OUR LADY OF THE WYE
Faced with toxic run-off from 20 million chickens on local poultry farms polluting the River Wye, Father Richard Williams of St Mary’s Church in Hay-on-Wye is resorting to extreme measures. He organised a procession involving a 4ft 6in (1.4m) statue of theVirgin Mary being floated 75 miles (120km) down the Wye between two canoes to “cleanse” the river. The statue’s creator Philip Catfield and his friend Callum Bulmer set out on their river journey from Hay on the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August, arriving in Monmouth on the 19th. Charles Watson, of the campaign group River Action said: “Based on how serious the problem is, we need divine intervention.”
