Re-branding Rural Devon

Caterham Geographers at Dartington

Transition Town Totnes hit the headlines with its battle against corporate takeover when it defeated plans by Costa Coffee to open a branch in the town. The High Street is well known for its independent shops and businesses and locals wanted to keep it that way so they campaigned to keep Costa out. In the end, the company decided to withdraw its plans and get some positive publicity by listening to the people. It remains to be seen if this is the end of the story.

The town has branded itself as a destination for people interested in good food, with monthly food markets and competitions.

 

Transition Towns is an international network of communities which "have started up projects in areas of food, transport, energy, education, housing, waste, arts etc. as small-scale local responses to the global challenges of climate change, economic hardship and shrinking supplies of cheap energy." (transition network.org). Totnes is part of this network and a good idea of what this involves can be found at their website, http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/. All around town there are signs of raising the profile of ideas such as "incredible edibles", planters where herbs and soft fruits can be picked at will by passers-by. This is linked to the idea of community gardens. It would be easy for conservatives to sneer at these attempts as woolly-minded gestures, however that would be foolish given the news being filled with the failures of big business and the gloomy projections of the future after Peak Oil. Knowing the provenance of food is becoming increasingly important for many people, especially when considering the horse-meat fiasco!

An incredible edibles planter on Steamer Quay, Totnes.

Converted warehouses on the Dart at Totnes

Totnes upper town, home to the concentration of independent businesses.

Another aspect of rural re-branding is the diversification of farming into other areas. A good example of this was seen at Riverford Organics, suppliers of veg boxes around the country. 

The Riverford Organics farm shop at Staverton, to the north of Totnes.

An alternative vision is the Dartington Cider Press, which started as a venue for local artists but has since developed into a complex of shops selling tourist goods such as aromatics, food, crystal and ceramics. It is claimed profits go to support the trust's charitable activities. Both fit in with the ethos of keeping wealth within the local area. This is true of transition Towns as well. The Totnes Pound is designed to help participating businesses keep the wealth they generate within the local economy. 

The ideas seen certainly give food for thought.

Start Bay Management

Ready for an 8km hike along the coast

Start Bay has to have one of the most beautiful of England's coastlines. Stretching from Start Point northwards, it has headlands, shingle bars, freshwater lagoons, attractive villages and even the lost village of Hallsands. 

This last place was the scene of a Victorian melodrama, where honest fisher-folk were pitted against the power of an industrialist's money, the Royal Navy and the machinations of a secretive and uncaring British government. Needless to say, the villagers lost, their village was destroyed by the sea, their compensation meagre and justice denied by the government's suppression of a report that recommended a far more generous settlement. The story is told very well by new interpretation boards on the viewing platform overlooking the ruins. The full story can be seen at the excellent website, .http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/hallsands6.html. 

The remains of Hallsands village - from the viewing platform.

On to North Hallsands, where the cottages were built to rehouse some of the displaced inhabitants of the abandoned Hallsands. The beach sediment is exceptionally low and it has exposed layers of peat which are normally covered by shingle. It makes the tragedy of Hallsands even easier to visualise when compared with previous years, as the following two photos show.

North Hallsands beach 11.02.2009

North Hallsands beach 12.02.2013

At the village of Beesands, the picture was the same, the beach being dramatically lower than in previous years.

Beesands showing the exposed rock armour in front of the sea wall.

The rock armour and sea wall 12.02.13 and compare this with the photo below taken in roughly the same place (look for orange rock).

Beesands 09.02.11

On to Torcross and the dramatic fall in beach level has exposed the foundations of the large sea wall constructed after the storm of January 1979 nearly destroyed the village.

 

(Video courtesy of Slapton Field Centre)

These photos show the situation.

View north 12.02.13 - the sea-wall foundations are exposed.

Torcross beach on 11th February 2009 - the shingle is piled up against the wave return wall.

Torcross beach 12.02.13 - the same spot as above - note the derrick which is also just visible on the left hand side of the photo above. The beach must be about 3m lower than in 2009.

Shingle bastion at the Monument car park. A soft engineering method that replenishes the beach with material ferried down from the northern end at Strete Gate.  Longshore drift will carry it northwards again, so keeping the beach material within its sediment cell.

Slapton Ley 12.02.13

Paragliders near Start Point.

Rebranding Plymouth

Starting the day on The Hoe

Plymouth being situated on the South-west Peninsula faces challenges, especially since the contraction of the naval dockyards at Devonport. The fact that it is on the way to Cornwall presents problems as there is little incentive for new business to locate there. As a result, the city has had to look for ways to re-brand itself as a university city, a service centre and a tourist destination.

The city centre was flattened during the bombing raids of the Second World War and rebuilt in the "contemporary" style of the post-war concensus. Many people would see it as a concrete jungle but the wide boulevards and low-rise blocks give it a sense of light, space and elegance not seen in many British cities. Coming down off The Hoe onto Armada Way presents a very pleasing aspect framed with  classic low blocks, one being the Dingles department store (now House of Fraser). However, there is a very definite division into two halves. Below Armada Way towards the Pannier Market, the shops are of a lower status and the atmosphere is not helped by the large, still empty units that once housed Woolworths and Derry's Department Store. There have been attempts to re-brand this area at Frankfort Gate as the "independent quarter". Time will show if this will be a success. 

Pawn-brokers, money lenders and cheap shops near the Market.

The Frankfort Gate entrance to the Market - new paving and road surfaces designed to smarten up the area.

Go up the hill from Armada Way and the picture is very different for we are in "clone town" territory. Most of the usual chain stores are to be seen and this reaches its climax in the shiny new glass, steel and crazy angles of the Drake Circus development - the usual private enclosed space found in most city centres, patrolled by security guards to keep out the undesirables and those without money to spend. The lower end of town might be a little tired but it is public space and this contrasts with the privatised zone at the other end of the city centre. This development replaced a run-down area of 60's shopping precinct that had been left behind by changing fashion. How long will the new style last?

The gateway to retail heaven - the south entrance to Drake Circus shopping centre.

By contrast, the old centre of Plymouth, The Barbican, which to be found around Sutton Harbour, has become very smart through re-branding. The harbour-side is now full of tasteful greys, chalk white and sage green as the old boozers have been replaced by bistros and delicatessen styled "kitchens". The new aquarium adds a focus to the increasingly tourist-orientated area. 

"Foodie" paradise - a row of re-branded pubs and dining venues in the Barbican.

Finally, on to the once derelict Royal William Yard in the area of Stonehouse. At the wrong end of the notorious Union Street, the area was one of intense deprivation. However, the faded Georgian houses on Durnford Street were recognised for their potential and a slow process of gentrification started to rejuvenate the area. However, vacant since 1992, the great hulking Grade 1 listed site of the old Royal Naval Victualling complex presented a challenge on an enormous scale. Misguided plans for a factory outlets shopping scheme were thwarted by the poor access onto its peninsula site. Subsequent redevelopment by Urban Splash is beginning to breath life back into the area and the site is showing sign of activity after a long and quiet gestation. Recent opening have included a wine merchant, hairdresser, clothes shop and a branch of the River Cafe. However, now the chains are now homing in, with spaces booked for Wagamama and Las Iguanas. It is a shame that they wait for others to take the risk, them move in and ultimately crowd out the independents. A sign of the times!

A corner of the Royal William Yard