My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness. This one shows the River Wye as it flows through the Forest of Dean. The far bank, left on the picture, is actually Wales, as the river forms part of the border between the two countries.
The Wye Valley is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) but the river itself, in common with almost every natural waterway in England, is frequently polluted by raw sewage. The water companies that are supposed to allow such discharges only in times of emergency to prevent sewage entering the flooding around housing during heavy rain, are all in private hands. Companies that exist to make profit for shareholders and therefore fail to spend the money needed on infrastructure to prevent this pollution.
In the past, the water companies were all nationalised and there was therefore no incentive to make a profit to pass on to shareholders. Money raised by bill payers was used to create the necessary infrastructure. Of course, there were still spills, but there was also a more committed policy to deal with them and build structures to prevent future accidents.
Since privatisation, the profit motive has stopped companies taking the necessary steps, and wildlife and wild swimmers now suffer as a result. I and many others, believe it is now time to return to public ownership and get the proper structures in place to protect the environment rather than spending £billions on rewards for already rich investors.
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Comment, like, and share the post to help spread the joy of natural beauty to as many people as we can. That will help fight the rapidly approaching climate emergency and species extinctions.
I post every Saturday here, but also post one at the end of each day, with the hashtag #ourworldiswonderful, on FaceBook and Twitter. Join me there and comment, share and like if you wish.
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More of my pictures appear in the Gallery.
If you’re looking for pictures for almost any purpose, you’ll find 2,500 large HD images on Picfair, which can be purchased for a small sum as digital files, or as art quality prints on paper or canvas. The small fee helps me maintain the gear and software quality digital photography demands.
Stuart Aken 
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That’s beautiful. It’s tragic that it becomes polluted. I didn’t realise that your sewage utilities are in private hands. A for-profit company is never going to care about the environment, people’s health, animals or anything else except money.
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Tragic is right, Lynette. Every river in England is polluted by the same means, and this has largely been the case since our water service was sold off to private companies so more rich people could make more money. The Conservative Party and its government are rapidly destroying the country for personal gain, unfortunately.
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In my opinion, that’s criminal. The Conservative Party here is the same – doesn’t care about the environment at all except how to make money from it (making money seems to be the only plank in their party platform). The leader is a real piece of work. Fortunately, it’s quite unlikely they will ever get enough seats (for the foreseeable future) to form a government.
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What is truly disturbing is that these corrupt, self-serving elitists are still attracting support, but, of course the bulk of the media is controlled by wealthy individuals and corporations whose only interest is money. I fear for the future for our children.
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Lovely river. So sorry to learn it is frequently polluted.
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You can see a small figure in blue on the island at the left in the picture, Noelle. In order to get there, she had to wade across the river, something I’d never do in this water that looks so inviting. Such a shame.
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