BBC Radio 4 - Open Country - 3 September 2005

Home

Explore the BBC

Text only
BBC Homepage
BBC Radio

Radio 4

Programmes

Podcast

Schedule

Presenters

News

Drama

Comedy

Science

Religion|Ethics

History

Factual

Messageboards

Radio 4 Tickets

Radio 4 Help

About the BBC

Contact Us

Help

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

BBC Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long Wave

Listen to Digital Radio, Digital TV and Online

OPEN COUNTRY

MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page


	PROGRAMME INFO

	Saturday 6.10-6.35am Repeated Thursday 1.30-2.00pm


	From Shetland to the Scilly Isles, Open Country travels the UK in search of the stories, the people and the wildlife that make our countryside such a vibrant place. Each week we visit a new area to hear how local people are growing the crops, protecting the environment, maintaining the traditions and cooking the food that makes their corner of rural Britain unique. Email: [email protected] Postal address: Open Country, BBC Radio 4, Birmingham, B5 7QQ.


	LISTEN AGAIN


	Listen to Open Country for 3 September 2005


	PRESENTERS

	HELEN MARK and RICHARD URIDGE



	More about Helen Mark




	More about Richard Uridge


	PROGRAMME DETAILS

	Saturday 3 September 2005
The River Severn The Severn estuary can be a treacherous stretch of water. The tidal range along the estuary is the second highest in the world. The waters move at an alarming speed with a power that can overwhelm the boats and ships that regularly ply their trade there. Helen experiences that power at first hand when she is taken out onto the estuary by the Severn Area Rescue Association. SARA is the largest independent lifeboat station in the UK, completely staffed by volunteers. Helmsman Jeff Dawe speeds across the water demonstrating the power of the tide quite graphically when he stops next to a marker buoy and cuts the engines. As the boat drifts backwards it appears that the marker buoy and not the boat is moving, the marker appears to be dragged away from the boat by some underwater creature, a potent illustration of the tidal current. Chris Witts has been associated with the river Severn since he was a boy. At the age of sixteen he was a deck boy on the trading barges that transported everything from grain to diesel oil from the Bristol channel ports, along the estuary and up the Severn to Worcester. Chris recalls how boating life could be very dangerous and tells Helen of an horrific accident in the early sixties when two barges carrying petrol crashed into the old railway bridge in thick fog. The resulting explosion killed five crew members. Canoe touring on the river Severn Links about the river Severn Chris Ryan meets Helen on the jetty running down to the old Ferry crossing at Beachley. Chris is one of a group of enthusiasts raising funds to restore the old Severn ferry "Severn Princess". They have brought her back from Ireland where she was lying forlorn in a state of decay. Chris is hoping to turn her into a tourist attraction and give a glimpse into a bygone age when the only alternative to crossing the estuary by boat was the two hour detour around Gloucester. Barbara Hardy was born in Swansea. She is an author and poet who divides her time between Wales and London. For her, the crossing of the Severn takes on a symbolic meaning associated with nationhood and nationality. She imagines herself stood on the Severn suspension bridge between Wales and England in "no Named country" pondering her own personal history, as well as that of the nations that lie either side of it. She also talks to Helen about the role of bridges in our imagination and their influence on the culture of the communities that they connect. Email Open Country: [email protected] The BBC is not responsible for external web sites

	RELATED LINKS BBC Holiday Category BBC Country file