Our Land Flows… from Peat to Pipe

We all drink water! When you turn on your tap, think ‘Peat’! 

While it is hot and dry, do you wonder where your drinking water comes from?  If it is pouring with rain, do you worry about flooding?   When did you last ponder the power in water? 

Our wet peatlands in moor and fen are crucially acting as a filter to clean our drinking water, they are a sponge  slowing the flow of water to reduce risk of flooding, and they support a rich collection of plants and animals that keep the habitat healthy. 

Our Land Flows, from Peat to Pipe, will share and celebrate the role of water in nature for both urban, rural and farming communities, speaking to its impact on health, habitats, and cultural heritage.   

This summer and autumn, with the support of a Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grant from Dartmoor National Park, we will explore our reliance on  Dartmoor's varied landscape and habitats, from peat bogs and mires to the deep river valleys that flow with water in the natural and human formed infrastructure.   

Dartmoor Preservation Association has also given an Access Grant towards this project for encouraging more people to help conserve this landscape heritage.

Our Land Flows will also be focusing on the history and heritage of the leats that were constructed hundreds of years ago to transport water to for the people of Plymouth and power the working mills. 

Find out more about Our Land Flows, including our latest news and our upcoming events below: 

Drake’s Leat full of water. Credit Dartmoor Preservation Association.