Heavens Above, the Wye Must Not Die!
A river pilgrimage to raise awareness and to call for action to stop pollution of the river.
An extraordinary voyage is planned for 15th - 19th August. A sculpture of Our Lady of the Waters and the Wye, mounted on two canoes made into a canoe-catamaran, will be floated for 75 miles downstream, from Hay-on-Wye to Monmouth.
The pollution crisis: Biodiversity has crashed in the Wye due to pollution from chicken farm slurry, overflow of sewage, excessive use of fertilisers (3000 tons of phosphates a year going in the Wye, when it can only cope with 300), run off from arable land and soil erosion. The voyage aims to raise awareness and to call for concerted action to cleanse the river.
The plan: The voyage, the brainchild of Fr Richard Williams of Hay-on-Wye and Philip Chatfield, the sculptor, will leave from the Warren at Hay on 15th August and arrive in Monmouth on 19th August, via Bredwardine and Moccas (15th), Hereford (16th), Marden, Lugwardine, Holme Lacy and Hoarwithy (17th), Sellack and Ross (18th), and Goodrich and Whitchurch (19th). Other canoeists and wild swimmers will accompany the canoe-catamaran. Art exhibitions will be held at Moccas Village Hall and Whitchurch Church with many events en route: music in Hay, trumpet and saxophones on Bredwardine Bridge, Georgian chants by the monks of Belmont at Moccas and a feast in Moccas Village Hall (15th); evensong at Hereford Cathedral (16th); morning coffee at Marden and Lugwardine, evensong with Ross Choir at Hoarwithy Church and a picnic (17th); a lunchtime picnic with bagpipes at Sellack (18th); and evening prayer at Monmouth Church (19th).
The sculpture: The wooden sculpture is about 4 ft in height, on a plinth 1 ft high.The sculptor is Philip Chatfield, who nearly drowned on the brig Maria Assumpta when it sank off Padstow in 1995, and who has since carved stone statues for Tintern Abbey, St Mary’s Church, Monmouth and elsewhere.
The canoeists: Philip Chatfield, the sculptor (15th - 19th August); Callum Bulmer (15th - 16th); and Nigel Thomas, Vicar of Cleeve (17th - 18th); with the final stretch on the 19th into Monmouth led by the Deputy Head of Monmouth School and his wife, who are both Atlantic rowers.
The wild swimmers: Nicola Goodwin of BBC Hereford and Worcester and others.
Media coverage: The voyage will be covered by the BBC, the Daily Telegraph (where a splendid article appeared on 9th May) and local media, with documentaries planned by Bernard Walton (Aquavita films) and Palash Dave. It is hoped to livestream the voyage from a webcam on the sculpture’s crown.
Related plans: The sculpture will eventually be sited in a hillside shrine at Capel-y-ffin, where, in 1880, the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared to two boys of ten and eleven, one of whom said to the other : “if that thing comes any nearer I am going to hit it with my stick!” Further voyages may be undertaken in future.
Exhibition in the Woolhope Room, Hereford (above the Library in Broad Street) from July until the end of August. The exhibition, organised by the Woolhope Club, illustrates the rich heritage of the Wye – its geology, history, architecture, botany, ornithology, mammals and invertebrates – highlights current pollution and shows how sustainable farming practices can help.The exhibition will also visit local libraries and churches and move to the Herefordshire Archives and Records Centre in 2023.
To watch the progress of the voyage, or take part in the events, see the details in the schedule!
Photo: a previous statue sculpted by Philip Chatfield at Monmouth