The year 2001 will not go down as one of the greats as far asfishing is concerned. Foot-and-mouth disease brought with it thedestruction of about a quarter of our national herd. Millions ofanimals were slaughtered in the attempt to eradicate this pestilence.Even as I write this we are not yet fully clear of it, though thesigns are looking good.
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| fly dressers, enraptures his audience |
Angling has suffered badly this year with many of our belovedwaterways closed to anglers. Those living in Lancashire, Yorkshireand Cumbria have been particularly hard hit and indeed many of thenorthern rivers are still shut. Anglers, however, should take a greatdeal of pride in the way that they have shown how, as a group, theyhave been wonderfully responsible in keeping out of infected areas.Which is more than can be said for some other groups!
One of the early victims of foot-and-mouth was the ChatsworthAngling Fair. This event is normally held in May, but like so manyother events it had to be cancelled. However, the Duke of Devonshireis made of sterner stuff and set a new date for 21/22 October.
So it was that my son and I went to the revised show. Chatsworthis often regarded by many in the fishing world as angling’s great carboot sale! Many of the major manufacturers have tended to use theevent as the opportunity to clear out the previous year’s lines. Agreat deal of bankrupt stock also tends to get sold at Chatsworthwhich means that there are often thousands of bargains to be had atthe show.
Many of my acquaintances often wait until Chatsworth before buyingthat new rod and reel as they can often save a minor fortune. Towrite Chatsworth off as simply an opportunity to get a cheap rod orreel though is not to do the show full justice. There are many eventsthat are worth seeing.
For me personally I was very proud to see one of my former pupils,Alan Bithell, demonstrating his craft at the Fly Dressers Guild. Heis one of the best fly dressers in England today and is gaining agreat reputation throughout the world. He is a dab hand at magic aswell!
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| maestro,but for pure class watch his lad! |
On the river there were many demonstrations throughout the day,with Bob Nudd heading up the coarse angling side along with manyothers.
Angling author, artist, and all round good fellow Charles Jardine entertained a packed audience with some wonderfully fluent flycasting- it’s just a pity that his 12 year old lad is now better than heis!
For those whose desire is to learn all about the natural foods offish there were the ever popular river walks with Dr MalcomGreenhalgh. This man, apart from being a first class angler has a PHdin entomology and what he doesn’t know about aquatic life isn’t worthknowing. Malcolm is accompanied on these walks by another master flydresser, Oliver Edwards.
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| teach the masses entomology! |
The tackle that these highly skilled craftsmen turn out is notcheap, nor will it ever be, but the quality is superb. In today’sworld of mass production and everything looking much the same, whatprice individuality?
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As something of a traditionalist at heart I had a lot of pleasurein renewing my acquaintanceship with Barry Grantham from Lincoln.Barry is a precision engineer by trade who, like others, took tomaking tackle as a hobby and now does it full time. Today he makes arange of cane rods and landing nets, but the thing that really caughtmy eye is the centre-pin reels he now makes. These are not cheap butthey do look fantastic! I am planning to have one for review in thereasonably near future.
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Staying with the traditional theme for a moment it was nice to seeone of the shows great stalwarts, Chris Sandford, who was on hand togive valuations on old tackle that people brought. The collectorsmarket for old fishing tackle has become a major feature over thelast 20 years and many of us may be sat on a little goldmine that wenever knew about. Chris is the man who can tell you what granddad’sgear is now worth.
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Another of anglings great workers, Jane James, who is the head ofthe Anglers Conservation Association, was also working hardthroughout the show recruiting new members.
I believe that all caring anglers should be members of thisorganisation, as the writs that it issues strikes terror into thehearts of polluters.
Little tends to be heard of the work of the ACA, yet a quickglance through their annual review reveals the sheer volume of workthat the ACA does on behalf of it’s members in making polluters payto clean up the destruction that they have caused.
Even with the reduced size of this years show every aspect ofangling was catered for, and yes, there were still plenty of bargainsto be had by those that went looking for them.
See you all there in May!
