A healthy nature walk around Brightlingsea
Excited to announce the launch of my latest walk Natural Brightlingsea – A healthy nature walk around Brightlingsea.
It was conceived as part of the ‘Paths to Prosperity’ Project run by Essex County Council.
This walk, created by The Public Art Company in engagement with Level Best who offer adults with learning difficulties purposeful work experience.
One of their trainees took me on a guided walk which she had done locally every day during lockdown and we started from there… I also visited the Level Best team to give progress report on its creation. It was important to me that the final version also had a fully accessible version for those doing it on wheels!
The project fitted in nicely with Brightlingsea Town Councils goals to address accessibility in the town moving forward.
with local accessability scooter users trying out the accessible walk for the first time.
Engaging with the local community and Town Council, content was gathered with kind help from local naturalist Roger Tabor, a mine of information about all things nature and in truth we could have created five more signs with the amount of information he gave me when we did the walk together.
Also accompanying us was local wildlife activist Susie Jenkins, who runs arts workshops with natural themes in the town, so giving lots of inspiration and content to work with.
Their content led me to create this healthy walk for all abilities, taking in ‘Seven of the Natural Wonders of Brightlingsea!’
Hand made and finished by our talented craftsmen!
The final walk takes in plants that have been eaten locally since the early days of the local fishing industry, diverse bird life, the rare habitat of yellow meadow ants and traditional seaside fair including shore crabs and moon jelly fish!
The project was kindly supported by plus Brightlingsea Museum who gave us their valuable input throughout the design process and generously allowed us to fit the sign in their gardens.
Sara Hayes
The Public Art Company
Project: Natural Brightlingsea – A healthy nature walk around Brightlingsea
Launch: 22.10.22
Partners: ECC, Coastal Communities Fund, Brightlingsea Museum, Brightlingsea Town Council, Level Best Art Café.