Cricklepit Mill is the last remaining mill powered by the water of the River Exe in Exeter. The building, now restored, houses the offices of the Devon Wildlife Trust. One mill wheel is still in operation, briefly, once a month as a showpiece and to produce DWT-branded stoneground flour sold to raise funds.
The mill’s wildlife garden and the leet which supplies its water attract wildlife, most spectacularly otters and kingfishers. The Trust give a lot of publicity to footage of the otters caught on infra-red cameras, so they are likely more often filmed than seen. But we got a brief glimple of a kingfisher as we arrived, before it headed off to a quieter stretch of the river away from us and a visiting group of primary school children.