Ray Mears, a renowned bushcraft and survival expert, leads an excursion down the River Wye, in a new television documentary for ITV, Wild River with Ray Mears.

The documentary was aired on New Year’s Day, at 5.35pm, and can still be seen online. In it, Mr Mears follows the river from its source to the sea.

The river is regarded as one of the most stunning waterways in the world, and it runs for 150 miles between Wales and England, flowing through spectacular mountain gorges and forests teeming with wildlife, which is precisely what attracted Mears to film the documentary.

In the programme, Mears is accompanied by several guests, who specialise in a number of subjects, relevant to the Wye. A local man George Woodward, who lives just outside of Ross-on-Wye, is one of these special guests. He spoke to Mears about poaching on the Wye, and how this has affected the river since he moved to the area in 1976.

George explained that, because of poaching, the population of salmon has decreased a great deal. He said the poachers would slaughter the fish without any love or respect. However, poaching is no longer a problem on George’s beat of the river, which has left him more time to indulge in his passion for the river.