Lower Sid

As the River Sid completes its journey, flowing gently through the familiar seaside town of Sidmouth to meet the English Channel, it passes through a world many visitors and residents rarely see. Beyond the charming streets and bustling promenade lies a hidden landscape, a vibrant "blue corridor" of life that carves its way through the valley. This is a place where nature is both resilient and rich, a secret haven tucked within a beloved coastal resort.

This lower stretch of the river and its surrounding valley are a core part of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is not one single environment but a complex mosaic of distinct habitats, each with its own unique community of wild residents. This is a landscape with a long memory, one whose story of change has been recorded for over 170 years, beginning with the meticulous work of a Victorian doctor named W.H. Cullen.

The River Sid itself is an aquatic lifeline, home to a variety of fish species, including migratory salmon and trout. These remarkable fish face an upstream battle against man-made weirs in their quest to reach their spawning grounds. This challenge has inspired community-led conservation efforts, such as the "Opening The Sid" project, which aims to adapt these structures to give the fish a fighting chance to reproduce.

This abundance of fish naturally attracts predators. A patient observer might be rewarded with the flash of a kingfisher, the determined bobbing of a dipper, or even the sleek, elusive form of an otter. These species depend on a healthy fish population to survive, making them excellent indicators of the river's overall health.

Beneath the surface, an unseen world of invertebrates provides the foundation for this ecosystem. Surveys have found creatures like mayflies and waterbugs living in the river. These small creatures are not only a vital food source for fish and birds but also act as key indicators of water quality; their presence signals a healthy, functioning river system.

Where the freshwater of the Sid meets the salt of the sea, a unique and hardy ecosystem emerges. The beach, estuary, and nearby cliffs create a challenging environment where only specialised, salt-tolerant plants, known as halophytes, can thrive.

This coastal fringe is decorated with a surprising variety of wildflowers. A beautiful carpet of Sea Campion (Silene uniflora) and the delicate pink clusters of Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima) can be found, alongside the brilliant blue, bee-friendly spires of Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare).

This area is also a forager's delight, home to edible plants like Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris maritima), a wild relative of beetroot and chard, and the once-prized Regency delicacy, Sea Kale. While native species cling to this exposed environment, they are sometimes joined by non-native colonists. The South African Sour Fig (Carpobrotus edulis), a newcomer to our shores, has established itself on the cliff faces—a sight Dr. Cullen would not have recorded in his 1849 survey.

The lower River Sid tells a story written over centuries. While some of the "plentiful" and "abundant" species noted by Dr. Cullen in Victorian times have dwindled, the valley is not a relic but a living, evolving landscape.

The work of passionate local conservation groups and volunteers is now writing the next chapter, actively protecting and enhancing this precious biodiversity for future generations. Their vision reminds us that small, collective actions can have a powerful and lasting impact on the natural world around us.

If every garden had a pond and a wild flower patch, if every field had a metre of uncultivated headland, if every hedge was maintained in a sustainable way, our beautiful valley would continue to have a wealth of wildlife, whatever was happening elsewhere.