Riverside Walkway Revitalised

New outdoor gallery

Sit or stroll through past, present and future - every artwork tells a tale. From Triassic to today. From dinosaur footprints to shoals of mackerel and migrating eels. From fishing and boating heritage to the River Sid's life-giving biodiversity and bringing the community together on the Ham. 

Along the walkway, a new gallery explores historic and contemporary themes:

• Ancient coastline - fossils and traces of the Triassic period
• Fishing heritage - lives and times of a vibrant fishing community
• River Sid biodiversity - its unique flora, fauna and ecosystem
• Ham history - this space enjoyed across Sidmouth generations

The Riverside Walkway gallery tells a story through the ages led by the artwork designed by Emma Molony and the community:

From Triassic to today, the flora, fauna, fossils and footprints that call our coastline community home.

Wherever the river and its tributaries flow, water brings life to the Sid Valley.

With the ocean calling, eels crossed Sidmouth beach on an incredible 4,500-mile migration to the Sargasso Sea.

From Peak Hill, spotters guided fishermen to once plentiful shoals of herring and mackerel.

When the fish stocks were thriving so were the many fishing families of Sidmouth. The fishermen, each known by their nickname, would be poised for a haul with boats and nets at the ready.

Stephen Reynolds' 1908 book, "A Poor Man's House", charted the loves, lives and hard-earned living of the fisher folk.

A sea marsh harnessed, the gas works fuelled us, the Alma Bridge connected and The Ham became our playground.

Oceans apart and bygone worlds infused with the biodiversity we see around us.

Across the ages, a community connected and a coastline shaped by nature's past and present.

Soaring and diving, swimming and flying, this fragile ecosystem delights.  What will our future footprint be?

Thanks and further information

We're grateful for the support of Nigel Hyman (SVA and former Sidmouth Museum Curator), Ed Dolphin (Sid Valley Biodiversity Group) and Jon Ball (Sidmouth Arboretum) for their insights and input into local history and biodiversity in and around Sidmouth. Thanks also to Sidmouth Town Council with whom we have worked closely on this project and the staff of InFocus - the vision impairment and complex needs charity for their guidance.

We are also grateful for the input of the many young people from Sidmouth, from InFocus and from Sidmouth College, who took part in the project, learning, sharing and creating with us - inspired by the nature around us and of course indebted to our lead Artist-Printmaker Emma Malony

To watch a film by Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub about Sidmouth's fishing heritage view Working the Sea

To find out more about the biodiversity of the River Sid visit Sid Valley Biodiversity Group

To find out more about the trees in our unique civic arboretum visit Sidmouth Arboretum - Caring for the trees of the Sid Valley

To find out more about the heritage of our town visit SIDMOUTH MUSEUM

To find out more about the conservation and heritage activities of the Sid Vale Association visit River Sid (sidvaleassociation.org.uk)

To find out more about the story of Rosa's Footprint by author Jo Earlam visit The Story - TH!NK FOOTPRINT (thinkfootprint.org)

New Brass rubbing trail

A trail of nine plates featuring flora and fauna that reflect the biodiversity of Sidmouth and the River Sid. Brass rubbing trail packs are available from the Sidmouth Tourism Information Centre. This part of the project aims to connect us with nature in a tactile way, encouraging us to cherish and take care of this beautiful wellbeing space.

Riverside Walkway Revitalised

Along with the brass rubbing trail and outdoor galleries, many improvements have revitalised this space for walking, learning, or just sitting and enjoying the surroundings where the Sid meets the sea:

• Lighting - new bat-friendly lighting to balance safety and biodiversity
• Railings - in-keeping with the materials used on the Alma bridge 
• Seating - new seating handpainted with designs inspired by community workshops
• Planters - courtesy of our friends at Sidmouth in Bloom
• Signage - linking the walkway to the South West Coast Path and the Byes Riverside Park.

Community-inspired art and memories

The artworks featured in the artboard galleries and the brass rubbing plates were created through community involvement. Print maker Emma Molony led a series of art workshops with students from Sidmouth College and In Focus, and people living with dementia and their carers at the Memory Cafe, plus patrons of the Oasis Cafe at the Dissenters. Each workshop welcomed people from across the generations to learn, talk, share and make together:

• A print workshop led by Emma at the Sid Valley Biodiversity Festival saw 40 children and families attending. The Sensory Garden on the Ham was an ideal location - the experience of making and creating in nature was mindful, creative and joyful. Plants and flowers from the garden provided inspiration and everyone had an opportunity to create prints.
• Emma worked with over 90 Year 7, 8 and 9s at Sidmouth College introducing them to the project, its themes and different print techniques. The students explored wildlife in the River Sid and created monographs and collagraphs of local creatures and their habitats including Danish Scurvy Grass found on Sidmouth Beach.
  
• Two workshops with Sidmouth's Memory Cafe gave people with memory loss and their carers opportunities to talk about Sidmouth's rich fishing heritage. Topics included childhood memories of fishing, boats and community togetherness. Followed by print making with nets, seaweed and shells and collagraphs of fish that were once the daily catch.

All this work filtered through into the design of the outdoor galleries, brass rubbing trail and handpainted seating. Check out the fabulous prints and photos from our workshops.

We are grateful for the support for this project from all our funders and partners