Meet the couple walking the entire River Wharfe to protect it with Extinction Rebellion

The couple, from Grassington, have challenged themselves to walk 81 miles along the River Wharfe to raise awareness of the importance of clean rivers.

Since the start of last month they have embarked on the challenge, which is due to end just before Christmas near Cawood, to highlight how water quality can be affected by sewage overflows, agricultural overflows, and even litter.

Their challenge is part of the World Water Wedding campaign, an Extinction Rebellion initiative which encourages people to pledge to protect their rivers and waterways.

For Emmeline and Mark, who have been married for 18 years, walking the River Wharfe course is a chance to explore their local area in greater depth.

Emmeline said: “As part of the World Water Wedding campaign, we wanted to commit to getting to know the whole river and build our own emotional connection to it, learn more about it and try to talk to other people along the way and raise awareness about the issues that it’s facing.”

Mark added: “Obviously a lot of Extinction Rebellion actions take place in cities where the people are and where the businesses are and everything else but it’s nice to get involved with something more local and very relevant to our daily life.”

Supported by the Great UK WaterBlitz, Emmeline and Mark are testing the water quality at varying points of the river along their route.

They do this by collecting water samples, mixing them with solution in a vial, and assessing how the colour changes. They’ve sent their findings so far to Earthwatch Europe to be analysed.

Emmeline said: “Water quality often depends on the recent weather conditions and when you're testing it but it all does build a picture.

“We’re interested to see how that changes as we go downstream.”

Alongside testing water quality, Emmeline and Mark are talking to passers- by to hear their opinions on water quality in the region and have been “blown away” by the positive response.

Mark said: “The sewage is the issue that I think most people can connect with because it’s quite visible in the press so that makes up most of our conversations.”

Emmeline added: “Everyone we’ve spoken to has been really aware of that and really angry and sad about the state of the rivers.

“I think it’s a real positive that the message is really out there - it’s a really good starting point for conversations about how people can take action and do something about it.”

Emmeline and Mark confessed that this form of social activism is outside of their comfort zone but they have a useful tool to use as a conversation starter: a self-made flag referencing the World Water Wedding campaign.

Emmeline said: “We felt that if you’re flying a flag and you’re quite a visual entity that people will actually ask you rather than you having to approach them and that has proved to be the case.

“That’s really helped us to feel confident in talking to people about what we’re doing.”

Mark added: “It’s quite a hard flag to read but that works well in your favour when you’re talking to people because it starts a discussion.”

There have been challenges along the journey so far, most notably that Emmeline and Mark embarked on their first walk during the height of Storm Amy. However, the pair say they are committed “whatever the weather” to walking all 81 miles.

Crucially, Emmeline and Mark hope their walk will encourage other people to take action to help protect their local waterways.

Emmeline said: "It's not necessarily about supporting us, it’s about supporting their local bit of the river and doing something about it.

“It's making people aware that they have a voice and they can and should stand up for what's important.”