East Devon alderman Mark Williamson writes for the Journal

There are many ways of talking about rivers.

In the case of the Exe I could tell you that it rises a mere five miles from the Bristol Channel coast and flows due south for 60 miles – a considerable journey.

I could tell you about its five main tributaries and if you were interested, I could give you its pH value (low) and the names of the wading birds on the estuary’s exposed mud flats.

But I could give you a different description from the window of an early autumn Exmouth-bound train when the setting sun over the Haldons gilded the crests of the waves on a receding tide and created magic from the raw materials of sky, land and water.

A musician could describe the Exe without words but equally powerfully.

There is no more accurate portrayal of a river than the symphonic poem by the great Czech composer Smetana describing his country’s longest river, the Vltava.

The orchestra alone transports you from the two springs where it starts, through Prague until it loses itself in the Elbe – as indeed the Exe itself loses itself in the English Channel.

Most poetry about the Exe is necessarily and rightly by local people.

One I particularly like is by Tony French called ‘Exmoor’s Gift – The River Exe’.

It traces the full length of the river from the high moors to ‘the final bar to salt and freedom/sandy warren/Dawlish warren/golf and beaches/dunes and nesting/resting till the tide retreats’.

Within our own community we have catalysts for poetry writing, not least our own Stuart Line Cruises and the Jurassic Coast which sponsored a Poet in Residence.

An online search or visit to your local library will turn up riveting poetry and prose about the tapestry of natural beauty and rich history which surround us, an outstanding example being Louisa Adjoa Parker’s ‘Let the River Sing’, a narrative poem which reminds us of the social history associated with the Exe – fishermen and ferrymen, lock keepers and traders.

As hope returns I would love to see a rebirth of creativity from young and old, a shared celebration of where we live despite all we have gone through.

We can share in many ways - social media, noticeboards, local papers and newsletters, libraries and community centres and maybe, one day, the 57 bus.

Meanwhile, the Exe will flow on with its abundance of wildlife, treacherous currents and dancing wind-surfers, the river that explains where we live and will remain an inspiration in our future.