Nicola Cutcher

I made this short film with my friend and colleague Eamon Bourke for Friends of the Upper Wye to celebrate our river guardians.

I’ve previously reported on the appalling pollution of the Afon Llynfi which killed over 45,000 fish.

This film highlights how some local people responded to that crime (for which nobody has been caught) by volunteering to monitor the river. They hope their sustained attention will be a deterrent to any polluters.

While the environment agencies have cut back on statutory monitoring over the past decade due to government slashing their budgets, people have stepped forward as citizen scientists to fill the gap.

Whilst I despair at how the Wye is being colossally failed by politicians and the statutory bodies charged with protecting it, I find tremendous hope in the actions of ordinary people.

This premiered at Hay Castle on 10 July, as part of Lift The River.