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Kind: captions
Language: en

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Behind me is a bit of water called the Strid.

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There are a couple of Strids in Britain,

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but this is the one on the River Wharfe, at
Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire.

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And I reckon it is the most dangerous stretch
of water anywhere on Earth.

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Now that's a bold claim, I know.

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There are certainly rivers that have taken
more lives,

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and there are rapids and waterfalls that few
boats could ever sail.

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But generally, you can see them coming.

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This is just an innocent looking stream in
the middle of some woods.

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You could jump over it. People occasionally
do.

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But if you miss that jump, it'll kill you.

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This is what the river looks like about a
hundred metres upstream.

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Same river. All that water went down.

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Thanks to the local geology, the river basically
turns on its side,

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gouging out passages and tunnels in the rocks
below.

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Those banks are actually overhangs:

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there isn't any riverbed just below the surface,

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it's a deep, boiling mass of fast and deadly
currents.

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There are claims that falling in has a 100%
fatality rate.

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There's no way to confirm that, of course,

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because "local person doesn't die in river"
doesn't make the news,

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but it has claimed a lot of lives:

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there are even tales from the 12th century
of a young boy,

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set to be the future king of Scotland,

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who died trying to jump across those waters.

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And anything, or anyone, that falls in

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might not come out in any recognisable form:

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it could just get pulverised against the rocks
underwater

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over and over and over again.

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I'd try and put a camera in,

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but then I'd have to get close to the edge.

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And the edge isn't sharp, it just curves towards
the water

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and it's covered in slippery moss.

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Besides, the water is opaque and brown with
peat stain,

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you'd see nothing.

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Is it survivable? Maybe, with a lot of equipment
and a lot of luck.

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And you'll find occasional testimony from
foolhardy people

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who've swum in the calmer pools at the bottom
on drier days --

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but that's also where a young child drowned
back in 2010.

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That's why it's so dangerous.

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It looks safe, it looks tempting,

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and it'll kill you.

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