On 18th August 2026, Love Our Tyne’s John Ord gave a talk to the Hexham University of the Third Age Environment Group on the subject of the River Tyne. Below are John’s thoughts on the event:
The very knowledgeable and attentive audience was shocked by the extent and damage to the ecosystem caused by the recent nurdle spill; the continuous and unmonitored highways run-off; farming practices and the continued use of Victorian Combined Sewage Outlets.
After taking questions, I introduced the concept of The Rights of Rivers and the change in mindset required to overturn the current exploitative attitude. I talked about Love our Tyne and the catchment wide process to which the group is committed, as well as outlining the way in which hearts as well as minds would be reached.
Having mentioned workshops, talks, music, story, guided river walks, photography and art, the session ended by inviting the audience to suggest the rights they would include in a Charter of Rights for the Tyne.
These are those Rights the U3A came up with:
The Right to:
- Flow
- Meander
- Be clean without sewage discharge
- Have a healthy riparian ecosystem
- Be enjoyed safely
- Enjoy “free passage”
- Be respected by the local population
- Have its native residents protected
- Be able to “breathe” without algal bloom from fertilizers
- Have limits on water extraction especially at times of drought
- Have public access along its banks
- Be clean without effluent
- Be considered as a living entity with dur respect
- Regular monitoring
- A good ecosystem
- With standards that are set and maintained
- Legal action should be taken against those who do not comply with the standards
- Be re-nationalised without compensation for shareholders
- A freedom from gravel extraction
- A reduced runoff from peatlands and moors
- Have willows planted along riverbanks prone to erosion
- Have cattle monitored as they graze on riverbanks
- Take a natural course
- Be free from pollution
- Be free from overextraction
- Have my banks shore (?) protected and not damaged
- Have paths all along my river bank
- Be free of invasive plants and animals
- Be a place where I am full of life and abundant nature
- Be peaceful and quiet
- Be free from human pollution
- Enjoy diverse wildlife with nature encouraged and supported
- Enjoy preventative measures rather than after harm has been done
- The humans around me having a change in mindset and habits
- Be free flowing
- Support other life and living in harmony
- Enjoy protection of my life and my environment
- Enjoy urgent action to clean me up
- Be unpolluted
- Have nothing taken out
- Enjoy respect for my life and all that lives in me and my self-sustaining ecosystem
I hope the U3A enjoyed the talk and activity as much as I enjoyed leading it.
John Ord 19 August 2026