Old Bury Hill to close

[S-Kippy]

Just had an email from OBH. Looks like the owner has had enough and the fishery will close on or around 30 September this year. There will be fishing on Milton and Bonds lakes for a while but it looks like the Old Lake has gone. No idea what the position is re the carp syndicate lake ( Temple) but that never interested me in any case.

Oh well....looks like I may have caught my last zander unless I make the trek north but with fuel the price it is that doesnt seem likely. I may have to have a last hurrah with the pole on Milton for the crucian but that lake has not fished well this year.

Shame.....I have some great memories from OBH and its a lovely setting and place to fish but I think the writing has been on the wall for a while now. It seems odd because only a couple of years back they replanted a lot of the lilies and restocked the Old Lake with tench. I think Covid has had an impact but the owners is getting on and has clearly lost interest. Ticket prices are up,fuel is up and I just dont think a lot of people can afford to fish there any more.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

That is such a shame. Like S-Kippy I have some great memories of Old Bury Hill lake to back when it was just the one lake.
My F-I-L and I used to fish there almost weekly back when the bailiff was Graham the chap with the two lovely GSD's . . .

 

[S-Kippy]

I shall have to find somewhere else that offers similar sort of fishing. Trouble is I can’t think of anywhere right now bar Godalming and that’s becoming a bit of a circus and is no nearer.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Sorry to hear that it’s closing, I’ve had some cracking days there in the past. I visited earlier in the year and it wasn’t as good as it once was.

My club dug a new lake purely for tench and crucians, it’s had about five years to mature, but I haven’t fished it yet. I may take my granddaughter there in a couple of weeks. Nice to have a forward thinking club who don’t just want to stuff every fishery with carp. They have a; only one rod and no keepnet rule which I think is good.


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[john step]

Skippy, I read elsewhere there were problems with traffic and the locals. Can you expand on that?

There must be a nearer decent club fishery?

 

[Hugh Bailey]

What will happen to it - is the owner going to sell or just close the gates? The times I’ve been the car park has been rammed - it must make money. It’s the nicest of those sort of fisheries I’ve been to - the old lake is really lovely.

 

[S-Kippy]

I've never seen or heard of any traffic problems or issues with the locals. Doesn't mean there havent been but on the whole I think the clientele are well behaved. There are a few that pi$$ me off with their lights and alarms but that's just me.
The fishing side hasnt made money for years. Its the logging and topsoil business that makes money. When I first started going there the cp was always rammed and at times you were lucky to get a swim on the Old Lake. Last few years its been pretty much deserted....there's always a few on Bonds trying to catch soppy carp and Milton ( tench/crucians) can get busy at times but nothing like what it used to be like. TBH the place started going downhill when Russ Evans left....or rather got let go.

I've no idea what the future holds. I doubt any new owner will want a load of hairy ar$ed anglers in his back garden so I suspect its finished as an angling venue. Realistically I think once the new owner moves in the gates will close for good BUT I suppose there's an outside chance they might keep the smaller lakes open.

Not the water it was but its a great shame in any case. What the hell I'm going to fish for now in the winter I really dont know. I cannot physically tramp miles on rivers any more and it was a real pleasure to fish a lake where you could target crucians/tench without getting done by stupid carp.......and I loved fishing for the zander even though they could drive you insane at times.

 

[sam vimes]

Yet another distant fishery that I never got to fish and now definitely never will.

 

[S-Kippy]

Yet another distant fishery that I never got to fish and now definitely never will.

You've got till September, Chris but somehow I dont think we'll be bumping into each other bankside.

Funnily enough the BF rang OBH today as he was thinking of having a go this week and they never mentioned it closing. He was right fed up when I told him.

 

[sam vimes]

You've got till September, Chris but somehow I dont think we'll be bumping into each other bankside.

Between me working a fair bit and being vehemently opposed to unnecessarily spending any of the money accrued, I very much doubt it too. I couldn't justify the diesel cost alone unless I stayed for a week. I'd be hard pressed to justify the cost of accommodation for that time. The risk of going for a decent crucian and blanking for a week simply doesn't bear thinking about!

I'm actually wondering whether I'll end up regressing to my teens and only fishing with the aid of a push iron.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Maybe the writing was on the wall when they closed the cafe, tackle shop and toilets. That wasn’t a bad little shop either. I bought a Drennan Float Master rod there, which I couldn’t get elsewhere. Porta-loos and container units aren’t really a sign of permanence.


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[S-Kippy]

Maybe the writing was on the wall when they closed the cafe, tackle shop and toilets. That wasn’t a bad little shop either. I bought a Drennan Float Master rod there, which I couldn’t get elsewhere. Porta-loos and container units aren’t really a sign of permanence.


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Yes....I think so,Ray but I also think he started to price himself out of the market. When I first started " after darking" for the zander he was happy to let me stay on a bit for nowt. Then he started charging £5....then £6 and finally £9. That's on top of your day ticket prices so a zander trip was costing me over 30 nicker before fuel and bait. I can justify it as its the only realistic chance I have of a zander but I used to be there 2 weeks out of 3. Last winter I did one trip. With fuel and the cost of living going up I think he could see that the random day ticketers weren't going to come and the locals would very likely be looking for somewhere nearer and cheaper. In short....his footfall was very likely in terminal decline and about to fall off a cliff

For 3-4-5 years we also had the planning permission saga of him converting the boathouse/shop into his retirement home,the loss of boats on the Old lake and most of the best zander swims being out of bounds. All reasons whu people werent returning .Now after barely 2 years he's selling the house and the lakes and converting a couple of barns into his retirement home. Ive no idea where they are.

I wish to God I had the money to buy it and if I did wouldnt hesitate for a moment. Once you are there the surroundings,wildlife etc make it one of the nicest places I've ever fished.

 

[Steve King]

Very sad news! Obviously I have not fished Old Bury Hill for many years, but I have fond memories of the fishery.

I first fished there aged 12 or 13 with the fishing section of the local youth club. The leaders of the fishing section were members of the Wimbledon Broadway Angling Club. WBAC leased the left hand bank (looking from the boathouse) and we got roped into working parties dredging swims with a device made from a dustbin and operated by chains running from a rowing boat to the bank.

I think I caught my first tench there! I also remember Dad driving me and a friend there in his Ford Anglia!

I would have thought that the fishery could have been sold as a going concern. A very sad day for angling.

 

[Ray Roberts]

My youngest son Josh with his first Zander from OBH. He’s 27 now. Doesn’t he look happy, lol. This must be around 12 years ago .

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[Ray Roberts]

This is from the Bury Hill Facebook page.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Dear All,
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that Bury Hill Fisheries will be closing its doors, effectively ceasing all angling activity from this Autumn, although some restricted angling will continue for the foreseeable future on Temple, Bonds and Milton Lakes, exclusively for existing members only.

I know this is not the news that any of you will want to hear, but with angling still largely in decline, coupled with significant cost increases to run and maintain the estate and fishery for public use, we have, understandably been thinking about the fisheries future.

With these challenges in mind and having very recently won planning to convert the two barns at the back of the estate, after much thought and deliberation, my wife and I have decided to sell the Boathouse together with the major part of the Old Lake and to convert the barns for our retirement. Furthermore, our dream has always been to turn the estate over to nature through rewilding and biodiversity gains, and as we approach our seventies, we both feel that the time has now come to progress this legacy.

Whilst exact timings are still unknown, we have set an initial date to close the fishery on the 30th September 2022. However, this date may well change and I would urge anyone wishing to visit, to keep an eye on our website for further updates.

Season Tickets Holders and Day Membership
Whilst members should have received an email prior to this post, anyone members who are not yet aware of our plans, please see below our proposal for dealing with your memberships.

Whilst very restricted fishing will continue for the foreseeable future on Bonds and Milton Lakes, fishing will be restricted to Season Ticket Holders and Day Members only after we close. With this in mind and being very mindful that many memberships have only recently been applied for, we are offering two options, 1) to cancel your membership with an immediate refund, and 2) to keep your membership live, with angling after the 30th September being restricted solely to Bonds and Milton Lakes only. We would ask all Members to let us know how they wish to proceed by Friday 24th June.

SCM should refer to our recent post on the Temple Lake Facebook pages.

I apologise again for having to be the bearer of this sad news, but would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their support over the past 32 years and to wish you all the very best for the future.

With very best wishes
David de Vere


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[Steve King]

As an aside, does anyone remember a previous owner or was it bailiff who used to sell, buy and trade naughty adult films via a notice on the board by the shop?!!

 

[Ray Roberts]

As an aside, does anyone remember a previous owner or was it bailiff who used to sell, buy and trade naughty adult films via a notice on the board by the shop?!!

Looks like it’s just you Steve!


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[S-Kippy]

Reading that again it looks like fishing will continue on Milton….so I can still mess about with my pole for the crucian/tench. There are a few Zander in Milton too but only a few and I’ve never seen or even heard of anybody fishing for them. That might change now.

Realistically…though fishing might stagger on for a bit I doubt it will be long before the whole place is closed to anglers

 

[theartist]

Sad to hear all this but it does happen when private waters don't get passed down to someone who wants to continue in the same way, sounds like there's a few tales to tell from the venue, that would make a good book. Not fished there but whenever I lose a good water I try to convince myself how lucky I was for all the times I had there rather than the future ones lost. Sometimes it works, sometimes we lament, the latter seems to defer to the former more over time

 

[Steve King]

Looks like it’s just you Steve!


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Things like that tend to stick in your mind Ray!