Routeways and Connections aims to engage communities in a physical and hands on way, with the heritage of the Kingswear and Brixham Peninsula, employing a range of creative and innovative tools and approaches. This project will take place between March and June 2015.

The Brixham and Kingswear Peninsula straddles several key organisational boundaries - with National Trust land, Torbay Council, South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust all providing a wide range of hugely rich historical and natural environments. The area has nationally important nature conservation sites with key colonies of Greater Horseshoe Bat and Guillemots as well as highly special Limestone areas that provide a vital habitat for wild flowers. Criss-crossing the land are flyways that provide feeding ground for the bats, as well as small permissive pathways, hidden heronries, rare flowers and a mixture of farmland producing everything from eggs to beef to barely. A rich military and maritime history dates back to Napoleonic Times at Berry Head with Battery Park near Brixham and Froward Point near Kingswear providing key outlooks during World War 2.

This project will focus on finding creative ways for participants to engage with this diverse and exceptional heritage. The main themes will include exploration, observation, recording and mapping across the peninsula. It will explore people’s stories about their relationship to the landscape of the peninsula in the past, present and future and to the human and non-human routes and pathways criss-crossing the area.

Discovery and observation visits to local areas will be led by the lead artist and local team and involve guided walks, music, food, celebration and contemplation. During these sessions participants will be recording their thoughts, observations and inspiration from the site and share stories of living in the area and how it has changed.

The variety of data gathered will cut through geographical/man-made boundaries, historical layers and the different web of human travel/needs and pressures that the area has faced both in the past and currently. Stories, images and data collected will go towards a record of information on journeys and encounters through the peninsular. This rich narrative will be shared through a mixture of exhibits and performances towards the end of the project.

Routeways and Connections is a partnership project between Encounters, South Devon Area of Outstanding Beauty, Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, the National Trust, Lupton Trust, and local community organisations and is part of the multi-agency Green Infrastructure project taking place across Torbay. Encounters Associate, Shelley Castle is the lead artist on this project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Kingswear Parish Council and the South Devon AONB.

Routeways is proud to be part of the Creative Torbay Community.

Download the Project Leaflet