River Dart

Um, quite a nice little bash.

Um, oh, while we're talking about events actually, um, we should probably mention, uh, our friends at Brookwells are holding a show at River Dart down in the Southwest.

So if you're down that way, or if, if you're not down that way and you fancy a day out this weekend, um, pop down, uh, go to the Brookwells Instagram page and click through and see.

I know some of our friends are going.

All very lovely.

And a large part of the estate's story is the story of the river that flows around it and through it, and Julian has written a fascinating book, Becoming the Ocean, about the River Dart, which has a very hopeful view of what steps can be taken to repair and heal the river, as well as heal ourselves.

So without further ado, let's head on retreat to deepest Devon.

Good afternoon, Julian.

Thank you for having me here.

Where on earth are we, though?

Well, welcome to Sharpham, Sharpham Estate, here on the banks of the River Dart in, uh, Devon.

We're actually looking at the Great Run, uh, in front of us.

So you have the main house, which is a beautiful, imposing white Georgian building.

And then you have the grounds, which drift down a very steep, heavily wooded hillside toward the river dart estuary.

And down at the bottom of that steep path, right on the water's edge, is a place called the Battery Garden.

Yes, the Battery.

It adds this incredible layer of time and memory to a story that is entirely about time and memory.

The history of Greenway is remarkable.

There's actually been a crossing point there on the River Dart for over a thousand years.

A thousand years.