TRUDGERS in the murky and damp underworld – or at least the ankle-deep rivulets which tease their way through subterranean parts of Newton Abbot.

Michael Martyn leads a group of venturers through the benign River Lemon as it wends its way below part of Marsh Road.

The intrepid paddlers were taking part in the annual inspection of the town’s three-mile watercourse, a tradition which flows back centuries.