In reply to Post #510
thanks dave i know theres a lot more to put up when you can sort them

In reply to Post #510
thanks dave i know theres a lot more to put up. i really cant seem to put photos up on this forum it must be me bloody thick there are hundreds of photos in albums all over the house and i will at some stage send you a few more thanks m8

In reply to Post #506
gray and myself would be off to a place called atcham most sunday mornings to fish for the chub, as in those days you would see very few barbel we would ledger with cheese paste or great big lumps of cheese or float fish with maggot but maggot usually caught the smaller, fish such as dace and roach. on occasions we would go down in the evening and ledger for the eels staying till the early hours but this was mainly at the weekend because of work. we would fish great big lobs or dead minnow we had a great many eels but never rarely over three pounds. i had got to know a farmer who owned a small pool in north shropshire and although he never let anyone fish the place he gave me permission it backed onto his farm yard and was covered in lilies it was a lovely looking pool and we spent some very happy times fishing there. it was full of tench not very big probably around four pounds the biggest, but brilliant fishing. we also caught great big gold fish and golden orfe beautiful fish and fought liken stink we would float fish maggot Castor or bread flake through the holes in the lilies. i once said to the farmer where had the orfe come from he did not know all he knew they had been there for years we also caught crucian carp they really were pretty well formed fish but only a pound in weight. but it was free and we had piece and quite and had it all to our selves what more could you wish for. we also poached shomere we had some big bags of bream from there the average weight was only five pounds but great fishing with a few Rudd thrown in the problem was it was infested with movies, in the summer you would be covered in lumps by morning if fishing nights there was thousands of the little things and it really put us from fishing the place. we never did get caught as i said before the place was strictly private. i seriously wanted to fish bomere legally i played the farmer for permission but the answer was always no. little did i know in a few years i would run a syndicate on the place. we wanted to fish for the pike and it had a reputation for some very big ones over the years. but for now that would have to wait. gray had the same interest as my self and was not adept to a little poaching with rod or gun it was still hard and the wages still not that hight so a pheasent or the odd rabbit really helped out more to come latter

You`re the spitting image of Ivan Marks in the top picture of post 508 Pete

In reply to Post #514
anon i knew ivan marks we as a specimen group took on ivans team in a match guess what the specimen hunters won it was great fun many years ago i also met up with him in denmark when we fished the river guden he was a great fisherman kind regards pete

In reply to Post #515
He was indeed a great angler and a gentleman, RIP

In reply to Post #513
there was a little pool not far from my village. i never really thought there was any fish in it until one day i saw a lot of movement,i asked the farmer who i had known for some time for permission to fish we gained permission which was quite a shock really with my reputation. the pool was nothing to shout home about small average depth of about three ft and very dirty with a few farm yard ducks present. the road ran through the farm yard and graham and myself would sit on our baskets with big tractors lorries and cars driving past us. We did not know what to expect i asked the farmer what fish were in the pool he did not even know fish were in it. graham and myself were big fans of mashed bread mixed with layers mash we baited up with a few balls and started to float fish no sooner had the bait settled and away the float would go we started to catch beautiful little tench some were only about four oz but perfectly formed. the fish were of mixed sizes one minute you would catch a small one then away went the float and you would be into something a bit bigger we had them to four pounds plus it was great fishing and quite exiting and we had the pool to our selves. funny they were the only fish in there, but we carried on for a few weeks as it was free fishing we caught lots of tench from there until one morning we went and there were fish dead everywhere i went to see the farmer slurry had got into it and killed the lot in those days no one really cared so that was that. he also owned betton pool but did not like anyone fishing there i asked for permission for gray and myself he said that he would think about it. i was gaining the trust from the local farmers some had started to get trouble from the rabbits which had made quite a big come back since the mixy outbreak in the fifties. could i help out pete they would say so graham myself and his brother dick would be out ferreting on most winter days in beetween our fishing. we would net all the holes in the hedge rows both sides pop a couple of jills in and sit back quite was the order of the day out the rabbits would come into the waiting nets some hedge rows would produce up to as many as thirty rabbits. we made quite a lot of money between us they were fetching good money at some of the markets. and we would invest this into our fishing, or buy new nets for our rabbiting. but the main thing was we were gaining more trust with the farmers and the local game keepers, well some but not all certainly not old bell, but i got on well with old gerry at bomere i think he had forgiven me but i was still very young and if given the chance would still have one or two pheasents away. i had a family to keep and so did grayham so the money we made from the game came in very handy more to follow

In reply to Post #517
Hi Pete keep at is sir.i`ll upload more of your pictures in a couple of days,just not feeling up to with whats happened over the weekend.hope you understand.

In reply to Post #518
of course i do m8 it will all come right for you in the end. dont worry about things keep your head up hight it will be alright

In reply to Post #517
we managed to get permission to fish betton in the mid sixties it was a lovely lake the one end completely covered in lilies and about twenty acres. we really did not know where to start the one end in those days was very shallow dropping of to about sixteen feet we had seen plenty of fish movement this end so gray and myself started to bait up with big balls of bread mixed with layers mash we also added a few drops of tincture of lemon grass which we bought from the local chemist it smelled absolutely beautiful. we both ledgered using eleven ft rods i had mine made or me by a friend. fiber glass was now all the rage Mitchell 300 reels loaded with three or four pounds line quarter 0z arsley bomb size eight hook completed the set up. night fishing was very tiring we used doe bobbins for bite indication. we fished two rods each and practically sat in the water on the old garden bed chairs which were about all you could buy in those days we used bread flake on the hooks we would cast out let it settle and gently tighten up the line and pull down about a ft of line behind the but ring then pinch a piece off doe for the indicators To make them visible at night we used the old candle night lights in a jam jar with a piece of string we hung this between the rods on an old rod rest which we mostly made our selves. the first night we fished the place it went absolutely mad we had to pack one rod in as we could not keep up with the bites they came thick and fast mostly bream from three to five pounds also catching a few roach these were stunning fish i said to graham at the time where can you catch roach like that i think we had around eight or nine all about two pounds beautiful big belled fish i think looking back we finished the night with over a hundred pounds. that was our first night on button but we had many more nights on this old lake catching some very big eels. and hooking the occasional carp which we lost. more to come

In reply to Post #519
i was still working in the building trade i had moved to wimpys who were building houses on my village i was earning quite good money for those years, and was the main pipe layer on site putting most of the sewer pipes into the houses. In between work and in the evenings graham and myself were either fishing or clearing rabbits for the local farmers. the rabbit population were becoming quite a problem and it was one way of making a few extra quid. we put in for firearm certificates from the the local police force to be honest i never really thought they would be granted but one morning they turned up in the post. we bought a couple of rim fire rifles and aided with a light at night would be out all hours we really did a good job and most nights would shoot thirty or forty rabbits the farmers were pleased, and we were gaining their trust. We were also gaining more land and farms as word soon spreads in the farming community. if we saw any pools or lakes on the property we would ask permission to fish and it was rarely refused. we even managed to fish a stretch of the condover brook which i have mentioned in an earlier thread and was looked after by old bell. i was talking to the head master of the condover blind school and he said come down and fish our stretch any time you wish but please bring some sweets for the youngsters when you come . it was great fishing and we would spin little Devon minnows in the pools or under the water falls there were two water falls and i caught my biggest brook brown trout from there. it was a pound and three quarters a real old fish . but was a very welcome meal. the children made me really wander they knew we were down fishing and would come down to see us we would give them sweets some were completely blind also deaf it made me realize just how well off we really were. one day we were down fishing and there was a pen full of tame rabbits. And they had all escaped i offered my help and was amazed how these young kids with no sight could tell you where the rabbits were. their earring must have been superb and would tell you where to look others as i said were blind and deaf but must of had a sixth sense i felt real humbled in their presence . we loved the place it was about half a mile long and spent some lovely sunday mornings fishing it in the summer, we would always go back home with four or five nice trout to eat. times were still hard and your work had to come before fishing. we would still fish the rea brook and you would see graham and myself fishing it on a winters day trotting down for the roach they were only about half a pound but it was good fishing and you may also catch a few chub and dace we have had the line freeze to the rod rings on more than one occasion and have been so cold we have had to pack up as the cloths we had in those days were not up to much. we would make all our own floats mostly out of balsa wood they would be hanging all over the house waiting for the paint to dry but it was cheaper than buying from the shop we would try all different shapes and sizes and it gave you something to do on a cold winters night i was still a bit of a jack the lad and graham was no better we would have the occasional pheasant with our rifles especially at xmas poaching was in our blood from a young age so it was hard thing to stop. but that's another story

In reply to Post #524
good reading this pete i know what your saying about the deaf and blind children, i worked in a school for a year with kids with these disabilities and they are amazing people and as you say they do have a sixth sense

In reply to Post #525
hi stephen these kids were amazing to the extent they could tell the difference between gray and myself. i dont no if it was by smell scent but they knew our names and could tell the difference maybe voice its something i have often wandered about could it be they had a sixth sense who knows. i often think about what happened to them all as it was in the sixties. the blind school shut down about three years ago i was a bit saddened by this as it employed a lot of local labour teachers included also my mum worked there many years ago in the forties but thats the price of progress i suppose but it did a great job helping the many youngsters that passed throught there pete

In reply to Post #524
really enjoyed the post will save to read again.any more threads keep them coming. arfer

In reply to Post #524
we continued fishing at the blind school, another farmer a mr jones told gray and myself that we could fish for the trout on his land he had a good two mile stretch of the brook which i had already poached a few years ago so i certainly knew the lay of the land. he also wanted us to get rid of the rabbits it could not get much better we were gaining the farmers trust. we had some great times fishing that stretch of the brook we caught loads of trout we had to take chris the farmer some every time we went. we would hide a few, as he would take them all he really liked his trout for breakfast. we certainly were not going to put the effort in and catch a number of fish for him to take the lot. we had some good old brownies from down at crisis not big about three quarters of a pound but a good size for eating. we used to go out in the evening or weekends and shoot the rabbits with the rifles. we soon had them under control word was spreading we had more and more asking please get rid of our rabbits. it was becoming more like a job. i met an old chap called charlie patterson when i say old in his late fifties what he did not know about nature he was good very good he was employed by lord Forrester and worked in the woods he carved walking sticks they were absolutely beautiful he would carve badgers foxes then paint them today they would be worth a fortune. well charlie also had another side to him he ran a group of men who would clear the foxes for any farmers that had a problem ie taking lambs and chickens. the poor hill farmers had quite a few probs with foxes taking there young lambs charlie would put the guns around the wood or dingle he thought the foxes were in and drive it out with any men he had spare, out the foxes would come and would be shot dead instantly no dogs just guns he did a good job and was well known in shropshire and wales. the local hunts were none to pleased as it buggered there sport. Charlie got graham and myself a small pool on one particular farm it was about three acres and there's was some carp and tench in it. the carp were true oldies torpedo shaped we used to fish from the one end which was a dam wall you could not fish the sides as they were to steep and covered in fir trees. we had great sport catching the tench all on float fished maggot and bread we would catch a hundred pounds or more but the carp were very hard . we got permission to night fish it but the carp still evaded us i think looking back we did catch one about five pounds but that was at a latter date we were also fishing the river tern which we had gained for helping to clear the rabbits. it was a lovely river and we would ledger or float fish it was full of dace and chub and some very nice roach. also some big shoals of bream i we never ever caught the bream but had some good days chub fishing it was still only the mid sixties i would be about twenty three years old and had now got a daughter, so work was very important i had three to keep plus myself no time off work sick you just went no matter how you felt. so more to come latter