In search of bogs, carbon giants and other peaty gems!
On Bog Day (27th July 2025) we told stories of moss and peat filled landscapes to launch Peat-Fest South-West. On that very special day, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, locals, peatland specialists, dancers, scientists and artists and many more people of all ages came together to celebrate the beginning of a festival of events that will celebrate more about the Southwest regional peatland landscapes, particularly with young people.
We based ourselves at STERTS Arts and Environmental Centre for the day - a hub for the environmental arts in a part of Cornwall between Launceston, Liskeard and Bodmin.
We first toured the Festival in photographs with the help from peatland restorers and RE-PEAT - wet fens to boggy valleys, moorland and pocket peatland mires. Such a fantastic range of South-West peatlands that need our love and support.
Far Flung dancers performed The Mossy Story written by Micha Columbo. A beautiful poetic collaborative piece that has Jay and his gran meet Tina the Tardigrade, the Carbon Giant and Moss. Everyone realises the sum of all their small actions makes a big difference to their world.
The Virtual Peatlands Pavilion was present for all to explore with the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. The virtual pavilion is where we will be storing all the digital elements that come from this festival for future use.
We walked a route in search of bogs around Minions (the highest village in Cornwall about a mile from STERTS Environmental Arts Centre). We found evidence of human habitation going back 6000 years, we found industrial remains, mines, buildings, railway lines. The whole village built on the copper mining exploits from 200 years ago. There was a murmer among the group that the industrial buildings also housed dragons.
And then we found bogs beginning to form in dips and hollows of this landscape - what is a bog? we asked. It is wet and watery they answered. Low in nutrients and full of degraded plant matter, especially bog moss, I said. . Where is the sphagnum peat forming moss?. How can we tell a bog is healthy? We had additional expertise from Rachael Land, Southwest Peatland Partnership and Pete Davies, peatland ranger from the National Trust in Dartmoor, as well as a Cornish Bryologist Matt Stribley. It turns out that a healthy peat bog needs to remain wet and damp and be constantly growing. The first two ‘bogs’ were not that.
A very low percentage of peat based landscape is healthy and this short walk made us consider that. Peat is so significant in holding carbon (the carbon giant) underground, spreading resilience to climate change, acting as a flood reduction sponge and a filter for our drinking water.
By the end of the walk we had found some truly boggy land, full of sphagnum , it wobbled under foot, it had sundew, it had a chance as long as the water table didn’t get too low.
(Walk images below credit: Rachael Milliner / RE-PEAT).
Back at the STERTS centre we found mossy carpet, a healthy and an unwell bog in containers to explore and bog moss activities still on, alongside a silent disco of Re-PEATs audio bog poetry. Another showing of The Mossy Story and more tea and cake. What a great way to complete the launch of Peat-Fest South-West. All of us holding on to the hope and love that we have for peatlands and their role in burying the Carbon giant, and giving us the inspiration that every small moss like action helps to make our future better.
Images above credit Rachael Milliner / RE-PEAT.
Thanks to all the delivery teams, IUCN Peatland Programme and RE-PEAT for coming along to start the Peat-Fest in a friendly and gentle way. If you are interested in getting involved, attending a workshop, lending a hand for peat, please get in touch with hello@artandenergy.org!
Also thanks go to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and lottery players for supporting this event.
“ Thank you for the invite and for such a lovely time at Sterts. Everything and everyone was wonderful. It was great to gain some real insight without feeling like I was back at school or having information forced onto me. It’s a fine balance to strike, but I thought the event handled it brilliantly.”
Peat-Fest South-West launch event feedback sheet
