Verse 1

The river it rises in the Blackdown Hills and flows 30 miles to the sea.
It’s powered the mills and watered the land for many a century.
As it weaves its way south, to the river mouth, it’s fed by the streams either side.

‘Til it finds its way past village and farm and by Budleigh Brook meets the tide.

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​Chorus

So flow, river, flow
Through the wind and the rain and the snow
Let the river run wild and free on its way to the rolling sea.

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​Verse 2

Lord Rolle made plans to build up the banks to drain the marsh and the mire.
And there they stood for two hundred years though the waters grew steadily higher.

As the river was tamed and the land reclaimed, cattle grazed where boats once sailed, Still the floods got worse and the waters spread, and the banks began to fail.​

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​Verse 3

Then came the time to change again, the need to do something bold,
So the work began to regain what was lost, to return to the floodplain of old,
First the land was cleared and channels laid, the marshes were restored
Then the paths and roads and bridges were built, so the valley was free to explore.

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​Verse 4
There are some who mourn for what was lost, who yearn for the status quo,
There are those who want to count the cost, though the trees in their thousands grow. And the fish will swim and the birds will fly, and nature will sing its song,
As the river flows into the sea and the circle of life rolls along.

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​Verse 5
Redshank and shelduck, and dipper and teal, moorhen and godwit and rail.
Will fly back here for many a year to weather the storm and the gale.
Where the beavers swim and build their dams, and the sparkling kingfishers dive,

And the herons and curlews, geese and swans make us happy to be alive.

​Chorus x 2

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