Eden’s Tim Smit opens Occombe’s new farming and food education centre

By PRSD, on Monday, December 8, 2008

posted by Thin White Duke

Hello Tim Smit

Eden Project founder Tim Smit was guest of honour at the opening of Occombe Farm’s new farming and food education centre the other day.

Cobbled together by students and staff from South Devon College, the building shows that alternative technologies are practical and could be adopted more widely.

Instead of cement and bricks, the foundations of the Torbay Coast And Countryside Trust building were made of car tyres and rubble.

The walls were made of straw bales coated with traditional lime mortar and pegged together with hazel stakes, while the roof and floor timbers were harvested in the trust’s own woodlands.

In short, it’s as if the three little pigs had got together in some lefty fairytale to build an education centre.

Of course, the lefty analogy falls down when you realise that South Devon College secured £30,000 from the Learning and Skills Council for their part in the project.

Oh, and there was also the small matter of a £92,000 grant from an anonymous charitable trust.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, PRSD was the anonymous doner – we found the £92,000 down the back of the sofa, doncha know.

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