Prince William pictured at Sharpham as he guest-edits Country Life magazine

The Prince arrived in Totnes and was transported downriver to Sharpham on one of the Dart Harbour’s electric boats enabling him to hear about some of the problems facing the river including sewage pollution and agricultural run-off which can end up in the river. After disembarking at Sharpham the Prince walked along the riverbank and visited the saltmarsh, which has been restored as part of an on-going project to try and reverse and enhance these low-lying marshes that are a feature along the river edges at Sharpham. 

"The Duchy of Cornwall is the owner and custodian of large areas of Dartmoor as well as the bed of the estuary and the Prince clearly has a real passion to see the River Dart restored with the help of the Duchy. The features in Country Life illustrate his love for the natural world and initiatives such as the Earthshot Prize are designed to support practical solutions on the ground. The Sharpham Trust is at the forefront of championing a new relationship with the nature around us which will benefit our mental health and the natural world we rely on,” said Julian Carnell who is Co-Chair of the Partnership.

Henry Dimbleby, author of the National Food Strategy and Co-Chair of the Partnership, also spoke at the event and is quoted in the magazine, “Our intention is to use this work as a sort of Earthshot project to show it is possible to take one river in England and restore it to a high ecological status with thriving communities and a thriving economy.” 

The magazine also features the author Robert Macfarlane interviewing HRH The Princess of Wales about the power of nature and her “Mother Earth” series of short seasonal films. The Princess is quoted saying, “I think above all, Nature teaches us perspective. It reflects so much of the human experience. It encourages us to let go, especially of the things we cannot control, to slow down, to be present and to remember that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.”

Said Julian: “Although the Princess is particularly focused on the importance of nature connection in early childhood she also speaks about the therapeutic benefits for those in recovery from illness and these perfectly chime with our mindfulness-based work here at Sharpham over the last 44 years striving to connect people to the natural world. Our rivers symbolise what has gone wrong in our relationships with nature but also how, if we come together, we can achieve genuine and long-lasting change that will be to all our benefit.”

Find out more and order a copy of this edition of Country Life here: https://www.countrylife.co.uk/magazine/country-life-november-11-2026

To find out more about the River Dart Catchment Partnership visit www.riverdart.org and/or subscribe to the mailing list here

To find out more about the River Dart, order a copy of the recently published book by Julian Carnell, Becoming the Ocean: A River Dart Journey Through the Wild, the Ancient and the Sacred here https://www.sharphamtrust.org/support-us/sharpham-shop

The short film series 'Mother Earth' can be viewed on YouTube here and visit the Prince and Princess of Wales' channel here