WATER represents the river Erme at first ever Rivers & Moorland Festival
The inaugural Rivers & Moorland Festival was held in Ivybridge on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June. Friday was a day of talks which was superbly curated by Sustainable South Hams and provided a platform for their Rally for Nature campaign.
Since this event was to feature the Erme as one of the principle Moorland rivers, and Ivybridge as a hub town in the centre of the Erme’s catchment, WATER wanted to fully support the festival with a programme of activities. We are grateful to Ivybridge Town Council and South Hams District Council for supporting us.
‘Our River Erme’ – an art competition for primary schools
In the run up to the Festival, WATER’s art competition was for three age groups and was open to all primary schools in the catchment. Winners in each age group not only won a £10 book voucher to spend in the Ivybridge Book Shop, but also won a £50 voucher for their school to buy books.
Announcing the winners at the Festival, judge Laura Denning, an experienced creative from Plymouth University, said it had been really difficult deciding on the winners as there were many inspired entries.
WATER leads the “Standing Up for Our Rivers” theme at the Watermark
In a Festival about moorland rivers we were keen to carry the banner for the Erme. WATER’s presentation covered some of the issues facing the Erme and how the charity was organised into multiple workstreams to meet its objective of improving water quality and habitat across the catchment.
Our presentation was accompanied by a short edit of some of the filming that the Charity has been doing as part of it’s documentary on the river, plus a two minute film of our now infamous river clean by canoe which has clocked up over 72,000 views on social media.
WATER’s presentation was followed by talks from Shelley Castle from Flete Field Labs and Adam Fraser from Westcountry Rivers Trust and together we shared a combined Q&A session.
The charity also had a stand in the Atrium Gallery where visitors could talk to members of the team.
Rain didn’t dampen our enthusiasm on Festival day
When we arrived in Victoria Park on the Saturday to set up our large gazebo, we took one look at the river, swollen by several days of rain, and immediately switched to plan ‘B’.
Plan ‘A’ had been to take invertebrate samples from a riverside location in Longtimber Woods for an interactive exhibit called “Life on the Riverbed.” Plan ‘B’ was to sample from a quiet shallow ford in an Erme tributary – the Lud Brook.
After battling wind and rain to put up the gazebo, and lash it down, we were ready to set up our stand, which the Environment Agency had kindly agreed to share with us along with representatives from Modbury Wildlife Action Group.
Life on the riverbed
Our numerous species of invertebrates were very active. They were probably grateful for the overcast skies and cool temperature. “Life on the Riverbed” was designed to engage children in a kind of aquatic version of a bug hunt. Inspection trays, identifier sheets, magnifiers and pipettes were all on hand, so that our team could help families spot and identify the numerous riverbed creatures they never normally get to see, but which are very good indicators of river health.
“Life on the Riverbed” was a huge hit. We had children and their families on our stand from the time the Festival started at lunchtime to packing up time. Having performed their task admirably (and having enjoyed the weather more than the visitors had) the invertebrates were safely returned to their home in the Lud Brook.
Engaging young people early, means they learn more about the river
“Life on the Riverbed,” which we plan to run in schools, and our children’s art competition, are demonstrations of WATER’s commitment to engagement with young people at every stage of education. The Festival was a great opportunity to do just that.