I belong to a small Warwickshire Angling club called Avon Ho.
In addition to two lengths of canal around Rugby, the Club has two waters in the village of Kings Newnham in the heart of the Warwickshire Countryside. One is a lovely stretch of the Warwickshire Avon running its reedy course through superb countryside. The other is my favourite water of all time. This comprises three fairly small pools (only about 50 pegs in total) which apparently used to belong to a Monastery, the tower of which still stands nearby.
The three pools are a dream, full of mirror carp – none of your 50lb stuff – but good healthy doubles are plentiful. There are also good bream and tench, whilst the roach and perch will fill anyone’s bag.
I live only a few miles away and have been a member of Avon Ho for 4 years. At £ 25 per season it’s incredible value. Youngsters from the Local Villages are frequent visitors and many have become keen anglers after a few sessions on the pools.
So, is this just an every day report of a pleasant Angling Club?
Not Exactly! In its wisdom, our “Big Brother” Government has decided that the Pools at Kings Newnham will be bull-dozed away and turned into a car park for a new airport which is being built because they can’t extend Birmingham or Gatwick or Coventry Airports.
So, Forget the idyllic tranquil countryside. Forget the Green Belt. Forget the Warwickshire Villages (Church Lawford, Kings Newnham, Long Lawford and Wolston) which will be wiped off the Map.
Forget the hundreds of acres of countryside that will be turned into car parks, terminal buildings, hotels, motorways and runways.
Forget the Monastery and Ancient Tower which – although they are “Listed Buildings” – will be demolished.
Forget the Avon with its superb wildlife – I guess the Avon will go underground, but the wildlife habitat will be lost.
And Forget my three pools and the stock of fish – I suppose they will be netted and moved elsewhere.
Apparently, we need another airport!
There’s obviously a lot of local opposition, but “Big Brother Knows Best” and their attitude is that they’ve already considered all possible alternatives and this scheme WILL go ahead. So they intend bull-dozing their way through all of the proper planning processes.
If you know the area or sympathise with our concerns can you help?
“STOP THE AIRPORT” Signs are appearing all over the area and this seems to be the recognised catchphrase. So email or write to your MP’s and just tell them to “STOP THE AIRPORT” – they’ll know which one.
Thanks for your Support.
Keith Winnett
