Totton College students breathe new life into Eling Tide Mill website

Totton College travel and tourism students were asked to assist with the development of a new website for The Eling Tide Mill Experience, which reopened recently following a period of refurbishment.

New Forest District Council (NFDC) and Totton and Eling Town Council have invested in the mill after securing a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The funding included essential conservation works, extending and developing the visitor centre to create a new learning centre and café, and improving access to outdoor areas.

During the project, the Eling Experience worked with a number of local community groups, organisations and individuals. Totton College was approached to assist with the planning of a new website to promote the attraction.

The students were invited to research and plan the content for the website and then present their ideas on ways to help enhance the user experience for visitors looking to learn more.

Speaking about the project, Kate Traves, travel and tourism teacher at Totton College, said:

“The students have really enjoyed the project. For visitor attractions, an inviting website is incredibly important. The students really took this on board and did their research to help create something that highlights both the recent refurbishment work and the mill’s heritage.”

Helen Robinson, experience manager at Eling Tide Mill Experience, added:

“It was great to work in partnership with Totton College to develop the website content. It is one of our main marketing tools and the students came up with lots of ideas and put a lot of hard work into this element of the project. We are really grateful of their support and look forward to working with them again in the future. We are already discussing possible work experience opportunities.”