This section of the river Wharfe in Yorkshire is known as ‘The Strid’. It has long been regarded as the most dangerous stretch of river in the world. It looks deceptively easy to jump across – it is only about 5 ft. wide, but if you slip you will die. No one who has fallen in, and there has been many, have lived to tell the tale.

Recent soundings have put the water depth at nearly 200 ft. and undercurrents will suck you down into the depths. I live about 5 miles from The Strid and often visit it – but I stay well away from the sides.

When I was at school we once went on a Geography Field Trip to The Strid. One of the boys jumped across. When the teacher discovered the boy on the other side of the river he went crazy, shouting and swearing at him. He told the boy to walk along the other side of the river for about half a mile downstream until there was a bridge and we would meet him there. A few minutes later the child joined us – he had jumped back across to our side and the teacher nearly had a heart attack! That was the end of all school trips the The Strid!