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Nicola Cutcher

@nicolacutcher.bsky.social
2.9K followers 226 following 106 posts

Investigative journalist, writer and filmmaker.

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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Excited for THE SOLWAY premiere @hayfestival Winter Weekend. The documentary is a beautiful and moving meditation on love and loss. Director Eamon Bourke will be in conversation with renowned psychotherapist & author Julia Samuel after the screening: www.hayfestival.com/p-26072-eamo...
hayfestival.com
Eamon Bourke talks to Julia Samuel - Hay Festival
<p>Eamon Bourke presents his meditation on love and grief, <em>The Solway</em>, at Hay Festival Winter Weekend, Hay-on-Wye, 27 Nov. Book now.</p>
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
🐔 Who is shaping the government’s poultry strategy? Defra says it wants to remove “barriers to growth” for the poultry sector. But when Big Chicken has a seat at the table, whose interests are actually being put first?? Article by Nicola Cutcher: tinyurl.com/2vxepyep
tinyurl.com
Big Chicken is running our food strategy. Why?
Eating less meat would be good for the climate and our health. Industry is involved in plans for us to consume more
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Why is our government cooking up a plan to grow the intensive poultry industry and putting Big Chicken in charge? My latest for @prospect_uk.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/busine...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Big Chicken is running our food strategy. Why?
Eating less meat would be good for the climate and our health. Industry is involved in plans for us to consume more
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
@privateeyenews.bsky.social this week reveals the shocking ignorance of two BBC Countryfile presenters - one of whom, Adam Henson, is a livestock farmer - about the treatment of farm animals. I see such lapses as *professional ignorance*: there are things that are safer not to know.
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
My latest feature for @newhumanist.bsky.social is a meditation on longing, yearning and desire and why midlife women are in the spotlight. It was a complete joy to talk to Erin Somers and Sophie Mackintosh about their novels and our wild inner worlds. newhumanist.org.uk/articles/lat...
newhumanist.org.uk
Late awakening
We meet the novelists behind a new wave of stories exploring the sexual fantasies of midlife women
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This week's column explains how successive Environment Secretaries in the UK have been actively facilitating ecocide on behalf of industrial lobbyists. Charged with protecting the living world, one after another has been working for the enemy. This has to change.🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Besieged by lobbyists, will UK ministers protect our ecosystems? No, they’ll chicken out | George Monbiot
Industrial poultry farming is killing our rivers. But rather than stop it, the government has been facilitating it. Will Andy Burnham end this ecocide, asks Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Really important piece by @luciemheath.bsky.social showing the Environment Agency’s colossal failure to enforce the law when it comes to agricultural pollution. inews.co.uk/news/failing...
inews.co.uk
The 'failing' river pollution crackdown - with just 1 in 1,000 cases prosecuted
New rules introduced in 2018 were meant to tackle farm pollution in Britain's waterways, but have seen just nine prosecutions and fines as low as £137
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
This is a really interesting read. When I interviewed Nicholas Crane at the Hay Festival, he said he prefers a ‘right to routes’ over a ‘right to roam’. Here @jon-moses.bsky.social dissects that argument…
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
The Rivers Wye & Usk once bloomed with water crowfoot (ranunculus). Today, much of it has gone. We're delighted to be working with Save the River Usk on a new Nature Networks Fund project to investigate its decline, understand what's been lost, and help this vital river habitat recover.
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
I’m headed up to Sheffield Doc Fest this week for the first time! I’ll be championing a new feature documentary that I’ve co-produced called The Solway, which explores the impact of losing a parent in early childhood. It’s a powerful story, tenderly told. www.thesolway.com
thesolway.com
THE SOLWAY — A Documentary Feature by Eamon Bourke
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Latest news from the campaign to save the Wye. Rights of Nature, record temperatures and how to get involved, all on World Environment Day: mailchi.mp/e4cff23b8b0c... @savethewye.bsky.social
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The River Wye has become the first river in the UK to claim cross-border rights from source to sea - a landmark declaration that rivers are not drains for pollution, but living ecosystems worthy of protection, respect, and a legal voice. @riveractionuk.bsky.social @savethewye.bsky.social
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New Humanist @newhumanist.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
🚨 Our Summer 2026 issue is out today! We unpick the lies behind the health and beauty industries and ask: Are we pushing our bodies too far? Let's take a look inside... 🧵 (1/9) newhumanist.org.uk/2026/05/21/n...
newhumanist.org.uk
New Humanist’s Summer 2026 issue is out now!
We unpick the lies behind the health and beauty industries and ask: Are we pushing our bodies too far?
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The big question - when indeed will the Environment Agency do what it exists to do and, you know, er, enforce the law? Great work by @nicolacutcher.bsky.social and @friendsriverwye.bsky.social
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
BREAKING: The EA is doing a trial on ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’ They already have the power to issue fines for breaches of agricultural rules. When will they enforce the law? Read all about it: friendsoftheriverwye.org.uk/news/ymbq1db...
friendsoftheriverwye.org.uk
Too little too late. Environment Agency trial set to explore fines for agricultural regulation. — Friends of the River Wye
The Environment Agency may be shifting its approach to regulating the agricultural sector in England, saying it is in the early stages of a national Fixed Monetary Penalties trial.&nbsp; Friends of...
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Very pleased to have played a role in creating this…
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
100 people have now donated to our crowdfunder for The Solway. Wow. What a milestone! We’re so gratified to see this resonating and moving people already. THANK YOU!! PS - If you haven’t looked yet, check out our trailer on the crowdfunding page. www.gofundme.com/f/thesolway
gofundme.com
Donate to Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience, organized by Edward Arthur
The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmake… Edward Arthur needs your support for Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience
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Jon Moses @jon-moses.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
A (quite personal) essay from me about reclaiming rewilding in Wales, out in @inkcapjournal.bsky.social today. I was born, raised and still live in rural Wales. My ancestral farmhouse is a ruin surrounded by conifer trees. I understand the fears. But it's the loss of nature I fear far more.
inkcap.co.uk
The Welsh are reclaiming rewilding
Rewilding has been a dirty word in Wales. It's time to embrace it, writes Jon Moses of the Welsh Rewilding Alliance.
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The recruitment and treatment of some international University students in the UK is a scandal worthy of far more attention. This is vital reporting from @samirashackle.bsky.social - shining a light on appalling exploitation. www.theguardian.com/education/ng...
theguardian.com
‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK
The long read: Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Loved this piece about the master of non-fiction Patrick Radden Keefe - particularly the detail that “he still reads a rough draft of each article on speakerphone to his mother and father”. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/s...
nytimes.com
Can a Journalist Be a Celebrity Anymore?
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Essential piece by @julianborger.bsky.social As Trump ramps up his threats to Iran, will US military officers disobey orders or help commit war crimes? www.theguardian.com/law/2026/apr...
theguardian.com
Trump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimes
Legal experts say attacking Iran’s infrastructure would constitute a war crime – but would military officers be held responsible?
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Thanks to everyone who has supported The Solway so far. We’ve now raised over £4k and it’s very gratifying to see the story resonating. I couldn’t be more proud of this film & look forward to sharing it with audiences. Join us! www.gofundme.com/f/thesolway
gofundme.com
Donate to Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience, organized by Edward Arthur
The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmake… Edward Arthur needs your support for Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience
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Cartoon Steve Bould. @cartoonstevebould.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Can you do me a favour and visit this Go Fund Me? Some people very close to me, with the help a host of amazing artists, made a beautiful film about love and grief. It's been done on a shoestring and the world would be a better place if everyone saw it. Can you help? www.gofundme.com/f/thesolway
gofundme.com
Donate to Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience, organized by Edward Arthur
The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmake… Edward Arthur needs your support for Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Really grateful to everyone who’s already donated to THE SOLWAY and shared our crowdfunder. We’ve raised over £2k in a few days which is a flying start. I hope this documentary can help others to feel less alone in their grief. www.gofundme.com/f/thesolway
gofundme.com
Donate to Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience, organized by Edward Arthur
The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmake… Edward Arthur needs your support for Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I’ve produced an upcoming feature documentary called THE SOLWAY, directed by Eamon Bourke. Eamon’s Mum died when he was 3. He’s never been able to remember her. Then he discovers some recordings… Please check out our trailer & support our Crowdfunder: www.gofundme.com/f/thesolway
gofundme.com
Donate to Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience, organized by Edward Arthur
The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmake… Edward Arthur needs your support for Bring The Solway to the widest possible audience
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The six medics who broke windows at JPMorgan have been found Not Guilty by the jury. I recommend reading the closing speeches of the medics, including Dr Patrick Hart. Paeans to our shared humanity. healthforxr.com
healthforxr.com
Health for XR – Climate Crisis = Health Crisis
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Thick as mince and thick as thieves. A column about the absolute idiots European legislators have made of themselves over the naming of food, at the behest of meat lobbyists. You laugh and then you weep. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
When is a sausage not really a sausage? Ask the meat lobby | George Monbiot
European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent ‘confusion’. Just don’t mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wings, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 18/12/2025
Can jurors apply their conscience when giving a verdict? Or must they only consider the evidence? And are the two even mutually exclusive? @nicolacutcher.bsky.social investigates, via a fossil fuel protest case.
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Is it criminal for jurors to act on conscience?
Judges disagree on whether juries should consider evidence alone
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
@natashawalter.bsky.social @georgemonbiot.bsky.social
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Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 11/12/2025
Can jurors apply their conscience when giving a verdict? Or must they only consider the evidence? And are the two even mutually exclusive? @nicolacutcher.bsky.social investigates, via a fossil fuel protest case.
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Is it criminal for jurors to act on conscience?
Judges disagree on whether juries should consider evidence alone
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Do jurors have the right to apply their conscience to a case or could it be a criminal offence for them to do so? A recent hearing before the RCJ puts the centuries-old principle of jury equity on the line. I’ve written about it for @prospect_uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/71...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Is it criminal for jurors to act on conscience?
Judges disagree on whether juries should consider evidence alone
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
@nffn.bsky.social
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
@guyshrubsole.bsky.social
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Exclusive: Farmers and landowners fear Defra is putting its flagship Landscape Recovery schemes at risk. While the large-scale projects are intended to last 20-30 years, the government could pull the plug at any time with a year’s notice. cutcher.co.uk/linklog/2025...
cutcher.co.uk
Nicola Cutcher’s Linklog: Is Defra putting its flagship Landscape Recovery scheme at risk?
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Just subscribed to @thenerve.news having listened to the founders on the latest Media Confidential podcast. We need more journalists with nerve! Enjoyed Stewart Lee satirising Grok. Excited to follow the journalism to come! (I’d love to write for it too!) thenerve.news
thenerve.news
The Nerve
Fearless, independent journalism covering culture, politics and tech
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Deeply saddened that Nabil Shaban has died. A towering inspiration with his mischievous and irrepressible spirit. He did incredible things and was a font of extraordinary stories. There’s nobody like him. I was so lucky to know him. Love you Nabs! www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/o...
theguardian.com
Nabil Shaban obituary
Actor and founder of Graeae, a theatre company and platform for disabled and neurodivergent performers
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Our latest newsletter is out! It covers the expose of Red Tractor, the Wye legal case and shares three new films - plus more…. Read it here and click the link to subscribe to our monthly mailing list. mailchi.mp/e0d20b9c272c...
mailchi.mp
Wye latest: Red Tractor exposed, legal claim filed and new films
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Huge news! Red Tractor = false advertising. I broke this original story in The Times over 2 years ago…. And River Action took it to the Advertising Standards Authority
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Emerging young filmmaker Mykyta Osadchyi has made a compelling 25 minute documentary about the River Wye. It gives an excellent overview of the issues and our campaign to save the Wye. Here’s a trailer, but you can watch the full film on YouTube here: youtu.be/i45B-NfPr-4?...
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River Action @riveractionuk.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Hay Festival Winter Weekend! 🌿💙 Our Deputy Chair, Jim Murray will be joining @nicolacutcher.bsky.social in a conversation to spotlight the crisis facing our rivers and the hope for change. 🗓 Saturday 29 November, 2.30pm 📍 Hay Castle 🔗 Find out more: www.hayfestival.com/winter-weeke...
hayfestival.com
Hay Festival Winter Weekend - Wednesday 26 to Sunday 30 November 2025
Hay Festival Winter Weekend – Wednesday 26 to Sunday 30 November 2025
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Delighted to be interviewing the actor and activist James Murray about the state of our rivers. Join us on Saturday 29 November at 2.30pm in Hay Castle!
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 02/09/2025
Congratulations to the newly elected Leader of the Green Party of England & Wales, @zackpolanski.bsky.social
Leadership elections results 

New Leader 

Zack Polanski 

Photo of Zack Polanski 

 

REAL HOPE. REAL CHANGE. 

Green Party 

Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
This is the riverbed of the River Dore in Herefordshire today. What a drought. There were still crayfish under the rocks. Eerie scene.
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Dr Emma Garnett @emmagarnett.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
It is so so SO refreshing to hear a UK farmer say simply we need to eat less meat. This whole interview with Guy Watson-Singh is excellent. I also completely agree we need to spend more on food and much much less on rent. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Just eat less meat’
Singh-Watson may believe he has softened. But for many years he has been an iconoclastic voice among farmers. Take meat: most British farmers reject calls to eat less red meat to reduce damage to the environment and people’s health. Singh-Watson says eat good meat but less often: just 5% of what Riverford sells is meat. He had shared an organic chicken with eight people the previous evening: “I probably won’t buy another one for a month.”
“I spent a lot of time looking at the evidence on [the impact of meat] and it was overwhelming,” he says. “Ten billion people can’t live sustainably on this planet if we are eating anything like the level of meat consumed in a western diet. The only answer is we just eat less meat, dairy and eggs.”
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Brilliant to see The Observer devote its front page to examining the government’s treatment of Palestine Action. Excellent coverage inside. Is Yvette Cooper becoming increasingly desperate by resorting to smears?
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 03/08/2025
I saw many atrocities as a senior aid official in Gaza. Now Israeli authorities are trying to silence us
theguardian.com
I saw many atrocities as a senior aid official in Gaza. Now Israeli authorities are trying to silence us
Devastated hospitals, mass graves, bodies eaten by dogs in the street. After speaking out, I discovered my visa will not be renewed, says Jonathan Whittall of UN OCHA
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Brilliant long-read from @abistephenson.bsky.social in the Guardian about extreme pregnancy sickness - how much suffering it causes and why it’s so weirdly neglected. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’
The long read: The Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidarum – until now
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Nicola Cutcher @nicolacutcher.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
This is a refreshingly frank take on Welsh farming from politician Lee Waters. Recommend reading… amanwy.blogspot.com/2025/07/we-n...
amanwy.blogspot.com
We need to re-set the debate on farming
Speech in the Senedd on 16th July 2025 Let me start with the obvious: Farming is hard. I am proud to come from a family of farmers, and I un...
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Friends of the River Wye @friendsriverwye.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Our latest newsletter dropped this morning with a bumper round-up of news affecting the Wye this month. Read all about bathing water quality, toxic sewage sludge, legal victories and lots of ways you can help defend our rivers… mailchi.mp/3d36ecfd57b1...
mailchi.mp
Wye News: Bathing water quality, toxic sewage sludge, farming schemes...
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