Tower and Town, June 2026 (view the full edition)The RiverThe River Kennet quietly defines the character of Mildenhall. She has flowed through this landscape for millenia, since way before the Roman settlement of Cunetio gave her current name. As a globally rare and precious chalkstream, she has sprung from the aquifer, drawn from the rainwater that soaks through the chalk sponge of the surrounding downland, and nourished life in this valley for thousands of years. Her waters emerge clear and sediment free and, because of their unique source, they maintain, year round, a near constant temperature and flow rate. From her sources at Swallowhead Spring. she has seen the ancient monuments of Silbury Hill, West Kennet Longbarrow and Avebury Circle come into being. Most of her flow, prior to her union with the Thames at Reading, traverses the National Landscape of the North Wessex Downs. Her rich habitat and ecological value is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Endangered species, like Water Vole, Reed Bunting, and Brook Lamprey find sanctuary here. Water Beetles, Caddisflies, Hawk Moths, Mayflies and myriad more insect species forge the basis of her complex food webs. River Kennet is a thread of ancient life that weaves through Minal, still bringing perpetual sustenance and steadying influence to village life; a watery thread through past and present days and on into the future via the local and global water cycles that take her waters out to sea and return to replenish the chalk downlands as rain. Ghosts of her industrial and pre-industrial past; the mills and breweries and tanneries along her banks, still whisper of her history in shaping the working lives of generations of the people of this area. She has survived many pressures and assaults over time. Most recently a devastating chemical insecticide pollution event in 2013 from which John Hounslow, our respected River Keeper of 48 years, observes, she is still in recovery. The river's future will likely see more extremes of flooding and drought. Our collective job as Minal villagers, is to support her to continue to thrive through the changes that will come. Milly Carmichael |