Going with the FLOW
RICHARD HAMMOND charts the course of four British rivers
Britain’s Beautiful Rivers with Richard Hammond
Wednesday, 9pm, More4
He’s more usually associated with land-based transport, but
The Grand Tour’s Richard Hammond is taking to the water in his new More4 travelogue.
The four-part Britain’s Beautiful Rivers with Richard Hammond sees the 52-year-old presenter explore the rivers Severn, Test, Clyde and Derwent, tracing their history, ecology and impact on the countryside, and meeting people whose lives are closely linked to these famous waterways.
ON A JOURNEY
‘I’m exploring some of Britain’s most beautiful rivers, each with its own distinct identity,’ he reveals. ‘I travel the length of each one, from the source to the mouth, and meet some of the people who live and work along it, the wildlife that calls it home, and hear some of the tales, the history, recent and ancient, that makes every river a unique flowing, moving story.’
He starts with Britain’s longest river, the Severn, which runs
220 miles from its source in the Cambrian mountains to the Bristol Channel, where it flows into the
sea. Along the way he discovers how the Normans exploited the river to control the borderland between England and Wales.
‘It’s a story of boundaries and crossings uniting people,’ says Hammond. ‘It’s what rivers do.’
Delving into history, Hammond discovers that the river has played a key role over the centuries.
‘Romans, Anglo-saxons, Viking invaders, Welsh princes and Norman raiders have all fought for control over it,’ he reveals. ‘The Severn is the great natural defensive barrier of Western Britain.’
Hammond’s first stopping point along the route is Shrewsbury, where the Normans built a castle on a loop in the river to control the local population.
‘For Shrewsbury, the river is absolutely vital. It wraps around the town like a moat,’ archaeologist Nigel Baker explains to Hammond. ‘What we have here is an instrument of foreign conquest.’
Further downstream, Hammond encounters Ironbridge Gorge, a symbol of the industrial revolution that was partly fired by rich seams of coal the river had exposed, and admires the Severn Tunnel, a great feat of Victorian engineering.
‘The river is in control,’ he concludes. ‘Where it goes, towns, cities and cathedrals can spring up.’