Taylor River Writers' Walk

The Taylor River Writers' Walk is a partnership project between Blenheim's schools and Marlborough District Council, drawing attention to the environmental importance of urban waterways and, in particular, the Taylor River, which threads its way through the town.

The initiative came from Springlands Primary School in 2010 where students were examining the state of the Taylor River as part of the science curriculum. With Council's help, a student's poem about the river was engraved on a granite plaque and mounted on a riverside rock, establishing a Writers' Walk, which has been added to each year since with other Marlborough schools contributing their original work celebrating the importance of the river and raising awareness of its environmental values.

Water clarity and insect life in the Taylor River is an important element in the programme for Council's environmental education staff who work with local schools through Council's enviroschools programme.

Monumental mason Geoffrey T Sowman Ltd is the project sponsor, supplying the granite panels and providing the engraving.

Marlborough schools that have completed a local waterways study may submit poetry or prose for the Writers' Walk.

You can read the poetry from the Writers' Walk on the NZ Writers in the Top of the South website