He may have sung ‘Here Comes the Summer’, but when former punk frontman-turned-environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey toured Cornwall to champion cleaner rivers and coastal waters, the weather was anything but clement. 

No matter, for the former The Undertones singer was a ray of sunshine to the rapturous crowds who braved torrential rains to meet him in Looe, Falmouth, Perranporth and Par on Thursday. 

And besides, “I’m from Northern Ireland,” he said. “It isn’t even proper rain in Cornwall.” 

Mr Sharkey was touring his nationwide ‘Stop the Sh*t Show’ to highlight the issue of pollution in Britain's waterways, and spoke to people around the county who are battling water quality issues, from sea swimmers and surfers to fishermen. 

At Gyllyngvase in Falmouth, a Blue Flag beach which saw 70 sewage alerts in 2022 (source: Surfers Against Sewage), the weather was ironically on his side.

“We stood and watched the Surfers Against Sewage app, using real time data, just lighting up as sewage was being dumped into the bay. And,” he said again, “the rain wasn’t even that bad.” 

While locals were clearly thrilled to meet a bona fide rock star, amid the album signings and the selfies there was a serious message to be told. Around the county, Mr Sharkey met business owners who told him how a drop in water quality affects their ability to trade. 

He signed an Undertones vinyl LP sleeve for Chris Ranger, who fishes in the Fal for native oysters and queen scallops aboard his traditional oyster boat the Alf Smythers. 

Mr Ranger explained how headlines regarding sewage and water pollution deterred not only customers but also investors – and how drawing attention to his plight only served to make things much worse. 

“About 10 years ago, I did a crowdfunding campaign suggesting that polluters must pay. I emailed my customers – and lost them all, because they presumed the waters were dirty,” said Chris. “Seafood is one of the most sustainable food resources, and gives humans 75 per cent of the protein and nutrients they need. But it has been ruined, when it should be protected. 

“I have struggled for the past couple of years, fighting for a better fishery – and now consumer confidence is closing me down. After 16 years’ work, it’s heartbreaking.” 

In Par, Mr Sharkey met members of the Desalination Information Group, who are opposing plans for a 13km pipeline that will see water from St Austell Bay pumped up to Restormel treatment works for desalination in times of drought. Plans to meet on site were abandoned and the bedraggled crowd hastily reconvened at the nearby Ship Inn.

Mr Sharkey described the plans as “an act of desperation”, adding: “I can understand local concerns. How, in times of global warming, can it be the most efficient thing on the planet to use electricity to boil water, question mark, exclamation mark?”

And in Perranporth, he addressed an audience at Seiners Bar alongside Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) chief executive Giles Bristow. Open-water swimming coach Sarah Walsh was among those present, with fellow sea swimmers from The Bluetits.

“Whenever I swim in the sea, I do a risk assessment,” she said. “If there’s a sewage alert, I don’t go in. It has been horrendous – on one day, only seven of around 80 beaches had that green tick for safety. 

“It also affects the physical and mental wellbeing of those who swim for that reason. Those people will be pushed towards the NHS. Feargal really understood that, as that’s how his campaigning started.” 

Indeed, having initially fought for musicians’ rights, Mr Sharkey’s interest in water quality was borne out of a childhood love of fly fishing that he still practises today.

He recalls his ‘Eureka’ moment: “I was standing in the middle of a river and, much like the people of Cornwall, I found myself watching a flotilla of the ugliest underbelly of our sewage system drifting by my feet.” 

He paid tribute to all the people he had met, saying: “Cornwall has been ahead of the game for some time, and everyone should pay homage to SAS, who were blazing a trail before the rest of us even knew there was a trail to blaze. 

“As for the wild swimmers who have taken umbrage at the state of the seas, I’m blown away by how informed and engaged they are. It’s inspiring.”

In contrast, few official bodies escaped his laser-eyed criticism. He dismissed regulatory body Ofwat as “a complete and utter disaster,” and of South West Water said: “They make themselves stand out. No matter which method you choose, their reporting score card is one of the worst in the country.

“And yet their chief executive gets rewarded with a 58 per cent increase in salary. Their customers have the highest water bills in the country, and they have asked the regulator if they can put them up again by 48 per cent over five years. Can you not help yourselves? 

“It’s quite clear people in Cornwall get all this and they don’t need a lecture from me about this. They are bloody furious, and justifiably so in my opinion.” 

He called for a “root and branch” overhaul of the regulatory system: “It needs dismantling and rebuilding from the ground up. The whole business needs a re-examination. Hopefully a new government will find the time to do that.”  

As president of SERA - Labour’s Environment Campaign, Mr Sharkey was accompanied by Labour parliamentary candidates in each location: Jayne Kirkham for the Truro and Falmouth (who described him as “a whirlwind”), Noah Law for St Austell and Newquay, Perran Moon for Camborne and Redruth, and Anna Gelderd for South-East Cornwall (see pages 34 and 35 for a list of all prospective parliamentary candidates).

“Yes, hands up, I’m a member of the Labour Party, and people will make of that what they will,” said Mr Sharkey. “But I’m being as objective as possible.”

Mr Sharkey often visits Cornwall on holiday, and is due back in a few weeks to see friends and attend a wedding.

“That beautiful coastline ultimately brings people like me to places like Cornwall. I can understand people being aggrieved that the very thing that drives the local economy is being dismantled by the utter incompetence of the regulator, and greed running unchecked.” 

Ultimately, he would like nothing more than for the water quality issue to be solved so he can enjoy Cornwall for Cornwall’s sake, and go back to talking about things he loves. 

“I’ve been fortunate enough that since the age of 20, people have wanted to come up to me in the street, anywhere in the world, and talk to me about music. For the past few years, this has changed – they want to talk to me about rivers and sh*te. I’d like to go back to talking about music as soon as possible.” 

A Conservative Party spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Feargal Sharkey’s comments are nothing more than a shameful political attack by a Labour activist determined to twist the facts to fit his warped narrative.” 

A spokesperson for South West Water said chief executive Susan Davy “has voluntarily declined her bonus for the second year running”.