Connecting the Culm – out and about in the community
Connecting the Culm at Uffculme Show in September
Work on developing the blueprint for the River Culm continues. Over the summer the team has been making the most of public events to talk with local communities about the Culm and gather views on the draft blueprint. The team went along to a very sunny Uffculme Show and a rather rainy Honiton Show where our shelter proved its worth!
Uffculme Great Big Green Week’s screening of investigative documentary film, Rivercide, provided an opportunity for Steven and Dominic from the Connecting the Culm team to answer questions about the project.
Storyteller, Clare Viner, sharing tales from the Culm Valley
Young and old alike enjoyed Clare Viner’s storytelling at two recent community events at the Walronds in Cullompton. Clare has been exploring the Culm valley over the summer in search of stories, folktales and myths and enjoyed sharing tales of how Cullompton and the Culm might have got their names, an ancient magic bowl, fishing trips, dragons and spinning wheels.
Read more about Clare’s discoveries and storytelling
A survey has been helping to shape this emerging vision for the River and its catchment. Responses to the survey have been encouraging, demonstrating the potential for catchment improvements, but respondents have also raised concerns about funding, future development and certain farming practices.
We are delighted to report that a variety of nature-based solutions to benefit the River Culm are getting underway on farms and landholdings close to the Culm in the Blackdown Hills AONB. We’ll give you a more detailed update on this in due course.
Looking ahead, the next Connecting the Culm forum will be held on Wednesday 17 November at 4.30pm. At the forum, we’ll be sharing our updated blueprint, and the emerging action plan which shows how the vision of the blueprint can be realised.
Book a place at the Connecting the Culm forum
Connecting the Culm at Honiton Show
