A photographic exhibition and accompanying book telling the extraordinary stories of people living and working along the River Wye, comes to Monmouth this week.

River Voices: Stories from the Wye is the culmination of a year-long oral history project by writer and author Marsha O’Mahony, who, in the summer of 2017, travelled up and down the length of the Wye recording the stories of people who have lived, worked, and played in, on and beside the beautiful River Wye. It was well worth the effort for she has gathered a stunning collection of memories, photographs and artefacts, from ferrywomen, boatmen, boat-builders, swimmers, rowers, anglers, bailiffs, poachers, and more, that will feature in the book.

The project has been given added potency with the beautiful work of photographer Emma Drabble, who was commissioned to take portraits of the interviewees. These can be seen in all their glory, alongside a collection of historic river images, at the exhibition.

Marsha O’Mahony said: "There is an urgency to ensure voices of ‘ordinary’ people on the River Wye have their place in history, and we think this project goes some way to achieve this. But there is far more to be done. We have only just touched the tip of the iceberg and Emma and I want to continue recording stories of Wye people before they are lost."

The project was made possible by Heritage Lottery Players and Herefordshire Lore.

River Voices: Stories from the Wye is at Ty Price Hall, St Thomas Square, Monmouth, from Wednesday July 25th to August 31st.