A COFFIN mourning the ‘Death of the Wye’ was launched onto the river at Ross-on-Wye at the weekend, as a pilgrimage carrying source water from Plynlimon stopped off beside the bank for a handing on ceremony.

The two linked events are part of efforts to raise awareness of pollution in the river, which environmental campaigners claim is being destroyed by modern farming methods and sewage.

Pilgrims taking part in the month-long 155-mile-long Walking With The Wye (WWTW) trek from the source to the Severn Estuary held a ‘People’s Assembly’, a centuries old tradition, on Friday evening beside Ross Rowing Club, attended by walkers, town residents and county councillors Trish Marsh and Tony Fagan.

Wild swimming instructor Angela Jones also brought a coffin containing symbols of river life, such as a swan and plants vital for acquatic life, to the same spot before launching it.

A spokesperson for the pilgrimage said: “The Assembly agreed a number of priorities for action, including raising public awareness about why the river is polluted, publishing regular water testing results and campaigning for more action from central government and the Environment Agency.

“On Saturday morning, pure water from the source of the Wye was handed to new pilgrims to continue its journey along the river.

“Mayor of Ross, Cllr John Winder, spoke about the town’s plans to plant more trees along the stretch of river through Ross to provide vital shade that will help prevent the algal blooms which suffocate life in the water.”

In a ceremony, WWTW co-organiser Kristina Jamieson also anointed the river with source water while Wendy Thomas sang The Blessing from the Lost Words Spell Songs.

Angela, who organised a 250-strong protest on the Wye at Monmouth on Monday night (July 26), when the coffin was swum downstream supported by 50 swimmers and paddle boarders, added: “I want to draw attention to the diabolical way we are destroying the Wye through pollution, and a coffin seems fitting, as it’s bereavement on a huge scale and pains me to the core.”

The pilgrimage reached Hole in the Wall on Thursday (July 22) before heading to Ross-on-Wye on Friday, and then Kerne Bridge on Saturday, where the source water, carried in a pot made from clay sourced from the bank at Brockweir, was handed on from the Ross walkers.

Mandy Pullen, who was at the Kerne Bridge ceremony and walked the next stage to Lydbrook, posted a photo of a fish under “what looks like a slime of diesel”.

“We are walking the length of the River Wye to draw attention to the pollution of this river.

“There is life but it is swimming in filthy water.”

The river is currently seeing higher levels of phosphate than normal, with campaigners saying huge poultry farms upriver in Powys and Herefordshire - where there could be as many as 22 million chickens - are polluting the Wye.

Angela Jones, who appeared on BBC1’s Panorama programme about how pollution is ‘killing’ our waterways earlier this year, and helped Guardian columnist George Monbiot with his new online film Rivercide, told supporters: “I’ve been swimming in rivers for 35 years, and I take 350 people a month wild swimming and teach them how to respect it. I love what I do.

“I see the river above and below the surface, and have been tending and monitoring it for years. But nobody is listening.”

She said that in two years the “highly protective” water-crowfoot plant that normally covers the river in summer has all but disappeared, slashed by 95 per cent.

The river weed helps oxygenate the water, provides cover for spawning fish and supports shrimps, snails, insect larvae, nymphs and wildfowl.

“We are on the point of no return for this river,” she added.

The pilgrimage will be heading down to Bigsweir today (Wednesday, July 28) with a celebration on the bridge with banners and singing.

For more information and to keep up to date with what is happening, see fouw.org.uk/walking-with-the-wye, the SaveTheWye Facebook page and the www.swmimwildwye.co.uk Facebook page.

You can watch Rivercide on YouTube.