Waterways

Sunday 20th Nov  |  7pm

90m  |  UK |  2022  |  Docs

Documenting the issues and people involved in climate change in Cornwall.

2 documentaries made in Cornwall.

Down the Drain delves deep into issues around Cornwall’s fresh water, presented by the ‘lone kayaker’ Rupert Kirkwood – looking at everything from sewage overflows, flooding, loss of topsoil, warmer river water is affecting fish, and the surprising carbon footprint of the water we use every day. It also focuses on how people around Cornwall are working to tackle these problems – from farmers changing the way they manage their land to a project to ‘re-wet’ Bodmin Moor’s peat bogs, and efforts to reintroduce the beaver – which was driven to extinction in the UK about 400 years ago.

For millennia Sailor's Creek has been a haven for wildlife, boats and people. A tidal branch of the Penryn River opposite to Falmouth, it is a place that is by turns magical and imposing, peaceful and chaotic, beautiful and ugly. A dwindling number of human residents live off grid in the hulks of luggers, leisure yachts and fishing boats, many of which are in a state of advanced decay. The dangerous nature of the creek ensures that wildlife is free to make a home amidst the rust, rotten timber and fibreglass - untroubled by the heavy footfall that such a place would normally suffer, so close to an urban centre. But change is fast approaching. After a tragic accident the creek has passed into new guardianship. A collective of boat builders, environmentalists and developers have leased the land with a view to regeneration - making the creek safe for laying up and mooring boats, cleaning up the environmental impact caused by years of neglect, and working with the remaining residents to find solutions to their housing needs.

With director, producer and participants Q&A