Golitha Falls Access and Experience

Sensory Trust was commissioned by Natural England to improve the accessibility of the Golitha Falls site and identify areas of improvement to the experience so that many more visitors can use and enjoy this special place. The work involved site reviews to identify existing barriers to access at Golitha Falls and local consultation to gain a better understanding of how people want to use and enjoy the site. Consultation focused on disabled access groups, older people with dementia and young people with learning disabilities. Carers and companions were also asked to participate and to share their views.

Golitha Falls is a beautiful wooded river valley on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. It is a SSSI site due to the presence of rare species of bryophytes. The site covers 18 hectares although the vast majority of visitors congregate around the river. The site currently receives between 70,000 and 80,000 visitors a year.

Enriching the visitor experience and ensuring good access to the range of experiences on offer requires an understanding of the qualities that a site offers and the different ways in which people want to use it. While this is especially valuable for people who rely on particular senses to navigate and experience the place, for example those with sensory impairments, an understanding of the sensory elements of a site can enhance the experience for all visitors.

We used a number of different mapping techniques to get a clear idea of the locations of visitors’ highlights. Mapping was undertaken over a period of several days with different groups. The results of the mapping exercises were analysed and formed the basis of an access and experience report.

The consultations, questionnaires and site inspections took place between February and June 2008. The activities that formed the basis of the report were:

5 consultation days with practitioners, disabled people and representatives of disability organisations
2 Site assessments by Sensory Trust staff
Non-user questionnaire survey

Techniques included sensory mapping, where groups moved through the site and identified points of sensory interest – the sound of the river, a mossy bank and so on. The results were aggregated to identify areas of sensory richness. These areas would be recommended as the focus of access work, in particular seating and shelter.

Alongside the sensory mapping we also ran less formal “walk and talk” sessions in parallel and at other times when the weather was too inclement for the mapping exercises. By allowing visitors to experience the site and to describe the experience we were able to form clear impressions of many access issues, notably wayfinding at different points. We were also able to observe the relative distances many less mobile visitors would or could travel into the site.

Further to that we surveyed a number of older and disabled people who did not use the site to find out their reasons for not doing so.

Sensory Mapping at Golitha Falls

The final report identified actions and priorities to improve the visitor experience at Golitha Falls and included a prioritised list of access and experience improvements. These ranged from relatively inexpensive improvements to information both on and off site through to major physical access improvements. The report also identified areas of rich sensory interest that could be made more accessible, for instance and area close to the entrance that could be reasonably economically improved to provide an excellent experience for people with low mobility.