Surfing the Severn bore: A battle against Britain's polluted rivers

In Gloucestershire, England, “bore rider” Ben Rogers surfs the river Severn, one of the UK’s longest rivers, which runs several hundred kilometres from mid-Wales to the Bristol Channel. He rides what is known as a tidal bore: a surge caused by tidal changes – in this case in the Bristol estuary – that creates a wave large enough to surf.

An enthusiastic and close-knit community of bore riders has built up around the phenomenon, riding the 250 or so waves each year, especially so-called five-star bores – predicted waves caused when tidal differences in the estuary are at their largest. For Rogers, the Severn bore is a wonder of the world and riding it is a journey. “I’ve surfed 5 miles through landscapes. It’s like a mini adventure,” he says.

But Britain’s rivers are being flooded with plastic waste, manure, runoff and raw sewage, and none more so than the Severn. “Our rivers are abused. We use them as gutters,” says Rogers. “A lot of my friends get what we call river belly, which isn’t very nice, as you can imagine. And I’ve had stomach bugs and I’ve got Weil’s disease before.” Now Rogers and other bore surfers are campaigning to improve the water quality of the Severn and other rivers around the UK, taking part in clean-ups and asking river users to demand better from water companies and politicians.