About MASTT

Welcome to the home of Marsden & Slaithwaite Transition Towns. MASTT is a community-led initiative which is taking proactive steps to deal with the twin threats of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

Marsden and Slaithwaite are villages based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Both villages have a rich culture and the community benefits from a range of activity. Events such as the Jazz Festival, the Moon raking festival and the Imbolc Fire Festival ensure that there is a strong sense of belonging within both Marsden and Slaithwaite. MASTT plan to take these two vibrant communities and help them build food security and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. 

MASTT is based upon the concept of 'Transition Towns' that was made popular by Rob Hopkins around 2006 when it was applied to the town of Totnes in England. This concept has quickly become widespread and as of January 2009 there are 126 communities that are recognised as a Transition Town. These include Kinsale (where the movement began) and Totnes (where it was first applied), the list can be found at the bottom of this page.

Rather than feeling guilty about Climate Change and worrying about the end of cheap oil, let’s do something now to make our communities strong, prosperous and great places to live over the coming turbulent years!

MASTT strives to be inclusive, imaginative, practical and fun. We rely on input from people within the community to make this group successful and we are always looking for new members to contribute to projects we have in the pipeline.

What are we doing?

We’re looking for a diverse range of people to join our group and welcome anyone who wants to ensure a better future for Marsden and Slaithwaite. We also support existing groups to carry out their projects.

If you are unclear on any of the issues associated with climate change and peak oil, we organise events such as film screenings followed by discussions for anyone wanting to learn about them. However if you already know about these issues and just want to get involved you can come along to our meetings and help us run the projects you are interested in. Alternatively you could come along to our meetings, bringing along your ideas for projects and we’ll try help you get them going.

Action: You could inform us of existing projects you think we could work together on or if you would like to get involved with projects we are involved with.

Information: If you would like to know more information about MASTT you look for the answer on our website, if you can't find the information you are looking for you could send us an email at info@mastt.org.uk. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter you could pick a copy up at one of our meetings or let us know your email address/home address and we’ll send you a copy.

 If you just want to know general information about the transition town movement you could visit their website on www.transitiontowns.org

Membership: Everyone is welcome to come along to any of our meetings and if you decide you would like to get involved with MASTT you can do as much or as little as you like. Once a month we have a casual meeting about MASTT in general, also known as ‘Collective Genius’ in the New Inn in Marsden (On the last Monday of every month). We are planning to hold a more formal meeting once a month in Slaithwaite where more of the decisions will made and smaller groups can meet up together (On the 2^nd Tuesday of every month at Slaithwaite Community Centre).

Please click here if you would like to see some of the Jargon (Peak Oil, Resilience etc) explained

In order to add content on to this website you will need to register your details with us which is quick and easy to do.

Want to get involved? Why not join a MASTT project or start a new one? It's fun and easy, you don't have to be an expert,

you will meet lots of interesting people, strengthen your community and learn new skills......... What could be better?

Here is the list of Transition Towns, in order in which they joined -

1. Totnes, England
2. Penwith, England
3. Kinsale, Ireland
4. Ivybridge, England
5. Falmouth, England
6. Moretonhampstead, England
7. Lewes, England
8. Stroud, England
9. Ashburton, England
10. Ottery St. Mary, England
11. Bristol, England
12. Brixton, England
13. Forest Row, England
14. Mayfield, England
15. Glastonbury, England
16. Lostwithiel, England
17. Forest of Dean, England
18. Nottingham, England
19. Wrington, England
20. Brighton&Hove, England
21. Portobello, Scotland
22. Market Harborough, England
23. Sunshine Coast, Australia
24. West Kirby, England
25. Llandeilo, Wales
26. Bro Ddyfi, Wales
27. Whitstable, England
28. Marsden & Slaithwaite, England  (Us!!!)
29. Frome, England
30. Brampton, England
31. Isle of Wight, England
32. Waiheke Island, New Zealand
33. Orewa, New Zealand
34. Dunbar, Scotland
35. Rhayader, Wales
36. Seaton, England
37. Bath, England
38. Exeter, England
39. Isle of Man
40. Canterbury, England
41. Kapiti District, New Zealand
42. Carbon Neutral Biggar, a Transition Town, Scotland
43. Presteigne, Wales
44. Wolverton, England
45. Leicester, England
46. Holywood, Northern Ireland
47. Westcliff-on-Sea, England
48. Isles of Scilly
49. Liverpool South, England
50. Norwich, England
51. Tring, England
52. Crediton, England
53. Boulder, CO, USA
54. North Howe, Scotland
55. Lampeter, Wales
56. South Petherton, England
57. Armidale, NSW, Australia
58. Chichester, England
59. Bell, VIC, Australia
60. Bellingen, NSW, Australia
61. Berkhamsted, England
62. Forres, Scotland
63. Sandpoint, ID, USA
64. Opotiki Coast, New Zealand
65. Newcastle, NSW, Australia
66. Chepstow, Wales
67. Coventry, England
68. Bungay, England
69. Nelson, New Zealand
70. Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia
71. Dorchester, England
72. New Forest, England
73. Mersea Island, England
74. Maidenhead, England
75. Ladock & Grampound Road, England
76. Leek, England
77. Horsham, England
78. Tynedale, England
79. Stafford, England
80. Chester, England
81. Exmouth, England
82. Cambridge, England
83. Hereford, England
84. Kingston-upon-Thames, England
85. Buxton, England
86. Taunton, England
87. Eudlo, QLD, Australia
88. Kildare, Scotland
89. Ketchum, ID, USA
90. El Manzano, Chile
91. Sydney, NSW
92. Lyons, CO, USA
93. Whanganui, New Zealand
94. Langport, England
95. Sidmouth, England
96. York, England
97. Katoomba, NSW, Australia
98. Louth, England
99. Santa Cruz, CA, USA
100. Fujino, Japan
101. Monteveglio, Italy
102. Arran & Holy Isle, Scotland
103. Ely, England
104. Monmouth, Wales
105. Sampford Peverell, England
106. Berlin, Friedrichshain Kreuzberg, Germany
107. Tunbridge Wells, England
108. Hastings, England
109. Deventer, Netherlands
110. Brooklyn, New Zealand
111. Kilkenny, Ireland
112. Wingecarribee, NSW, Australia
113. Kenmore, QLD, Australia
114. Newton Abbot, England
115. Peterborough, ON, Canada
116. Montpelier, VT, USA
117. Portland, ME, USA
118. Belsize, London, England
119. High Wycombe, England
120. Lancaster, England
121. Sebastopol, CA, USA
122. Bassingbourn, England
123. Leamington Spa, England
124. Sevenoaks, England
125. Chesterfield, England
126. Sheffield, England

(as of 9th January 2009) Taken from the Transition Towns website.