Sports personality and presenter Clare Balding is fronting a new series about Britain’s most iconic rivers.
FROM the wildlife that call it home, the folk who live and work on riverbanks, to the many day trippers and pleasure seekers who visit, Tales From The Riverbank is showcasing the sights and sounds of the country’s rivers and its inhabitants.
Viewers of the Channel 5 series have so far seen Clare’s adventure begin on the Severn, the longest river in the country, experiencing life at the helm of a narrowboat, then moving on to the rivers Dart, Thames and Wharfe. The River Wharfe, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, is one of Clare’s favourite stretches of water.
“Rivers are the courses that run through and connect our towns and cities,” she said. “It’s so beautiful and interesting to see the amazing power of those rivers.
“It really was such a lovely series to do, I enjoyed it so much. I’ve spent a lot of time walking the country, but actually very rarely have I followed one river from source to sea – or in reverse – and it was really gorgeous to do that, to understand how much rivers mean in people’s lives.
“It is also healing: the power of living near water, and I don’t mean that just as the power it can generate. There’s obviously that, but the sort of spiritual restoration it offers people. The connectedness they feel to their river, the protectiveness over their river.
“I’d say probably the River Wharfe was my favourite. It’s the one I’d asked to be included in the series and it’s not one of our well-known rivers. You can’t immediately locate it unless you really know Yorkshire. I had walked the Dales Way many years ago and had been struck by the bit along the Wharfe at Ilkley. There’s this bit called The Strid at Bolton Abbey. You walk there for about 20 minutes or so and you come to this amazing section with moss-covered stones. The river gets quite narrow there, so there’s quite a dramatic rush of water. It’s so beautiful and there is a kind of chemical reaction that happens when water gets into the air: it changes positive ions into negative and negative ions are better for us. There are times when I got quite emotional because I just thought, ‘this is so special and I’m so lucky to get this chance’.”
Clare described meeting some ‘wonderful’ people while filming the series. “There’s something about the river community that means everybody is connected. They all need each other – and they know that the tide can turn, literally. You’re very dependent on the weather, and you can’t move that quickly if you’re on a narrowboat. You are going at the pace of the river.
“I think there is a relaxed nature and a kind of enjoyment of life. People go at a different pace, a slower pace. They go with the flow and are more connected to nature – very aware of the wildlife around them, whether that is swans, otters or beavers.
“River people have huge respect for the river. They understand the importance of that network of rivers; not just as a transport network but as a really vital wildlife habitat, and how you protect that.
“I’ve always thought that I want to live by a river and then, during the course of filming the series, it became an absolute necessity. So consequently, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Clare also spoke of her concerns. “When rivers flood, there is a lot of destruction. Rivers deserve investment and attention because if they are properly managed, we should never have drought in this country, and we should be able to manage flooding better. You can’t eradicate it completely.
“Pollution is a major crisis right now. There is a lot of thought that needs to go into the rivers of the UK, and there is a lot of power potential in them that isn’t maximised. There are some projects that are amazingly successful. We should be relying more and more on hydroelectricity. The value of a river is its power, enrichment in our lives, a tourist attraction, a transport network. With the rise in road travel and the investment in the rail network, I think rivers have been slightly forgotten. It doesn’t take billions, but it does take time and thought and a connected approach.
“There are issues around pollution that clearly need to be solved as it’s a really damaging problem and it’s ridiculous that with modern technology we can’t ensure that rivers are clean for us and the wildlife that depends upon them.”
She added: “This has been one of the most joyful, uplifting, interesting experiences. I’ve never delved deep into rivers and this really excited me. It’s just such a rich subject – and it looks amazing.
“I hope people will feel a sense of huge passion for our landscape and a sense of wanting to explore more of our rivers. I loved seeing so many people out enjoying the water.”
Episodes five and six of Tales From The Riverbank are being broadcast on Channel 5 on Thursdays March 13 and 20, and the entire series so far is available to view on catch-up.
Clare’s river facts
- The River Severn is the UK’s longest river, covering 220 miles as it flows from mountains in Wales to the sea by Bristol.
- Flowing from the rugged Dartmoor landscape, the River Dart’s name is most likely derived from an ancient word for ‘oak.’
- The River Thames is the UK’s busiest inland waterway, carrying 60% of all goods lifted on the country’s inland waterway network.
- Dubbed the country’s most dangerous river, the River Wharfe’s infamous section named The Strid is said to have a deadly combination of fast currents and underwater rocks.
- The River Tyne is the only river in England where wild salmon are deemed not at risk.
- The River Wye is known as the birthplace of British tourism as the ‘The Wye Tour’ was the first organised tour in Britain in the 1800s.
