Then, Now and Next Walk: University Grounds and Gardens

Wednesday 2nd September at 14:00-16:00

Meet in front of Reed Hall at 2pm.

Alex Adams from the University of Exeter Grounds Team will lead a walk through the University grounds, highlighting the amazing collection of trees they hold. As you may know there have been changes due to new buildings having been erected. Alex will talk about how nature diversity and green spaces have been maintained on campus and are looked after. The grounds and gardens of the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus have been awarded the title of Accredited Botanic Garden by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in July 2025. We will look at the original plantings around Reed Hall that are now champion trees first and then meander our way through the campus to Taddiford valley. Sturdy footwear is recommended, though we will try and keep to the paths, but the campus can be quite a uphill workout at times. Alex will try and keep us heading down hill for the majority of the walk.

All our walks are advertised in the public section of our website under ‘Events’. They are also listed in the monthly News Bulletin. Before leaving home to join us on a walk, can we please ask you to check the website entry. At times we had to cancel walks last minute due to weather or illness of the lead. So please double-check that the walk is actually still on to avoid disappointments.

For walks you can subscribe (as preferred means of communications) to a Whatsapp group now run by Gert Vonhoff for the ECS walks under: https://chat.whatsapp.com/H9GRjkBkiIoBNc6ZfwAnMK ; all information and communications should preferably run via this group. You need to check before coming that the walk is on like scheduled, as cancellations will be notified through this platform. This Whatsapp group is restricted, so you need contact Gert to be granted access. This might take a few days, and it is best to send Gert an email with the request, your full name and mobile number, so he can add you to the group. Additionally you need to have Gert with mobile and email listed in your contacts.

As the function of the Whatsapp group is to communicate about the walks, please do not use this as a general chatroom.

If you prefer not to become member of the Whatsapp group, you are requested to book yourself in for each individual walk by either sending Gert an email (gertvonhoff@btinternet.com) or a text message to his mobile (07766 706614). This way we can inform you should a walk have to be cancelled with short notice.

Otherwise please use Gert’s mobile phone contact only as a means of last resort.

A word about insurance: please be aware, you won’t be insured via the Civic Society or the lead of a walk, but only by your own insurance.