The river is my place these days. I use the term river very loosely – it’s merely a wide stream, and is only a river by name (what actually defines a river?), rising in an inconspicuous industrial estate and gaining size and speed as it joins another stream. This particular river is interesting. It takes its name from a village it flows through some 6 or 7 miles from its source. I wonder which one came first?
The stretch of river I regularly visit is relatively close to its source and is a beautiful stretch to behold, sandwiched between the edge of a sizeable village on one bank, and farmland and a nature reserve on the other. In the evenings – which is when I often get there – the sinking early summer sun is framed between the highest nettles and cow parsely and the lower branches of the trees, with the purple distant hills adding to the show.
My reasons for going are manifold. One of the reasons is the general peace there. There’s plenty of opportunities to slip through a little gap in the band of trees that lie between the path and the river and find yourself in a secret world to hide yourself in.
There’s plenty of wildlife, both in the river and out of it. I’ve seen fish swirling about in the shallows, and no end of insects and invertebrates, though I am assured that this river is in ecological peril like much of our waterways. The banks are saturated with Himalayan Balsam which, whilst green and nectar-rich, actually takes over and out-competes the native flora, destroying the ecological diversity and also encouraging bank erosion and possible flooding. It is a very mindful exercise to go along as I do, pulling it out of the ground, trying to make a difference somewhere, even if its effects will be felt further downstream, not here. River and indeed inland water health is a good indicator for environmental health overall. And our rivers are suffering. Luckily it is in the news a lot these days, though heavily focused on sewage and the water companies’ malpractice, but it’s better than not being talked about at all.
I have always been drawn to water although when I was younger, it was the sea. I had ideas about living by the sea, but as the years have gone by, I have found river life a lot more apt and appealing. There are plenty of metaphors on the river for life itself which are not lost on me at all, and in turn, neither is the switch within me from the sea to the river. I am more drawn towards music, literature and art that is concerned with rivers instead of the sea.
Living within half a mile of a significant river has many benefits. Summer evenings observing the life – both natural and human, early morning runs along the pathways, and generally taking in the sounds of the river and its environs. Not forgetting actually being in or on the river itself also. It’s probably this relationship that ensures my determination to always be an advocate for rivers, their health, the happiness they provide, and also for ecology as a whole.
My Outdoor Living Room 