The English have always had a particular affection for their waterways and from the splendours of the rivers Wye or Severn to our slow meandering chalk streams. There is something immensely appealing about the image of the gently flowing river winding through a pastoral landscape of green fields and woodlands.
The reality is tragically different from this vision of times past. In recent years most of England’s rivers have become increasingly polluted by agricultural run-off and illegal sewage outflows, and the rivers of Sussex have not escaped this tide of chemicals and excrement. In spite of protests from environmentalists and high-profile campaigners like Feargal Sharkey little seems to change. So one Sussex seven-year-old decided to take action.
Lauris Prince takes action
Lauris Prince lives in Barcombe, not far from a beautiful stretch of the River Ouse, and used to enjoy swimming in the river at Barcombe Mills until she and her family all fell ill after one outing. Lauris explains: “The river there is not clean enough for us to swim in because of sewage and chemicals from farms. This is also really bad for the plants and the fish. My favourite animals are beavers and otters, and I want the rivers to be clean enough so that they can live there.”
Discussing ways that she might raise money for the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust (OARTS) with her mother Hanna and rabbit, Stringy, she devised a plan to walk the full 100-mile length of the South Downs Way (SDW), hoping to hit a target of £150 through sponsorship.
Eastbourne to Winchester in just ten days
On 6 January they set off, walking the ten miles from Eastbourne to Alfriston on the first day, navigating their way through a flooded Cuckmere Valley. Day 2 saw a quick refreshment stop at the youth hostel at Southease before continuing on to Kingston village, the end point for the day. The weather was growing increasingly cold, and high up on the Downs they braved blizzards and sub-zero temperatures as they continued on their way. The first few sections of the route were near enough for Lauris’s dad to pick up the intrepid walkers at the end of the day and take them home for bowls of hot soup, supper and cuddles from Lauris’s five-year-old sister Sylvie.
As the SDW took them further westwards, they stayed overnight at hostels and bed and breakfasts booked in advance, sometimes having to detour from their route to replenish dwindling stocks of picnic food. Carrying all their supplies in a heavy rucksack, Hanna’s back began to suffer, but in spite of the occasional complaint of sore feet Lauris was determined to carry on.
They finally arrived in Winchester, the end of the SDW, on Monday 15 January, in glorious sunshine, having clocked up an average of more than 11 miles per day over nine days of walking, with just one rest day in the middle. At the last count Lauris had exceeded her original target of £150 on her Just Giving site by an astonishing 500 per cent, bringing the current total to over £900.
Adventures and encounters en route
Lauris had made some cards to hand out to other walkers en route, and Hanna says that the response from both friends and strangers has been amazing.
“We’re so grateful to everybody who has donated and supported Lauris along the way,” she says. “One of the best things about the whole experience was chatting with people we met on the Downs, many of whom had their own amazing stories.”
They had many adventures along the way, finding what appeared to be an ancient pendant near the old Roman road of Stane Street, meeting a beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog that Lauris immediately fell in love with, and on one morning struggling to follow the route in thick mist.
When are we walking back?
Hanna is full of admiration for her seven-year-old daughter. “Lauris has been absolutely incredible”, she says, “we’re all so proud of her. She’s always been a keen walker and she’s been nagging us for a while to do a long-distance path – but I have to say, I never thought she’d be able to walk 100 miles in ten days, particularly in the winter! We were taking it a day at a time, but she just carried on marching. She was so excited to see how much money she was raising for our local rivers too. When we got to the end, she asked when we were walking back.”
Postscript: OARTS are thrilled with the contribution that Lauris’ fund-raising walk has made to what they might achieve in the coming year. They have invited Lauris and her mum to spend a day with them as they work on a project of planting trees along the banks of the River Ouse, and they will be discussing with Lauris how she would like them to use the money that she has raised. Given her love of beavers and otters, we could make a guess at her wish list…
If you want to help the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust in their work to clean up and maintain Sussex rivers, the link to Lauris’s Just Giving page is : www.justgiving.com/page/lauris-walks-the-sdw
