Country diary: A vial of water from the rivers, becks and springs of Yorkshire – but not without permission | Amy-Jane Beer

Wharram and York, North Yorkshire: It’s the nervy few days before a ceremony that will honour our local waterways, and I have work to do I visit the source of the tiny stream called the Gypsey Race now and then, drawn by the everyday miracle of its water welling to catch sunlight like a plaything and alchemise it into colours and sparks.

Today, though, is different, because I’ve come to ask for something. Something like permission, or approval maybe. I’ve been helping to organise a gathering of river advocates to co-draft a regional charter of river rights – making explicit our responsibilities towards them. We will be holding a ceremony to blend waters from across Yorkshire to make ink in which the charter will be written. I want to collect water from the…