Adrienne Campbell's blog

Many years ago, in my twenties, I had an epiphany. For a few brief minutes I experienced oneness. The wind in the trees, the birdsong, and everything in between, it was all one all was blissful unity. Tears poured from my eyes as my heart melted. That half hour in a hillside in remote village in Turkey changed my life. From then on, I’ve known that we are one.

A few years ago, when Transition Town Lewes was just starting up, I had tea with a local historian, Colin Brent. Colin told me that, in Victorian times, almost everything was owned by, and for, Lewes people. As well as the printing presses, bus companies, prisons and cobblers, virtually all the food eaten in Lewes was grown locally.

This is a story of how a community created its own energy company. It began with an Open Space workshop run by Transition Town Lewes mid-2007 called How will Lewes power itself (in a world without fossil fuels)? The discussions were varied, and one focused on starting a local energy company.

Argh! (strangled cry). Writing this has taken me all afternoon because part of me really doesn’t want to think about the big world out there. Like most other people, I just want to stay under the duvet. But what's that going to achieve (stern ticking off)? And you'd be missing all the fun. (True...) So here we go, back to reality!