Cheltenham Eco Homes

Ours must be the least eco of the ten private houses open to the public today, as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme. This is the first year that eco homes have featured alongside buildings of architectural interest, such as Maggie's Centre which we visited on Thursday. There was a pretty continuous trickle of visitors, to look at our new boilers and solar thermal installation: BCL Energy set up a display in the dining-room, and Caroline sold jam and chutney, much of it made from what we grow in the garden. In fact everyone wanted to see the garden, blown about as it has been this last week or so. The chickens were a great draw of course. We were exhausted by the time the last people left!

At the risk of moral showboating, it seems to me extraordinarily appropriate to have held this first Cheltenham Eco Homes day on 11th September. On the back of 9/11 2001, we went to war in Iraq over oil; and even by reducing our demand for oil, we are unlikely to be able to avoid altogether further resource conflict. But to reduce it must be a first step.