In reply to Post #428
well all my stories are mostly from memory alas i will not be putting on many next week as i am going in hospital for a knee operation to replace my right knee joint but hope to carry on when i return and feel a little better, to all those on the forum that asked me to contiue and those that read my stories thanks god bless pete

In reply to Post #429
i hope the operation go's smoothly and you have a speedy recovery look forward to hearing more about your life i, its very entertaining and has been a great read so good luck for next week

In reply to Post #429
Best wishes for a speedy recovery from the op Pete.
Looking forward already to your next article.
Good Luck

In reply to Post #429
Well done Peter speedy recovery matey

In reply to Post #432
i used to love harvest time. the farmer would cut the corn with a binder and the sheaves would be collected and stacked upon a dray to take to the farm, all the adults and youngsters would be there with our sticks, the rabbits would run out of the corn by the dozen and we would chase them giving them a good smack on the head i have seen at least a couple of hundred rabbits killed this way and some times the farmer would put a long net at the point he thought most would run they would get tangled in the net then dispatched, i suppose it was extra income and they were hard times. At the end of the day you would get a couple each if you were lucky depending how many rabbits you killed some farmers were miserable old buggers and would only give you one. i soon got around that and would hide three or four in the hedge and when all was quite pick them up latter two for mum and four for me i would sell them for sixpence apiece giving me a bit of pocket money. i would play truant from school and follow the harvest around at different farms, it was great till i got caught and had the stick again, in front of all the school The farmer labourers would stack all the sheaves back at the farm and at a latter date would get the thrashing machine out which separates the wheat from the chaff it was fascinating as they came to the bottom of the stack it would be full of rats the men would tie their trousers at the bottoms to stop the rats running up the inside of their legs. there would be hundreds of the little critters, In would go the farm dogs and would get in a real frenzy and would get bitten lots of times what with pikeland sticks being used by the men and dog barking and squealing they would literally kill hundreds i suppose thinking back it was j a job well done ridding the farm of quite a menace. most of the farms had chickens and i suppose you could call them free range no battery houses in those days they would roam where they liked and so would i collecting a couple here and a couple there i dont think mum ever paid for eggs i used to get told off by the old man but i never did get caught i was just plain lucky i suppose All though this has nothing to do with fishing it was part of my life And it is slowly being forgotten how people managed to get by in the early fortys and fiftys more to come

In reply to Post #433
Hi Pete was reading today in the paper about rationing and that it only really affected those without money and no black market access, reading your stories reminds me how hard up all working people were in the 40 50 and even 60's. Still no obese kids or people then though keep writing pete really enjoy these little bites of your past . no playstations phones sms or chat ,entertain yourself and we did too, whether playing footy on hackney marshes or fishing in the lea till it got dark

In reply to Post #434
In reply to Post #433
Hi Pete was reading today in the paper about rationing and that it only really affected those without money and no black market access, reading your stories reminds me how hard up all working people were in the 40 50 and even 60's. Still no obese kids or people then though keep writing pete really enjoy these little bites of your past . no playstations phones sms or chat ,entertain yourself and we did too, whether playing footy on hackney marshes or fishing in the lea till it got dark


hi ex pat it was a good life hard at times but also good we were out from dawn to dusk fishing in the summer swiming in the river oh to much to mention people were hard up and would eat things that people today would not. as you say no tv no playstations only the fields and wide open spaces. i was lucky i loved nature and would spend hours in the woods and feilds birds nesting making camps plenty to do , and if allowed i would do it all again one thing a failed to mention most kept a pig in the back garden. and when killed would keep a family and freinds in meat ie bacon for at least 12 months or more pete

In reply to Post #435
all the best with your operation, Pete...

get well soon, you little ruffian

hope you add to your great thread with more of your interesting tales while your recovering. its a fantastic read, mate. i look forward to it more than anything else on the forum

In reply to Post #435
ill keep adding a bit but its been along time since school spelling not always as it should thanks baitman ill certainly will carry on

In reply to Post #437
I spent many happy hours watching the otters that inhabited the river onny i would lie in reeds or brambles along the side of the river and watch them play and catch fish they never ever knew i was there the wild life at the time was immense far greater than it is today. i would love to be out on a summers night fishing and hear the nightingale sing it was most beautiful or lie in the hay field and listen to the skylark, no not with a girl . I was up the river fishing this one day and heard all this shouting hiding my rod i went to have a look the other side of the bridge were a number of men wading in the water with dogs everywhere the men all had green or red coats on and were thrashing the water with sticks then i saw an otter the dogs were on him in a flash, and they disappeared under the bridge in deeper water it was coloured red with blood from the otter or the dogs it never appeared the other side the dogs searched the adjacent fields also the undergrowth along the bank but he was never found, this is how they controlled the otter years ago and it had quite a following from ladies to gentry but i did not really like it but that's how it was.

As i have said in a recent thread we relied on rabbit for a good many of our meals sunday dinner included roast stewed or pie with potatoes and peas lots of revenue was made from rabbit the local butcher would have them hanging out side his shop and would sell them sixpence each or two for a shilling. then it happened myxomatosis mixy as we called it myself and the lads would go up the fields there would be hundreds dying heads as big as footballs we would put them out of his misery and by 1955 ninety five per cent off all rabbits were dead it was horrendous it was introduced in Australia in ,1950 then in the uk 1952 it had far greater implication's on the other wild life buzzards owls foxes and such also putting a lot out of work the likes of warreners even some of the farmers relied on the income generated from the humble rabbit its been [part of my life so we then had to rely on other thing to eat ie pheasant duck and such. more to come

In reply to Post #438
as i said my dad was a signal man and we moved to craven arms in 1949 we lived in a railway terrace no electricity only gas we would light the gas mantles at night but mum did have a gas cooker i would go to bed at night with a oil lamp it was very cold in the winter and the bedroom walls would glisten with the frost on them if you were cold on with another blanket or a coat usually an x army one. But we managed i think if i remember right butter and sugar and tea were still rationed . so as you can see there was not much money around. another point worth mentioning every person born in this country had a registration card stating his date of birth and saying he was English i still have mine somewhere. they were hard times, you could leave your front or back door open at all times no fear of burglars and such the only Peron that came was a neighbour who would drop you a piece of pork from a recently killed pig or a peasant or rabbit, every one looked after one another in those days. i know this has nothing to do with fishing but i am really trying to tell you how we lived. when the potato harvest came the women mum included would go potato picking to earn extra money The farmer would give every body a bucket of potatoes every night to take home at times if not at school i was made to go and also helped out but i never got payed but did get a few potatoes i would fill a bucket also all my pockets with the little round things. we would put them on the fire at home and bake them they were delicious with a knob of margarine or butter if you had some. in august you were made to go mushrooming i would come home with a basket full also the women would go blackberrying and would fill there baskets to bring home to make jam i hated this and would eat more than i picked. we were also made to pick the hazel nuts i did not mind this so much because they were nice to eat. i would fill a small basket and mum would salt them and put them away for the future this is how people lived and nothing was wasted its a shame it does not happen today more to come latter

In reply to Post #443
i soon found out how to get a rabbit or two for free. this was pre mixey years i would be away up the fields . The rabbit catcher would set hundreds of snares up by the side of the woods or hedge rows he would literally catch hundreds of rabbits they would be sent all over the uk Liverpool Birmingham London they were a valuable commodity. week ends would come and i would be away as early as permitted and with a bit of luck would pinch a couple out of the his snares did i say a couple well it looks good maybe a few more. i would take a couple home for mum and sell the rest to our neighbors for whatever they could afford. I soon learned how to reset the snares firstly tyding up any mess the struggling rabbits had made i would reset them he never ever did realize he had been done

. Just up the river was a place called the grove in spring it was covered in daffodils as youngsters we would pick big bunches and sell them around the town anything to make a few pence. the place at the time was strictly private something to do with the war. the local farmer who owned part of the property put a big old bull in there to stop us lads going any where near the place it was a big black and white bull and was really nasty. It chased us through the woods one day and i ended diving in the river to get away from him, put me off bulls for life i can tell you. It was also a great fishing spot i would love to get under the grove bridge no one knew you were there i would cast a big old worm to the far arch and let it glide down away it would go i had some big old trout from that spot grayling as well. i used to fish sibdon castle lake it did hold carp . although i never caught one. i mainly fished for the perch and roach i would hide in the reeds and float fish i never did get discovered. They used to hold some very big shoots on that estate in the late forties early fifties i would love to go along and hide in the hedge and watch the gents and ladies shoot. if the opportunity arrived i would watch were a shot bird came down and would have it before it was picked up by the keepers, i had a good many like that. you could see the expression on the guns face when he was trying to tell the keeper where the bird had come down but it had long gone in my bag i would titter away to myself i suppose i was lucky not to get caught but i really was learning the ways of the country side and getting a bit to eat for the family, and friends. will continue

In reply to Post #444
as i have said you would eat anything in those days. in the spring i would go looking for ducks eggs the mallard would lay anywhere it was safe from predators humans included, they would lay a clutch up in an old withy tree. i would take three or four eggs and return a few days latter for a couple more she would keep laying as long as not frightened they were delicious boiled or fried another one which is worth a mention was the peewit i would spend hours looking for his nest there were hundreds around when i was young and although the eggs were small they were delicious I would watch them for hours they would land but would not go straight to their nest until they were sure no one was watching her. i would take only two eggs per nest but when i had got half a doz that was enough and would take them home mum would pickle them for a latter date we ate moorhens coots you name it we ate it that's how we survived. I think i mentioned most people kept a pig in the back garden it was fed on scraps left over when it was killed all the neighborhood came around to help it was like a party they would scrap the hairs off its body then it was cut up into the different joints and salted great big filches of bacon hung on hooks from the beams in the house it would go rather black from the coal fire nothing was wasted the head brains the heart liver even the testicles it would keep us in meat for months to be continued

In reply to Post #445
my self and a friend called ray evans would cycle about five miles to fish a small pool a couple of acres in size it contained some nice carp well big to us as youngsters we only had crude tackle i had the tank aerials but you could only get silk line it was black and white but very strong and not to thick we used the big black hooks which i mentioned before they were all we could get in the late forties. They were easy to tie on with the big eye weights were a bit of a problem we some time managed to get the old round ones ,you know what i mean the old ball shot but we did make our own, being a major railway town they used to have trains full of racing pigeon the cages had lead seals so i would collect these melt them down make a mould around one of mums thimbles a wire loop in the end job done. They worked after watching another angler using par boiled, potato we started to give them ago also big bunches of lob worm and bread crust or flake. we managed to night fish the place it was very exiting we had no chairs only a sack or blanket to sit or lie on two forked sticks for our rod rests and a piece of silver paper as indicators my bike light to illuminate the silver paper. well it worked although we got very cold on more than one occasion we had no landing net i never even saw one in those days we managed if hooked to land the fish by hand often getting very wet trying but we caught we did the impossible and out fished some of the adults that fished there. i suppose it was luck we never had any pressure on us to catch it was pure enjoyment when you hooked one in the night you would shake with pleasure although when landed it would rarely be above three pounds but they were lovely little commons we would float fish in the day with a big porcupine quill and a big piece of crust as bait you would sit for hours before it was away .then every one on the pool would come over and have a look to see how big it was it was lazy hazy days two lads learning together , alas ray has now past away but i often think about our time together and the fish we caught well ill, put a bit on tomorrow before i go in hospital thurs

In reply to Post #446
This thread is essential reading for all youngsters, not only is it a history of Angling but also a glimpse via Pete's personal recollections of working class history of our country but it shows how hard life was for people in the 40's 50;s and even 60's , worse for the poor living in the cities as they had no rabbits or other food sources to fall back on. No tv no playstation no internet and no getting everything you want off your parents - they had no money no access to proper credit (the tally man was the only source) the only way out of poverty was education and hard work , education manners and culture were things which were respected then, keeping your job (if you had one) no matter what was also of the utmost importance. the most amazing thing was despite being skint and living in not too nice houses/flats on meagre budgets, hiding from the tally man and milkman and managing somehow to get by people were courteous and cheerful . Even those who sought solace in the bottle were funny and kept their manners .

There was a community then, people helped each other and looked out for each other too, I guess a lot of you youngsters think the old gits are whittering on about the old days again , well I am only 48 and have lived outside the UK for 15 years I can remember the late 60's and 70's 3 day week no electricity no school (fishing 4 days a week ) but the way the uk changed in 15 years so qualitatively makes it almost a country I don't recognise, values and identity we lost through our own neglect in teaching our own history to our kids, the history of real people not politicians or the rich I mean, think it would do a lot of good for todays youngsters to see what Gran and Grandad had to live through and experience and how they managed so please read the thread ask Pete questions and keep it bumped near the top