Field Trip to Lightmoor, Forest of Dean

  6th October 2014

We were blessed with glorious weather on Tuesday’s field trip to Lightmoor, deep in the Forest of Dean.  This former colliery site is the focus of Sustainable Technology 2, a module exploring the environmental development of a brownfield, contaminated landscape punctuated by three significant spoil heaps.  On site, our Conversion and Second Year students were set the task of conducting a full site survey, encouraging them to investigate professional techniques in compiling topographical, hydrological, climatic, soils and vegetative information, whilst assessing the landscape character and recording views.

 

As we explored the site, butterflies, damselflies and kingfishers darted by and we kept a close eye out for the wild boar that roam the woods.  Once the survey work was completed, we hiked across country to Mallard’s Pike, a local precedent, where a similar site has been transformed into a recreational public woodland with a lake and also the home of Go Ape.

 

A choice of two briefs offers an opportunity for students to design mixed use development with either a residential Well-being Centre or a residential Forest Outdoor Activities Centre, integrating SUDS, sustainable construction and planting techniques, whilst gracefully enhancing the landscape, integrating their proposals into the historic, ecological environment of the Forest.  I can’t wait to see their final schemes!