Slapton Ley Field Centre

The Field Studies Council (FSC) is a pioneering educational charity committed to bringing environmental understanding to all. Established in 1943, the FSC has become internationally respected for its national network of 17 education centres, international outreach training projects, research programmes, information and publication services and wide range of fascinating professional training and leisure courses.We provide informative and enjoyable opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to discover, explore, be inspired by, and understand the natural environment. The FSC believes the more we know about the environment, the more we can appreciate its needs and protect its diversity and beauty for future generations. Each year we welcome over 70,000 people on courses of various lengths to 17 Field Centres across the United Kingdom. Our ability to pass on to them a deeper understanding of the environment and our place in it is absolutely central to the work of the FSC. Clearly it is important to enhance the work teachers and students have done over a longer period and great pains are taken to ensure courses meet the demands of all levels of the main curriculum and specifications for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition to giving tuition of a high standard provided by staff who are enthusiasts as well as experts, we have a strong commitment to offering people, young and old, a formative experience, the benefits of which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Contact with, and an understanding of the environment in interesting places where you feel safe and welcome, will leave impressions of lasting value. To understand the environment means, in the final analysis, that you will need to understand your own place in it and the role or impact you have on it. Slapton Ley Close to the southern tip of Devon, the centre is surrounded by the 200 hectare Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve. Owned by the Whitley Wildlife Trust and managed by the Centre, the Ley is the largest freshwater lake in the south west and is extensively used in the courses at Slapton. Outdoor Classroom Habitats range from rocky and sheltered shorelines and maritime shingle ridges to wetland including the open water of the Ley itself and deciduous woodland. The coastline and rivers are within easy travelling distance, and Dartmoor National Park is about an hour away. These provide extensive scope for investigating many contemporary issues facing land use and habitat management. Leisure and tourism investigations are well catered for in this area of high tourism impact, especially impacts on the natural environment and controls over social and economic activities.

Additional Images

Click to enlarge images below:

• 
• 
• 
• 
•