Vey Straker - Lady WyeThe River Wye
I live on the banks of the River Wye in Herefordshire, and during lock down, my young daughters and I noticed that the River was suffering badly. The Water Crowfoot, a river weed, normally so abundant and graceful, was nowhere to be seen and the riverbed was covered in a slimey brown algae. Life was slipping away from the Wye. The River is being over-nutrified by agricultural run-off, particularly phosphate-heavy poultry manure from the 20 million chickens that are intensively farmed in the catchment at any one time. The increasing temperatures and more extreme rainfall events are also taking their toll. I choose to stand beside the River, because she is my home. I feel warmly welcomed by her Waters and her Wildlife. I call her Grandmother, because her waters are even older than our Mother Earth. And she is family, 70% of what makes-up my body is what flows down her valley.
I channel the River through a character called Lady Wye. She’s strong, and proud, bountiful and true, and doesn’t take any nonsense. She attends actions to honour the River Defenders and she protests outside corporate HQ’s and court houses. She also holds space, alongside the Goddess of the Wye, who is a 12 foot high puppet, for others to reconnect with their profound love of Water and the River. Often in public spaces, festivals, on the street, or unlikely contexts like Council HQs!