In reply to Post #477
Excellent reading Pete as is usual with your stories.
You certainly take me back to my childhood days, and what great days they were.
I lived on the edge of countryside near Stoke in my childhood, and can relate to the old
guys mixing their "special" lime based solution to paint onto trees to catch wild birds..
It was great in those days to hear the song of the linnet, and my Dad used to buy
them off the so called "local specialist bird catchers", as he rated their song highly.
I had a paper round just like yourself and saved up my wage and tips to buy my fishing gear bit by bit. It took some time, but I used to love my fishing for roach, perch & bream.
Your tale of the lad being attacked by the owl made me think back to my earlier days.
I was in the so called "Back Fields" one day having a kick about with a football when I spotted one of my mates returning from fishing with another local lad walking very closely behind him. I ran over to ask whether he had had any luck, but as I got closer, I thought something looked very strange. My mate was in the front holding his rod over his shoulder like a rifle, and the other lad was walking directly behind him.
Then I spotted why. My mate had been casting out and the hook had caught into the local lads nose. It looked very funny but it must have been very painful for the lad.
They had walked about three miles from where they were fishing, avoiding as many roads as they could, and all they got from all of us playing football was a load of laughter on their arrival home. They walked all the way with the lad hooked up to the rod and reel, never thinking once about cutting the line near the hook.
The lads mother got the hook out, but he also had a belt because he had been told not to go fishing earlier that day. Should have stayed local and had a kick about with me and the other local lads instead I think. Even my mate and the other lad had a good laugh about it afterwards, a few days after they had served out their "grounding".
As I said before, your stories really are very interesting and you can express yourself really well, so please continue writing and above all, get back to full fitness very soon.
Best wishes for a quick return to good health.
Ken
Excellent reading Pete as is usual with your stories.
You certainly take me back to my childhood days, and what great days they were.
I lived on the edge of countryside near Stoke in my childhood, and can relate to the old
guys mixing their "special" lime based solution to paint onto trees to catch wild birds..
It was great in those days to hear the song of the linnet, and my Dad used to buy
them off the so called "local specialist bird catchers", as he rated their song highly.
I had a paper round just like yourself and saved up my wage and tips to buy my fishing gear bit by bit. It took some time, but I used to love my fishing for roach, perch & bream.
Your tale of the lad being attacked by the owl made me think back to my earlier days.
I was in the so called "Back Fields" one day having a kick about with a football when I spotted one of my mates returning from fishing with another local lad walking very closely behind him. I ran over to ask whether he had had any luck, but as I got closer, I thought something looked very strange. My mate was in the front holding his rod over his shoulder like a rifle, and the other lad was walking directly behind him.
Then I spotted why. My mate had been casting out and the hook had caught into the local lads nose. It looked very funny but it must have been very painful for the lad.
They had walked about three miles from where they were fishing, avoiding as many roads as they could, and all they got from all of us playing football was a load of laughter on their arrival home. They walked all the way with the lad hooked up to the rod and reel, never thinking once about cutting the line near the hook.
The lads mother got the hook out, but he also had a belt because he had been told not to go fishing earlier that day. Should have stayed local and had a kick about with me and the other local lads instead I think. Even my mate and the other lad had a good laugh about it afterwards, a few days after they had served out their "grounding".
As I said before, your stories really are very interesting and you can express yourself really well, so please continue writing and above all, get back to full fitness very soon.
Best wishes for a quick return to good health.
Ken
In reply to Post #478
thanks ken not to well this morning black and blue very badly swelled had quite a bad night but it will get better as time moves on yes i have had a few hooks in myself very painfull thanks again for your kind remarks pete
thanks ken not to well this morning black and blue very badly swelled had quite a bad night but it will get better as time moves on yes i have had a few hooks in myself very painfull thanks again for your kind remarks pete
In reply to Post #477
over the years i have met some great character's one such man was an old gamekeeper. i met him pure by chance, i was up the fields one ,morning when i heard a broad Shropshire voice dun st e know this is private property, i looked around and standing right behind me was the ruff est old chap i had ever seen. whats e doing then he asked. birds nesting says i y like birds nesting i do, i said in a very shaky voice. you better come with me then he said so off i went on a real route march ending up at this little cottage deep in the woods. he had dogs everywhere and introduced me to his wife who was a kind old soul and believe it or not really spoiled me with cake and pop. i suppose i ended up like a son to them as they lost there's in the war, and would visit them on a regular basis after asking my mum and dad if it would be alright. he collected birds eggs and had draws full of them hundreds he had collected all his life some were from other parts of the world i think when he died they went to a British museum. he would take me every where out with the gun to shoot the vermin and a few rabbits to eat, he taught me to trap animals ,vermin rats and such the different species of crows that was abundant how to trap the humble magpie but he also had a great love of the country side and an understanding of all the animals and birds it held. he soon realized that i had caught a few rabbits and and shot a few pheasants myself and had learned from an early age. but that did not put him off and i soon found he would give me the odd pheasant and rabbit to take home with me for mum and dad, i would sit in that cottage a roaring fire in the grate with oil lights to see with and listen to him for hours he would tell me about the old gamekeepers and about the way of the woods and the animals that lived there. he knew i liked the odd trout and we would be away to a place called strefford and both catch the Wiley trout that it held he showed me the Eal traps his wife would cook the eals she would batter and fry them and we would sit and eat them for our tea with great big slabs of home made bread and butter it was some of the happest memories i have of my earlier life. he once took me to a little pool in the middle of the woods miles from anywhere and we fished for the rudd how they got in there is any ones guess it was cramed full not big but we would catch hundreds they were pretty little things i often wander if it is still there. but there was a down side to his job he would shoot the badger fox owls hawks to protect the vast stocks of pheasents and partridge the estate put down but thats how it was in my younger days i will always be gratfull i met that old man and he will remain in my memory for ever. he never came home one night and he was found lying in the woods with his gun by his side at piece with nature i think it was a heart attack i visited his wife on many occastions after his death but it was never the same. to be continued
over the years i have met some great character's one such man was an old gamekeeper. i met him pure by chance, i was up the fields one ,morning when i heard a broad Shropshire voice dun st e know this is private property, i looked around and standing right behind me was the ruff est old chap i had ever seen. whats e doing then he asked. birds nesting says i y like birds nesting i do, i said in a very shaky voice. you better come with me then he said so off i went on a real route march ending up at this little cottage deep in the woods. he had dogs everywhere and introduced me to his wife who was a kind old soul and believe it or not really spoiled me with cake and pop. i suppose i ended up like a son to them as they lost there's in the war, and would visit them on a regular basis after asking my mum and dad if it would be alright. he collected birds eggs and had draws full of them hundreds he had collected all his life some were from other parts of the world i think when he died they went to a British museum. he would take me every where out with the gun to shoot the vermin and a few rabbits to eat, he taught me to trap animals ,vermin rats and such the different species of crows that was abundant how to trap the humble magpie but he also had a great love of the country side and an understanding of all the animals and birds it held. he soon realized that i had caught a few rabbits and and shot a few pheasants myself and had learned from an early age. but that did not put him off and i soon found he would give me the odd pheasant and rabbit to take home with me for mum and dad, i would sit in that cottage a roaring fire in the grate with oil lights to see with and listen to him for hours he would tell me about the old gamekeepers and about the way of the woods and the animals that lived there. he knew i liked the odd trout and we would be away to a place called strefford and both catch the Wiley trout that it held he showed me the Eal traps his wife would cook the eals she would batter and fry them and we would sit and eat them for our tea with great big slabs of home made bread and butter it was some of the happest memories i have of my earlier life. he once took me to a little pool in the middle of the woods miles from anywhere and we fished for the rudd how they got in there is any ones guess it was cramed full not big but we would catch hundreds they were pretty little things i often wander if it is still there. but there was a down side to his job he would shoot the badger fox owls hawks to protect the vast stocks of pheasents and partridge the estate put down but thats how it was in my younger days i will always be gratfull i met that old man and he will remain in my memory for ever. he never came home one night and he was found lying in the woods with his gun by his side at piece with nature i think it was a heart attack i visited his wife on many occastions after his death but it was never the same. to be continued
In reply to Post #480
i continued fishing stokesay pool and onibury court although it was strictly private i had some great days on that water i think it was where i caught my first tench although i had lots more they never got much over two pounds little black beauties and did they fight i caught them mostly on little red worms which i got from the farm muck heap. i well remember going one day and setting up in the reeds using a porcupine quill as a float and a small hook with worm i had caught a few between a pound and two pound when away the float went and i was into something a little bit bigger than the norm into the weeds it went me hanging on as much as i could in the cramped position i was in, i could not stand up in case i was seen so i had to extract the fish as quick as possible no landing net in those days all done by hand. when i last got it to the side i could not believe my eyes it was a tench but what a tench i thought around four pounds but massive to a young boy like myself. i had no camera in those days my dad had one an old box jobbie but i was around five miles from my home to far to go and get it. i well remember letting this fish go and watching it swim away none of my mates would believe me they did not. but it stayed with me for quite some time etched into my memory, there where two lakes the other one contained mostly rudd and roach as i have stated in an earlier thread but great fun to catch but i always felt uncomfortable fishing it as it was a bit in the open the estate was heavily keeper ed as they shot on a regular basis i used to watch from afar ladys and gents dressed up to the nines if i had the chance i would be away with the odd pheasent and duck before it could be picked by the dogs and onto the road home . will continue
i continued fishing stokesay pool and onibury court although it was strictly private i had some great days on that water i think it was where i caught my first tench although i had lots more they never got much over two pounds little black beauties and did they fight i caught them mostly on little red worms which i got from the farm muck heap. i well remember going one day and setting up in the reeds using a porcupine quill as a float and a small hook with worm i had caught a few between a pound and two pound when away the float went and i was into something a little bit bigger than the norm into the weeds it went me hanging on as much as i could in the cramped position i was in, i could not stand up in case i was seen so i had to extract the fish as quick as possible no landing net in those days all done by hand. when i last got it to the side i could not believe my eyes it was a tench but what a tench i thought around four pounds but massive to a young boy like myself. i had no camera in those days my dad had one an old box jobbie but i was around five miles from my home to far to go and get it. i well remember letting this fish go and watching it swim away none of my mates would believe me they did not. but it stayed with me for quite some time etched into my memory, there where two lakes the other one contained mostly rudd and roach as i have stated in an earlier thread but great fun to catch but i always felt uncomfortable fishing it as it was a bit in the open the estate was heavily keeper ed as they shot on a regular basis i used to watch from afar ladys and gents dressed up to the nines if i had the chance i would be away with the odd pheasent and duck before it could be picked by the dogs and onto the road home . will continue
In reply to Post #481
one thing the old keeper taught me was never be afraid of the dark. he would sit me down under an old beech tree deep in his woods there's only one thing that will hurt you another human he would say there is no animal or bird that will touch you in these woods or any others. follow your instincts you have three things your eyes nose ears and your ears are the most important. sit listen he would say noise will travel on the wind and your eyes become used to the dark listen for the crack of a branch or twig no animal will do that only a fellow human. he taught me not to poach on a moonlight night as i would be seen, and the best times to long net for rabbits but above all use your ears good advice which has helped me through the years, never take pheasants from the woods on a frosty night as you would leave your prints in the frosty grass or undergrowth and the keeper would know you had been there . not that it matters today pheasants are two a penny not worth the trouble poaching is a dying art i we are a dying breed. i suppose it was the challenge when i was young a necessity for gathering food i always got the adrenaline rush no matter where i poached,i was competing against a willy old keeper and believe me some were very good at there job. i never did poach my friends land i did not need to as i he would always send a couple for mum and dad to eat. i went to school with a lad called john james he had lots of ferrets and we would go to the farm up into the granary where they stored the grain in sacks we would slip four or five ferrets into the spaces between the sacks and sit down and wait john had an old garden gun it was good enough to shoot any rat at close quarters bloody hell it would erupt the rats would run every where over the roof beams any where to get away john would shoot as many as he could, the ferrets would come out poor things covered in blood but it was mostly from the rats we would kill hundreds over a period of time using this method if you were lucky the farmer would give you a shilling or two as it was really doing him a favour there was literally thousands of the little furry thing on most farms when i was young more to come
one thing the old keeper taught me was never be afraid of the dark. he would sit me down under an old beech tree deep in his woods there's only one thing that will hurt you another human he would say there is no animal or bird that will touch you in these woods or any others. follow your instincts you have three things your eyes nose ears and your ears are the most important. sit listen he would say noise will travel on the wind and your eyes become used to the dark listen for the crack of a branch or twig no animal will do that only a fellow human. he taught me not to poach on a moonlight night as i would be seen, and the best times to long net for rabbits but above all use your ears good advice which has helped me through the years, never take pheasants from the woods on a frosty night as you would leave your prints in the frosty grass or undergrowth and the keeper would know you had been there . not that it matters today pheasants are two a penny not worth the trouble poaching is a dying art i we are a dying breed. i suppose it was the challenge when i was young a necessity for gathering food i always got the adrenaline rush no matter where i poached,i was competing against a willy old keeper and believe me some were very good at there job. i never did poach my friends land i did not need to as i he would always send a couple for mum and dad to eat. i went to school with a lad called john james he had lots of ferrets and we would go to the farm up into the granary where they stored the grain in sacks we would slip four or five ferrets into the spaces between the sacks and sit down and wait john had an old garden gun it was good enough to shoot any rat at close quarters bloody hell it would erupt the rats would run every where over the roof beams any where to get away john would shoot as many as he could, the ferrets would come out poor things covered in blood but it was mostly from the rats we would kill hundreds over a period of time using this method if you were lucky the farmer would give you a shilling or two as it was really doing him a favour there was literally thousands of the little furry thing on most farms when i was young more to come
In reply to Post #482
there was always a bob or two to be made when i was young living in a major railway town. every year they had some of the biggest sheep sales in this country the farmers would come for miles bringing their sheep with them mainly they were the club and kerry strain there would be hundreds and it went on for two days. us youngsters would help pen them up or drive them to the station to transport all over the country. it was quite exiting we usually got paid around five bob at the end of the day so it was worth doing. i also helped out at jp woods shop in the town they became quite well known many years latter for their chickens and turkeys and employed lots of labour from the surrounding areas. i helped in the shop also packing the chickens they killed in card board boxes christmas would come and they would kill thousands geese ducks you name it they killed it then it would all be sent by train to the cities all over the country i did this after school a couple of times a week it gave us a shilling or two to buy sweets and fishing tackle we were growing up and a few of us used to have a cig behind the school toilets until we got caught and brought before the head master and given a right telling off we learned by our mistakes, i really did not like school and was away at every opertunity down the river fishing or birds nesting i dont know how many times i had the cane but you soon got over it until the next time more to follow
there was always a bob or two to be made when i was young living in a major railway town. every year they had some of the biggest sheep sales in this country the farmers would come for miles bringing their sheep with them mainly they were the club and kerry strain there would be hundreds and it went on for two days. us youngsters would help pen them up or drive them to the station to transport all over the country. it was quite exiting we usually got paid around five bob at the end of the day so it was worth doing. i also helped out at jp woods shop in the town they became quite well known many years latter for their chickens and turkeys and employed lots of labour from the surrounding areas. i helped in the shop also packing the chickens they killed in card board boxes christmas would come and they would kill thousands geese ducks you name it they killed it then it would all be sent by train to the cities all over the country i did this after school a couple of times a week it gave us a shilling or two to buy sweets and fishing tackle we were growing up and a few of us used to have a cig behind the school toilets until we got caught and brought before the head master and given a right telling off we learned by our mistakes, i really did not like school and was away at every opertunity down the river fishing or birds nesting i dont know how many times i had the cane but you soon got over it until the next time more to follow
In reply to Post #483
hi Pete. this operation has certainly got your creative juices flowing, mate.
is it cos your stuck in the big comfy armchair.
hi Pete. this operation has certainly got your creative juices flowing, mate.
is it cos your stuck in the big comfy armchair.
In reply to Post #484
hi baitman no mate ive been not to well today sitting in the computer chair but i am struggling very badly bruised still getting siatica its knocking me a bit
hi baitman no mate ive been not to well today sitting in the computer chair but i am struggling very badly bruised still getting siatica its knocking me a bit
In reply to Post #485
Although its many years since i left my child hood haunt at craven arms. i still return on the odd occasion. i stand in the pretty church yard that over looks the water falls at halford i am among so many friends that have now passed on. one in particular my friend raymond we went every where together he died at the age of 52 years from a heart attack. the falls are still there but not as i knew them they fell down years ago and are not as high. the island is still there where i collected the garlic for my mum and the river has now been stocked with salmon parr. oh oh i only wish they had been there years ago, there may have been a few missing when they came back to spawn. a few years ago i took my wife for a ride in the car to the old keepers cottage in the woods it still stands empty the apple trees are still there, and some of the old curtains looking like dusty old rags i walked in side and shed a tear remembering the happy times i had with old sam and his dear wife gone long long ago who also rest at halford. the woods have not changed one bit i remember every ride as thought it was yesterday the rocks where i got old jack from and are still being used by the jackdaws to nest. alas the fish at stokesay pool have long gone as i said in my earlier stories graham and myself had huge rudd from it with many going to three and nearly four pound. the lakes at onibury are still private and never fished and still heavily keepered no good me going today i cant run ha ha. there are still trout in the river but its mainly a mixed fishery now with the odd grayling still being caught. but they are all wonderful memories and will remain with me forever. i would love to take a rod and trot down with a float and see what i can catch maybe just maybe in the near future i may just do that only it will be legal this time. its nice to reminisce and rember the good times it is now 54 years since i moved from the arms and still have a few freinds still living there and if they ever read this i am sure they will have a laught about the good and hard times we all had . more to follow
Although its many years since i left my child hood haunt at craven arms. i still return on the odd occasion. i stand in the pretty church yard that over looks the water falls at halford i am among so many friends that have now passed on. one in particular my friend raymond we went every where together he died at the age of 52 years from a heart attack. the falls are still there but not as i knew them they fell down years ago and are not as high. the island is still there where i collected the garlic for my mum and the river has now been stocked with salmon parr. oh oh i only wish they had been there years ago, there may have been a few missing when they came back to spawn. a few years ago i took my wife for a ride in the car to the old keepers cottage in the woods it still stands empty the apple trees are still there, and some of the old curtains looking like dusty old rags i walked in side and shed a tear remembering the happy times i had with old sam and his dear wife gone long long ago who also rest at halford. the woods have not changed one bit i remember every ride as thought it was yesterday the rocks where i got old jack from and are still being used by the jackdaws to nest. alas the fish at stokesay pool have long gone as i said in my earlier stories graham and myself had huge rudd from it with many going to three and nearly four pound. the lakes at onibury are still private and never fished and still heavily keepered no good me going today i cant run ha ha. there are still trout in the river but its mainly a mixed fishery now with the odd grayling still being caught. but they are all wonderful memories and will remain with me forever. i would love to take a rod and trot down with a float and see what i can catch maybe just maybe in the near future i may just do that only it will be legal this time. its nice to reminisce and rember the good times it is now 54 years since i moved from the arms and still have a few freinds still living there and if they ever read this i am sure they will have a laught about the good and hard times we all had . more to follow
In reply to Post #486
i stand in the pretty church yard that over looks the water falls at halford i am among so many friends that have now passed on.
very touching, mate.
i stand in the pretty church yard that over looks the water falls at halford i am among so many friends that have now passed on.
very touching, mate.
In reply to Post #486
we moved back to the village of bayston hill i had six months more to do at school and ended up at condover it was around four miles from my home and i cycled there in hail wind or snow i was in my element the brook was down the road and pheasants everywhere you looked even in the school garden i was put in charge of the hives of bees that the school kept i would put on this big suit and and hat with a net over your face and the teacher would use a smoker which made them a bit dopey so he could have a good look to see how they were getting on and how much honey they were producing. it was interesting work and i quite enjoyed my time doing it. i would always have my catapult in my pocket and would have a few of the pheasant in the gardens and no one ever found out i would hide them the hedge till we went home mum was always grateful for the extra food but it was not just the poaching , it was also the love of nature i would be away all day at the weekends either birds nesting or just listening to the birds i would lie in the hay fields and listen to the sky larks watch it land and then find its nest also find the curlews nest it was great i was in heaven. i would walk the brook and watch the otters and find the ducks ,nest i would listen to the willow warbler find the pheasants nest and the grey partridge nest a true english bird and now in decline because the habitat has changed . i would go down to bomere pool and watch the bird life there were ducks every where in those days and some were quite rare i would also take a rod with me and have a spin for the pike. it was strictly private there were signs on trees saying you would be shot, on sight. it was heavily keeper ed as i have said in a earlier thread but it did not stop me they would shoot twice a week all dressed up in their tweeds i would lie in the fields and watch it all going on around me. watch the dog fox break cover to far away for them to shoot . more to come
we moved back to the village of bayston hill i had six months more to do at school and ended up at condover it was around four miles from my home and i cycled there in hail wind or snow i was in my element the brook was down the road and pheasants everywhere you looked even in the school garden i was put in charge of the hives of bees that the school kept i would put on this big suit and and hat with a net over your face and the teacher would use a smoker which made them a bit dopey so he could have a good look to see how they were getting on and how much honey they were producing. it was interesting work and i quite enjoyed my time doing it. i would always have my catapult in my pocket and would have a few of the pheasant in the gardens and no one ever found out i would hide them the hedge till we went home mum was always grateful for the extra food but it was not just the poaching , it was also the love of nature i would be away all day at the weekends either birds nesting or just listening to the birds i would lie in the hay fields and listen to the sky larks watch it land and then find its nest also find the curlews nest it was great i was in heaven. i would walk the brook and watch the otters and find the ducks ,nest i would listen to the willow warbler find the pheasants nest and the grey partridge nest a true english bird and now in decline because the habitat has changed . i would go down to bomere pool and watch the bird life there were ducks every where in those days and some were quite rare i would also take a rod with me and have a spin for the pike. it was strictly private there were signs on trees saying you would be shot, on sight. it was heavily keeper ed as i have said in a earlier thread but it did not stop me they would shoot twice a week all dressed up in their tweeds i would lie in the fields and watch it all going on around me. watch the dog fox break cover to far away for them to shoot . more to come
In reply to Post #489
as you know my first job after leaving school was a butcher boy it was in the fifties things were still quite hard it did not last long and i went to work for a civil engineering firm as tea boy they employed mainly Irish Navies i made there tea and cooked there breakfast and dinner i got on well with them and earned 16 pounds a week big money in those days more than my dad a lot more, i suppose it had got to happen i found my feet girls came into the equation it was the years of the teddy boy i still fished as i now had the money to buy better tackle. one thing i got into was going down the fair ground when in the area they had a boxing ring and had boxers who challenged all comers you got a fiver if you took up the challenge my mum used to go mad i would come, home black and blue but i would have that fiver in my pocket which would buy quite a lot in those days, i got myself in a spot of bother doing this as i took on one chap who i did not know was middle weight champion at the time, he knocked three s out of me really hurting me i did manage to get to my feet i had a broken nose i am afraid i lost it and head butted him he went down like a sack and i put the boot in hard it went crazy the fair ground workers were all over me and chucked me in the river i can tell you i went no where near that place for some time but that's how it was in those days and i never did get my fiver, i would go down by the weir at shrewsbury and trot for the dace it was fast fishing lovely looking fish around three quarters of a pound with the occasional chub thrown in i would keep feeding castor or maggot the float would glide down dip and you would be in great fishing and i have since done the same with the barbel with the right tackle its great fishing and a great way to spend a day. i used to night fish for the eels in the quarry stretch of the Severn i was picked up by the police looking for lob worms as it was the main park in shrewsbury but that's another story more to come
as you know my first job after leaving school was a butcher boy it was in the fifties things were still quite hard it did not last long and i went to work for a civil engineering firm as tea boy they employed mainly Irish Navies i made there tea and cooked there breakfast and dinner i got on well with them and earned 16 pounds a week big money in those days more than my dad a lot more, i suppose it had got to happen i found my feet girls came into the equation it was the years of the teddy boy i still fished as i now had the money to buy better tackle. one thing i got into was going down the fair ground when in the area they had a boxing ring and had boxers who challenged all comers you got a fiver if you took up the challenge my mum used to go mad i would come, home black and blue but i would have that fiver in my pocket which would buy quite a lot in those days, i got myself in a spot of bother doing this as i took on one chap who i did not know was middle weight champion at the time, he knocked three s out of me really hurting me i did manage to get to my feet i had a broken nose i am afraid i lost it and head butted him he went down like a sack and i put the boot in hard it went crazy the fair ground workers were all over me and chucked me in the river i can tell you i went no where near that place for some time but that's how it was in those days and i never did get my fiver, i would go down by the weir at shrewsbury and trot for the dace it was fast fishing lovely looking fish around three quarters of a pound with the occasional chub thrown in i would keep feeding castor or maggot the float would glide down dip and you would be in great fishing and i have since done the same with the barbel with the right tackle its great fishing and a great way to spend a day. i used to night fish for the eels in the quarry stretch of the Severn i was picked up by the police looking for lob worms as it was the main park in shrewsbury but that's another story more to come
In reply to Post #490
hi Pete. you must carry on...
i was laughing reading about Pete the Teddyboy going prize fighting and nutting the middleweight, fpmsl...
would be great to see this develop into a book of your memoirs! even if your not the most literate person in the world the most important thing for a book is content. im sure a writer could trawl through your posts and put it together in some sort of time order. it would be like a diary of your days, and also a fascinating look back in time.
hi Pete. you must carry on...
i was laughing reading about Pete the Teddyboy going prize fighting and nutting the middleweight, fpmsl...
would be great to see this develop into a book of your memoirs! even if your not the most literate person in the world the most important thing for a book is content. im sure a writer could trawl through your posts and put it together in some sort of time order. it would be like a diary of your days, and also a fascinating look back in time.
In reply to Post #490
having been asked to carry on i will this part of my life i was not very proud off i was completely out of control causing mum and dad lots of problems. i would fight get drunk and was fast getting a bad reputation i really did not like myself and friends started giving me a wide birth i did not care a toss for anyone. i think it was when i met this girl who eventually i married that i really stood back and took a good look at myself i well remember meeting her father for the first time they lived in the hill country above the village of minsterley he threatened me and told me to bugger off as he did not want his daughter knocking around with me and threatened to shoot me with a ball of his own muck i kid you not. i carried on fishing mostly on berrington pool which in those days was called heart break pool it was hard ,mega hard. but i did have some success catching some of the big bream in there with fish up to 9 pounds this was really a shock to some that fished there as they had never caught a bream and had fished the place for years. i would get the stale bread from the bakery and soak it and add layers mash to it and make these big balls and bait up three times a week the reason i caught was my baiting up did the trick as no one else took the trouble and effort to do it there was some big old roach in there as well and i would float fish for them using a sliding float set up with bread flake as bait i had some crackers up to about two pounds and some good perch on maggot the perch all averaged around the two and half pounds you would have to be careful with these fish as some would get the bends if you brought them to the surface to quick, it was still the late fiftys and was about to meet my life long fishing pall graham, i got married in 1960 and lived with my in-laws they were not very well off as my father in law was an X miner and had a very bad illness from his profession my wife was pregnant so i became the main bread winner in the house i was only 18 years old,but i soon got to know the area and managed to shoot a few pheasants and rabbits which really helped out more to come latter
having been asked to carry on i will this part of my life i was not very proud off i was completely out of control causing mum and dad lots of problems. i would fight get drunk and was fast getting a bad reputation i really did not like myself and friends started giving me a wide birth i did not care a toss for anyone. i think it was when i met this girl who eventually i married that i really stood back and took a good look at myself i well remember meeting her father for the first time they lived in the hill country above the village of minsterley he threatened me and told me to bugger off as he did not want his daughter knocking around with me and threatened to shoot me with a ball of his own muck i kid you not. i carried on fishing mostly on berrington pool which in those days was called heart break pool it was hard ,mega hard. but i did have some success catching some of the big bream in there with fish up to 9 pounds this was really a shock to some that fished there as they had never caught a bream and had fished the place for years. i would get the stale bread from the bakery and soak it and add layers mash to it and make these big balls and bait up three times a week the reason i caught was my baiting up did the trick as no one else took the trouble and effort to do it there was some big old roach in there as well and i would float fish for them using a sliding float set up with bread flake as bait i had some crackers up to about two pounds and some good perch on maggot the perch all averaged around the two and half pounds you would have to be careful with these fish as some would get the bends if you brought them to the surface to quick, it was still the late fiftys and was about to meet my life long fishing pall graham, i got married in 1960 and lived with my in-laws they were not very well off as my father in law was an X miner and had a very bad illness from his profession my wife was pregnant so i became the main bread winner in the house i was only 18 years old,but i soon got to know the area and managed to shoot a few pheasants and rabbits which really helped out more to come latter
In reply to Post #492
it would be a cracking read if he did dave
it would be a cracking read if he did dave