Cotswold Water Park Trust

Current ALSF projects

ALSF Project summaries

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Cleveland Lakes Visitor Infrastructure and Active Interpretation Strategy

The Ammonite Pools feasibility project completed in April 2009, raised various questions and issues. In response to community interest in and concern about the infrastructure required to sustain the Cleveland Lakes restoration project, this project will:

• Commission a specialist consultant (JDD Consulting) to produce a visitor infrastructure strategy
• In partnership with XOR, a digital interpretation company, to work with professionals including geologists, historians, ecologists, artists and also the community to develop an ’active’ interpretation strategy

As part of this project, an interactive game has been developed in conjunction with media students from Cirencester College, and Year 5 pupils from Ann Edwards School South Cerney. To access this game click on link below.
Play Game

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Digital Interpretation at Cleveland Lakes - The Way Teller

Background

Wayteller is a new products from Xor Systems, which has spun out of work done with Cadw, in particular, at Raglan Castle and also at White Castle, both in Monmouthshire. Exploring new means of delivering content to visitors to the multitude of sites owned by Cadw involved trialling a Bluetooth based system that got an extremely favourable response from the public.
An important aspect of the system is that information is delivered to the visitor according to their location. The information varies according to location. Information is both temporal and location sensitive providing information relevant to the site.
Wayteller is an electronic signpost. A simple box is designed to sit on top of a standard signpost pole, in the expectation that there are already signposts available. The unit is ‘green’ and self-powered, because it contains a solar panel. This makes installation simple. Acceptance is free.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is used to transfer an audio file (an MP3 file) to a mobile phone. The user is first asked for permission and this happens automatically, and the transfer begins once they accept it. It takes around 20 seconds, depending on the size of the file. The user can then play the audio file on their phone. The appeal is that the users provide the audio device, they are responsible for checking there is enough battery charge and they can take it away at the end of the day.

Content

The aim is to provide an informative and entertaining experience - an experience that will stay in the memory. The narrative is designed for different points of an information ‘story’ according to the planned location for the Wayteller devices. Thus a picture is built up of the area. Audio is an effective way to deliver memorable information, especially if it is done well. Humans have a long history of aural story telling.

The content for the Cleveland Lakes project was developed with archaeologist, educational ecologist and artist (poet) working with the young people of Anne Edwards School, South Cerney. From the workshops a narrative and creative writing developed, resulting in four short audio pieces, refined and rehearsed to an appropriate timing for the visitor. Each piece is 60 seconds. Formal information provides the archaeological and overall introduction and it is then followed by three poems.

Location

An interpretation site was chosen that gave views of the whole length of the lakes and with the working aggregates industry site opposite but was approximately half a mile from the nearest formal interpretation board commissioned by the Cotswold Water Park Trust.

To find the ‘wayteller’ walk directly from Waterhay Car park into Cleveland Lakes (do not take the Thames Path) and the wayteller is on your right at the head of the lake.

The system consists of a simple post attached to which is a solar powered digital audio system. This triggers blue tooth receptions on mobile phones. Someone walking past the system, carrying a mobile , will automatically come within range, and their blue tooth will announce to them with a ‘ping’ or similar, that a file can be downloaded.

If they respond and answer ‘yes’ to the question about download, then the audio information on the digital system will be delivered to their mobile phones.

A “Step by Step” guide to ‘ how to do it’ is attached to the post.

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Click on image to enlarge

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C Mick Orr

Community Evaluation

We are keen for you to feedback YOUR comments on this digital interpretation system – tell us what you think?

Does it complement the Information Boards?
Could you hear it?
Did it work?
Should it be longer, shorter, more factual, or more poetic?
What else do you think?

Please send your comments in using the form below

Send us your comments

Name:

E-mail Address:

Comments:

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We will also continue with the community evaluation process involving individuals and groups. The most important of the groups was a older women’s walking , the “Walky Talkies” from South Cerney who had participated in an earlier digital interpretation trial in 2008 involving the Cotswold Water Park Society art programme “In Our Element” and the Universities of Gloucestershire and Bath. They compared both systems.

NOTE

Wi Fi will be added in another couple of months to improve access for smart phones.

With support from XOR Cirencester and Aggregates Sustainability Levy Fund through Natural England
www.xor.co.uk

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Cleveland Lakes - securing the future

Part of the long term development plan for Cleveland Lakes will include:

Visitor/discovery centre – aimed at engaging visitors and informing them about the area and the changes that have resulted from gravel extraction
Changing rooms showers and toilets
Meeting room / Office accommodation for resident staff / Cafe and room for event spectators
Car parking / Boat storage

The business model for the site proposes that in addition to use by rowers, canoeists and dragon boat racers a key part of the plan would be to encourage use of the site by local communities and visitors to the area.

Aggregate Industries has recently decided that it would sell off all its potential sites in the UK; the Society pre-emption land is part of one of the sites. In order to realise its vision for Cleveland Lakes, the Society must purchase a parcel of land from Aggregate Industries and failure to do so will force a complete re-design of the scheme.

This project covers the costs of land purchase and associated legal fees.

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Biodiversity Data Officer

This 12 month post will enable the Society to improve the collection and reporting of biological data in the CWP, a vital element of the current work of the Society. This work will also provide benefits for fundraising, BAP reporting, biodiversity enhancement through the planning system etc. Leonie Washington Campbell has been appointed as the new Data Officer. If anyone would like any further information about this project please contact Gareth Harris on gareth.harris@waterpark.org or leoniew@waterpark.org