The Severn is the reason Bewdley exists. It shaped the town, paid for the Georgian frontages on Load Street, and still draws people down to the water most weekends. So it is worth knowing that a local group has spent this summer making the case that the river deserves rights of its own.
Communities Against River Pollution, better known as CARP, is a citizen science group working for a cleaner, healthier Severn. Since 7 June it has been running the Bewdley River Festival, a programme of talks, walks, workshops, music, art and family days that runs through to World Rivers Day on 27 September. Behind all of it sits one aim: a Rights for Rivers Charter for the Severn, so that the health of the river is protected rather than taken for granted.
There is still plenty to come. August brings a bat walk along the river, a family litter pick with tea and cake thrown in, family water workshops with the Severn Rivers Trust, and a water testing demonstration on Severn Side North using a remote-controlled boat. The festival’s centrepiece is the “Is A River Alive?” photography competition, with the winners announced at Bewdley Brewery on 15 August before the prints go up in shops and venues across town as a walking trail. There is a rare gig from The Tangent at St George’s Hall on 12 September, supported by local band Rebel and the Banned, and the festival closes with World Rivers Day at Bewdley Baptist Church on 27 September. The full list of dates, times and prices is on our Bewdley River Festival event page.
The campaign matters as much as the events. A Rights for Rivers Charter is a way for a community and its council to formally recognise that a river has a right to be healthy, and to make decisions on that basis. It has been done elsewhere in the UK, and CARP wants the Severn to be next. If you would like to back it, you can sign the petition supporting rights for the River Severn.
Most festival events are ticketed between £5 and £25, with some free and others by donation, and they book up quickly, with proceeds going back into CARP’s work. Booking details, and more about the group and the campaign, are on the CARP website.
