Time and Tide

6 Jan

All about estuaries

Cold Light and Winter Geese, prints by Steve Manning

This exhibition is the result of a MAKE Southwest Maker Member project, which invited interested artists to participate in a series of walks and talks along the Exe Estuary, led by lead artist Steve Manning, printmaker and RSPB volunteer at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham.

While the project focused on the Exe Estuary, there are numerous fascinating estuaries in the Southwest, and artists have responded, in the own ways as well as collaboratively, to their most familiar estuaries, many of which share similar features.

What are estuaries?

26 April – 5 July 2025

Riverside Gallery

Events

Opening Event, Friday 25 April, 3pm - 5pm

eologically estuaries are relatively young landscapes. The Exe estuary was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, 11,500 years ago, when rising sea levels flooded a wide river valley. Over millennia as the river slowed to meet the sea it deposited the mud so typical of an estuary landscape. This process continues today.

Estuaries are dynamic places shaped by the river, tides, time, and the elements. They convey a sense of wilderness, particularly at high water when the boundary between land, sea and sky can often seem ill-defined. At low water acres of creek-hatched, impenetrable mud emphasise this sense of remoteness.

Why are estuaries important?

Estuaries can be havens for wildlife. The Exe is no exception. It is an internationally important site where, every autumn, thousands of migratory birds, such as Brent geese, and Black-tailed Godwits, will arrive from remote northern regions such as Siberia and Iceland. The estuary will become their winter home. Here they will feed on the food-rich intertidal mudflats, eelgrass and mussel beds and the neighbouring saltmarshes, wetlands, and meadows. The winter sky will fill with the clamour of their voices until, come spring, they will be gone again.

The Exe estuary is today protected for its globally important wildlife and habitats. It’s a beautiful and inspiring place cared for by organisations that need to strike a balance between the unique natural environment and the diversity of people who live, work and play in the estuary. This work is coordinated by the Exe Estuary Management Partnership on behalf of local authorities, government agencies and conservation, commercial and recreational groups.

Inside the gallery

In the media

ITV News

Time and Tide exhibition was featured on the local ITV news - take a look around the exhibition, hear from our Exhibitions Manager, Flora, and printmaker and curator, Steve Manning, as well as interviews with some of the exhibitors in their own studios or by their favourite estuaries!

Watch

Exhibition to showcase art inspired by estuaries of the south west.

Tue 17 Jun 12.08pm • "Time and Tide" is a varied collection of pictures, sculptures and ceramics, all inspired by the landscape and wildlife along our tidal waterways.