People and the evolving landscape in the Lower Otter Valley









With our landscape currently being battered by unusually stormy weather the forthcoming talk should be of special interest.

Dr Sam Bridgewater, Conservation Manager of the Pebblebed Heaths, and David Daniel of the Otter Valley Association will talk about the way human settlement and economic activity interact with the underlying geology and ecology of the Lower Otter Valley, to produce the landscape we see today.

Their talks will be based on presentations they were asked to give to a group of landscape and engineering third year students from Bath University as background to a project being conducted in collaboration with Bicton College.

David Daniel is well known as a speaker on the history and geography of the Lower Otter Valley.

Dr Bridgewater has been Nature Conservation Manager for the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths (EDPH) and the River Otter Estuary since November 2012. He is responsible for the management of the 2,800 acres of heaths - which lie between Exeter and the Jurassic Coast - and are registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a European Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Jointly presented by the Otter Valley Association and Fairlynch Museum, the event will take place on Saturday 15 February 2014 from 10.00 am to 12.30 pm in the Peter Hall, Budleigh Salterton, next to St Peter's Parish Church.

 Coffee will be available during the interval.



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