Celebrating 100 Years of the Campaign for Rural England (CPRE)
Jennie Reid, July 2026
Transition Crich were lucky enough to be invited to commemorate the Centenary of the CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, aka "The Countryside Charity"), at a Summer Garden Party hosted by Amber Valley Vineyards.
The afternoon was kicked off by the Chair of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire branch, John Ydlibi, who outlined the aims and the achievements of the CPRE. Transition Crich worked with CPRE on the Crich Parish Community Energy visioning project and on the Hedgerow Heroes project.
John also introduced us to their latest campaign "On the Edge", which focuses on protecting and regenerating the overlooked "edgelands" - the greenspaces, fields and farms lying directly on the outer fringes of towns and cities. The CPRE sponsored show garden on this theme won Gold and Garden of the Year at this Year's Chelsea Flower Show. This garden is currently being reassembled in the grounds of Park Hill Flats in Sheffield. The garden features a giant wooden sculpture of the Greek Earth Goddess Gaia, to represent the protection of Nature.
We were also told about an upcoming online zoom event, taking place on 26th August, in which award winning photographer, Ashley Franklin will take us behind the scenes of the creation of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Photobook. (The event is free to attend, but booking is essential)
We were then treated to a tour of the vineyard, in which we learnt how the health of the vines have been improved by the adoption of regenerative growing methods. These have included stopping using herbicides and pesticides and using Alpaca poo as a fertiliser!
The event concluded with a tasting of a selection of the delicious wines and ciders.
