NEW and creative seating and animal homes are to be created by a Bridport furniture maker to line the River Lim.

Alice Blogg, together with arts charity Common Ground, have been appointed to design the installations for three locations along the river between Lyme Regis and Uplyme.

Alice’s design concept, ‘Perching Places’ plans to use locally-sourced materials and will be themed around the River Lim’s historical watermills.

Common Ground, which helps projects linked to the local environment, will be helping to develop Alice’s ideas, which are hoped to be in place by this summer.

Alice said: “Perching Places is an exciting opportunity to design and make architectural seating and animal architecture which doesn’t impose on the existing eco system of the river and the surrounding habitats.

“The project tells the story of the River Lim through the cogs and wheels of the mills that have been on the river since the 13th century and of the river’s journey from Uplyme to its river mouth at Lyme Regis.

“With locally-sourced wood at its heart, this project is all I love about being a furniture maker.

“Having the arts charity Common Ground as a sounding board has helped me shape my ideas and has made me look at this project in a more microscopic way.

“I am really looking forward to making these pieces and seeing them finished in their setting on the River Lim this coming summer.”

Improvements to the River Lim path have been taking place over the last year and the path has new and improved surfacing, signage, a replacement bridge, gates and posts, as well as a new footway along the B3165 in Uplyme to connect the path to the rest of the East Devon Way.

Free ‘Z-Card’ maps highlighting historical interest and wildlife along the path are available at Lyme Regis Museum, the Tourist Information Centre, accommodation providers and other outlets in and around Uplyme and Lyme Regis.

The River Lim path project is part of the Dorset Coastal Connections portfolio, which aims to support and boost the economies of Dorset’s coastal areas.

It is being funded by a grant from the government’s Coastal Communities Fund and partner organisations and is coordinated by Dorset Coast Forums, but is being led by Lyme Forward in partnership with The Arts Development Company and Dorset and Devon county councils.