In this guest blog we hear from Will Millard, an amazing ambassador of the Rivers Trust and Angling Trust, who we had the pleasure of hosting.
I first contacted the Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT) in the hope that they might be able to provide some stories for my upcoming book on the state of British rivers, however, my own relationship with this magnificent river goes back a lot further in time. I come from a long line of coal miners based in and around the pits of Wakefield, and, every time we travelled up from our home in the south of England to visit, we always crossed the Don via the A1(M) road bridge.
As we flew past that river throughout the 80s and 90s, I’d look down into the waters and ask my parents about the fish that swam there. The answer I got back was invariably a variation of the same theme: “I’m afraid that river is dead, son…There’s no fish down there.”
The decades past and, as my career as a broadcaster and writer developed, I soon became aware of a change in the Don’s fortunes. Stories of aquatic life, a miracle recovery and even the presence of that King of Fish, the salmon, were drip-feeding into the press, and so, when it came to pursuing my own investigation into British rivers for this book, the river Don was sure to be top of my list.
I am enormously grateful to the entire DCRT team for their help, time and considerable patience, in guiding me through their truly brilliant projects. Given the breadth and scope of this exceptionally hardworking team, I could comfortably have written the entire book on just their work; however, with that little lad who had wanted to see any fish in the Don right at the front of my mind, I opted to join Angling coaches Steve, John and Simon, and DRCT organiser Ben, on the banks of the Donny canal for a morning’s fishing.
I was taking part in the DRCT’s Angling for Wellbeing project and, that day, the coaches were helping a lovely man who was recovering from a serious head injury. I learnt that the project’s scope extended to helping those with drug and alcohol problems too, as well as people suffering from loneliness, homelessness and refugees. The participants may all come from different backgrounds, but the therapeutic benefits they experienced were the same. By that water’s edge with a rod in hand, a few hours fishing was enough for them all to feel a sense of calm and mindful meditation in the safe and gentle waterside environment cultivated by the DRCT’s highly experienced coaching staff.
Pretty soon, I had more than enough material for my next book and I was even rewarded with an absolutely superb perch when I did steal a moment to fish for myself. As I released that darkly striped warrior back into the waters of the Don catchment, I couldn’t help but consider how pleased the younger me would have been, but, more importantly, I also came to realise that the DRCT had found a way to help people, as well as this iconic northern river, recover as one.
Will Millard is a writer and broadcaster. His book on rivers will be out in 2027 with publisher’s Hodder & Stoughton and his next book ‘Mapping Britain: The Story of an Island through the Ordnance Survey Archives’ will be out everywhere on October 1st.
