Dedham school pupils try to save ‘dying’ River Stour

Children who live near a beauty spot say they are concerned the river through their village is “dying” after conducting water quality sampling.

Pupils from Dedham Church of England Primary School in Essex asked a local climate action charity to help them investigate pollution in a stretch of the River Stour popular with swimmers, paddleboarders and tourists.

Year Four teacher Emily Keeley said the children were “really quite disheartened to find it was so polluted” but were passionate about raising awareness of the issue.

“If we don’t look after our world, there’s no planet B and if we don’t fix it, then there will not be the river and no animals in here,” said nine-year-old Florence.

“We should tell people that the river is dying and we need to help it.”

Noah, also nine, added: “If no one does anything about it, then the river will just go and no one will be able to go in,” adding that it would no longer remain a nationally-important landscape.

The pupils are planning to write to the Conservative MP for the area, Bernard Jenkin, asking for a storm drain to be installed on the nearby A12 to stop chemicals draining into the river.

Immortalised by painter John Constable, Dedham sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on the Essex-Suffolk border, and has reportedly recently seen an increase in issues including litter and bad parking.