This morning, Sue MacGregor talks to the founders of the Centre for Alternative Technology, in the Reunion on Radio 4.
This was 40 years ago. Is it relevant to today?
The Centre for Alternative Technology
Sue MacGregor reunites the pioneers behind The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), the radical community that launched the Green Movement in Britain from a disused slate quarry in Machynlleth, Wales.
Led by an entrepreneurial aristocrat
turned environmentalist, a group of self-declared 'Crazy Idealists' arrived at
'The Quarry' in 1973 with an urgent mission. The limits to growth and resources
had been forecast, the nuclear threat was real, and fundamentally new ways of
living had to be found that were more self-sufficient, locally-focused, and
alternative to the assumptions of modern industrial society.
From humble beginnings as a tiny commune
sidelined by the scientific establishment, CAT went on to build some of
Britain's first ever electricity generating windmills and the largest solar
roof in Europe. They attracted the patronage of the royal family, the
suspicions and support of their local Welsh neighbours, and the interest of
tens of thousands of visitors. Forty years on, the alternatives that CAT pioneered
are becoming mainstream, and the Centre's work is more relevant than ever.
Joining Sue MacGregor are: Mark
Matthews, the Centre's first director; architect Roderick James, who designed
the first complex of buildings; Bob Todd, the Centre's pioneering technical
expert; Liz Todd, Bob's wife and an early volunteer, who raised her young
family on the site; and Des Rees, the Welsh builder who unexpectedly found
himself immersed in The Quarry's unique way of life.
First broadcast: Sunday 28 April 2013
Centre for Alternative Technology Home Page
Centre or Alternative Technology - Peter Harper from dobraidea on Vimeo.
Zero Carbon Britain
Centre for Alternative Technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alternative technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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