Returning to my roots
It has been a joy to return to some of my most favourite places this autumn, helping Cornwall Wildlife Trust prepare an interpretation plan for their NLHF-funded Tor to Shore project.
I am proudly Cornish born and bred, but I don’t spend nearly enough time in my ‘motherland’. This project has been the perfect excuse to revisit the coast and hills around beautiful St Austell Bay on the south coast of the county, where my family still lives. From the granite peak of Helman Tor, through lush Luxulyan Valley to the fishing villages and harbours of the Bay, the Tor to Shore project is helping local people discover and enjoy the nature on their doorstep and working in partnership with landowners, farmers and fishers to help nature thrive.
Past and present industry, from mining and china clay production to fishing and tourism, loom large in this dramatic landscape and have shaped both the place and its people. While this area is rich with cultural and natural beauty, and it is popular with tourists and second home owners, it is also one of the most deprived parts of the UK. The CWT team are working hard to help ensure this is an inspiring area to live and work in and visit, giving nature a helping hand to flourish alongside farming, fishing and tourism. It is also focussing on ensuring local communities can feel a greater sense of ownership and pride in their green (and blue) spaces, and can more easily access and enjoy nature close to home.
CWT has brought native livestock back to the Helman Tor Nature Reserve to help manage the land more naturally, and beavers have made their own way there. The Tor to Shore project is helping create a network of habitats that stretches from the flourishing nature reserve, along the Par River, down to the shore and beneath the waves, by promoting and enhancing the landscape, wildlife and human connections between healthy catchments, waterways, shoreline and sea. Working together in this way is good for everyone, and I’m thrilled to be part of the process.
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