Budleigh Past and Present

Flour milling machinery at Otterton Mill We always enjoy walking north from Budleigh Salterton along the River Otter, learning slowly about birds as we go. An exciting moment came a few days ago when what I dumbly assumed was a flock of pigeons settling on the water meadows turned out to be a crowd of curlews. And after a few miles there's the wonderful and ancient Otterton Mill to explore, with its restored mill machinery, flour milling, art galleries, shop, café and restaurant. The Mill, run by Simon and Caroline Spiller, is proud of its strong traditions of local sourcing and environmental conservation so I wasn't surprised to see that last November it was one of four finalists in the Food and Farming category of The Devon Environmental Business Initiative (DEBI). This networking organisation, supported by bodies like the Environment Agency, The Met Office, Devon County Council and South West Water has been recognising Devon based businesses with strong environmental practic...