Steel River

An evocative and richly informative account of a journey along the river Tees, presenting its valley as a microcosm of an environmentally damaged and endangered world.

The north-east has long been a place of proud industry. Beneath the sweat and grime, however, the region’s biodiversity has taken a battering for generations. In Steel River , Nicholls deftly examines whether nature — and by extension, humanity — can ever truly heal and regenerate.

An admirable book... Nicholls has a powerful message for us: that environmental degradation and social inequality are twin facets of the rush to rob the planet of its resources.

Praise for Steve Nicholls:
Steve Nicholls is an expert guide, leading us across meadows blooming with buttercups and orchids... He presents a visually stunning, readable and scientifically rigorous survey of Britain's wildflowers.

One of the best reads I have undertaken in 2023, [Nicholls] oozes knowledge and enthusiasm.

STEVE NICHOLLS is an award-winning television documentary producer and director based in Bristol. He holds a PhD in dragonflies from the University of Bristol and is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London. He has spent thirty years making wildlife films, including ten with the BBC Natural History Unit, and his plant photographs have won several awards in the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. Nicholls is the author of Paradise Found: Nature in America at the Time of Discovery, Flowers of the Field: A Secret History of Meadow , Moor and Woodland and Plantet Insect: How Insects Conquered the Earth .