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PRACTICAL ANARCHY
EAST MIDLANDS ANARCHIST BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 1995
If one of the basic ideas of Anarchism is
that of people taking back control over
their own lives, then examples of local and
individual control of Housing, Food
Production and other essentials of life, are
much needed evidence of the practicality
of the Anarchist ideal.
Two ongoing examples of such endeavours,
indeed of Anarchy in Action, carried out
by non-anarchists, are the allotments at
Tarporley, Cheshire, and the self built
'Yurt' of Bob, Jules and Amber in North
Nottinghamshire.
The Tarporley Allotment site differs from
many Municipal sites insofar as the
ground of the site, donated in past years
by a local benevolent landowner, is owned
by the local community, and managed on
its behalf by a local body with a large,
voluntary membership, albeit the British
Legion. The land is approximately 3-3/4
acres in extent, and has around 15 good
sized allotments. Unlike many municipal
allotment sites there are usually no vacant
plots. The site is of light, salldy soil and
slopes slightly to the south west.
The full range of garden produce is grown.
Everything from potatoes to leeks, cabbage,
peas, beans artichokes, apples, pears,
tomatos, courgettes, marrows, sweetcorn.
strawberries raspberries. Walking around
the allotments this September bore ample
witness to the practicality of Kropotkins
vision of a largely self-sufficient and
economically Autarchic Anarchist Society.
There were racks of onions and shallots
drying in the sun, runnerbean plants still
laden with beans. On those allotments
with trees apples and pears were ripening.
In the Greenhouses tomatos were turning
red on the plants. On one allotment there
were Italian Plum Tomatos, Cherry
Tomatos and 'ordinary' tomatos. On
another there were onions the size of
melons. Main crop potatoes were being
harvested, as they were needed.
Many of the allotment holders had shown
great improvisation in recycling materials
to build sheds, coldframes and
greenhouses. One such greenhouse was
constructed out of old double glazing
panels salvaged by a worker from a
windows installation firm. Most sheds had
gutters and barrels to collect and save
rainwater. Most had good sized compost
heaps.
The quality and freshness of food grown
on such allotments far surpasses that
available in supermarkets. Among the
allotment holders there is much practical
mutual aid. Manure is bulk purchased
from a local farmer and delivered in piles
around the site. Seeds are swapped.
Surplus produce exchanged or given away,
neighbour' s allotments watered when they
are ill or on holiday.
There are now vast tracts of derelict land
in urban and inner city Britain, there are
also vast acres of ' set-aside' in the rural
areas. It would be a real step towards
'Practical Anarchy' if people were to
demand the right to use this land for
allotments or low impact homes, and
Anarchists become active in local
campaigns to achieve such ends.
One example of such a 'low-impact'
home is that self built by Bob and Jules.
After a difficult time in their lives when
they had to give up their city based flat
and live for a year in a van, literally on
the road, they decided they wanted a
better living space. After much planning
and research into 'Yurts' the mobile Tent
/ Hut / Shed of asiatic nomads, they
took the first step in March 1995.They
started by pollarding Willows at Lowden
to make poles for the lattice work of the
walls and the roof poles. This entailed
hours of laborious work stripping bark,
steaming the poles and bending them to
shape, sanding the poles smooth, building
the lattice work. The beautiful polished
wooden floor of the ' Yurt' was
constructed from wood salvaged from a
Police Station, the Wooden door was
constructed from salvaged weather boards
from the same building. They carried out
much of the carpentry work, including the
making of the central 'crown', this being
a strong circle of wood into which slot all
the roof poles, while living in their van
parked behind the rented workshop.
Having thus 'prefabricated' all the
different elements of the ' Yurt': lattice
frame, roof poles, crown, canvas covering,
blanket lining, flooring, they took two
days to construct the Yurt on site. The
result is a beautiful and comfortable home.
Cool in Summer, and warm in winter.
Sturdy enough to survive the worst winds
of winter. With its own box stove for heat,
water supply near at hand. The interior is
a round, domed room, with chimney and
stove in the centre, with a polished wood
floor. The willow lattice work is backed by
overlapping blankets for insulation. The
lattice work provides anchorage for small
shelves and to hang up all the tools and
implements of a practical life. The ' Yurt'
is capable of being dismantled and
reassembled on other sites so enabling Bob
to move from job to job. He hopes to be
able to make a living by hedging, ditching
and tree nursery work. He also has plans
to document and publish a book /
pamphlet on how to build a 'Yurt'. Jules
hopes to be sufficiently settled to allow
Amber to attend School, though she feels
their lifestyle will give Amber a more
balanced view of life than other children
experience.
Neither Bob nor Jules are Anarchists, Bob
is a Buddhist, but their life of practical
self reliance, their vision of 'living lightly
on the earth' is one which many
Anarchists share, and which many would
want to follow if they had the courage.
JPS
BOX EMAB, 88, ABBEY STREET, DERBY, UK