Why I joined march to clean up Britain's polluted rivers

The River Irk was once renowned for the clarity of its water. The name denotes fresh, clean and pure in the ancient Brittonic language, previously spoken in northern England, while the Irk is also thought to refer to the fleet-footed Roebuck deer.

- JOE SHUTE

In more modern times, however, this stretch of river, which runs from the Lancashire countryside to the middle of Manchester, has become synonymous with pollution. Of all the nation’s rivers represented at yesterday’s March for Clean Water in central London, there are few in a more dire state than the Irk.

Earlier this year, the wider river catchment was named among the worst sewage dumps in England, with 6,307 spills over 2023. According to the same study (based on Environment Agency data), the River Irwell, into which the Irk flows via an underground culvert beneath Manchester Victoria station, was blighted by the worst sewage pollution of all.

We have mistreated the Irk for centuries now. During the Industrial Revolution, the river was lined with textile mills, slaughter yards and dye works, and treated as little more than an open sewer. In his book,