RETIRED Stourbridge snapper Graham Beckley has celebrated the release of a book brimming with images of his beloved River Stour.

Mr Beckley, who has photographed the entire length of the waterway, known as the forgotten river, launched the book 'Our Stour - the river that shaped the history and industry of the Black Country' at an event at The Bonded Warehouse on August 17.

The book launch follows two successful exhibitions of Mr Beckley's River Stour photographs which have been displayed at Himley Hall and Kidderminster Library.

A retired industrial photographer, former engineer and keen environmentalist - Mr Beckley captured the waterway in all weathers and times of day, often finding himself wading into the water to get the perfect picture.

His images show the Stour emerging from springs high in the Clent Hills and as it descends and passes through Halesowen, Cradley, Lye and Stourbridge before making its way through Kinver, Caunsall, Cookley, Wolverley and Kidderminster before completing its journey at Stourport where it joins the River Severn.

Mr Beckley, aged 72, said: "A lot of people don't know there's a river here."

His interest in the waterway - from which Stourbridge gets its name - was sparked a few years ago when, as volunteer with TidyStourbridge, he took it upon himself to collect three quarters of a ton of rubbish starting from the Apley Road area of Wollaston down towards the banks of the River Stour off Lowndes Road, Stourbridge.

Since then he's pulled all manner of items including tyres and supermarket trolleys from the river - a hotspot for fly-tipping - which he and fellow members of eco group Transition Stourbridge have been trying to return, slowly but surely, to its natural glory by staging regular clean-up sessions.

And their efforts seem to be paying off as the group recently celebrated the sightings of fish and a kingfisher in the fast-flowing waters near the Lion Health centre.

Mr Beckley said: "I think we're getting somewhere.

"Transition Stourbridge has pulled 129 shopping trolleys out of the river between Foxes removals and the Wollaston Recreation Ground."

Mr Beckley says he is hoping the book, which he's self-published, will help to highlight the hidden beauty of the waterway, which has links to religion, corn mills, iron founders, the industrial revolution and the mass production of carpets, and encourage people to take better care of it.

Stourbridge-based author, naturalist and ornithologist Brett Westwood, presenter of The Living World and Nature series on Radio Four, officially launched the publication which is now available to buy, priced £13.50 plus P&P, from the Black Country Society online at www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/publications

Judith Watkin, secretary of the society, said: "It's a great book about a river that deserves to be better known."