“HELLO, it’s the BBC World Service here. We’ve picked up a very strange story. I don’t suppose you know anything about a statue of the Virgin Mary being canoed down the river, do you?”

So it was that a local initiative to draw attention to the pollution of our rivers, particularly the beautiful River Wye, went global.

The damage being done to our rivers and oceans by polluting practices of all kinds is now widely publicised. It is a global issue, but the effects are felt most powerfully, and often tragically, in riverside communities such as those that line the banks of the Wye from Hereford to Monmouth.

The Revd Richard Williams, Vicar of Hay-on-Wye, had the idea for a voyage along the Wye with a statue of the Virgin Mary, sculpted by a local craftsman, drawing attention to the prevailing crisis, but also inspiring prayer and practical action as the pilgrimage progressed upstream.

This beautiful book captures both the joy and challenge of the voyage, and its impact on the hearts and minds of participants and observers alike. Furthermore, it is a mine of information about the place of water pollution in the catalogue of ecological crises now confronting us, and how people of all faiths and none treasure water as both physical and spiritual in its significance.

All this is in addition to a day-by-day diary of the Virgin’s progress, with moving reflections from those touched by its meaning and purpose. There is also a generous provision of coloured photos and attractive maps.

This unique contribution to the case now being made for urgent action to rescue our waterways deserves to be widely read, and will make an excellent gift for those who are ecologically engaged — and especially for those who are not!

The Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee is a former Bishop of Lincoln.

Heavens Above! The Wye Must Not Die! An account of the voyage of Our Lady of the Waters and the Wye
Richard Williams, Philip Chatfield, and Rachel Jenkins, editors
£15, inclusive of p&p, from jacquelinekennett@btinternet.com