Emergency!
The Wye is in Crisis
May 2022 - Simon Evans, Chief Executive of the Wye and Usk Foundation, suggests that we only have two years before the River Wye passes a point of no return and the whole web of life in the river collapses.
In spite of looking beautiful the river is DYING.
This July, communities up and down the Wye - from its source high up in the Cambrian mountains at Pumlumon to where it joins the mighty river Severn over 150 miles later – are coming together to highlight this emergency and to demand that action is taken.
Like beads on a necklace, events are independently organised, but will be supported and promoted by the SaveTheWye network.
THE RIVER NEEDS YOUR HELP.
We are urging people along the river to add your voice to help Save The Wye. There are some recommended actions you can take below but please come along and support one of the WyeJuly events in the listings or feel free to design and create your own and plan something that feels important to you - competitions, music, poetry, posters, protest, river memories/stories, speakers, artists… and tell us all about it so we can support you and help promote it.
Photographs: Clarissa Price
YOUR IDEAS WELCOME
We need as many people as possible to pledge support for WyeJuly by organising and/or attending the events. More will be added to the list below, as and when they come ‘on stream’.
To be included in the listings, please email your event details to: arts@fouw.org.uk
WyeJuly EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Friday 8th July - Leominster
Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and Mayor Trish Marsh raise awareness of the plight of the Lugg.
9am - 12pm - Citizen Science (CitSci) outreach stall at Friday Market.
1- 2pm - Lunchtime ‘Love the River’ concert of words and music at Leominster Priory.
6.30 for 7pm until 9pm - Evening debate and discussion with speakers at Grange Court, Leominster: Penelope Gane from Fish Legal on making polluters pay; Dr Alison Caffyn of Cardiff University on the proliferation of intensive poultry units in Herefordshire; Andrew McRobb of CPRE on citizen science water testing and data capture
Saturday 9 July - Hereford
Afternoon, King George’s Playing Fields - pop-up citizen science activities for families - no booking required, just turn up.
5.15pm - RIVER (U)
Film screening followed by a panel discussion.
Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. RIVER takes its audience on a journey through space and time; spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script will create a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honouring the wildness of rivers but also recognises their vulnerability. Written by Robert MacFarlane, music by Radiohead, Johnny Greenwood, Richard Tognetti, and William Barton. Narrated by Willem Dafoe. https://www.river.film
Adult £8/£7, child £6/£5. The Courtyard, Edgar St, Hereford, 01432 340555
Sunday 10th July - Monmouth
10.45am - Procession of Endangered River Creatures from Agincourt Square to the Old Monnow Bridge.
11am-3pm - Stalls and events on the Green by the Old Monnow Bridge. Try your hand at Citizen Science Water Testing; talk to an expert who can tell you what’s really happening to the Wye catchment at our "Talking Tables”; have YOUR say at "Speakers Corner”; enjoy story telling for adults and children alike; talk to poets and writers in the Poetry Tent and bring your own poems and writings to speak aloud if you wish; park your kids at “Kidzone” while you talk to the river exhibitors; enjoy live music and group singing ….. and end the day with a Pilgrimage to the Wye (easy 10 minute walk) where we will give our thanks and make offerings to the river.
Join the Friends of the Upper Wye at Hay Castle and help us ‘LiftTheRiver’!!
Starting at 12 noon with a ‘Declaration on the state of the river’ from the Castle Steps followed by an afternoon of poetry, music and performance culminating in a solutions stage where speakers will lay out a vision for protecting the Wye.
This family friendly event will include an exhibition of creative 'river samples’ and an opportunity to learn more about the citizen scientists testing the river twice weekly throughout the catchment. Children can take part in a drumming workshop (Slapping Skins) or write their own river poems and spells with poet Jean Atkin. The Centre for Material Thinking (Aberystwyth University) will be running a workshop on river sounds. Musicians from far and wide will serenade the crowd in the castle gardens and illuminating speakers will lay out the crisis and its solutions.
Full line-up and details here >>
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: SaveTheWye public group
Instagram: @savethewye
Twitter: @SaveTheWye
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?
Love the Wye! Tell everyone you know about how important the river is to you, and spread the word about the ecological emergency it is facing. Observe it, cherish it and post your own photos of it using the hashtags #2yearstosavethewye #wyejuly #savethewye #lifttheriver and tag us @savethewye so that we can share your post.
SOS! The Wye is being killed. Intensive agriculture is by far the biggest polluter of the river and its tributaries. Contact your MP now to tell them how concerned you are, and to demand that NO MORE planning permissions are granted for any new or extended Industrial Poultry Units (IPUs), or any other industrial-scale livestock units, across the whole Wye catchment.
Become an earth protector, and support making ecocide an international crime. “Imagine a law that puts people and planet first… a law that starts from ‘first do no harm’, that stops this dangerous game and takes us to a place of safety.” Polly Higgins, 2015. https://www.stopecocide.earth/become
SaveTheWye is a coalition of local community groups committed to protecting this precious river:
Friends of the Upper Wye
Friends of the Lugg
Friends of the Lower Wye
Friends of the Dore
CPRE Herefordshire
