Table Of Content

THE FLOW 2 THE FLOW Rivers, Water and Wildness Amy-Jane Beer BLOOMSBURY WILDLIFE Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY WILDLIFE and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in the United Kingdom 2022 Text copyright © Amy-Jane Beer Amy-Jane Beer has asserted her right under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. 388 constitute an extension of this copyright page All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. No responsibility for loss, injury or illness caused to any individual or organisation acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc or the author. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4729-7739-7; ePub: 978-1-4729-7737-3; ePDF: 978-1-4729-7738-0 Typeset in Bembo Std by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India To find out more about our authors and books visit www .bloomsbury .com and sign up for our newsletters. For Kate, and all who loved her 6 Contents Prologue: Only water, moving on 11 Chapter 1: Fresh and yet so very old 25 Eddy: Snow dome 35 Chapter 2: Torrent 39 Eddy: Hollowing 59 Chapter 3: Oak-water 61 Eddy: Groundwater 77 Chapter 4: Fly while we may 81 Eddy: Dark water 89 Chapter 5: Lines upon the land 91 Meander: Bath toys 103 Chapter 6: The meanings of water 105 Eddy: Otter 121 Chapter 7: The Bell Guy and the Gypsey 123 Chapter 8: A willow grows aslant a brook 141 Eddy: Minus seven 161 Chapter 9: The cry of the Dart 163 Meander: Flow 177 Chapter 10: Trespassers will 179 Eddy: Summer on the Nene 199 Chapter 11: Chalk stream dreaming 203 Eddy: Heron 215 Chapter 12: Land covered by water 217 Eddy: High water 229 Chapter 13: Ouroboros 233 Meander: Ghosts in the willows 239 Chapter 14: The silver fish 243 Chapter 15: Light and water 259 Eddy: Damnation 271 Chapter 16: Anadrome 273 Chapter 17: Riverwoods 291 Eddy: Flowover 309 Chapter 18: Confluence and influence 311 Meander: A river released 325 Chapter 19: The Mucky Beck 327 Eddy: Withow Gap 341 Chapter 20: Rodents of unusual size 345 Eddy: The narrow bridge 361 Chapter 21: Heartland 365 Chapter 22: A descent into Hell Gill (and out the other side) 377 Epilogue 387 Author’s note and acknowledgements 388 Further reading 391 Index 395 Please help me build a small boat, One that will ride on the flow Where the river runs deep, and the larger fish creep I’m glad of what keeps me afloat Johnny Flynn, The Water