Video (p.14l)
Video equipment can be loaned free from Oriel, 53 Charles Street.
Cardiff.
Centres for theatre and dance workshops, video.
photography,.film·making (p.1421
NW Liverpool. Play on Wheels, 23 Roscoe Street. L 1 (05170881361.
Inflatables, disco. video. workshops for children. Contact Fred Brown.
S Brighton. Brighton Film Theatre, 64 North Street,
Brighton (B.29563). Recommended as showing good films.

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L london. Photography Workshop. 152 Upper Street. N 1


(2260367). A collective which wants to promote social change through
workshops, information and advice. Bibliography and newsletter, 25p.
Mystical (p.148·171) Changes
Centres
L Forum, Joyce Purcell (9472626, 6am·10am) or
Hilary Ricketts (2786379 evenings). Courses in astrology, chromatherapy,
sufi dancing and philosophy. Christian mysticism. etc.
SE Aquarius Tapes has moved to 78 Fairhazel Gardens.
NW6. Jim Adams (not Dale) is the name of the guy who runs it.
Buddhism
NW Tibetan Buddhist Centre (Kanpo Gangra Kagyu Ling) has moved: clo
David Stott, la Reynard Road, Chariton, Manchester 21 (061·881 5220.
Emphasis on Mahamudra teaching or the direct experience of the
enlightened state innate in each being. Meditation classes every Thursday.
lectures and seminars at weekends.
WM Tibetan Buddhist Centre. Weekly meetings for studies in Tibetan
Buddhism, meditation. practice, chanting and puja. Public meeting
quarterly. Information and newsletter available with sae. Newcomers
welcome.
WM Cheltenham Buddhist Society moved: 34 Park Place, Cheltenham
(C.32902).
SW Vipassana Meditation Group moved: Carn Entral Farm.
Beacon Camborne. Cornwall.
S Buddha Maitreya Centre moved to 75 Farmyard.
Brighton. Meeting .. on the first Sat of each month.
Hindu
NW Ananda Marga, 8 Ullet Road, Liverpool 8, now have a phone
(051·726 62421.
NE Divine Light no longer at 9 Coltman Street, Hull.
WM Ananda Marga moved to 9 Willows Crescent. Birming·ham
(021·44023651.
W Beshara·Radnor. Mujib (not Mijibl.
WM Crossington farm is not an open centre.
LIS The Dicker. Other !Toups can be contacted through the Secretary of
the Down and Weald Society at the Dicker·s address. Please don·t phone.
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L Druid Order. Public meetings alternate Fridays.


L Emin Earth no longer exists, according to a man who
said he taught there and considered it outrageous that I got my
information anonymously without asking for their own description to
publish.
SW Aquarian Centre no longer exists.
Pagan Movement_ The Waxing Moon is no longer pub·lished.
Starchild has moved from Luton to The Sign of the Black Bull, 147 Church
Street. Whitby. Yorkshire
(W.41581. .

L College of Psychic Studies offers facilities for study


and research in the psychic and allied psychological fields with a
programme of lectures and courses in meditation, esoteric teachings and
transpersonal psychology workshops.
L Astrological Association now at 36 Tweedy Road,
Bromley, Kent.
Additions
L Friends of the Western Buddhist Order have moved
into an old fire station in Roman Road, Bethnal Green which they are
renovating and turning into a community centre with accommodation,
crafts workshop and yoga, karate and meditation classes. There will be a
shop selling books and crafts and a printing press.
L British UFO Society, c/o Richard Lawrence, 47 Bel·size Square,
NW3 (794 34031. For details of membership and meetings write to the
society enclosing sse.
L Agui Yoga Group, Kenneth Archer, 91 Fitzjohn·s
Avenue, NW3.
L Krishnamurti Group, Richard and Kay Henwood, 3
Kemplary Road, NW3 (794 5030), Krishnamurti tape played every
Wednesday evening.
L Hakurenji, 40 Deansway. N2. Centre for integrated
study of east and west. Speakers on medicine, astrology, herbalism and
Japanese mystical groups. Information centre for Japanese groups.
NW Universal World Harmony, 1 St George·s Square, St Annes·on·5ea,
Lancashire. Meditation, prayer and the power of positive thinking.
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W Tyn·y·fron Farm, Rhiw, Pv.IIlheli, Gwnyedd, North


Wales (Rhiw 255). Run on similar lines to the Inter·national Academy for
Continuous Education but using art as the vehicle for self·aWareness.
Courses run for
six months starting from January 1976.
EM Buddha Maitreya Sangha, New World Centre, Trent Lane, North
Clifton, near Ne\Wrk, Notts. A new permanent centre open always with a
course for the last week of every month. They intend to open a wholefood
shop in Lincoln called Pulse.
Buddha Maitreya·s teaching is an expansion of traditional Zen Buddhism
involving "4 Truths":
Original Perfection of all creation.
Illusion of the human mind due to its ego.
The possibility of extinction of that Illusion.
Pure Land·universal perfection·attainable now.
E Transcendental Meditation, 90 St Clements Hill,
Normch (N.48717).
m Shrine of the Sacred Wisdom Pearl, the Golden Rosary Hermitage, 11
Grenville Road, Lostwithiel, Cornwall. Instruction in Lam Rim, Sanskrit,
Tibetan, iconography and ritual.
SW Ramala Society, Chalice Hill House, Dod lane, GlastonburY,
Somef"Set. A ·school on earth teaching the truth of the heavens·_
Continues the work of the disbanded Aquarian Centre.
S New Renascence, Weald, Loughton, Lewes, Sussex.
To discover a higher consciousness, the next step in evolution proclaimed
by Christ·s rebirth. Numerology: see Chairo·s Book of Numbers.
Palmistry: Hakurenji, 40 Deansway, London N2. Private beginner and
advanced classes based on Dr Benham and Dr C. Wolffe.
Therapy (p.172·177) Changes
S Ramana Health Centre. Treatment also includes hydro·
physiotherapy.
The Self·Health Centre is now called The Community Health Foundation
based at the East West Centre which is temporarily c/o Sunwheel Foods
Ltd, 8 Orpheus Street, London N7 (3521836). Co .... ses in natural
childbirth, natural foods, massage, yoga.
ARICA, 57 Marlborough Mansions, Cannon Hill,

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 71

NW6 (4356902). No courses in this country at present but may restart.


They can book you for courses in France and USA.
Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP), 62 Southwark bridge
Road. SEI (92871021. Primal·type therapy Atlantis, Burtonport,
Letter·kenny, Co_ Donegal, Eire.
Additions
E British Natural Hygiene Society, "Shalimas", First
Avenue, Frinton·on sea, Essex. A centre for drugless therapy, diets and
fasting.
S Healing Research Trust, Field House, Peaslake, Guild.ford, Surrey.
Promotion of healing and natural ther·apies. _
S Scientific and Medical Network, George Blaker, Lake
House, Ockley, Surrey. Communication between doctors and scientists
within a wide spiritual spectrum. They have a centre in Sidmouth for
meetings, conferences and summer accommodation.
L Hakurenji. 40 Deansway, N2. Acupuncture, herbal
medicine and shiatsu treatment.
Health for the New Age, fa Addison Crescent, W14. Theory and practice
of roads to positive health, conventional and unconventional.
Consciousness Training and Research Group, 143 Talgarth Road, London
W14. Workshops in trans·personal psychology. £10 per workshop.
Institute of Transactional Analysis, 52 Cranley Gardens, Palmers Green,
London N13 (886 5330). English branch of San Franciscan group.
Institute of Psychosynthesis, High Wood Park, Nan Clark·s Lane, Mill Hill,
London NW7. Seminars and workshops on psychosynthesis and
counselling tech·niques.
Herbalism (p.l83) Changes
Toothpaste: Bicarbonate of soda mixed with salt is also effective.
SW Bridport. Dorwest Herb Growers, Shipton George, Bridport.
Additions
NW Blackburn. Amamus Bookshop, 1·3 Market Street Lane (B.610061
puts people in touch with herbalists and a herb doctor.
NE Bishop Auckland. Margaret Bruce, High Rigg House Farm, St Johns
Chapel, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham sells herbs, perfumes and incenses
privately. Catalogue 30p.
Retreats (p.189) Changes

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SW Vipassana Meditation Group, Carn Entral Farm, Beacon Cam borne,


Cornwall.
Drugs (p.192·2041 Psilocybe (p.l961
Information correct, but should be more prominent as this
is an uncultivated hallucinogen which grows all over this country from
August till December. It is safer (being unlike poisonous varieties) and
without unpleasant side effects. The mushrooms can be dried·thread on
cotton·and stored
until used.
Beerlp.1971
CAMRA, The Campaign for Real Ale, is at 34 Alma Road, St Alban·s,
Herts. Membership is £1. They publish strengths of beers (among other
information) in their newsletter the strongest in order are Eldridges Pope·s
Hardy Ale; Whitbread Gold Label; 5t Austell Princes Ale and Courage
Russian Stout.
Rehabilitation (p.203)
ROMA·s address is 65 Talgarth Road, W14 (not 43).
Commonly called liberty Caps their tops are about Y.," across and a . little
k:Jnger on long straw·like stems 3"·6" according to the grass. Gills pale
brown ""hen fresh. h..·ning to nearly black; spores purple·brOW·n. Cap
varies: pale beige/yellowish/ grey/dirty white. Most distinct feature is the
little peak which is u5Ulll1ly off·centre. Best guide: Wakefield & Dennis
lout of print. but in libraries!. lThar1ks to staff of Natural History Museum.

Sex (p.206·214) Changes


VD Clinics (p.2071
E Cambridge·a reader writes that the Cambridge Clinic
is friendly and efficient and he would rather be treated there than at his
local clinic in Hull.
london. One.reader complained that a doctor at the Marie Stopes Centre
subjected him to a series of humiliating questions when he applied for a
vasectomy ·though it might just have been a personality conflict.
Law (p.2131
Two doctors must recommend an abortion although neither doctor need
be the one to do the operation.
Who to Approach (p.2131

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WM Co.,entry: SPAS should now be contacted through the Birmingham


branch.
Brighton: SPAS, Wistons Site, Chatsworth Road (8.5097261.
Additions
Abortion Organisations (p.213)
NW Chester: SPAS, 26 Queen Street IC.271131.
NE Sheffield: SPAS, 160 Charles Street {S.738326I. WM Sandwell: SPAS;
appointments made through the
Birmingham branch. Open Mon·Wed.
EM Bedford: 8PAS (8.465741. Open Mon·Fr;·
S Bournemouth: BPAS IB.421859). Open Mon·Wed.
S Wiltshire: BPAS (022 14 5378). Open Wed·Thurs.
L LorwJon: BPAS, 2nd floor, 58 Petty France, SWl
(22209851.
Crafts (216·228) Changes
Craft Shops (p.2161
WM Stroud. Cotswold Craft Centre, 5 WhitehaIIIS.2220).
General mail order.
S Winchester. Country Fair, 5 Market Street. General,
especially beads and je..wllery supplies. Also sells finished crafts.
Workshops, Info, Classes (p.224)
NE Pete Scon has moved from Hebden Bridge to 45 Boundary Street,
Colne, Lancashire where he is creating a workshop.
L SPACE finds studios for artists only and not for crafts·
men.
Selling Crafts (p.225)
SW North Devon. little BatUm Market, Rackfield, Boutport Street,
Barnstaple has dosed.
S Brighton. Garnda·s is closed.
Additions
Cushion Fillings (p.219) Polyether Foam
If you write to Dunlop (Dunlopillo Division), Coronation Road, Cressex
Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, Bucks and ask for a booklet called
Foam and a list of foam converters they will send you lots of information.
Converters supply foam cut to a specific size.

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Weaving Ip.221)
Hedgehog drum and hand carders, spindles and spinners can be obtained
from T J Willcocks, Wheatcroft, Itchingfield, Horsham, Sussex (Slinfold
346).
Workshops, Info, Classes (p.224)
NE CeoIfrith Arts Workshop, 17 Grange Terrace, Sunderland is part of the
arts centre and, among other things, has silk·screening equipment for use.
L Classes in Japanese brush drawing are given at Haku·
renji, 40 Deansway, N2.
Selling Crafts {p.2251
NW Margo Robinson, 23 Mason Street, Colne, Lancashire
has opened up a local community craft shop.
NE Whitley Bay. Bolinski Bros Big Bonanza Booklet (mail order
catalogue) can be obtained from the Used Dromedary Co, Apple House,
8 Waterford Crescent, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. The catalogue
includes foods, records, cards, herbs, T .·shirts, pottery, comix, alternative
publications, posters, etc.
S All Sorts of Things, High Street, Codford, Wiltshire is
a local shop selling all sorts of things including crafts.
Community Action & Community Projects (p.230·2361
Changes
Advice and Information (p.233)
Community celebration. A film is available about last year·s Granby
Festival from Merseyside Visual Communications Unit, 83 See I Street, L 1
(L.709 9460). For hire or purchase the charge will depend on what you
can afford.
Food Co·ops (p.2341
Down to Earth Community Supplies wrote to say that their kind of shop
does not have a mark·up of 50.60%; it·s more like 33%% of cost price.
(The higher figure refers to chain health food stores.)
Additions
NW Liverpool. Chris Elphick, 176 High Park Street. L8.
He is a member of the Community Arts Panel of the Arts Council and a
member of the Merseyside Arts Association executive and will help any
group with information and applications, especially community groups.
EM Oxford. Uhuru, 35 Cowley Road (0.48249). A meeting place for

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stimulating and helping local community action. Produce a report on


how to set up and run a cooperative shop and cafe from their own
experience.
L London. Earth Exchange Project, 213 Archway Road,
N6 (3407634). A new group which runs a Common Interest Registry and
mutual help exchange, a craft shop (Third World and local), a kitchen
crafts section (food), book shop and coffee·and Soup bar.
Involvement (p.237·2401
L London. Richmond Fellowship. The centres cater main·ly for
short·term ·rehabilitation·, and the staff are well paid (not just £6.50 as
previously described).
Husbandry (p.252·258) Goats (p.2531
A reader says they give more milk than cows for the same amount of
food. Also, you get as much cream (·more cream from Anglo Nubian
goats than Jersey cows·), but because the fat globules are smaller the
cream doesn·t rise to the top readily. It can be separated, though,..and
used for butter.
Ireland (p.254)
Several people who·ve done so have said that it·s not difficult to settle in
Ireland with a self Sufficient smallholding so long as it·s less than 5 acres.
In fact, Ireland is probably the most popular area for settlers now·more
info wanted about anything relevant for future supplements. In particular,
about a Smallholders Union.
Organisations (p.255)
The Organic Federation, PO Box 8, Malvern, Worcs, has written to say
they can give info on any of the following organisations:
1. The Organic Research Association, PO Box 8, Malvern Wares.
Encourages research and avoids duplication by maintaining contact with
orthodox research bodies and others. Their basic aim is to produce food
of the highest nutritional value without use of harmful substances.
Subscription (including reports on 100 or so projects a year) £2.50.
2. The Homesteading Association·teaches basics of self·sufficiency.
3. Mother Earth·organic gardeners/consumers·environmental action
group.
4. Organic Farming Association·for small·scale commercial farmers: helps
with problems of producing and selling organic food. Membership £4
p.a.

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5. Rural Apprenticeship Programme·practical educational scheme like an


employment agent for organic farmers. At present would be apprentices
have to wait for vacancies.
The Organic Federation also represents other organisations.

WOOF (p.2541
The list of farmer; wanting helpers is only sent to WOOFers; who have
already been on 2 ·Weekends arranged through WOOF, so as to protect
farmers from unsuitable people. For info send an S.a.e. at least 9")(4".
Self·Reliance Newsletter Ip.2551
This has folded. but Practical Self·Sufficiency has started (November 75),
It is intended to cover organic food production and preservation; keeping
livestock, whole food
cooking; low·cost energy sources and practical home busi·ness ideas.
Subscription £3.50 p.a. from Broad leys Publish·ing Company.
Widdington. Nr Saffron Walden, Essex.
Farm and Food Society (p.257) want it made clear that they are a pressure
group for ecological agriculture ·based on sustainable methods. with
respect for natural behaviour patterns of livestock, nutritional produce for
consumers, and a fair deal for farmers as opposed to industrialists in
farming·.
W Centre for Living is the name of John Seymour·s Self·
Sufficiency school·now 15 or so people camping, but planning
permission is through for a dormitory. Visitors pay £1 a day or 50p if
self·catering.
Book,
The Backyard Dairy Book is back in print in an improved revised edition
from Prism Press, Stable Court, Chalmington, Dorchester, Dorset (Maiden
Newton 5241 at £1 plus postage. They are due to publish The Backyard
Poultry Book also
by Andrew Singer in the Spring.
Technology (p.260·266)
Conservation Tools and Technology have moved to 143 Maple Road,
Surbiton, Surrey 101·549 58881.
National Centre for AT has a lot of working exhibits now and a bookshop.
They charge visitors for a tour, but it·s good value.
Liberation (p.268·279) Changes
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Othen (p.2751
The Hunt Saboteurs Association is now PO Box 19, Ton·bridge, Kent.
Anglian Diggers no longer exist at that address. No new address.
Additions
Radical Traditionalists, c/o John Michel, 11 Miles Buildings, Bath
IB.28925)·Publishes In Defence of Sacred Measures, In Defence of People
and Population and The Fall of Babylon, available from Cokaygne
Bookshop in Cambridge.
Others (p.2751
Paedophile Information Exchange, BM PIE, London WC1V 6XX.
Paedophile Action for liberation, c/o BM Gaylib, London WC1 V 6XX
1274 9590), For a sensible article on this subject see Peace News, 10
October 1975.
Women (p.280·282) 0 0
Addlt·m t 9 9 t 9 9
Women·s Centres (p.2801
NW Blackburn: Contact local women·s group through Amamus
Bookshop, 1·3 Market Street Lane (8.610061. Meets every Monday night
at different places and gives free pregnancy testing and advice every
Saturday l1amlpm.
Information and AdvM:e lp.2821
Feminist Books, PO Box HP5, Leeds. Publishes and distributes literature
on the women·s movement. Send for catalogue.
Changes
Pressure Groups (p.282)
Abortion Law Reform Association does not organise the National
Abortion Campaign. The Campaign is a selfcontained grass roots group
with eighty·five local branches. The Reform Association says they do the
demos and the activist stuff.
Gay Women·s Groups (p.2821
Sappho magazine address is·now: 39Wardour Street, Wl.
Homosexuals (p.283·285) Changes
National Gay Organisations (p.283)
Sappho Women·s Group, c/o Sappho, 39 Wardour Street, Wl. Local
Groups (p.2841
W Cardiff. Friend, c/o 7 St Mary·s Street.
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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 78

S Brighton. Brighton Gay Switchboard (B.27878). Wed,


Fri, Sat, 8pm·12pm. Meets at 7 Victoria Road on Wednesday evenings.
L Centrepoint also gives emergency overnight accommodation for any
young person (not only homosexuals) new to London.
Additions
Local Groups (p.2841
S Sussex Gay Liberation Front, Marlborough Hotel, attic
room, Prince·s Street. Meets 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month at 8.3Opm
in the Saloon Bar.
TV·, and TS·, (p.2851
Transvestites·National Group in Cardiff no longer exists at that address.
Transport (p.288·292) Community Transport (p.2921
NW Liverpool. Wheels, c/o Walter de Costa Miller, 19a Beaumont Street,
L8.
WM Wolverhampton. Community Transport, 21 St Marks Road, Chapel
Ash.
Going Away (p.294·300) World Passport
Terranian Nationalist Association, 13 Tyne Street, Burwood, Victoria
3125, Australia (29 2908). This is an attempt to unite humanity under one
democratic world government
and one common world language. You can register as a Terranian
National
Money (p.2971
Access and Barclay cards can be used abroad. A reader writes that slot
machines in Germany, which usually take one deutschmark coins (worth
2Op) will also take 5p coins.
Other Official Schemes (p.298)
World Expeditionary Association, 45 Brompton Road, SN3 (58905001.
For £3 a year you book cheap flights all-over the world plus magazine
and guide.
Ovenand (p.2991
Eurosave, 359 Oxford Street, London Wl (6293476), lifts arranged all over
Europe between people with cars wishing to take passengers to save
petrol costs and passengers willing to share costs. There is a £1.75 linking
fee (returnable).
Magic Bus, 637 Holloway Road, N191272 55531. Very cheap bus service

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 79

to Europe, Morocco and India. Sample prices include £9 to Amsterdam


and £60 to Delhi.
Legal Frameworks (p.302·3201
Book·keeping and Accounting (p.3131
The Intermediate Technology Group at 9 King Street, WC2 publish 3
booklets at 45p the set. (Anyone interested in cooperating in producing a
comprehensive handbook on bookkeeping for alternative projects please
contact The Public House Bookshop in Brighton (p.1321.
Strange" (p.322·331) Wo,k (p.J241
MOSt foreigners from non·EEC countries are now given 6-month
unrestricted visas. If you have one of these, you are allowed to work here.
An agency which specialises in placing black races is International
Personnel at 154 Balham High Road, SW12 (6750941).

o A1t.rlWltiv. England and Wales 1[2.50)


This is an information book for people looking for altematiwn. It is not a
tour·ist guide. It·s written for tre individual seeking prKtical information
whether It>9alor not on the following subject:
Housing_ Crash pads, complete IqUilltting guide,
communes,tenants·rights.
Home Making. Building repairs with illustrated plumbing and wiring
guide; how·to furnish cheaply.
ENrpiM. Auctions to cheap record shops.
Food. Food CO<lPS and low profit shojl5; bulk wholefood suppliers;
macrobiotics.
Money, A simple guide to social security·what you·re entitled to and how
to get it. Abo a guide to borrowing money.
Work, Ahematin WOfk to casual jobs.
Uw. What to do if you·re arrested; how to sue; O·I·Y divorce. Help.
Organisations giving free help all over the country including 189&1
advice.
Information. How to get it and where.
Publishing. A do it yourself guide with listings of alternative printers,
PublicatiOns. National and local alternative Pipers and magazines;
bookshojl5.
Media. Film making, video, illegal broadcasting and theatre workshops.

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 80

Mystical. A guide to Buddhist, Hindu and other groujl5 throughout


the country; Hatha Yoga, I Ching, K&b.lah, witchcraft.
Therapy. Alternative medicine, psychiatry iind encounter.
Martial Arts. Aikido, Karate, Tai Chi and others.
HertNIlism. Treatments and wholesalers.
R.treat •.
Drugs. Guide to illicit use; hallucinogenic plants; law; facilities for
addicts.
Suo VD, contraception and abortion. .
Oahs. A guide to suppliers of materials and tools, grants, sales outlets.
Community Development. Organisations needing help; ecology.
Community Projects. Organisations giving helD; forming charities,
finance.
Children. Playgroups and free schools.
liberation. Left Ktivist group; women·s centres; homosexuals. Transport.
CM, moped and bike.
Going A_y. cnyP tranl abroad; visas; black market. Strangers. Visas; work
permits; studying; deportation. Husbandry. OrganiC growing;
hydroponics. Technology. Solar, wind and water po_r.

Each section contains general inlOfmation with listings of people and


organisations concerned described from the user·s viewpoint, often
critically. There are no paid entries and no one is listed because they
asked to be.
In addition there are descriptions of each area, mentioning the most
inter·esting oIlterrutive activities and listing places to milke contact
Iocally.
Finally there are two thorough indexes. The first is categorised by towns
and IXlStal districts, so that wherever you are you can find everything
local in the book listed together. The second index is by subject with over
5,000 entries.
The book is by the same people who did Alternative"" London. It took 17
months to make including eight months and 13,000 miles of travelling.
The information was kept up to date and checked before going to press.
It is the size of a Iarge phone book weighing 1% Ibs. It is printed on
cheap paper but 01 a tyJM·which absorbs the binding glue well so it
won·t fall apart. The cower is except Wlally wrong·like the AA books but
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tougher.
The price is the minimum it can be sold tor in bookshops to give us back
wttat has been spent on producing the book ·full details of costings are on
page 368. But to nuke it available cheaper, you can buy direct by post for
£1.50 each for 8 copies or £1.75 for 4. Single copies arlO £2.50.
These prices include post and packing besides a 25p donation to CLAP,
yet we still get as much as by selling through bookshops.
You can borrow a copy through your local public library ·see opposite
side. Or, if you get a copy for £2.50 by post and re1\lrn it unmarked in
the padded bag it was sent to you in, we will refund your money less
postage.
You c .. look at or buy copies from aU branches of Virgin Records besides
bookshops and some headshops.
PI .... sell capias by buying direct. You can make £1 profit on each or PiSS
on the savi·
·CUT OFF HERE AND RETURN ·
Please indicate your order and return with payment. All prices include
post and packing. Books are IlO(mally posted the same morning that
prepaid orders are recEived.
Alternative England and Wales 1 copy £2.50
Alternative ErY,and and Wales 4 copies@£1.75 .. £7.00
Alternative England ;n:t Wales 8 copies@ £1.50 · £12.00
Alternative England and Wales , hardbound
library edition £8.25
Alternative England and Wales poster. A3 116" x 12")
Alternative England and Wales poster, A4 (8" x 11")
Alternative England and Wales supplement 1
included free with books, otherwise s.a.e. or lOp
Alternative London 4th edition £1.50
Self Exploration·a guide to groups involved 85p
Love, Siri and Ebba £1.00
Survival Guide 50p
Foreign cheQue (see note below) 50p
·
I enclose banknotes/cheque/POs for , . . • . . ._•£_

_______________________________________________________________________ UC13: page 81


_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 82

made payable to N SaurJ:lers, 65 Edith Grove, LorJ:lon SW10.


NAME
ADDRESS
o Alternative. london 4 (£1.50)
This 1974 edition is similar in content and layout to AtnNnarivlI England
and Wales described on the other side, except that it·s half the size, does
not cover Husbandry. Technology or Legal Frameworks and of course
only has London listings.
The book currently sold is a reprint with a new cover·and higher price.
This was done by Wildwood House (who co.published this book) without
my collaboration. Every other book I have produced has been published
by myself alone). I have no intention of revismgA/ter·rive London.
o Alternative.,.london·. SURVIVAL GUIDE fOt·Itrangan to london (45p1
This second edition Imid·731 is pocket size in small type. It·s equivalent
to AL for complete strangers either visiting or intending to settle, who
want to avoid being ripped off as tourists. So it has sections on good
cheap places
to stay and eat a buying guide and a large section on free entertainments.
It also includes the strangers·section from AL4·immigration, deportation,
work permits, studying.
o Alternative. England and Wales SUPPLEMENTS
I intend to publish the first supplement by November 1975. It will consist
of char·.ges, corrections and additions toAIfW7Mtive EnglMld MId Wales,
It will be included with books distributed; those who·ve contributed will
be sent it free and anyone else can have it who sends an s.a.e. or lOp.
later editions will probably take the form of a magazine about new and
changed things of the sort included in the book. This may include
Scotland and Ireland also to form the basis for a new edition after a year
or two. The later supplements will be sold at whatever they cost.
Information and feedback is always wry much appreciated and
contri·butions will be rewarded by a free copy of the supplement. But
siflCP. I
don·t have any assistance between editions please don·t expect
acknowledgement .
o SiIIIf ExPOrlti·... id. to poupe irwolqd lSSp)
This i. 01 Penguin size boc* .lltractlld from Alternative England and Wales
with minor revisions. It is a guide for people looking for groups and

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organisations c:onc:errwd with self·exploration by means of the following


paths:
Mysticism Retreats
Yoga and Meditation M_ti. Arts
The Occult Encounter and the N_ Therapies
Spiritualism Alternative Medicine
Divirulion Herbalism
o loore, Siri Md Ebb. 195pp
This is an elltfavagarllly produced book made from the letters of two
women who hitch·hiked around Africa(Ct and lived with wild nomads.
Not only
their amazing adventures. but also their incredible enthusiasm and
freedom come through in these personal letters to friends, illustrated with
their o·l draw;"lJS. photocard.,d scrapbooks. Printed on Y·W1<coloured
cartridge .. "".
Orders without .. payment will be forwarded to a distributor, so don·t
expect immediate response.
Who .... prien are available to anyone. All pre·paid Orders of at least £20
book value will be sent carriage free at 40% discount·50 £20 worth of
books cost you only £12.
Owefleas orders sent for the same price surface mail, double by airmail
except Alt·efmtj"" England and Wales which is £7 airmail! The Iower
prices for bulk and wholesale do not apply abroad. Payment. All
banknotes and international money orders are acceptable, but since my
bank charges 50p to pay in foreign cheQues THIS MUST BE ADDED.

Thanks to all those who sent in information for this supplement: Robin
Ellis, John of Crabapple, C Newman, Vivian Milroy, Richard Larkin, David
Ormandy, Paul Thompson, Helen of Colne, Judy Cottam, Diane Mundy,
Jim Adams, Lewis Creed, Ian of Lancaster, Mario Rin··IOlucri, Woof of
Alligator, BhasluJra, Michattl and Frankitt Woods, Fnmce$ Emelttus, John
Grey, Stuart Danittls, Primr0s6 PtISCOck, Pat H·y, Chris Prr.;cott, Uhuru,
t·at Cwm M,,;gan, Tom Hood, Geoffrey Ashe, T Willcocks, W Menzies, K
Mulf!$, Lyle McQueen, Jeff Gale, E Hatvany, Jim Fowfer, Martin Shaw,
Richard Ellen, Chris Elphick, Tony of Anicus, Da"" ClKJdy, D."" Foulkes,
Van and Janet
of Llandrindod Wells, Tony of ToadstoOl, John Sa)", J BoWflf·, Mi*Don,

_______________________________________________________________________ UC13: page 83


_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 84

Jampa Gendun, Walter Lloyd, Joe of Bogus, David Eno, Maron of


Uncareers, Joyce Pu·II, Alan Roberts, Alistair of Whole Earth Group, Titus
of Free House, Colin Spooner, Zena Eaton, Oaw Gourlay, Garry and Joan,
SUtI of WOOF, Robin Simmons, Jim of The Other BrllnCh, ChrisMJd
Kttith of Mushroom, John Guitar, Tony of Communes Movement, Cliff of
Communes Network, Sue of Amamus, Ralph Crooks, Ian of Helxien
Bridge, Horace Henry, R Wei!, Richard of Public House, Liz and Brian of
Partisan, Ian and Sonia of Magic Ink, Coliil Richardson, Ginny Ralitz,
Judith Dauncey, Peter of Orittl, Wendy of RamatliJ, Mike DN/, M Plan, R
Tyley, M Turpin, Pru Campbell, Sally Harrison, John Whitby, Chris
Walkttr; thanks also to Sheila and R·miITY who helped put it all togttthttr.
That information has not been thoroughly checked.
Next Supplement will be prepared during February 1976. So please _00
in infOrmlltion for it by the end of January. It should b6 out by March and
all who contribute will be sent a copy free (as with this OM/_ It helps a
lot if you can refer to page numbers in the book and write on one side of
the paper, so I can file items. Any comments or ideas about more general
things (like how to produce and distribute this supplement) are welcome,
but please don·t expect a reply as I work on my own and want to ha""
time to do other things. Thanks also for everyone Valhi ordered AE&W
from their library. Unfortunately for both you and me the plan
misfired·most libraries got the paperback through bookshops·but at ItJilst
most libraritls now haVtl it in stock making thtl informlltion availabltl to
those who wouldn·t buy it. Also thanks to everyone Mf·)o·s bought a box
of 8 copies to distribute. They make good Christmas presl1f)f$ and you
get them at £7.50 insttlild of £25O .…
Nicholas Saunders
Printed by Graham Andrews, Reading Typeset by Nick Lumsden

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Day & Edwards Communesense A Guide To Planning
An Englishman's home may be his castle but if you want to so much as extend a battlement
in this sceptred isle of ours you need planning permission. Undercurrents, in its customary
role of provider of information to the sublimely ignorant, gives here a few words of advice
on defeating the bureaucracy. As usual with our brand of anarchistic good intentions there
are differences of opinion. Chris Day, as a sound practical man, says never appeal against a
refusal, while Michael Edwards, in detailing the difficulties of communes. merely advises
caution. Now read on ...
SOONER OR LATER, anybody who wants to build something themselves
runs into planning problems. Everybody knows somebody who has had
an application refused. The stories, as related, make the refusals seem
wholly unjustified, irrational. and unfair in that worse has been approved.
This sense of outrage tends to magnify the belief that all planning is
corrupt, unjust, and unnecessary. Fortunately it is rarely quite so bad.
About half the refusals you hear of are planning refusals and half are
failure to comply with building regulations. These are quite separate
fieldsJ and require separate applications: the tactics required for success
are also quite distinct. Of these, building regulations are the easiest to
deal with because they are all in a book (The Building Regulations
obtainable from HMSO).
The building regulations are designed to protect the public from shoddy,
unhealthy, dangerous buildings (e.g. houses that are unsound, damp and
have high fire risks). They specify performance; they do not compel the
use of particular materials (except for specific jobs like chimneys and
even here there is a choice). In the USA the regulations can be framed to
benefit manufacturers; fortunately this is not so here. All the regulations
are in the book and they mostly only stop you doing things that are
inadvisable anyway. (You can get around the nonessential regulations -
e.g. rooms in tiny roof spaces - later, by incon·spicuous work after your
final inspection and approval).
With a rule book, you know where you stand. Although you may meet
narrow·minded local officials who interpret building regulations strictly,
they generally have some discretionary powers. The regulations, for
example, specify rather elaborate standards for a healthy earth-closet;
ours is just a hole in the ground and is quite adequate. But there is no
guarantee that they will let you build a new house with an E.C. For
improvements of old buildings (avoiding grants) a helpful building
inspector may waive certain regulations (e.g. ceiling heights and window

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 86

sizes, and even approve existing E.Cs). but at his discretion.


Let outs
There are some good let-outs in the regulations: for example, ceiling
heights for 'habitable rooms' must be 7ft 6ins; however, in a room in a
roof, only half the floor area must have that ceiling height. This makes
most lofts convertible if you narrow the room with built-in cupboards
(which could be removed after the final inspection). In rural areas, most
building inspectors are only strict about ceiling heights, window sizes
(glass area not less than %0 of floor area and ventilation, not less than
'1'0 - habitable room~ only), and drains. Ceilings are no problem,
because if joists are exposed, you wouldn't want a much lower ceiling,
not if you want to avoid brain injuries,
Windows do not have to be new picture-windows; any old hole in the
wall or roof-light will do. Inspectors' (free) advice on drains can be quite
useful. In short, the building inspector may be petty, but he thinks he is
helping, and furthermore, he works by the book. Buy the book and you
may well be able to out·book him.
Planning
Planning is not in a book. It is almost wholly discretionary. The nearest to
a book of rules are the various Town & Country Planning Acts which tell
planners (and anyone else who can understand them - I can't) their
powers. However, we are only concerned with planning applications for
buildings. Your application goes before a committee (mostly elected,
worthy citizens). The planning officer recommends and the committee
vote. Unlike the building regulations-where you can stretch everything to
the legal limit - with planning you take your luck.
Why do we have planning controls? Countries with laxer controls - such
as the USA - demonstrate what happens without it. Overnight, untouched
wilderness areas can be transformed into suburban lots for long-range
commuters or vacationers. Planning is intended to control the damage
inflicted by man on the environment. In the face of pressure for more
houses, offices, factories, and roads, not even the most conservationist
planner can say "no" all the time. So some people get the "yeses". Who
are they?
Needless to say, the bigger an operation the bigger its potential damage to
the environment However the bigger it is, the more money is behind it-
how else could the oil companies build oil refineries in national parks
and property companies demolish cities? Money can exert power without

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recourse LO corruption (though this is not unknown). Offering


employment in areas of high unemployment is the greatest bait.
Shopkeepers - who tend to get on councils and committees-often find the
prospect of more wage earners appealing. The fact that such employment
has been cruelly misrepresented in the past doesn't seem to alter its
appeal. (The work usually turns out to be temporary and high wage,
bringing non-local workers to flood small communities and drawing local
people from farm and other jobs that they will never return to. Permanent
work often turns out to require less people and particular skills that locals
do not have.
The planners have got to say "no" to somebody. If you are small you have
no leverage and if they don't like you they are delighted to be able to
refuse. It's like exams - if everybody passed, why have them? Three cases
in our area are not untypical - 1) An application for 90 new luxury houses
in a village of perhaps 50 houses (and short of water, sewage disposal and
especially housing for local people: Approved. 2) An application for
a house on the farm for a son to help his widowed father farm 30 acres.
(There are no other available houses in the community - the second-
homers get them first): Refused. 3) A farmer who built his (permissionless)
house on his parents' farm so that he could run the farm: Order to
demolish.
We all know what happens to mining companies that dig holes in
national parks when told not to. They get away with it. If you are big
enough, you can; if small, you cannot. Since the individual has got to try
to wriggle through planning, what is the best way to go about it? To be
fair, planners and planning committees believe that they are good people,
doing good things. If they think something is good, they will pass it .. lf
we can see our applications through their eyes, we can begin to get a fair
idea of what their objections may be, and try to refute them in advance.
These are the sort of stumbling blocks you may encounter.
The master plan:- The zone is residential and your workshop will be light
industrial: try to call it something else (honest of course).
Pragmatic refusal:- Will the council have to provide water, sewage,
subsidised bus service and so on if they permit development? Such
considerations are a great worry to planning officers.
Change of use:- "We don't approve of this change of use". However, if the
previous building was disused they might be more amenable.
Non.existence:- "That existing building is not an existing building (and we

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 88

do not permit new buildings here)." In our part of the world, a building
empty for four years or longer no longer counts as existing and needs a
new planning application. Don't tell them it's been empty for four years;
they don't ask, and thanks to administrative size, they don't know. In
some areas, four walls but no roof, one wall and a chimney, or even old
foundations are assets; find out anonymously what the local policy is.
Sporadic development:- "No new isolated buildings in rural areas". Try to
show off its least-isolated aspects i.e.. its relation to other buildings.
Aesthetic:- Here they have got you.
But actually, as the details in most architectural drawings are so minimal,
they assume that your application is for another bungalow. It is worth
presenting full and flattering drawings of what it will look like - and, if
need be, views of it set in its surroundings, photo-montages and so on.
If refused, never appeal. It is slow, expensive and final. Reapply,
modifying your design and refuting their reasons for refusal. (and
incidentally, you can have a caravan on your land so long as an
application is in, or you are building). If you are in a rural area - and this
is where so many planning problems occur - you probably intend to grow
your own food. Tell them. Agriculture and horticulture are approved of. A
smallholding - or farmworker's bungalow - are usually OK. If your land is
already a farm or
a smallholding, it has a holding number - quote it.

These are some things you can do without needing to apply to the
planning authority (they do, however, need building regulations
approval):
Houses:
-Enlargement of a house by up to 50 cubic metres or '/10 of its volume
(whichever is greater) up to 115 cubic metres, so long as it does not
project above or in front (towards road) of the existing building.
-A porch not exceeding 2 square metres area, and 3 metres in height. It
must be 2 or more metres from a boundary fronting a highway.
-A shed (not a garage, stable, loosebox, coachhouse or dwelling) of up to
half your garden area, but not in front of the house (towards road) nor
exceeding 4 metres height at ridge or 3 metres, if other roof shape.
-In the case of farms, small holdings etc., in excess of 1 acre and for
agricultural purposes: you may erect a building up to 465 square metres
ground area, not exceeding 12 metres in height (3 metres within 3 Km of
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an aerodrome).
Precise details can be obtained from your local planning authority. The
last point is quite significant. In addition to the advantage of simply being
allowed to build, it would seem that all sorts of 'unsightly' stuff (such as
lashed-up solar collectors), if they are part of an agricultural building,
need only to comply with building regulations. which should be no
problem.
In short, what all this means is that if you play their game and watch the
rules carefully, you can get away with quite a lot. Good luck.
Chris Day

'Go out and see what they're doing .. . . And tell them to stop!'
COMMUNAL HOUSING projects can run into all sons of planning
problems wherever they are and rural locations present some special
likely difficulties. The Planning law requires permission to be obtained for
any 'development' - and this is widely defined to include changes of the
use of land or buildings as well as actual construction work.. If your
project is purely agricultural, on an existing agricultural holding, involves
no new building and if the communal living pattern is construed simply
as ordinary residence,then planning permission probably won't be
needed. Usually, though, the problem won't be that simple.

Dilemmas in rural planning


British rural counties tend to be confronting pretty severe problems. In
almost all country areas (beyond the commuting range of conurbations)
population has long been falling, led by the decline in farm employment.
As the population becomes sparser it is less able to support adequate
services. The per capita costs of providing many services probably really
do rise in those circumstances: all forms of visiting social and health
services, water supply, sewerage, emergency services, libraries, schools
and so on. This is reinforced where traditional technology (e.g. sewage
treatment), professional received wisdom (e.g. hospitals) or genuine
economies of scale (e.g. school science labs) raise the minimum sizes at
which services can be provided. The declining population then needs to
do more travelling - to shops, schools, doctors and often to jobs, creating
a demand for extra transport service, but not enough to offset the
enormous bus operating problems which flow from the sparseness of
settlement. Cars become a high spending priority for those who can
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possibly manage to get them - and who are able to drive and that further
reduces the custom supporting bus services. This picture is a simplified
generalisation, but elements of it are to be found in virtually all parts of
the countryside.
Trouble
Local planning authorities are in pretty severe trouble. The clarity with
which the problems are understood, and the relevance and energy of the
response, are very variable. The most common type of rural settlement
policy is one which tries to concentrate new housing and employment in
a small number of 'key settlements' where public and commercial
services are also encouraged to congregate though it's not unknown for
some public services to operate in bland defiance of such schemes. The
'key settlements' are usually at nodal points on the transport network and
this strategy thus serves, among other things, to'concentrate demand for
bus services where it can most easily be met - though often at the
expense of the services to the sparser areas.
This is sometimes the real rationale of rural planning policies, and at
other times a rationalisation for measures which derive their real impetus
from a kind of 'conservation' which is basically trying to keep new
people (especially poor people) out of the bulk of the countryside and
sustain landscape and property values there. As a result many rural
authorities more or less prohibit scattered development in rural areas,
including their 'non-key' villages, and they can usually count on being
backed up in appeals by the Department of the Environment.
Counties in England and Wales are responsible for the main planning
policy formation and for embodying the results in structure plans.
Subsequently the counties and/or the district councils have to prepare
detailed local plans. In fact most rural counties have yet to prepare
structure plans and those which have seem, for the most part, to have
paid scant attention to the countryside. In the meantime policies set out
in the Development Plans of the 1950. and 1960s, as amended, are the
ruling ones. Whatever plans there are provide the basis for the system of
development control - the process of giving or refusing planning
permission - and the responsibility for this control falls to the district
councils on most ordinary proposals.
Dealing with planning machine
The planning machinery can be tackled head-on or avoided like the
plague. The head-on approach is often risky. slow and expensive - unless
you can establish by discreet enquiries that a favourable decision is going
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to emerge. If a refusal is issued various problems arise. Numerous reasons


for refusal are usually given and it is not always possible to detect the real
logic underlying the decision.
If you do get a refusal and decide to appeal you should (i) give positive
grounds for appealing as well as resisting the given reasons for refusal
(and do so in a short letter), and (ii) seek an inquiry. For the inquiry
prepare a full written statement describing all the positive aspects of your
proposal, try to use language and arguments of a kind civil servants may
accept and. in the process, rebut all the grounds given for the refusal. The
law requires the decision to be made in the light of 'the Development
Plan and all other material factors' so it is important to seize the initiative
in defining what is 'material'. Don't release this document until the last
minute and if you can produce some of it through the mouth of an
accredited 'expert' so much the better.
Avoiding the planning process is best if you can do it, so be very discreet
with your local council in case you decide not to seek permission: once
they are alerted to the possibility of anything unconventional taking place
they are likely to err on the side of watchfulness and caution. If you have
land and buildings where you want to make no alterations to structures or
use there is no 'development' and thus no permission is needed.
Even if you are going to do some building work it may fall in a category
which is exempt from control - such as repairs and. up to a fixed limit,
extensions to a dwelling. Some agricultural building is also exempt from
control. But even in these cases you will probably need approval for the
structural safety and correctness of your building under the building
regulations. And if you have the misfortune to be in a conservation area,a
national park or an area designated as of special landscape or scientific
interest you may find that the ordinary exemptions do not apply.
What next?
One of the great difficulties in all this is that ordinary planning
permissions. once given and taken up, endure for ever with the land -
even after it has changed hands. Thus the planning authority justly take
account
not only of how the permission would be used by the applicants but of
what a subsequent buyer might do with it. For example one London
Borough, confronted by a plan for an 18 person commune, was resistant-
because if and when the building came to be sold its obvious use would
be as a rooming house or hostel - though they fully accepted that the
group applying for the permission were going to be quite
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unexceptionable.
The best you can hope for in this sort of situation is to get a 'personal'
permission - one which is for you and you alone to benefit from and
which provides for the use to revert back to what it previously was if the
property changes hands. A second best expedient can be to seek a
temporary permission which comes up for renewal after a period of years.
In both these cases the special permissions are only really feasible for
changes of use, not for substantial building since it is not very practicable
for an authority to require building work to be reversible.
When is a commune . . ?
The planning permission under which one London commune operates is
subject to a condition that 'The premises shall be used only as a
commune' which suggests that someone in the town hall has a clearer
idea of what that word means than most commune dwellers. In that case
the authority decided that communal living was a use of land distinct
from private residential use and thus required permission whether there
was any building or not That situation is certainly one to avoid if you can
- by moving in, and generally behaving to the authorities, as distinct
households or operating under the co-ownership housing association
rules and subsequently introducing whatever sharing arrangements you
have in mind.
Breakthroughs in rural planning
In the long run there is great scope for struggles to break the hold of
convention in rural planning thinking. Sewage, water supply and the
other main services are an obvious target Policy is based on the premise
that most households should have the right or at least the expectation of
connection in the long run to main services. As the alternative
technologies of waste recycling and energy generation improve they
should gradually be able to loosen the hold of this premise. Similarly
small scale water purification methods could break the dependence
between wholesome water supply and high cost pipe networks.
It is harder to see how to pierce the arguments for settlement
concentra·tion which are based upon the needs of schools, shops and
social services for compact service areas. In some districts it may be true
that, so long as there are any people living scattered in the countryside,
there should be more of them rather than fewer. More generally, demands
of professionals and businesses for ever larger facilities need to be
scrutinised and the arithmetic of rural living and survival costs must be
gone over as carefully as the assumptions on which it is based. The
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technology and the management innovations needed for new settle·ment


patterns will probably run far ahead of the social and political changes
which would make them feasible_ But the battle is certainly not a
hopeless one.
Further Reading
On communes in general there is a great deal of ephemeral material of
slight value. Still unbeaten as a treatment of the legal and administrative
snags and possibilities is BROIDO, Mark (ed) Communal Housing. a
report by a Chimera working group, 1971, published by the editor at
Magdalen College Oxford (mimeo).
A research project financed by SSRC is under way and its final report is
awaited. An interim report appeared as a paper by ABRAMS, Philip, et al
in the proceedings of a British Sociological Association conference on
Sex Roles in Society in 1974. While much of the paper is devoted to
disproving the rather ludicrous hypothesis that communal life causes a
radical change in sex roles among participants. there is a great deal of
interesting data presented for the first time.
On planning law the authoritative guide is TELLING, A E,Planning law
and Procedure, London, Butterworth. which is regularly revised to reflect
legislative changes.
Those interested in the way in which technology and policy interact in
rural planning might enjoy WARFORD, J J, The South Atcham Scheme: an
economic appraisal, HMSO, 1969, which is extremely explicit and has
the temerity to suggest. at the end, that one of the sacred cows in rural
water supply should be desanctified.
Summaries of environmental powers and obligations can be found in
LAYFIELD, F H B. Powers for Conservation in Journal of the Town
Planning Institute, March 1971. and a more up to date synopsis in a series
of reference sheets published in the Architects' Journal between August
1974 and February 1975.
Of interest as a reference source on organisations directly or remotely
concerned with the countryside and on ways of pursuing environmental
campaigns is the Friends of the Earth Campaigner's Manual, FOE, 1974
Could any UC reader involved in a community living project or who
knows others who are, please write in to Michael Edwards, c/o
UNDERCURRENTS with news of successful - or failed - negotiations with
rural authorities, or with any other comments which may be helpful.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
The View from the Quarry: A letter from Gerald Morgan·Grenville
The National Centre for Alternative Technology at MachynlIeth. now in existence for over
two years, has been one of the more con·troversial recent developments in A T. Follow·ing
reports in Undercurrents 8 and elsewhere. and frequent criticism of the centre at AT events,
they have asked for space in Undercurrents in which to discuss their;r ideas, and to give
news of developments at Llwyngwern Quarry, NCA T·s home. Below, Gerard
Morgan·GrenviIle slates his views on the centre·s role. The article is not in/ended to reflect
the collective views of NCAT. or of Undercurrents or its members.
Of the numerous things of which I have at one time or another been
accused perhaps the most paradoxical is that I have sold out AT to the
Establishment The means by which some suspect that this has been done
is by having set up a focal point for AT which, by an insidious process of
big company and big name involvement, has subverted the original aims
of AT to the profit based interests of Big Business. Remarks to this effect
made at Comtek and some other AT venues have prompted me to amplify
the happenings at the National Centre for Alternative Technology ·NCAT
·better known as the Quarry.
Anyone who has read the attempts of others to encapsulate in a few
words the central ethic of AT and from this to pontificate on the social
and technical means of its establishment, will know that it is a dangerous
task, since the range of its individual interpretations is limitless ·so the
things which I say are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of
those at the Quarry, past or present.
Any ·foreigner·taking a look at the Alternative scene in Britain (or Europe)
could be forgiven for failing to see any consistency or continuity. Projects
come and go leaving scarcely a ripple, and the ideological casualties are
almost as frequently encountered as the wreckage of AT windmill
prototypes. In this general context I cherish the ambition of trying to
create some kind of Alternative bastion, which can provide some element
of stability in the highly fragile situation in which most AT types find
themselves.
I conceive that this nucleus be sufficiently large and cohesive to develop
its own internal dynamic ·philosophical, social, technological and
financial. The Quarry is now a small part of the way towards this goal.
Readers of ·Undercurrents·will mostly subscribe to the ideas that society
could be fairer, that it is possible to live with greater regard for
environmental con·siderations, that small is frequently beautiful, that
unnecessary or dangerous technologies should be avoided, that land

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should be for people, and all the rest of the AT creed, which is so
platitudinously intoned and so little exemplified ·for the simple reason
that exemplification is extremely difficult. How do you, when it comes to
the point, become self·sufficient on almost no money, prevent a nuclear
power station being built, ground Concorde, fix a solar collector on the
17th storey of a high·rise block of flats ·or fight a faceless bureaucracy?
You don·t, because you can·t. But what you can do is to select those areas
where you can do something, enlist the co·operation of others who share
your aims, produce a plan capable of realisation, stick to it, and win
small battles one at a time, thus improving the climate for others to do
battle. The something which you choose will depend on your particular
view of AT. The winning ·or losing ·of such battles should be reported
more frequently in ·Undercurrents·if we are to profit from the efforts of
others.
To me, AT is not too much to do with drawing the dole, telephone
tapping or getting stoned. To me it is rather more to do with the energetic
development of a sustainable and better life, in which people work
together for the common good. NCAT reflects this ideal. Such a life
presupposes independence from those whose policies are antagonistic,
and some of the technology at NCAT provides a means to this end. To me
the pursuit of such an ideal is now a matter of urgency, faced as we are
with a bureaucracy employing one in four of the workforce.
I believe, passionately, that man should have the fullest possible personal
freedom ·so long as he respects the tribal codes of behaviour. I suspect
that most people who subscribe to an alternative society cherish the same
belief. Yet I am fre·quently astounded by the political naivety which may
almost be said to characterise the movement. Whether or not we are
political escapists or activists, whilst we indulge in such notions as
Kropotkin anarchism, the fact is that we are all being pushed towards a
totalitarian regime by an unholy but concerted alliance of power seekers.
If they have
their way, NCAT, Undercurrents, and other corporate and individual
freaks will be swept off the board ·make no mistake about this;
individualism and real personal freedom are absolutely irreconcilable
with the totalitarian state: you need look no further than any such state to
see the living proof of this.
I believe that a far more militant role is now required of those who claim
to uphold the basic human rights. If the AT movement is to make a lasting
and worth·while impact it must be prepared to defend its cardinal
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principles with action. We.live in a fool·s paradise whilst others, capitalist


and communist alike, conspire to force us into conformity.
So, if you come to the Quarry, apart from the possibility of seeing lumps
of slate being hurled at suspected bureau·crats, you will by next summer
also see a great many working devices which will help you to be
independent of the system and to live more self·sufficiently_ Wind·mills
a·plenty, solar collectors by the dozen, water turbines and a methane
generator which has actually been known to generate methane. (Both
commercially available and DIY units are shown: a range of DIY
pamphlets is already available). We are also getting into organic
horticulture and carp rearing. (Food for the inmates is vegetarian
whole·food). If everything goes according to plan, you may even see a
house which provides for all its own services. There will be a much
enlarged new exhibition hall with many new things, an informa·tion
office and an AT bookshop, where, if you haven·t already done so, you
can take out a subscription to ·Under·currents·. We are also planning
some AT discussion weekends this winter: please contact us if you are
interested. To enter you will probably have to pay SOp by next summer. It
is not a rip·off: it is the least we can charge if we are to realise the project
·as it is most of us are virtually or entirely unpaid. (We need more money
·subscription forms available!)
I f you would like your views on the )development of NCAT to be
pondered and perhaps incorporated, please write to us: Gerard
Morgan·Grenville National Centre for Alternative Technology. lIwyngwern
Quarry, Machynlleth, Powys (Machynlleth 2400).

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Dauncey Nuts In October?
THE 1975 MAY LECTURES were organised by the Franklin School in
London on October 15·18. They are struggling to become a regular
feature in the paranormal scene, though not quite annually, hence the
misnomer. This year·s theme was ·Frontiers in Science and Medicine·,
with particular emphasis on the areas where science merges into
mysticism .....
Wednesday
The opening night was very d,disappointing. The hall was packed with
about 400 people, but Rick Carlson didn·t manage to say anything new
and what he did say was simultaneously simplistic, vague, and
over·verbose.
Dr. Louis Kervran, who has written a book called ·Proofs of the T
transformation of Energy in Biology·, spoke in French, and was poorly
translated by Dr. Costa de Beauregard, who also passed comment on Dr.
Kervran·s work, which endeavours to show that cosmic energy is
absorbed by the body and transmuted into life energy. He was saying
some interesting things but they were almost impossible to follow in any
coherent way. Confusion, instead of con-fusion, I·m afraid, and no
chance for any questioning or audience feedback.
Thursday
Better. David Tansley, a radionics man, talked about the chakras in the
·subtle anatomy·, and about auras, and showed some very pretty slides.
But it was all at the metaphysical level, which was disappointing,
especially as there is some good evidence that there are scientifically
valid links between the pineal gland, (which is held to be the physical
representation of the second chakra, between the eyes), and
consciousness. The pineal gland appears to secrete the molecule
serotonin, which seems to be centrally involved in the regulation of
perceptions, and hence of consciousness. One theory about the
functioning of LSD is that it mirrors, and somehow blocks, the production
of serotonin from the pineal, and thus interferes with conscious·ness. (See
John Bleibtreu·s The Parable of the Beast, Gollancz, ·68).
John Taylor, on the other hand, perhaps one should say ·in the other
hemisphere·), was at least scientific. Amusing ·he·s got a pretty display of
slides too, of everything from levitation to the fracture surfaces of

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physically and psychically broken needles, Very keen to preserve


reductionism and to explain some psi phenomena within the known
forces of nature. He didn·t elaborate on his theory about very low
frequency electro·magnetic radio waves which might carry resonances of
energy from the muscles of the body to the spoon, etc., and so bend it.
some interesting fragments of information about the interplay between
electromagnetic fields and the body. Good audience feedback, showing
faith that science will be able to embrace psi phenomena when the new
paradigm finally emerges, and showing no great sorrow at the prospect of
the wan ing of reductionism.
Friday
On Friday night we were more philosophical. John Davy, who used to be
science correspondent of The Observer, and is now Vice·Principal of
Emerson College, Sussex (a Rudolf Steiner training college), gave an
excellent talk on the nature of scientific method. To him, the most
inexplicable thing was to know how plants grow, and we grow. The
molecular biologists, he said, were confident that they could explain it
all; but he knew that there were other biologists who are very
open·minded, and very puzzled ·in private, anyway. He took us on a
mental journey through the ways in which quantum indeterminacy has
opened us up to the realisation that we manipulate reality before we even
see it, through the ways we impose our prior mental patterns onto our
theories. Much as a person can be distorted by a Laing·field of
expectations, so reality gets distorted in our minds: the way we think
about the universe affects what we will find. And much more ... taking us
to the suggestion that we transcend reductionist thinking·and try to get to
know plants, life, reality, by letting them inwardly ·school the
imagination·, and taking it from there. No discussion, again, infuriatingly.
Then Dr. Weihs, who is Psychiatric Consultant for the Steiner Camphill
Schools. He was inspiring, in a gentle sort of way, but when it turned into
a fullyfledged sermon I started expiring again. En route, he made some
ordinary, some out·of·date, (a pre·Popper critique), and some
run·of·the·mill intelligent comments on the nature of science, arguing the
need for spiritual approaches to life as well. Science might tell us how to
do, but it couldn·t tell us what to do, or how to act out of goodness and
responsibility. No discussion.
Maybe by now I should have got the message that whoever was
organising these October May Lectures was more concerned to convey
Steinerian and esoteric teachings than to explore the frontiers of
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knowledge, which to my mind involve the interface between science and


·almost·science·. Anyway, what followed on Saturday was to leave me in
little doubt. Maybe it was what people wanted ·there were certainly many
different paradigms of consciousness in the room; but I think my
frustrations were widely shared.
____________________________________________________
"The programme will focus on those energy networks which lie beyond
the physical world. It will explore the possibility of man, not only as an
energy field interacting with energy fields of all other life forms, but also
with those of the solar system itself. Many feel that these exploratory
probes across new energy frontiers will ultimately give rise to a new
holistic science. A science which will view man as a cooperative and
creative partner in the natural order of life and thus as a being with
profound responsibilities."
____________________________________________________
Saturday
My irritation with Saturday·s whole day of lectures is double; partly
because Messrs Milner, Smart and Meredith, from the Dept. of Metallurgy
at Birmingham University, spouted so much stuff about the Astral Plane,
and the 4 etheric forces, and how we are the Prodigal Sons in the Plan of
the Godhead, and how everything ties in to prove the Purpose and Pattern
of Existence; but partly, too, because they had without any doubt the
most important and exciting experimental results of the lectures, and yet
they presented them in an extremely bemuddling, magical, and
unscientific way. For three sessions out of four we were treated to their
Grand Cosmology, which they presented as if there were no question at
all about its truth. lt has some interesting points to it, and I personally
agree with the schemata that we are evolving from unconscious matter
through to fully realised, self·actualising being, and that furthermore we·ll
be needing some thoroughly co·operative social structures to reflect the
changes in consciousness. (Not that Milner seemed to recognise anything
anarchist about his Plan. In his interpretation it was thoroughly sexist, to
b o o t . ) B u t s c i e n t i fi c a l l y, e ve n a l m o s t s c i e n t i fi c a l l y, e ve n
remotely·almost·scientifically, it was junk.
Their experimental work involves ·etheric force field photography·, which
is a cousin of Kirlian photography. They send pulses of electricity of
different frequencies, and with different patterns of pulse, through a bare
photographic plate, and they achieve remarkable photos of what is

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undeniably an energy·field, and which also, undeniably, exhibits definite


structures; patterns similar to ferns, flowers, leaves, feathers, fungi and
many other natural forms emerged.
When questioned at the end about the relevance of their elaborate
cosmology, the three were highly evasive, saying things like "we were
forced into the philosophy by the evidence", "we are confused ourselves",
and "we have no beliefs" ·which offers scant information as to why they
wasted their and our time expounding their beliefs at such length.
Meredith accepted that the phenomena they had in their photos were
corona discharge patterns ·but stated that they·could also be interpreted
in their way. Then one of them said that their way was preferable, since it
gave them room for hope, and social progress as well. Strange people,
these metallurgists. I completely agree that we need a unification
involving science, evolution, consciousness and social and political
structures ·but it can·t just be pulled out of the air ·or out of the ether.
What they should have spent their time doing was explaining to us just
what corona discharge is and why it might be structured the way it is on
their photos; the relationships between ionisation (which is what causes
corona discharge) and the effect that ions have on our own consciousness
(New Scientist 14.6.73); the relevance of serotonin, again; the possible
role of breathing in the conversion of air in the body; and the possible
link·ups between the esoteric way of seeing things, involving chakras and
auras, and a possible scientific way, involving ionisation, the endocrine
system, the organisation of matter, and the organisation of consciousness.
Instead, they gave us a perfect example of John Davy·s warning that the
way we think about the universe affects what we find.
Sorry to leave you so frustrated, with so little of substance to grip on;
that·s how the lectures left me. Last year·s May lectures appear to have
been far better. Milner, Smart and Meredith have a book on their work
coming out very soon, called ·The Loom of Creation·, which deserves
some hard thinking and review·ing, when it is published.
Guy Dauncey

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
‘Oon·Yellimon’ To You Too!
Positively the last word on Transcendental Meditation .....
Many people who have tried to meditate and failed have succeeded when stoned.
For some reason, grass considerably increases the ability to con·centrate on the
mantra, and to transcend reality.
Although most of the Eastern religions (the Maharishi·s included) claim that
you can reach the transcendental or metaphysical state without external
stimulation, many Westerners have found that it is much easier with the aid of
grass. After having learned how the whole thing works, most people continue
meditating but without the grass. For those in a hurry to reach nirvana, we
suggest that you attempt meditation (at least the first few times) when stoned.
The following is a bastard form of Transcendental Meditation which has
worked for us:
First, get a mantra, a magical word that is meaningless in and of itself.
Supposedly the word should come from the Maharishi or one of his teachers,
and should be a word which is very personal and used exclusively by you.
Being of a pragmatic nature, we fail to see why you can·t make up your own
magical word. Most mantras which we have heard of (and we gained this
secret information through the usual methods of kidnapping and torture) have
four syllables, with the first syllable stressed. We will give you a mantra, but
remember, this is a personal mantra, and you·re not to tell anyone what it is.
It·ll be a secret among ourselves. Shhh. Your mantra is ‘oon·yellimon’, with the
first syllable stressed.
Now, sit on the floor or on your bed, with your feet crossed and your hands in
your lap. Sit up straight. Take a deep breath and relax. Let your mind wander
for a while like it usually does. When you find a space in your thinking which
seems sort of quiet, start saying the mantra but not out loud and don·t vocalise
or move your lips. Stress the first syllable hard, and keep saying it over and
over. If you have to scratch or move. do so, but no matter what happens in
your mind, keep saying the mantra. And concentrate on it as long as you can.
After a while, stop saying the mantra, and relax your mind. Let whatever
happens happen. You may hallucinate, or you may reach a poignant peak of
euphoria, or, and this is more likely, nothing may happen at all. If nothing does
happen, keep trying. It may take a few days of work, but it·s worth it. After
you·ve gotten where you want to go with meditation when stoned, try it
without grass. Grass should be used only as a learning tool. Our friend Ernie
used to meditate quite a bit while stoned, but has recently given it up. He said
that he finally saw God, and God told him to stop meditating. (From A Child·s
Garden of Grass)

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
The Gas·Man·s Manual by John Fry Methane Artisan
The Practical Building of Methane Power Plants by L John Fry is now
generally acknowledged to be the best book on small·scale methane
generation yet written. Clarence Goeluke, who with his colleague W )
Oswald at the University of California, Berkeley, has been one of the
leading academic researchers into the biology of methane production,
reviewed the book recently for Compost Science magazine. His verdict
was as follows:
"(this book) is highly recommended by this reviewer to anyone intent
upon building a digester for biogas pro·duction .... The chapter on the
biology of the digestion process is written in a style (that is) lucid and in a
language intelligible to the nonspecialist in biology ..... The section on
design covers a wide variety of possible designs .... Especially fascinating
to this reviewer was the ·inner tube·digester."
To give readers an idea of the scope of the book·s coverage, here is list of
chapter headings:
1. How it all started 2. Building a vertical drum digester 3. Top loader
digester 4. First Full·scale digester 5. Working solution to scum
accumulation 6. Gas Holders used on my farm 7. Digester types and
scum removal 8. Biology of digestion 9. Raw materials 10. Digester
design 11. Digester operation 12. Eco·nomics of digestion 13. Gas and
Gas usage 14. Gludge and sludge use 15. Safety Precautions 16.
Questions and answers 17. Digesters today and tomorrow. 18. Glossary
of terms, bibliography and references, and postscript.
Fry·s book has been available in Britain for about a year, in a
privately·published edition produced by Fry·s nephew, Tony Knox. Up to
now, Undercurrents’·only reservation about the UK edition has been its
price, which seemed a little high at £4. But then, as Tony Knox pointed
out in a letter to us,
"John Fry has let it all hang out in this book ·all the never·before·revealed
information he has painfully gathered over the years is there. After a
lifetime of trying to convince skeptics, all he wanted to do was get the
·monkey·off his back and perhaps earn enough to ease his retirement."
We are pleased to announce that we have now come to an arrangement
with Mr Knox whereby we will sell the book at a reduced price to
Undercurrents readers. To whet your appetite, here·s a sample from the

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chapter on Building a Vertical Drum Digester:


Vertical drum digesters can be made of any two cylinders which fit inside
one another such as drums, buckets, coffee cans. etc. The digester
described below is made of a 3O·gallon drum fitted into a 50·gallon
drum.
One of the first steps in the construction of any sized unit is the brewing
up
of a batch of starter material, unless you are lucky enough to have an
operating digester in your area. It takes weeks and even months to
cultivate the strain of bacteria that functions best on the manure being
used locally. Once you have your starter going, however, you can have it
indefinitely like a sourdough bread or yogurt culture.
Starter brew can be generated in a one or five gallon glass bottle. Care
must be taken to fill the bottle only about 1/4 full with either active
supernatant from a local sewage works or the runoff from the low point
on the land of any intensive stock farm in your district. Then fill 1/4 more
with fresh dung and leave the other half for fresh additions of manure at
weekly intervals. Never fill to near the screw cap since foaming could
block off the opening and burst the bottle. Of course, the screw cap must
be left loose to keep the bottle from exploding except when agitating the
bottle. It is a peculiarity at methane brews that occasional agitation is
beneficial but that continuous agitation has an adverse effect.
Following are step by step instructions on how to build a vertical drum
digester:
1) Get two metal drums, one of 30 gallons with an outlet on top, and one
of 50 gallons.
2) Remove the top of the 50·gallon drum and the bottom of the 30·gallon
drum.
3) Fit a valve into the small outlet in the top of the 30·gallon drum. This
will be the gas outlet.
4) The 50·gallon drum is ready to be filled. It should be filled only to the
height of the 30·gallon drum with
a mixture of half slurry and half starter brew (fig.2).
5) Make a slurry the thickness of cream by mixing fresh, raw manure with
warm or hot water at 90° to 95°F (35°C).
6) To this add an equal amount of starter brew.
7) With the valve open, sink the 30·gallon drum all the way down into the

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slurry and starter mixture (fig.2). This must exclude all the air from the
30·gallon drum. Then close the valve.
8) In cool climates, active compost can be packed around the outer drum
to maintain a steady temperature of between SOo and 95°F (35°C). After
about three weeks, gas should begin to generate. The smaller drum will
fill slowly with gas and rise above the surface of the slurry (fig.3).
9) Safety precaution: A note of warning. When the small drum rises the
first time, do not attempt to burn the gas. Rather. let it escape to
atmosphere, push the 30·gallon drum completely down into the slurry
again, shut off the valve and allow it to rise a second time. This is to
insure that no air is mixed with the gas. A gas and air mixture is highly
explosive between the range of one part in four to one in 14 if ignited.
Even outside this range it could be dangerous. Also the first gas yield will
probably not light anyway due to a high proportion of carbon dioxide
when fermentation first starts. When burning the gas, open the valve only
slightly, press down lightly on the 30·gallon drum to create a positive
pressure on the gas. Close the valve before releasing the pressure. In rare
cases there occurs an abundance of gray foamy bubbles at about the time
fermentation starts. If this happens leave the digester alone for a few days.
Do not feed any raw material. If the digester is heated, reduce the heat.
10) Periodic supplies of fresh raw material should be fed in to keep the
digestion going. This can vary from daily feeds to once every three
months depending on the requirements of the user and the digester
design. To feed this digester it is necessary to remove the 30·gallon drum,
take out about 5 gallons of material and replace it with fresh slurry. Again
press down the small drum to exclude air. Drum designs are particularly
good units to learn from since they are so easy to build and maintain.
11) To provide smooth movement of the inner drum, guiding pipes and
rollers can be improvised to keep the inner drum vertical.
From now on, The Practical Building of Methane Power Plants will be
available from Undercurrents at £3.00, plus 30p for postage, packing etc
(second class surface mail). Cheques or postal orders for £3.30 should be
sent with each order to: Undercurrents Books, 11 Shadwell, Uley,
Dursley, Gloucestershire, England.

One Man’s Week


IF WE COMPARE the six days of creation in Genesis with the four
thousand million years of the earth·s age, all day Monday and half of
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Tuesday is just a construction project. At Tuesday noon a living cell


appears and undergoes mitosis. All the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday and well into Saturday, life expand_ and becomes
more diverse, more stable, more beautiful.
At four o·clock on the afternoon of Saturday, the last day of creation, the
age of reptiles comes on stage. Just before the age of reptiles ends there
a r e r e dwo o d s · a n d j u s t b e f o r e r e dwo o d s , t h e p e l i c a n ( a
90·million·year·old life form now threatened with extinction by DDT and
man·s urge to usurp the earth). At three minutes before midnight man
appears. One quarter of a second before midnight a bearded man,
anti·establishment, talking of peace and brotherhood, and Christianity is
on the planet.
Then, one fortieth of a second before midnight, enters the industrial
revolution. It is midnight now, and who will dare to propose that we slow
it down? So far, growth·and pollution·addicted nations have been asking
for still more speed. Overdeveloped, underdeveloped arid normal nations
alike believe that some kind of technological magic will stretch a finite
earth. There is no such magic. Technology accelerates the liberation of
resources, yes, but it is not creating them; it is finding and moving and
using them up, then looking for the energy to repeat the process with
progressively poorer materials, moving them faster, making them smaller,
less recoverable fragments for a diminishing proportion of the earth·s
growing masses of people. Wisely used, technology should enable us to
do more with less, but the change to such use has barely begun. We have
not yet learned to ask, before undertaking a vast project, What does it
cost the earth?
• From a pamphlet by David R. Brouwer of the American Friends of Earth.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Woody Woody winds up ...
By public acclaim! Positively the last appearance of the inimitable Woody!
A must for all alternative power station workers .....
It wasn·t my idea!
Having seen fourteen pages of Under·currents taken up with my old, long
essay (instead of things I wanted to read!) I have a lot of sympathy with
Pauline Stone (UC 12). So instead of another six pages of the same, I·ll try
to sum up what it was all about, why I think social theory matters, and
what it might have to do with Undercurrents, AT, and you. Gluttons for
punishment can probably scrounge a copy of the full essay from one of
the Undercurrents gang. By the way, I would like to establish some small
working groups on culture theory J so could anyone interested please get
in touch? (161 Hinckley Road, Leicester).
Right-then:·
Why have social theory in Undercurrents? A good question. I suppose the
answer is that while some Undercurrents readers want to build solar
collectors or keep goats for the fun of it, and others want to be more
independent, most of them (I hope) are radicals, i e What they really want
is a better, more human world ·and they have a hunch that alternative
ways of living will help.
Why is theory so boring? It isn·t. At least not for everyone. As with music,
it·.s hard to believe that what turns you off turns someone else on. But it·s
true. Getting hold of this idea (subject·ivity) is itself an important part of
social theory.
Why do radicals need theory anyway? Without it, everything they do, all
the struggles they take part in, will end in failure ·or will be won without
really making us more human, making a better world. Afterwards, the
theory can be reduced to simple slogans for living, replacing the slogans
of earlier theories, and the mindless slogans common today. Of course
there is no guarantee that any theory will be helpful, but at least it puts us
in with a chance.
When was ·Towards an Alternative Culture·written? Early 1971.
Who for? As a discussion draft among a small political group. There were
ten copies made. Recently some people have made a few extra copies.
Why? Because I was beginning to see (with some help!) that class theory
was built on rubbishy assumptions, that its categories (classes) had less
and less meaning in the modern world, and that its underlying values
were anti·radical. Yet class theory was the best·worked·out social theory,

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and the one on which most action slogans were based. I was also starting
to see alienation as the problem of the age, as a main con·dition of
society, and not as a side effect of systems of exploitation and injustice.
Indeed, the struggle against inequality was increasing alienation.
Was the Undercurrents version the original essay? Yes. It was slightly
abridged/edited, but not revised.
Do you still stand by it? Yes, as far as it goes. I would now say it doesn·t
go far enough, especially into human needs and relationships.
How many parts were there? Four. The first two (combined in UC 10)
were a ·from the heart·description of our sick world, and a look at some
attempts to change it. Part three (UC 11 & 12) was yer actual culture
theory. Part four was about living it. (Though still in the abstract: I didn·t
get my first taste of the problems ·and delights ·until later that year.)
Why culture theory? First, because it divides society into sub·cultures
instead of just classes. Second, because it is about building alternative
cultures slowly instead of overturning the one we suffer from by
revolution, or try·ing to reform it.
Briefly, what·s culture theory all about? It starts by claiming that the No 1
fact of modern society is that we are all living against each other, that its
dominant values guarantee a rat race. The power struggles by different
factions ·even the left v right struggles for more or less equality ·are
secondary. To make the face ·fair·, or a dead heat; to ·give power to the
people·, would be pure alienation. The radical task is to scrap the race.
This means new values, new people. So culture theory is about a new
radical direction which is neither right nor left. So far there·s nothing very
original in this. Except that most people taking this view have seen it as a
moral problem (we ·ought·to love each other) and have cut themselves off
from politics. Culture theory proper starts by noting that human
co·operative values are already around, and a few people are trying to
practise them. It puts forward a theory that if groups of these people
co·operate in such a way that their social relations interact with their
values, then a dialect·ical snowball may start to roll, drawing in new
people even as it changes attitudes. At first this will be slow, with as many
setbacks as advances, and no effect on the old society. But the later stages
will be more like a revolutionary situation.
Should the new culture take over? No, because one of the new values is
tolerance to other ideas. In any case there may be more than one new
culture. So the final political stage is a world of voluntary states,
overlapping because they have no boundaries. With love in the air, and
people free to choose, authoritarian and alienating states will grow small
and weak. Thus natural choice will stabilise the new values if they once
become dominant.
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Could alternative cultures grow any·where? No. Only in a so·called


liberal climate, I think.
Briefly, what about part four? The first main point was: ·stop saying it and
start doing it·. Start living the new culture as best you can, instead of
per·suading others to join you in doing nothing except persuade others!
Since ·doing it·hurts, the phoney radicals will soon melt away. The second
point was that all possible physical and nervous energy should be used
for the new culture, not against existing society. No more involvement in
protest politics, still less in the political games of a State which your heart
no longer belongs to ..... Whenever a group of people try ·doing
it·together, there are two sides to co·operation, and both must be
operating before any ·take off is possible. The first is subjective: building
up attitudes of trust, consideration, empathy, tolerance by being together,
doing things together, talking out problems. The second is objective:
break·ing down a false autonomy by pooling incomes and resources.
Finally, the one exception to the no politics·rule (and then only when the
culture is strong enough) is a campaign on the democracy question. A
series of staged demands exposing its non·existence at present, and
leading finally to the demand for right of withdrawal, for the voluntary
state.
Are today·s communes and collectives part of alternative culture? Yes.
They have faced head·on the shatter·ing experience of living with your
defences down, and despite the casualty rate they have helped to
improve the values climate in the last few years. But I think the critical
step will be ·long range·income pooling ·not confined to withdrawn
collectives.
Where does alternative technology come in? For me, it doesn·t. I see the
problems of technology as marginal in themselves. (The nuclear madness
is a social problem of insatiable consumption.) What·s more, the strong
self·sufficiency undertone of AT reflects a drive towards personal
autonomy which is the hallmark of alienation. However, community
techno·logy is valuable for its social implications_ And the wider interests
of Undercurrents help to replace a rip·off attitude to nature with an
understanding of a two·way relationship.

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Reviews
Unilever·s World, C.1.5. Anti·Report No. 11, Counter Information
Services, 52 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WI. 103 pp. £1.
Unilever is the world·s ninth biggest private company. It has world sales
of about £6,000 million per year, makes pretax profits of about £350
million per year and employs 350,000 people_ It sells in virtually every
non·Iron·curtain country (and some of them) and has monopolies by the
score. Some of the better known are: margarine in the U.K. (70% of the
market), Germany (75%), Sweden (70%); frozen food in the U.K. (60%);
ice·cream in the U.K. (48%); and detergents in the U.K. (45%), and India
(43%). It is also estimated to spend £400·500 million a year on marketing
expenditure ·all socially useless. Yet Unilever seems to go almost
unscathed by nationalisation, and despite anti·trust investigations in many
countries ·U.K., U.S.A., Canada ·it emerges unharmed, and in economies
with strong state control, such as India, it is strengthened rather than
weakened.
One reason for this is Unilever·s public invisibility and the lack of public
knowledge about it, a matter of Unilever policy. The CIS Anti·Report tries
to counter this with a hundred pages of facts, most of which the company
would prefer forgotten. It shows the dominance of Unilever in the world·s
oil and fats markets ·35% of the trade ·and its effects on the third world,
its spread around the world and its diversity_ In the U.K., a few of its
household products are Persil, Gibbs toothpaste, Stork margarine, Bird·s
Eye frozen foods, Wall·s ice cream and sausages, Vesta meals and John
West salmon. It also has Vinyl wallpaper, Thames Board Mills packaging,
Lintas advertising, RBL market research, SPD transport, Crosfield·s
chemicals, BOCM cattle food ... and so on to more than 500 subsidiaries.
All of these trade under separate names and Unilever tries to hide its
ownership of them from the public scan the products in the shops and try
to find the name Unilever! This digging out and airing of facts is very
valuable and CIS have performed a tremendous task in doing it. CIS has
also produced one of the best short histories of Unilever ·better by far
than the dry 3·volume ·official·history from which much of the material
was drawn. It brings out some of the reality behind the paternalistic
Unilever·a quote from William Lever in 1923, "We have been combing
out inefficient men, too highly paid men, elderly men ... and I am
confident this has produced a state of ·fear·in the minds of the
remainder." It manages to show a little of the relationship between
Unilever and Nazi Germany, South Africa, Indonesia and India. It shows
some of Unilever·s power in dealing with governments ·in getting money
out of ·blocked·countries when it wants to and in getting permission for
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new investments. I t also shows how Unilever works with all capitalist
governments, no matter how abhorrent ·being a "good corporate "citizen".
Finally it gives one or two examples of Unilever·s dealings with its
workers ·especially in Wall·s meat ·and how successful it is in the old
policy of "divide and rule". Wall·s meat sacks thousands of workers on the
grounds that it is losing money, yet also Bird·s Eye sacked 1000 workers
in 1970/71 and again in 1975, despite being one of Unilever·s most
profitable companies.
For all these reasons, the book is a very good pound·s worth and highly
recommended. However, its analysis and conclusions ·or lack of them
·are often suspect. It does not distinguish in the report between those
areas where Unilever has a choice and those where it has to behave as it
does, because of the capitalist system. Indeed, it implicitly assumes
Unilever always has a choice. In many instances, it is determined to
prove Unilever does wrong whatever it chooses. For example, it
condemns Unilever for exploiting the woman who works only at home,
yet says "the growing number of women who both work and keep a
household going ... plays into Unilever·s hands." On p. 24 marketing
expense (including the sales force) is a social waste, yet on p. 42
rationalisation of sales forces is attacked. Unilever is criticised (rightly) for
creating waste by packaging yet is also blamed (p. 22) for creating the
frozen fish industry ·saving enormous quantities of wasted food.
Much of what Unilever does, it is forced to do in the current system. It
doesn·t mean we have to admire it, but nor do we have to blame it ·we
have to understand it and learn how to attack it successfully. Unilever
wastes a fortune on wholly unproductive advertising and packaging. But
what would happen if it stopped? If it did it unilaterally, the competitors
would just gain the business. If it did so by agreement with its competitors
·or by force of government action ·retailers and wholesalers would gain,
increase their own profits, and decrease their efficiencies, wasting a
proportion of the gain. If Unilever takes over a company and
·rationalises·it, is it worse than driving it out of business by taking away its
market with greater efficiency? At least, in the first case, workers thrown
out of a job will get better redundancy terms!
We.need to fight to get Unilever recognised for what it is ·but to do that
successfully we need to know its strengths. It does waste millions, but
frozen food does cut down waste, pre-prepared meals do save time for
people who run households and have paid employment, detergents are
better to wash with than hard soap (visit Eastern Europe to appreciate this)
and margarine based on vegetable oils does use the earth better than
butter. These are real benefits to society and we should try to retain them.
There is ample scope to do that with raw materials accounting for only
50·60% of Unilever·s costs and much of that being wasteful packaging

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(especially in toiletries!).
We need to know what Unilever can change itself, what government
regulation might do and where we need to change the entire system.
Unilever is not all-powerful and can be beaten. The references in the text
to "Unilever·s central computers", "Unilever being sure of its aims", and
its "computerised planning" seem very strange to those who work within
it and know of the internal quarrels, the conflicts between its parts about
objectives, the indecisiveness of its management ·and its lack of
computerised planning! CIS mention that the US trade unions forced
Unilever out of enzyme washing powders there (and that Unilever would
not disclose this in the UK). Since then, the Unions have repeated their
success in the UK and enzyme powders have been barred here, too·What
is highly revealing is the lack of publicity this has been given anywhere
yet it is a leading·example of workers·power. We should also fight for
more government control of its marketing practices and its monopoly
powers. But finally, we can only tame and control Unilever, by taking
over the whole capitalist system Unilever is so much a part of the whole.
Despite the weakness of the analysis, we can give thanks to CIS for
providing such a useful weapon. It deserves wide circulation and
contains lessons to be learnt.
Uniworker·
Synerjy, from Synerjy, PO Box 4790, Grand Central Station, New York, NY
10017, USA. $4.50 (including postage).
Calling itself·A Directory of Energy Alternatives·Synerjy is produced twice
a year and July 75 saw its third edition. Most of it is bibliography; it·s
quite thorough (I guess), but each edition contains thousands of
references without any attempt to distinguish particularly useful pieces
from the rest, so anyone who wants to make use of it must be prepared to
exercise their own judgement. (No bad thing in itself.) References include
books, journals, magazines and reports by various institutions including
governments. Subject categories are solar, geothermal, electric, water and
wind·power. Most of the quoted sources are American and not readily
available outSide the US except in good academic libraries. The raw
information·content of all these works could be fairly described as ·all
you want to know and more·, perhaps considerably more. In fact, the
impression left by Synerjy is that it is really designed for PhD students
rather than communards, and one must seriously ask whether, in the
struggle to revolutionise society, a screw·driver and some timber might be
more useful.
Martyn Partridge .
Nick·s Guide ..…
Alternative England and Wales, from Nicholas Saunders, 65 Edith Road,
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London SW10, or bookshops. 368 pp. £2.50.


This is a gigantic drawing together of information which answers most
questions about the alternative as it stands in England and Wales. I t
represents a colossal amount of work and much of the material has not
been set down before. It bulges with names, addresses, organisations,
people, listings topical and geographical and cross·referenced, and more.
It talks about who different groups are, what they do, and sometimes
what they are and who they do. Apart from details on existing groups, it·s
also very helpful on gelling things started, such as transvestite community
newspaper ecoherbal media squats, just to give you a glimmer of the
comprehensiveness of the beast. It also takes in, en passant, a good
overview of the Left, Money, Work, the Law, and lots of other things
freaks tend to feel ambivalent about The book compares favourably with
earlier guides, from·the Appendix to Richard Neville·s Playpower on, in
not being just a guide to a day by day, hand to mouth survival; it covers
telephones, .. cars, drugs. alternative technology, mysticism,and more. It
also emphasises ongoing, hopefully permanent, projects involving deep
changes in patterns of living. Perhaps this is part of the reason why it
usually leads one to people rather than tools. In detail, the listings seem
very accurate as far as one can tell. Sometimes the detail might be more
than the subjects wish; a particular case is the address of a refuge for
battered wives which is normally kept secret. Some sections are
inevitably less detailed, for instance the one on drugs, which has too little
on exotic pills. But no criticism; the problem is going to be using all the
information that·s here rather than looking for more. It·s part of the
uncomplicated alternative way of life that the non·Metropolitan freak tries
to live that he doesn·t need huge lots of information or access to a wide
range of tools. But it·s likely that even the simplest liver will find
something of value here, and he·ll certainly find encouragement and sure
knowledge that parts of an alternative society can and does exist,
independent of London, growing painfully and hard but growing
nonetheless.
Dave Smith
Are Laws Necessary?
Anarchy State and Utopia, Robert Nozick, Blackwell. £5.50. and Against
Method, Paul Feyerbend, New Left Books. £5.75.
Two fairly heady books here, which we are noting for the benefit of
people worried that constant bashing of industrial scrap to fabricate AT
artifacts isn·t providing quite enough stimulus for their finely trained
intellects .... Undercurrents gets criticism for its tendency to link AT with
anarchist and libertarian ideas. Well, we are neither a magazine whose
sole rationale is the honing of a ·line·, nor a trade journal, but most of us

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associated with it want to work towards a more decentralised and


human·scaled society. We also favour a reinterpretation of what science
and technology actually are. Whatever our reasons for getting involved
with AT hardware, the political advantages and implications seem
obvious. But once you have abandoned the holiness of the nation state
and party·dominated parliamentary democracy, what do you replace it
with? The com·pletely self·sufficient and exclusive domestic unit, even if
·extended·along communal lines, does not provide a satisfying answer.
Far too many items ·food, raw materials, middle·range technology like
electronics components, processed metals, and even methane digesters
·are simply not going to be available from a diffuse network of small, free,
independent communities. So a degree of specialisation and
interdependency becomes necessary ·and with it a recognition that this
system of mutual aid needs protecting, perhaps from outsiders, perhaps
from dissenting members.
It is this sort of preoccupation that bothers anarchist theoreticians. We
take it as axiomatic that we are free and that authority is to be resented
and resisted, yet we know that freedom consists not only in being able to
do what we want but also that we should exist in a situation in which
certain things can be taken for granted ·the knowledge that we will not be
harmed, and that physical necessities (and perhaps a few luxuries) should
be available without question. Vet these two forms of freedom ·to·and ,
from·may conflict. How, then, do we reconcile the clashes of freedom of
individuals in the group, and how does our mutual aid protection
network stop becoming an authoritarian state with a panoply of
bureaucracy and ·law·enforcement?
In reality these problems are not actually going to be answered by the
conscientious application of blueprints, nor by spiritually uplifting utopic
targets, but vision and theory provide spur and inspiration. There,
however, you have it the usual anarchist journals and books seem
preoccupied with their historic provenance. Who now, apart from
introverted scholars, wants to know if Godwin and his followers among
the Romantic Poets were ·really·libertarians, whether Kropotkin is too
pre·technological to be relevant, who values the confrontation between
·liberal·and ·proletarian·anarchism in today·s almost postIndustrial
situation, and who relates to the romanticising of late nineteenth century
bombers and shadowy figures from the Spanish Civil War?
Hence the value of writers with the arrogance and confidence to state
their position overtly. Murray Bookchin, for example, not only reads
easily, but his unwillingness to genuflect before his historical antecedents
(in his books history appears as events and movements, not as the
comments of previous inter·preters of the past) makes it that much easier
to bring the technological change dynamic to the forefront and not as an

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awkward updating footnote_ But Bookchin isn·t intellectually tough


enough for some tastes ·he is a good seer ·The Benign Environment, an
excellent social critic ·Post Scarcity Anarchism (though I am increasingly
unhappy with excluding scarcity and its problems from my tomorrow),
and not a bad inspirational utopian ·Limits of the City. Bookchin,
however, appeals to the guts of the intellectual classes, and not to their
brains. And this is where Robert Nozick comes in.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia is written by the Professor of Philosophy at
Harvard and has already won an American National Book Award and
been extensively praised in the straight press. Like Bookchin, Nozick is
not very interested in the provenance of his ideas. He asks, how today do
we justify the existence of the state? Does it depend on an uncontrollable
historic impulse, on a mythical social contract to which we were bound
by our ancestors? Of course he rejects these ideas and, if you are in a
mood to be challenged, follow his ideas through, for stimulus, if not
actually to agree with him. His two most helpful ideas arc the building up
of and justification for, a ·minimal·state which protects against force,
theft, fraud, and the breach of contract, but no more; and the building up
of a style of utopia which allows for further internal development ah,
those static blueprints which would have us forever fixed in a picturesque
pose of never·ending happiness!
The other ·tough read·also pays homage to anarchist origins. Against
Method extends the definition of what we call ·science·. Feyerbend·s
author blurb is replaced by a simple astrological chart and although he
never says as much, Feyerbend·s justification for an anti·authoritarian
science may make things
a lot easier for those who feel guilty about their preoccupations with
·freak·science. Orthodox science as a body is authoritarian because of the
belief that ·scientific method·(by which is meant these days the operation
of the hypothesis, observation, falsification/verification development of
immutable scientific law) is objective and therefore can·t be questioned.
Marxists have long since demonstrated to their own satisfaction that
science isn·t neutral while science is funded by capitalism and while
scientists view their results with the expectations of the capitalist system.
An anarchist critic would probably go along with this, but then take the
argument further.
Feyerbend says laws are good for pre·dicting results, but the only
principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes. He diminishes
the falsification verification approach as hopelessly removed from the
realities of the practice of science. Science needs not only observation,
but observers, and if we observe the observers the one thing that is
evident is the rarity of the application of ·orthodox scientific method·in
scientific discovery. A philosophy of science attempting to ignore
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metaphysics and rejecting myth is only an artificial con·struct. Against


Method is a lovely, outrageous book with a clever internal construction. I
was disappointed that Feyerbend failed to mention either of the people to
whom he is most close: John Platt and Alfred North Whitehead, but I
came out of his book with a swinging anarchist irreverence for the
archetypical white coated neutral scientist and his ununderstood
authority. More importantly, these two books show that anarchist ideas
continue to develop and refine. To revert to Book·chin: technology (of a
certain sort) can be liberatory, but we need to keep a theoretical and
practical alertness to naivity in our concepts of freedom. Selfsufficiency is
sometimes re.lated to selfish·ness, and worse.
Peter Sommer
Modern Magick
S.S.0.T.B.M.E., "An Essay on Magic, its Foundations, Development, and
place in Modern Life". Published by The Mouse That Spins, (something to
do with Paper Tiger Productions, c/o 28 West Common, Redbourn,
Herts). 80p
In these days of paperbacks with titles like ·Black Magic Today·selling a
million copies. it·s refreshing to come across an unpretentious book in
this realm. This book is more than it seems, for though the quick glance
may indicate that it just concerns a Science versus Magic argument, this
is merely one aspect of its purpose. In reality, it is a comparison of four
different methods of ·operating upon the world·(which the author calls
Art, Religion, Science and Magic) and an attempt at explaining an
unusual one, Magic, in terms of a more common one, Science. These four
subdivisions of what one might call ·Human intellectual motiva·tion·may
appear to be oversimplistic, but the author, I think, intends them to be
taken both as building blocks from which real human situations are
constructed, and as ·proverbs·which have the seeds of truth within them
enabling us to under·stand an underlying system whilst having the
structure of generalisations.
The author contrasts these subdivisions by means of examples: the
lighting of a fire under difficult conditions, for instance, when tackled by
each of the methods, shows four different mental processes. The Magical
and the Scientific would yield the same practical result, but would use
different courses of reasoning. The Scientist would choose dry wood
because he knows that the latent heat of evaporation of absorbed water
would hinder ignition. The Magical thinker would make the same
decision, but for different reasons: he knows that the Elements Fire and
Water are antipathetic. On the other hand, the Religious thinker will
choose dry wood for traditional reasons (i e the logic of past generations)
and the Artist because it ·feels right·.

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We can distinguish these modes of thought by concluding that thought is


compounded of four elements, intuition, observation, logic and feeling;
in this scheme, magic is the result of thought directed toward observation
and feeling as the source of impressions, whilst Science is the
combination of logic and observation. By drawing these ideas in a
circular clock·face type of diagram, we can attribute different systems of
thought on the quadrants between these elements. Another distinguishing
mark of these methods of operation is their different attitudes to belief.
The Artist has no need for belief, in the sense that it is positively
dangerous for him to believe there is any best way of representing
something. The Religious thinker strives to believe, in God, in the afterlife,
in salvation, or whatever. The Scientist, however, believes, at least, that
his method is ·a sound approach to the Universe·, which, of course, it
is ... to the Physical Universe, no doubt. Where this materialistic attitude
breaks down, in the ·fringe areas·, the method either transmutes itself into
a more metaphysical approach (e.g. certain areas of sub·atomic physics),
or the scientist rejects the area of study entirely, witness e.g. the case
against ESP until about 15 years ago. As in this latter instance, the
rejection is often on ·pseudological·grounds: "ESP is an extremely
unlikely hypothesis; the hypothesis of fraud is easier to fit into the
accepted framework of science; .... one must accept the hypothesis of
fraud". The Magician, on the other hand, uses beliefs as tools, though not
in the way the Scientist would inelieved its converse ·and just as quickly
reverse the process again. He is able to do this because he conceives of
no ·absolute truths·.
The Magician can sometimes cause ordinary people to operate in a
Magical way ·the man who recently appeared, believing implicitly in the
·power of water·, was able to put water in his car·s petrol tank and drive
away: others saw this and were able to do the same, oblivious of the fact
that until recently before, they would not have considered it possible. But
later, they were persuaded to go back to their original belief and water no
longer worked. The reason for the difference in interpretation as regards
·using beliefs as tools·lies in the fundamental difference between the
concept of the Theory in Science and Magic. Whilst the Scientific theory
may be a merely partial truth and not an absolute one, it is founded on a
body of scientific knowledge, and is the result of previous theories having
failed certain critical tests. It is also the result of a working hypothesis
having passed certain critical tests.
In Magic, the Magical theory is not even a partial truth, though it is an
absolute truth in the sense that, almost by definition, it will work. In other
words, there is no truth, or objective reality, in magic. If you believe that,
for instance, water will drive cars, then it will. No question about it. The
belief results in an effect, rather than the more usual converse. This lack

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of objectivity is one reason for the secrecy so common in magic. Not only
would one lower one·s ·belief factor·by exposing one·s methods to the
objective gaze of science (and other people) but one would also confuse
other occultists who used other systems totally at variance with one·s
own ·ones which would otherwise have little hindering their successful
operation. For the same reason, Magical orders structure their system of
personal and group evolution into a succession of grades·you don·t want
extraneous beliefs and methods to cloud your successful operation of the
magical subsystem related to your particular grade, and as you progress
up the structure you gain an ability to operate in any particular kingdom,
unhindered by possible converse relationships and attributions pertaining
to other kingdoms .
Similarly, Magic does not require a ·body of knowledge·except within a
group; all members of which practice the same magical system. It is very
tempting to suggest from this that ·Science is merely a subset of Magic·but
I believe this is only true if we redefine Science and Magic outside the
terms of our original four mental processes. If we take Crowley·s
definition of Magic (or should I say ·Magick·) as ·The Art and Science of
causing Change in conformity to Will·, apart from asking for a further
definition of Will, we must further redefine the basic system·structure. I
have no intention of doing this here. One would have thought there
would be no basic conflict between Magic and Science ·or the other two
·but, obviously, there is. This appears to be a result of a failure to perceive
the most basic substrata of the different methods.
The magician these days tends to regard science as a system well suited
to the physical universe, whilst lacking in facilities for comprehension of
non·physical systems, which the magician uses all the time. (Although he
might grudgingly accept certain aspects of nuclear particle theory as
being ·non·physical, whilst laughing up his sleeve at the secret groups of
scientists hidden away by respective governments, working away from the
body of scientific knowledge, turning quietly into magicians).
Unfortunately, some magicians seem deliberately to make it hard for
science to accept them by couching their theories in pseudo·scientific
jargon. There they fail, because magical theories will never stand up to
the critical tests that science requires. For the magician, they don·t need
to. In fact as far as the Magician is concerned, they don·t even have to be
repeatable or demonstrable (in fact, it·s better if they aren·t: introducing
spurious objectivity serves no useful purpose, and can be a hindrance to
proper magical operation as it affects one·s ability to change beliefs.
Velikovsky and Von Daniken, whilst neither are true Magicians (We·re not
having them either!) hold theories which are far more magical than
scientific.
Hence it is foolish to analyse them logically, as logic is not a magical

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pre·requisite (hard luck, Jerry Palmer and Co.) Unfortunately, both


Velikovsky and Von Daniken are asking for trouble by pretending to
operate in the scientific frame of reference, without fulfilling the criteria.
In the first case, we find someone who chooses his own tests, which, if
passed, are usually of no consequence, and if failed are called into
question. With Von Daniken, we find cheap evasion of tests for silly
reasons; in both cases, we never reach the point at which the theory has
to stand up to a critical test which will determine its validity. This is
perhaps the most important criticism of the aforesaid persons·theories.
But even this is a criticism of presentation rather than of fundamental
premises. If they had pre·sented their theories in a magical context, as not
necessarily having any objective truth, instead of pretending they were
scientific, there should have been no cause for criticism from the
scientific viewpoint. (There probably would have been, but it would have
been superfluous.) They would have been quite usable as magical
theories (in fact, my group·s ·personal body of knowledge·included for
some time certain derivatives of both these theories, until we decided to
believe something else, But while we believed, our operations worked.)
And so on. Having paraphrased and talked around some of the points in
this book, and when I say some I mean just two or three, I hope you will
go out and buy this little book if you have any feeling for the magical way
of working. It has a good position as a bridge between the ordinary way
of looking at things and the start of study of a magical system, but it also
has a lot to say to those of us who think we know quite a bit about the
subject. It is very easy to forget that the occultist must be very
open·minded and ready to change his belief in an instant. Whilst he may
work within a certain system all his life, if he allows that working to
become ·the key to the Universe·, then he is fooling himself. He is
running the risk of becoming dogmatic, and unable to accept the validity
of someone else·s system. (“As I have The Key then no·one who doesn·t
believe as I do has it”) So the Golden Dawn has some·thing to tell us, as
does Don Juan. If we forget that, we might as well give up and go round
the Wheel a few more times, however ·Aquarian·we imagine ourselves to
be. And not only are there an infinity of keys to the Cosmos, there are an
infinity of door!), and almost all of them are practical; you have to go out
and do something rather than read it in a book. And for a book to show
you that, as this one does, it must be damn good.
Richard Elen
Tough Shit
Trucker·s Bible and Just Another Truck·stop, from Release, c/o 1 Elgin
Avenue, London W9. £1 for both.
If it takes a hundred psychologists twenty years to prove a link between

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marijuana and hair on the palm of your hand, then you·ve got much
more patience than I have. Meanwhile a whole lot of perfectly reasonable
people are wasting away their days in exotic jails because of their efforts
to provide goodies for the folk back home. The Trucker·s Bible and its
updated sequel is a comprehensive account of the sort of bum deals
passed around by the Blue Meanies just about everywhere from
Kilmarnock to Katmandu. It·s a huge downer, but required reading for
anyone who thinks the stuff just grows on bushes. The rap for large:scale
possession is pretty tough even in this Isle of Kings, but out in the stix
where the liberal conscience takes its holidays, repressive measures are
nothing short of barbarous. In their efforts to cope with this carnage,
Release has assembled a country·by·country digest of useful information
for hapless victims and anyone who feels inclined to help them OUt.
Subjects covered include average length of sentences, availability of bail,
prison·visiting regulations, torture, brutality and similar local police
customs (and Customs customs, for that matter). There·s also a synopsis of
major government reports, largely ignored, advocating the
decriminalisation of cannabis and its relatives. And there·s an overview of
the international smuggling scene which ought to dissuade anyone daft
enough to contemplate jacking in their job at the bank to set up a Hollow
Teddy·Bear Import Co. Fact is, most of the dope that gets into this country
is handled by well·organised, highly·financed operators who know what
they·re at, while most of the busts involve enthusiastic amateurs who
think they·ve discovered a hitherto unimagined hiding-place. (There
aren·t any.) If you·re the sort of nice person who reads Undercurrents you
almost certainly fall into the second category, so you·d be well advised to
stay at home, score your monthly quid·deal and read these books instead.
And if you order them from Release, please send some postage, cos they
ain·t any richer than you are.
Martyn Partridge
U.K. can eat O.K.
Can Britain Feed Itself?, Kenneth Mellanby, Merlin Press. £1.95.
Kenneth Mellanby is already being quoted far and wide as the respected
ecologist who thinks Britain can achieve agricultural independence. The
basic requirement of his plan is that we, and not our animals, should eat
the fifteen million tons of grain we grow each year. But with that as a
starting point, there arc a number of choices open to us. With nine
million acres growing grain, we still have the bulk of our agricultural land
(the poorer land, admittedly) to do what we like with. The message is
hopeful, and at one point Mellanby breaks away from conservative
estimates and suggests that if we really tried, we could grow a basic
ration for a population of 100 million. Many of Mellanby·s proposals will
be familiar to anyone who takes an interest in the environment. Better use
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of hill pasture, animal manure returned to the land, vegetables and hens
in back gardens, and beans instead of meat as a protein supplement. But
a few eyebrows have been raised at his defence of straw-burning,
grubbing up of hedges, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. To
be. fair, he says that straw will in future be too precious to burn, despite
the labour cost of collecting it. Also, he·s prepared to let us keep the
hedges, useless as they arc, if we don·t mind paying the farmers to leave
them alone. But for a book which claims to be written from the point of
view of the consumer, and which warns us that it may offend the farmers,
this looks astonishingly like agribusiness·as usual while the urban masses
collect their ration books.
Tony Durham
Quack Quack!
A Guide to Alternative Medicine. Donald Law Ph.D. DBM PsyD.
Turnstone Books. 1974. 212 pp. £2.50.
The author, says a blurb, is·A Doctor of Philosophy, of Botanic Medicine
and of Literature, he holds diplomas for psychology) dietetics and other
related subjects: (Pity he couldn·t spell ·dietetics·right in that case
·mis·spell ·Diatetics·in ·Contents·and on p. 85 and p. 202. Also, by the
way, there are no Doctorates of Botanic Medicine awarded by universities
in this backward land of ours.) You·d think too that getting all those
qualifications might have kept him busy enough, but no: ·\When not
travelling in connection with his research studies·no details given ·he
climbs, shoots, enjoys sailing, etc. He holds several medals for running,
life·saving, etc. Paints in oils, plays guitar and chess. He has been
awarded two honorary professorships, one English, the other French·no
professorial details provided. One isn·t enlightened either as to whether
the life·saving medals are for the ordinary humdrum kind of life saving, or
for alternative·medical life saving; but since he tells us on p. 193
that·many people have had temperatures of 1100 (Fahrenheit) for a few
days and still rallied round·(a phenomenon totally unknown to any
ordinary doctor who believes in his fuddy·duddy way that a temperature
of 1100 spells d·e·a·t·h), he certainly seems to deserve one or two of the
latter kind. He has also written at least 18 books, a mere fifteen being
modestly listed at the front of the present volume, three others being
mentioned in the text; and on subjects as diverse as palmistry, swimming,
herbs, botanic medicine, baldness, and philosophy ·so that we are
apparently confronted with a polymath, and one of phenomenal energy.
Still, the topic·s alternative medicine, so let·s see what he·s got to say
about it. Well, first, there ore a few mis·spellings: ·pantothemic·(instead of
·pantothenic·) acid on p. 103, ·lumber·for ·lumbar·on p. 125, and
·raisings·for ·raisins·on p. 122. And then a doctorate of philosophy is
usually indicated by ·Ph.D.·or ·D.Phil.·, not by ·Phd·. Dr. (of philosophy)
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Law seems to think oxygen is absorbed in quantity through the skin (p. 46
·it isn·t). that the sacrum consists of five quite separate bones (p. 73
square old allopathic doctors, who spend eighteen laborious months
dissecting corpses and gazing at skeletons, know it consists of five bones
very firmly fused together into one), that ·sulphur is a mineral salt·(p. 99
·odd, because most of us think it·s an element), that vitamin D can be
·absorbed from sunlight·(p. 105, which would be difficult as there isn·t
anything material in sunlight), that vitamin K ·is calcium in essence·(p.
107 it isn·t), and that there is a disease called ·diabetes mellitus insipidus·
(p. 194 there isn·t, there are two quite distinct diseases, diabetes mellitus
and diabetes insipidus).
No matter. Medical quibbles and carpings perhaps. Perhaps. Let us get
down to the meat of the matter. The book starts with a mention (analysis
·Would be too strong a word, much too strong) of some of the defects of
allopathic (i.e. orthodox) medicine. A few of these are on target, though
·permanent genetic damage to the blood·(p. 15), whether due to
phenylbutozone (most doctors spell it ·butazone·) or anything else, is an
entity unknown to allopaths; the news that ·several universities have
established Chairs of Iatrogenic Medicine·(p. 16) is news to this keen
observer of the medical scene; doctors (as distinct from Dr. Law) gave up
about seventy years ago believing that bad smells from drains caused
disease (p. 31). and in a decade where most medical research is directed
at auto·immune disease, inherited disorders, non·bacterial
environmentally produced disease. and over·and under·nutrition the
notion that allopaths believe ·bacteria are the sale cause of disease·(p. 34)
is, so to say, a shade simplistic. Finally, Dr. Law ·who is apparently aged
50 or 60 ·may say ·I remember my grandparents·generation most vividly.
Illness was exceptionally rare·(p. 32), but the hard fact is that out of 1,000
boy babies born in this country in 1900 only 247 could expect to reach
age 70, whereas in 1970563 out of every 1,000 could expect to. Illness
rare, Dr. Law?·Miracle Deaths at work perhaps. If he had said that not ali
the credit by a long chalk for the improvement in life expectancy should
go to doctors, but some to engineers, builders, teachers, politicians, etc.,
that would be quite a different matter.
Having disposed of allopathic medicine in 40 pages, Dr. Law turns his
eagle eye on the alternatives. He lists 60 alternatives, which is a lot,
especially as more than 50 are alternative modes of treatment. Well, I
mean, suppose you get ill you can·t treat yourself in fifty different ways
simultaneously, can you? Anyway, this moronic, sloth·like allopath
couldn·t. Moreover, the list includes alternatives of probable or certain
value sometimes for some conditions (for example, acupuncture,
exercises, relaxation techniques), others of possible or doubtful value
(homoeopathv, certain herbal remedies, baths). and yet others that are

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certainly of no value whatsoever to any·one but their practitioners


(phrenology, radiesthesia, copper rings, and treatment with colours). One
or two ·like Lakhovsky·s Oscillatory Coils and Rikli·s Sunshine Cure (syn.
sunbathing) ·this particular ill·read allopath had never come across
before, and perhaps he·ll be lucky enough never to come across them
again.
Another doubt springs from the fact that not all the progenitors of these
various arcane therapeutic rites made it even to three·score years and ten.
Coue almost did (p. 83) ·he died one day aged 69, and it·s to be hoped he
didn·t start that day with ·Day by day, in every way I am.growing better
and better·else he must have got a brief, nasty shock later. Dr. Edward
Bach (p. 55·57), who invented Bach·s Flower Remedies, ·joined·as Dr.
Law puts it ·the Great Majority at the early age of fifty·. (According to
Bach, says Dr. Law, ·there are people who suffer from advanced
hopelessness, and for them gorse was specified·. ·Advanced
hopelessness·is good, very good; though this reviewer·s less sure about
gorse for it ·unless the advanced hopeless were to be forcibly thrown into
a bush of the stuff.) And third in this wretched negativistic catalogue there
was Priessnitz, he of the Water Cures, ·one of those giant
figures·according to Dr. Law (p. 169) ·whose deeds raise them above their
fellows for ·intelligence, steadfastness of purpose, and for the beneficial
results of their life work·except he didn·t make it as a beneficiary himself,
for he died at 52. Culpeper, too died at 38. Let·s move on. Only a lifelong
allopathic sceptic, a devotee of more and more mere wearisome years,
would think in such terms? ·O. K. well then, let·s look at Dr. Law·s
alternative medicine (60 varieties). He has a lot of good to say about all
sixty, and almost nothing bad about any of them. The FDA (Food and
Drug Administration) in the States, though, that agent of establishment
suppression, doubtless in cahoots with the CIA, had a lot bad to ;ay about
Dr. Jarvis·s Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey cure, which Dr. Law praises.
Many years ago it confiscated a large con·signment, though perhaps Dr.
Law didn·t know. (He refers to it twice ·Contents·and p. 49 ·as ·Apple
Cider, Vinegar and Honey·, so maybe we·re not talking about the same
thing. And maybe we are.) Dr. Law also believes in all kinds of other
things orthodox medicine totally rejects, for example: that honey is ·a
healthy, natural laxative·(p. 50 ·it·s mostly just sugars and nice flavour, in
fact); that ·many people simply do not know how to breathe·(p. 68 ·what
the hell are they doing being alive at all then?); that chiropractic
(manipulating the spine) can treat shingles (p. 78 ·allopaths believe a
virus is at work), and ·some forms of hay fever·(which allopaths think is
due to an allergy), and ·many headaches of long standing·(hell, I dare say
so long as getting rid of the headache ·or saying you have ·means you get
rid of the chiropractitioner too ... ). Also that insomnia is due to potassium
lack (p. 89), or·er·calcium lack (p. 94). or·er·sodium chloride lack (p. 65
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·which last is damn peculiar because almost everyone yet examined by


ordinary biochemical routines is chockablock with sodium chloride
·common salt). What else does Dr. Law believe? That fluorine in the
bones is far removed from the substance of fluoride, which some iII
informed people insist upon adding to water·(p. 96 ·actually fluorine is
present in the body as fluorides, thank God! because fluorine, the
element, would burn a hole right through you in about two seconds
dead); that manganese is antiseptic (p. 97); that there is some connection
between vitamin C deficiency and haemophilia (p. 103 ·Dr. Law has
·long suspected a connection·, but there is none so he·s been up that
particular gum tree quite some time); that vitamin A is not stored in the
body (p. 105 ·being fat·soluble, it certainly is); that sugar ·consumes
oxygen at a most alarming rate·(p. 120 ·untrue, and anyway a rapid rate
wouldn·t much matter, ,oxygen being free); that ·sugar penetrates through
the wall of the stomach without being digested·(p. 121 ·it is, in fact,
broken down to glucose and fructose and absorbed in the small
intestine); that honey contains vitamins C, E, and A, (p. 122 ·it contains a
trace of C, and no A, no E); that olive oil is a herb (sic·p. 130); that
·allopaths claim to be able to cure everything·(p. 161 ·like so they claim
they can stop anyone dying ever then?); and that massage can help get rid
of obesity (p. 169). Pause for breath (are you sure you know how to take
one?). Dr. Law is sometimes funny, though not usually by intent. Over his
diagrams I will pass in silence except to recommend to connoisseurs of
the ineffably inane the aura diagram on p. 53, the eye diagram on p. 111,
and the pedal diagram on p. 124. He suggests that for a suspected cold
one should ·take 100 mg of vitamin C every hour-for twenty·four hours·
(p. 103, my italics). Me, I·d sooner keep the cold and get some sleep. Do
you know what ·the curse of the century·is? ·thermonuclear weapons?
Wedgy·Benn? No, well neither did I know till I read this book; It·s ·tummy
sag·(p. 75). What d'ya know?
Mr. Law appears to believe in·the possibility of miracle cures (p. 15()
·151), which would seem to relieve him of the necessity for bothering
about hi, other 59 ways to health. It didn·t though. He believes jewels
have healing properties too (p. 145·146), which is doubtless why you see
all those little old women decked out in the things. For sheer,
concentrated, Marx Bros. nonsense, however, I do strongly recommend
pages 61·67 on ·biochemics·, though the section is headed with the
howlingly irrelevant misnomer ·Biochemistry·. Dr. Law, unlike the
medical profession ·which regards silicon, the stuff in sand dS a totally
inert element claims too that ·many listless, "stale" days in a gymnasium
or on the sports field owe their origin to a deficiency of silicon.
Deficiency also results in speedy exhaustion, nervous debility, irritability
due to physical conditions and a tendency to suffer from cold feet and
hands and early loss of hair·(p. 97). And in case you didn·t know ·There is
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a distinct connection between a diet deficient in potassium and many


forms of baldness·(p. 89 ·distinct to Dr. Law, that is: sec, says Dr. Law,
How to Keep Your Hair On by Donald Law, a title bettered only by an
American author, George Catlin, who wrote a book in the last century
called Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life, all about mouth breathing.
Mr. Catlin must absent·mindedly have kept his open one day in 1872,
because that·s when he passed on.)
This too I liked (p. 80): ·Mediaeval churchmen would lay sick people in
the area below the coloured glass windows of their cathedrals, which
usually represented one saint or another; the saint was given the credit for
the healing that took place·Dr. Law believes that colours can heal. (Blue:
for most skin conditions .... Orange: hernia, appendicitis .. .·well, it takes
all sorts, bud; don·t be ·0 an·tic.) Finally (p. 165), in this relatively
harmless section: ·Phrenosophical Spiritual Healing ... a unique form of
healing because the healer sits in meditation, asking for divine guidance
about the patient. The guidance comes in the form of advice about which
of a number of different coloured silk cords to select, and how many of
each colour to take. These are then woven by the healer into a length
such as will go round the patient·s wrist or over the place of the hurt or
pain .... It has been known to work some exceptional cures. Anyone who
believes that sort of claptrap would believe the earth is flat and would
deserve to fall off of it into outer space. Well, inner space then. Well,
there·s a fail·safe net underneath anyway, isn·t there? Well then, pray for
divine guidance and some of those coloured threads.
Some of Dr. Law·s commendations are, however, more serious. Thus he
recommends (p. 138) the patient with high blood pressure to take ·celery,
hawthorn leaf, or rosemary tea·, the implication being that some benefit
will ensue_ At a time when there is a number of highly effective drugs for
high blood pressure (a possibly lethal condition) that is not a
recommendation anyone should make to lay people. He describes (p.
158·159) how he was cured of tuberculosis by , bed rest, vitamins, the
mercy of God and the prayers of those who loved me ... Everybody I
knew at the sanatorium who had had the allopathic cure remained an
invalid for life. Since the mid·1940s there has been a range of highly
effective anti·tuberculous drugs (streptomycin, para·aminosalicylic acid,
isoniazid, and various later drugs). It is, to put it mildly, irresponsible in
1975 to make that ridiculous comparison in a book meant for the laity.
(Perhaps, however, Dr. Law is not as up·to·date as he might be: of the few
standard medical texts he quotes in his ·Suggestions for further
reading·one ·Diseases of Medical Progress ·has been through two editions
since the 1959 edition he quotes, and the latest edition of another
·Human Nutrition and Dietetics ·came out in 1972, not in 1969, which is
the date of the edition he quotes; and it has three authors, not just the one

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Dr. Law quotes.) Worst of all is a statement (p. 160) to the effect that Still,
the osteopath, ·is said ... to have cured ... some cases of cancer and
tuberculosis. The advantages of Still·s methods are that the cure is
virtually instantaneous·with the clear implication that osteopaths might
achieve the same today. That statement, cancer being what it is, is cruel
as well as irresponsible.
This ridiculous book is not of itself worthy of a long review; but it so
happens that many people, including some doctors. are today very
dissatisfied with the approach to health and sickness of orthodox
medicine and are seeking alternatives. If the laity look to books like this
for guidance, they will do themselves more harm than good. This is not to
say that allopathic medicine is perfect: it is not ·as a host of books and
journals from the Lancet to The Catonsville Road·runner all intermittently
testify. Neither
is it to say that an alternative medicine is not needed: it is needed,
desperately needed. This is no place to go into details, but a commentary
as critical as this review could have been written on certain aspects of
allopathic medicine (and of the society that produced it). though it would
not indict the vast majority of orthodox doctors for cruelty, or for plain
ignorance of chemistry, anatomy, physiology, diagnosis, or for
recommending ineffective treatment of most complaints. If you have an
acute appendix or meningitis or thyroid trouble or a brain tumour, then
get yourself to an orthodox doctor just as fast as your legs can carry you,
brother: if you don·t, you may well not live to regret it. One may not
approve of heart transplants or of connecting babies to baboons or of
operating on spina bifida children, but of the immense knowledge, the
brilliant technical skill, and the well·meant (if perhaps misguided)
dedication of the doctors concerned there is simply no doubt. A change
will come aside from a major societal change ·by combining the best of
allopathic medicine with a radical reform of other parts of it (particularly
in the preventive field), and the combining with it of some unorthodox
but effective non·allopathic methods. Some of the latter figure in Dr.
Law·s list; but he does the cause of alternative medicine no service at all
by producing this slipshod, undiscriminating book, which is really little
more than a mishmash of nonsensical drivel, ignorance, superstition,
half·truths, and non·truths some dangerous ones at that. Gamma minus. I
recommend him for the Barbara Cartland 1975 Special Award.
An orthodox medical practitioner
Saving Our Bacon
Save Your Own Seed, Lawrence D. Hills, The Henry Doubleday Research
Association, Backing, Braintree, Essex.
"Once we dug for victory and now we dig for peace, from ·rat races·,
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·vicious spirals·, ·belt tightening·... and all the other stock phrases of an
age when the>e flourish like weeds, but unfortunately cannot be
composted."
So writes Lawrence Hills in the foreword to his new booklet on saving
your own seed. In line with the philosophy of the Henry Doubleday
Research Association this booklet is written to help gardeners by giving
practical directions for raising the easier seeds, to save money in these
inflationary times and to save those varieties which are now vanishing
from the seed catalogues. Seed raising is not as easy as it sounds. There
are the pitfalls of the F I hybrids, rogues, crosspollination and poor
summers. However, for those who succeed there is the satisfaction of
being able to ignore the new EEC regulations and the seed merchants
who aim to fill our gardens with bigger and more prolific tasteless
vegetables.
The beginner is advised to start with beans, lettuces, onions and spinach.
Because these are easy, they are cheap but this is·relative ·nothing is
cheap if you are on a pension. With these all one has to do is to allow the
plant to run to seed and to catch the seed before it is dispensed by the
wind. With the correct drying and storing you will have seeds for years
to·come. One well grown lettuce will produce 30,000 seeds and as these
have been successfully germinated after as long as thirteen years it is well
worth the effort. The more ambitious can try grow·ing their own onion
sets, resistant to onion fly and guaranteed to produce onions even in a
bad summer. For these the poorer the soil the better. Other seeds well
worth trying are peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes and some
root crops. All require their own techniques for cultivation, drying and
storage. The brassicas are more difficult. Because these are genetically
similar to some weeds it is easy to end up with the kind of brassica one
often finds growing on the cIiff tops. The shrewd gardener is advised to
invest in half a pound of first class cauliflower seed, due to its difficulty to
produce and its long keeping characteristics it is thought to be a better
investment than krugerrands. Potatoes too, selected carefully from the
greengrocers will crop just as well as the expensive seed potatoes.
Although seed growing has many advantages it does involve land being
occupied for up to three years. However, as the majority of seed will keep
for as long as two years and in some cases as long as fifteen it does (mean
that seed growing is not necessarily an annual event. Seed from one plant
will provide for many years sowing. No seed growing is complete without
a germination test early on in the year ·no more difficult than growing
mustard and cress.
In all, an excellent 50p worth for any gardener ·if only for the jingle on
the last page revealing the secrets of the packet life of the vegetable
seeds. Gone now the annual dilemma, to throwaway the old and buy
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new (all those half used packets) or to risk the old and possibly a poor
crop. Seed merchants ·all is revealed.
Charles Harries
Round·up
Pluto Press·s new book, Your Employers·Profits, by Christopher Hird, is
very useful. It talks about finding out what Companies are up to, who
owns them and whom they own, their profits declared and real, and how
to gauge a Company·s overall health. It also covers Nationalised
industries, Building Societies, Charities and other types of organisation.
All very thorough and excellent value at 90p from sympathetic and many
straight bookshops.
Prism Press have just reissued the first English edition of Kropotkin·s
Ethics at £1.95 for 394 pages. Kropotkin·s name is a password to these
pages, but the book isn·t likely to be very valuable to struggling country
anarchists. It·s a blockbusting analysis of the problem of values and ethics
in various cultures and makes a lot of modern social analysis look pale
indeed, but doesn·t enter the same sort of ground as Conquest of Bread or
Fields Factories and Workshops.
ITDG Publications (9 King St, London WC2E 8HN) keep on quietly
producing the goodies, which we·ve failed to keep up with for some time.
So better write for a complete list if you arc likely to need anything.
They·ve recently produced Methane: Proceedings of a one·day Seminar,
compiled by Leo Pyle and Peter Fraenkel, at 80p plus 15p postage in the
UK, a volume as fragmented as conference proceedings usually are but
containing something on most aspects; microbial and anaerobic
techniques, bio·gas plant, agricultural digesters, engineering and
commercial considerations, third world aspects and a lot more. An
excellent overview. Also outstanding but very practical is A Manual on
the Hydraulic Ram for Pumping Water by S B Watt (sic), no price given_
The design described is very thoroughly researched and is said to be one
of the most useful available, especially for poor com·munities. It can
pump water with a head of a metre and a flow exceeding 5 Iitres per
minute. It needs no external power, has only two simple moving parts
and can be fairly easily knocked together. As even ITDG haven·t got
round the laws of Physics yet, it can raise the water to much higher than a
metre but only a fraction of the throughput can be raised.
Australia·, we thought, when we saw the September issue of Earth Garden
was labelled Spring. And so it proved; they·re at PO Box 111, Balmain
2041, Australia. Very countrified and Mother Earth News·like, with no
political line, and they·d run a mile from carrying a shock horror probe
on oil rigs in the Bass Strait. But what there is is very well done;
biodynamics, music, geese, compost, bees, building, and more, with lots
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of description of readers·own country experiences. All pretty invaluable if


you·re planning on doing it yourself. This reviewer was left with a twinge
of envy; there aren·t many countries with so much land and sun and so
few people that Earth Garden·s way is realistic.
Italy. Stampa Alternativa, CP 741, Roma, are an alternative publishing
house with eight books to their credit, on Macrobiotics (L800), the
Military (L700l, Counter-information organising (L600), India (L600),
Organic food and medicine (L700), two on music which we·ve not seen
(L 700 each) and one called La Scienza contro i proletari (L1 000) which
is on, well, science against people. And very comprehensive it is too,
from toothpaste to Vietnam and China to industrial health. The overall
effect is like a more populist BSSRS approach, and would be especially
effective among the unpoliticised. Rosso Vivo, at Rotografica Fiorentina,
Via Faenza 54, 50123 Firenze, are an excellent left/eco group who have a
16·page newsletter for L300. It·s probably about monthly as the annual
subscription is L3000, 10 000 if you can afford it. It includes nuclear
power, medicine, Chile, electronic warfare, NATO, Larzac, Commoner,
and Murray Bookchin, with Ecology and Revolutionary Thought in
translation. Really good, and rather Undercurrents·like. It seems that there
are a.number of radical science groups operating in Italy, mostly around
universities, and if any others have anything else this good, we want to
see it.
Lastly, a new magazine of the UFO scene which we·ll mention again if it
keeps up to expectations. It·s Nufois, I edited by R W Morrell, 443
Meadow Lane, Nottingham, NG2 3GB, and is the house organ of the
Nottingham UFO Investigation Society_ Write for details with SAE as we
haven·t seen one since January 75, so it may have died, been relaunched
as the Scottish Daily News, or otherwise metamorphosed.
Martin Ince

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Letters
ENERGETICALLY YOURS
Dear Sir,
UNDERCURRENTS magazine. latest copy. £0.45
With reference to our telephone call of 27.10.75 to I.P.C, we were
informed that the above publica·tion was available from Under·currents
ltd. The item is required rather urgently, and I should be grateful if you
could supply a copy of the latest issue, with an invoice for £0.45 to the
Department of Energy.
E A Cooper Assistant librarian Department of I::energy Thames House
South Millbank

FETE BETTER THAN DEATH


I was sad to read of the low turn·out in london for the anti·nuclear power
march, (Undercurrents Il), and it struck me that perhaps we could follow
the lead of the Breton anti·nuclear movement. I and a group of other
interested" people attended a festival at Edeven in Britanny which was!
held on the proposed site on another N.P, Station. The festival was nOI
just aimed al the con·verted, as I feel much of the work in England and
Wales is, but al families and hOliday makers who, while enjoying the free
music, theatre and film, were taking a great interest in the easily
under·stood maps and details of the proposals. The movement in France is
a force recognised by the people and identified with ·good·motives, apart
from loose connections with the Breton separatists. festivals of this nature
could do more good than thousands of duplicated handouts,
Tim Evans 3 Park View Oakenhead Wood Rawlenstall Rossendale

DEFENDING AND THE RIGHT TO WORK


I thought that Dave Elliott, in his otherwise excellent article on Lucas
Aerospace (Undercurrents /2), rather underrated the importance of the
military.to·civil conversion aspect of the lucas stewards·proposals.
Despite the Labour Government·s much·vaunted defence review earlier
this year, defence spending is not being reduced (even in real terms;
never mind in nation) ·it is going up disproportionately relative to pay and
other items in the military budget. One of the argu·ments used by
industry and Government alike to justify this situation is that cuts in
military production will create unemploy·ment. They pretend to find it

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inconceivable that arms workers could be producing other, socially


useful, goods instead. Quite apart from all the other exciting aspects of
their work, the lucas stewards have done a very valuable _ and radical
·job by exposing this argument for the nonsense that it is. Incidentally,
CND has recently published a pamphlet (Arms. jobs and the crisis) on the
conversion of defence industries to peaceful production, which
Undercurrents readers might be interested in (though they probably
wouldn·t agree with all of it). It·s available from the address below, at 22p
including postage.
Dave Griffiths Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Eastbourne House
Bullard·s Place London

LOVELESS LEYS
1 was sorry to see some of the attitudes expressed in the ley·line·article,
(Mysterious Energies. Undercurrents 11). I also shiver in the cold of the
system·s techno·logical ethos, but love is as real as bedrock. II isn·t
necessary (or helpful) to get into superstition to find it, and although it
may appear 10 be against that ethos to believe that one can find spiritual
energy in particular spots, it is, in fact an unconstructive attitude in that it
seeks to avoid the fact that love comes only to and from struggle. Without
having looked at the evidence I·m quite .. willing to believe that the
pre·Celtic lot surveyed straight lines 10 site their rites, and that they
attached religious significance to them. But it·s a very different thing to
say that highs come from these places. Wile tiler one is feeling high is
easy to know; wily is much harder. If leys make you high then isn·t it
surprising that at Glastonbury, said to be one of the most leyed places in
Britain, the average standard of loving is actually below the national rural
average? I mean the locals there tend to be particularly mean and
suspiciOUS. The country isn·t all like that: I·ve been in villages in Norfolk
where the people are so relaxed and unhassled it makes me feel warm
just to pass them in the.. street.
Chris Eve London

ANY FRIEND OF EARTH


Having just read, in Undercurrent 12, the piece entitled Where have all
the FOE·rs gone? I feel compelled to reply: FOE·rs .... prick us do we not
bleed? After all, do we not believe that paper and glass are wasted and
should be saved? Do we not believe that ·zany·stunts like bottle·dumps
and Bike·ins have a profound effect on the thinking of the Government of
the day and also serve to raise public consciousness? Do we not believe
that if we refuse a paper bag from the lady in Woolworths then we have

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saved a tree, ·somehow, some where, from certain death? Do we not


believe that ordinary people concerned about the environment (or about
any other issue for that matter) can enter into open and honest discussion
with their elected representatives? 00 we not believe that population
con·trol coupled with legislation to protect the environment will set
matters right if only we give it time? Do we not believe That the
Governments of this country make and take decisions for the benefit of
all neon Ie including our children)? Are we not all, after all, Social
Democrats and Liberals? ..Heaven forbid, do we not believe in
Democracy? Yes, sadly, we believe all these things, I support your article
in its call to all disaffected radicals to join their local FOE branch bUI I
fear that you have set them quite a task; and maybe They have more to
fear from the things we do not believe:
We do not believe that there is any rush .. Quote as we may from our
copies of limits To Growth and the Doomsday Book to the local branch of
the ladies·Circle, we do not take it all that seriously really, and feel that
these chaps are overreacting somewhat. We do not believe that the
problems that we are tackling are but mere symptoms of an unhealthy)
·social system that must be changed_ And, worst of all, we do not
believe, nay we (cannot believe, we are witnessing the end of the world;
for to believe that is also to believe that we too as individuals (hi·fi and
all) are equally doomed.
However, criticise as I may the rank and file of FOE, may I remind you all
that FOE is indeed about something more than collecting bottles and
waste paper because "above all we intend to campaign for the universal
adoption of sustainable and equitable life styles." (Stated objectives of
FOE). What is needed, then, is enough people within the movement to
ensure thai this is the "above all else” priority of FOE. A more radical
grass roots membership is needed because only then will (he move·ment
be able·to pursue this goal unhindered and to pursue it as it should be
pursued . "I::it hl:r ecology action is revo·lutionary action or it is
nothing at all. Any attempt to reform a social order that by its very nature
pits humanity against all the forces of life is a gross deception, and serves
merely as a safety valve for the established institutions" (Bookchin).
Defending our environment is not a game; not a trendy way of spending
one·s weekends. Neither is it a stepping stone to a career in politics, or an
easy way to get one·s name in lights in the local rags and becoming a
celebrity (of the ·two bit·variety). Defending one·s environment (if you
will forgive the cliche) is a war, a war against overwhelming odds, and
FOE·rs must not be content merely to ·tap the heels·of capitalism, or to
place obstacles in its path. We must ensure its overthrow and ensure it
quickly. let us take as our objective, n .... only objective, the universal
adoption of sustainable and equitable life styles. Read it all you FOE·rs,

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read and understand it. It is revolutionary and we must all become


revo·lutionaries. If this is not what you wish then get out of the kitchen
and make way for those who are prepared to accept the con·sequences of
what Friends of the Earth stand for.
Dave Roberts Local Co·ordinator Cardiff Friends of Earth II Hill View
Beddau Pontypridd

A FEW SHORT WORDS, PLEASE


I take my pleasures from the simple things in life ·my garden, my pussycat
and beautiful people ·and while I enjoy your magazine immensely I am
left completely cold by technical explanations which give me head·aches
trying to make head or tail of them, usually to no avail. This applies
equally to scientific and sociOlogical matters. I am sure there are many
other simple people like me whose heads are full of half·notions about
this windmill or that culture, but who(J really can·t understand these
things because they can·t find a way through the obscure language used.
A prime example is ·Towards an Alternative Culture·(Undercurrents 10.
11 and 12): I have read it through four times and am still no wiser than
when I started. Looking at the pictures I think it may be interesting, but I
am unable to find out.
Maybe I·m thick. Maybe I should go back to reading the Beano and leave
reorganising society to the big boys who can read words of more syllable,
and who possess the key to reading between the jargon ....
John Bridge Farmhouse Clapton Nr Crewkerne Somerset

INFLATION EXPLAINED
On the whole we Think you are very nice and look forward to reading
each new issue of Under·currents, but what we can·t understand is why,
after an excellent review of Amory Lovins World Energy Strategies, Chris
Hutton·Squire gets so much space in which to indulge his personal
feelings about us. His words, 200+ of them aCtually, at the end of his
review seem to us to be no more than gratuitous target practice. No one
here can remember him asking for an ex·planation for the high price of
the book, which is maybe why he didn·t get one. As it happens, the book
is expensive because it is imported from the USA, and the reason why it
was published there was in order to get a world·wide dis·tribution for it
which we couldn·t manage ourselves. There are other reasons as well, to
do with such mundane matters as FOE·s cash·now situation and the
administrative problems of handling publications.
If Chris really wants all the details, all he has to do is to come and ask ·or

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better still he is quite welcome to try whenever he likes to make a better


job than we can of "getting the message out as cheaply as possible to
every corner of the Land". We can·t pay him anything for doing ii, but it
may help to settle his "uneasy feeling.
FOE 9 Poland 5 london W
Chris says ‘Nobody can deny thai the book is expensive, and I·m glad
FOE don·t try. Actually they pro lest too much. I quite understand thai it is
Wiley who overpriced the book. What irked me was Amory
Lovins·com·placency. The occasion was the afternoon of June 16. Ask
Amory’

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• • • • • • • • • • • •
Small Ads
COURSES
MIDDLESEX POLYTEt,; ... ·NIC esc and esc Honour5 In Society an~
Technology, This fouf·year sandwich course offers you the opportunity to
study the natural and social sciences and their inter·dependence. You can
enter with A-levels In any two subjects. The course provides .In
understanding of the complex relationships be·tween science and
techno.logy. enabling you nOI only to under·stand your own place in
contem. porary society, but to work responsibly with the beneflts
technology can bring. Write or telephone for further details and an
application form to: The Admissions Office, PO Box 40, Middlesex
Polytechnic, Queensway, Enfield,Middx. EN3 4SF, Phone 01·80S 0892.
PERSONAL
ORGANIC SMALLHOLDER, married, mid-20s. losing rented land to
developers, seeks food·growing project. Skill and enter·prise but no
capital. The Cottage, Silson Lane, Baildon, W. Yorks.
WE WANT PEOPLE to liv", with us in Bristol. We are Julia, Trevor, Helen
and Chrissy, have just moved into a large house and would like to share it
with others. If you would like to meet us, write 8S soon as possible to 33
Florence Park, Bristol BSG 7L T.
WE HAVE LAUNCHEO a co·operative based business to manu·facture
electronic gadgets with a bias towards AT. W~ are looking for an
electronics design man who would like to be associated with our project,
either fuJI or pan time. Kibei, 120 Garlands Road, Redhill, Surrey.
COUPLE SeEK accomodation In seml-communal mixed house In S.W.
London or adjacent areas. Phone Lloyd or Mandy 874 2170.
ECOLOGICALLY INCLINED male in late 30s interested in self·sufficiency
seeks female with similar interests to share running of a country house on
the Welsh coast. Marriage could be considered at a later date. Reply to
Undercurrents Box No. E1
HARDWARE
BRAD'S SOLAR ROOF PLAN. Complete do-it-yourself info (drawings,
costlngs, supplien, snags, plumbing, even the electronic control circuitry)
for the elegant Canopy that made the New Scientist cover story of
September 19th J 974. 8 months hot water (l26~, 52 C) for 1 p/day ,
we've had over 21 kilo·watts hom our 60 SQ.m. roof. And at £'8/sq.m ..
it's cheaper than tiles. NO rip-off. 25p pillS SAE-from BRAD,
Churchstoke, Montgomery, Wales. (Any surplus, we promise, goes to fund

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further AT research),
HEDGEHOG HAND CAROl NG and Spinning Equipment, plus other
accessories, and special oUer fibres. For beginners and professionals. T .J.
Willcocks, Wheatcroft, Itchingfield, Horsham, Sussex. (Enclose s.a.e.)
PUBUCATIONS
BOOKS - Environment, Low Tech, Pollution, Survival etc. Send S.A,E, for
lists. Bogus, 60 Princes Avenue, Hull, ~orks.
SOLAR HEATED BUILDINGS·A BRIEF SURVEY, by W,A. Shurcliffi 122
pp, S 10 (postpaid) from Solar Energy Digest, PO Box 17776, California
92117, "This new and enlarged edition of Dr. Shurcllff's continuing
survey pro·vides concise Information on 132 past, present and future
solar·heated structures, primarily in the IJSA but Including a few 'rom
other countries."
The National Centre for Alternatil/e Technologv has prepared the
following DIY plans.
1. SW Multiblade aerogenerator
(Dynohub) 20p
2. Water pump (20ft head) lOp
3. Pumping windmill
(Sal/onius) 20p
4. Solar Panel 20p
S. 300W Sail windmill (Cretan) 20p 6. Hydraulic Ram 20p
Available from the centre at £1.00, set + 8p postage, or at stated price
plus 8p postage. All these elChibiu may be seen working at the quarry, A
further list of Information sheets is available, but please enclose SAE in all
correspondence. NCAT, L1wyngwern Quarry, Machvnlleth, Powys.
99.9 PER CENT EXTERMINA,. EO s'nce the onset of farm mechanisa·tion,
Heavy Horse Preservation Society seeks donations of money, uhwanted
clothing, used stamps, .old postcards, coins, jewellery, to sell for Horse
Rescue Fund 'or the ,ew survivors. HHPS, Old Rectory, whitchurch,
SalOp.
LEARN TO WEAVE on triangular frame loom (weal/es up to 2' lC S') with
wool, shuttle, charts, in hessian back. Special £12. Looms, 213 Archway
Rd, London N6.
ETCETERA
FRENCH Kingston AWA has a copy of a pamphlet on environ·mental and
ecological matters, written -by the French Organisation of Rel/olutionary
Anarchists. The approach is scientific but not burdened with jargon. We
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invite the interest of any reader whO can tackle scientific French with
help in its translation. Contact Julian Turner, Kingston group of the
Anarchist Workers Association, 16 St. Leonards Road, Surbiton, Surrey.
CLAP 4% TAX. Nobody Is too poor to pay this tax! Send 17p in stamps for
the latest CLAP hand·book - it's a good read in its own right, a bi-monthly
directory of alternative society projects, Pay this tax, or don't complain if
by 1984 there are no revolutionary, imilginative, co_operative and
visionary projects left in this country, Community Lel/Y for Alternative
Projects, c/o BIT, 146 Great western Ro.ad, London W,ll. (tel 01·229
8219)
OR DOES YOUR PROJECT NEED MONEY? If it's community-based,
concerned with the enl/lronment, conSCiousness-expanslon, improving
communication between people, or righting oppression, please send for
details of how to 3pply,
INTERESTED in alternative tech·nology? Interested in developing a totally
new rel/olutlonary politics Outside the traditional or IIbertar·Ian left? we
are an organisation of revolutionary non.marxlsts who' don't believe In
class struggle, but do believe in non..c;entrallst organ·Isation and
liberation from all roles both at home and at work. Interested?, " contact
B, M. LEEWAY, London WCl 6XX.
WORK
A DIFFERENT KIND OF JOB Interested In new ways of working t098ther?
Want to have more say in your own life? Don't miss the new Issue (No.3)
of InThe Making, a jlrectory of proposed productive projects, 1975
edition. From 22 Albert Road, Sheffield 8. Price 22p per copy, Including
post. Subscrip.·tions 60P.
2p per word up to 150 words

_______________________________________________________________________ UC13: page 136


_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 137

• • • • • • • • • • • •
Radical Technology is coming!
Yes, in March or April of next year Wildwood House will finally publish
the Undercurrents magnum opus, Radical Technology. In the States and
Canada it'll be available in January. Please don't write to us, or Wildwood,
to order copies, as they will be widely available in bookshops after
publication, and you'll be able to buy it from us for the cover price, some
£2.50, plus postage, again after publica·tion. Here is Peter Harper's
summary of the book, for lazy reviewers and prospect ive purchasers:
Radical Technology is a large-format, extensively illustrated collection of
original articles concerning the reorganisa·tion of technology along more
humane, rational and ecologically sound lines. The many facets of such a
reorganisation are reflected in the wide variety of contribu·tions to the
book. They cover both the 'hardware' - the machines and technical
methods themselves - and the 'software' - the social and political
structures, the way people relate to each other and to their environment,
and how they feel about it all.
The articles in the book range from detailed 'recipes' through general
accounts of alternative technical methods, to critiques of current
practices, and general proposals for reorganisations. Each author has
been encouraged to follow her or his own personal approach, sometimes
descriptive, sometimes analytic, sometimes technical, sometimes
political. The contributors are all authorities in their fields.
The book is divided into seven sections:
Food, Energy, Shelter, Autonomy, Materials, Communication, Other
Per·spectives, Over forty separate articles include items on fish culture,
small-scale water supply, biological energy sources, a definitive zoology
of the windmill, self·help housing, building with subsoil, making car·tyre
shoes, the economics of autonomous houses, what to look for in scrap
yards, alternative radio networks, utopian communities, and technology
in China. Between the main sections are interviews with prominent
practitioners and theorists of Radical Technology, including John Todd of
the New Alchemy Institute; Robert Jungk, author of Humanity 2000; the
Street Farmers, a group of anarchist architects; Peter van Dresser;-and
Sietz Lcefland, editor of Small Earth, the Dutch journal of alter·native
technology.
Also included between the main sections of the book is a series of
vision·ary drawings by the gifted illustrator Clifford Harper, evoking the
spirit and practice of Radical Technology: 'how it could be', These
drawings, or 'visions' include a communalised urban garden layout; a
household basement workshop; a community workshop; a community

_______________________________________________________________________ UC13: page 137


_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 138

media centre; a collectivised terrace of urban houses; and an autonomous


rural housing estate.
The book ends with a comprehensive directory of the literature and active
organisations in Radical Technology. This notes inevitable gaps in the
book's coverage, poi nts the reader to where more information can be
found, and provides also an overall picture of a growing move·ment.
Radical Technology: Food and Shelter, Tools and Materials, Energy and
Com·munications, Autonomy and Community, Edited by Godfrey Boyle
and Peter Harper, and the editors of Undercurrents, Wildwood House,
London; Pantheon Books, New York, 1976_ 304pp, A4, illustrated, index.
Hardback ISBN 0704502186; paperback ISBN 0704501597.
Back Issues
Undercurrents back-issues are selling out fast - nos. 1 to 5 hav.e already
passed into history and are no longer available, but 6 to 12 can still be
had for SOp each (including postage) from 11 Shadwell, Uley, Dursley,
Gloucs. See the sub·scriptions form on page 48 for further details.
Undercurrents 6
Heat Pumps I Alternative Electronics I Organic Living ,Experiment I DIY
Windmill Design I Alternative Technology Sources Guide I Running Your
Car on Gas I Small·Scale Water Power I What's Left of Alternative
Technology? I Stan Gooch reviewed by Colin Wilson I Have Plants a
Secret Life?, ... , .. ,
Undercurrents 7. Special Communications Issue
Telephone Tapping & Mail Opening: who does it & how I A Phone
Phreak's Confessions I The Government's Doomsday Communicat·ions
Systems I TV Cameras Spy on City Streets I The People's Radio Primer I
Switched-on Uses of Ham Radio & TV I Cable TV: What's in it for the
Media Moguls I AT in the Shade I Did a Stray Missile Shoot Down an
Airliner? ... , ..
Undercurrents 8
Prince Philip Visits National AT Centre I Eddies' Paranoia Corner I
COMTEK Festival Report & Pictures I BRAD Community I Organic Living
Experiment I Sward Gardening Introduction I The Other London
Underground Radio: Opening Up the Air Waves I Building with Rammed
Earth I Multi-blade Windmill Design I Wind Generator Theory I
Hermeticism: Technology Needs Transcendence I Plus: a look at
Undercurrents finances ... , ..

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_____________________________________ Undercurrents 13 November-December1975 Page 139

Undercurrents 9
Special Feature on Nuclear Power Dangers. Kiddies' Guide to Nuclear
Power I Waste Disposal Dangers I The Breeder - Fast & Deadly I End of
the US Nuclear Dream I The International Protesters I Energy An·alysis of
Nuclear Power I Nuclear Proliferation Perils I The Terrorists' DIY A·Bomb I
Uranium Supply Shortages, .. PLUS: Nuclear Blackmail - has it already
been tried? I Bunker Secrets de-bunked I Solar Collectors: product review
I Nature et Progress Conference 10 Paris: full report & pnotos I Hudson
Institute ~ritique I Can Home·Grown Food make a Significant
Contribution?
Undercurrents 10 Joint Issue with Resurgence Magazine.
Solar Collectors: Complete Background Theory and low--cost DIY Design
I Towards An Alternative Culture: Part I I Land for the People I New
Villages Now I Sward Gardening in Practice I Anarchist Cities I General
Systems I Future of Alternative Technology I Schumacher: A Conscious
Culture of Poverty I Living the Revolution: Milovan Djilas I Industrial
Slavery Can Now End I Nuclear Protest Builds up Steam ....
Undercurrents 11
Nuclear Nightmares Come True I Bee Keeping I Back to the Land: What
happened in the '30s I Mysterious Energies: the Hidden Secrets of Ancient
Britain I Building with Compressed Subsoil Blocks I Wind Power Special
Feature: Background Theory & Part ( of the Undercurrents-LID Wind
Generator Design I New Methane Digester Design I The House That Jaap
Built - an Autonomous Dome in Holland I Mind Expansion: An Evalua.
tion of Psychocybernetics and Silva Mind Control I Getting Your Goat:
Goat·keeping Demystified I Towards An Alternative Culture - part n ....
Undercurrents 12
AT and Lucas Aerospace I Comtek 751 DIY Biofeedback I Alter. native
Medical Care I The Crabapple Community Illaif Life against Nuclear
Power I The Granada Tele·eco-housc I Planning for War I The Brighton
Envuofau I CEGB Energy down the Drain I Community Technology in
Washington DC I Class War Comix I World Energy Strategies I
Transcendental Meditation I Freedom for Scotland. . . . . ~

_______________________________________________________________________ UC13: page 139

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