A hand painted map of British rivers including some of the creatures that inhabit them.

My map of British Rivers is a celebration of some of our naturally occurring waterways. I’ve illustrated some the fabulous creatures that commonly inhabit British rivers, fish and birds of course. But also amphibians, mammals and a few invertebrates.

I have tried to fit as many rivers as I can onto a sheet of A1, but there were always going to be omissions. If your favourite local river is not on it – so sorry – I couldn’t possibly get them all in!

Since human beings first settled down to an agricultural life, we have always preferred to live in river valleys, for obvious reasons. Today more than half the world’s population lives less than 1 hour from a river. I grew up in Stratford upon Avon where the river was always a source of great joy and interest to me. All those the water fowl, the little minnows, the boats, the wild plants, and that river smell – that you get when you’re standing by a weir for example. I love that. And now I live close the Thames and still enjoy that rivery scent.

A fisherman’s map

I took advice from my mad keen angler friend Martin Salter about which fish species to include. THANK YOU Martin for your sage advice. Although I must apologise … I’m not quite sure how I managed to omit the mighty sea bass! Here are the fish species which are included:

Barbel, Bream, Brown Trout, Bullhead, Chub, Eel, Flounder, Grayling, Grey Mullet, Gudgeon, River Lamprey, Three Spined Stickleback, Perch, Pike (‘Don’t tell ‘em!‘), Roach, Rudd, Salmon, Shad, Sea Trout, Tench

Our fishy friends are joined by these birds:

Greylag goose, Great Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Osprey, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Dipper, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen

Not forgetting the mammals: Water Vole, Grey Seal, Beaver, Otter. Some invertibrates: Mayfly, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Great Diving Beetle. And a couple of amphibians: Common Crog and Great Crested Newt.

The boats shown are a Cornish lugger, a Humber sloop, a coracle, a punt, a river cruiser, a double kayak, and I couldn’t resist including ‘the Charlotte Rhodes’ from my favourite TV series ‘the Onedin Line’, sailing out of Liverpool. Buildings include the Cruachan dam, a watermill, a windmill, and Willy Lot’s cottage. I also had to include a few bridges: Humber Bridge, Second Severn Crossing, Ironbridge, Forth Rail Bridge.