Parish Council
With the backdrop of a challenging year ahead for many, Finch Foundry reopened in March 2022. Booked guided tours returned, these proved popular once again. Our visitor number were less than we expected during the season, this was not just a local trend, many National Trust sites and other visitor led operations were seeing the same occur over the course of the year.
The Roundhouse (previously the tea-room) saw a new lease of life, we used this space for new endeavours. We welcomed artists and installed a second-hand bookshop in latter part of the year. This certainly proved popular with visitors and local community. With the tea-room not reopening, we were very keen to help promote local businesses that provide food and drink, we regularly encourage visitors to use these facilities. As many of you will know, the Roundhouse encountered some opportune break in attempts, this it seems was part of a more local scene of vandalism, thankfully we have not encountered any more. I would like to thank all that showed support to not only us but the local community as well.
St. Clements day returned in November; this was very well attended. The local Blacksmithing community were on form once again to work with us in producing a brilliant day. Thank you to everyone who supported this important date in the local calendar.
2023 season started on 22 March and finishes on 29 October. This year started with the cleaning of the leat, this was well supported and a lovely way to start the year of community involvement. A revamp of the gallery area and Carpenters shop followed in February, we’re looking to focus more on the family that owned Finch Foundry, the local community spirit and the tools that were made here. We would like to start collecting some oral histories from residents that remember the history of Finch Foundry. The StOC, group along with one of our Rangers, spent a day hedge laying along one side of the secret pathway, this took some considerable time, but the effects are a resounding success.
The Roundhouse has once again been turned into a second-hand bookshop this year, if you have any unwanted books, we would be very interested in them. We have some artists that we are working with, they will be installing a pop-up exhibition during September in the outdoor spaces of Finch.
We rely, as all National Trust places do, on our Volunteers to help us look after our places, Finch Foundry is no different. They help us run the guided tours, by telling the story of Finch Foundry from the beginnings to present day. Part of the tour is a working demonstration of the machinery, which for many is one of the best bits.
We have two volunteer gardeners and have taken on our very first bookshop volunteer. If you’re interested in volunteering, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This year we are looking at how we can best use the bottom of Mill Meadow (the old fire show area). Our Volunteer gardeners and the StOC group have been busy over the course of many months clearing this site to keep it trimmed back and looking so much better. Current thoughts are to investigate turning this section into a small peaceful area that visitors and the community can enjoy.
Very much like Finch Foundry, Lydford Gorge had a challenging start to 2022. The Waterfall walks reopened in March, the Devils Cauldron walk followed much later in August due to bridge and handrail testing, this was the first time this path had been opened since 2019. Visitor numbers were slightly down on what we expected during the year, numbers recovered with the opening of the full gorge opening during late summer.
The second-hand book shop in 2022 surpassed expectations. The bookshops sits in the former retail space, this does allow for a greater space than most National Trust second-hand bookshops. The revenue from the bookshop stays within the property this allows us to use these funds on conservation projects within Lydford Gorge. One of these projects was to rebuild a section of the river path. This section was starting to be undercut by the river, we had to shut this path just before the October half term for safety reasons.
Early 2023 started with work on this section, the Ranger team faced many challenges whilst getting this work completed, the full gorge trail reopens on 12 May.
The main site opened on 10 March; visitor numbers are better than the same period as last year which is encouraging for the rest of the year.
The second-hand bookshop is still a huge draw. Much like the bookshop at Finch Foundry we rely on donations of unwanted books. We have redesigned a section to provide some seating for those who would like somewhere to sit and relax. We have also installed a TV in this space to allow us to highlight the conservation work undertaken to keep the Gorge walks open.
One of the many projects we are wanting to look at this year, is to gather information on railway line that ran through Lydford until the 1960’s. Part of the old line is now part of the Waterfall walks, we are interested to gain some knowledge regarding this section, to enable better interpretation for our visitors.
Volunteering is strong within the Ranger team, we still however have some volunteering opportunities within the second-hand bookshop, and visitor welcome areas. Please get in touch if you are interested in getting involved or visit the National Trust volunteering site.
We are starting to test out potential community links for Lydford. We are hosting creative writing workshops in partnership with Learn Devon, welcoming local carers as part of Carers Week in partnership with Devon Carers and continuing our connection with the local primary school.