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 New Posts  Old school angling pt2.
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nwpiker41
Posts: 8093
nwpiker41
   Old Thread  #1000 28 Feb 2011 at 6.28pm  0  Login    Register
Great thread and essential forum reading .I shall sticky the thread for a while,to encourage Pete to continue to add to the thread







(c) 2010 Peter Pemberton (Petethecrip) all rights reserved

Material published by Peter Pemberton (Petethecrip) on these web pages is copyright of Peter Pemberton (Petethecrip), and may not be reproduced without permission. Copyright exists in all other original material published on the internet by Peter Pemberton (Petethecrip) and belongs to the author depending on the circumstances of publication.
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #701 14 Apr 2015 at 5.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
My Gran and The Family, Are very appreciative as am I and very thankful for all of your heart felt messages, Pete my Grandad would be very proud and overwhelmed at the thought of so many people paying there respects,Thanks Again, The funeral will be held at Shrewsbury Crematorium, On the 23rd of April at 11am. If anybody would like to pay their respects further, please come and join us.


Kind Regards

Pete's Family


petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #687 4 Apr 2015 at 12.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
This is Petes grandson Ant, Sadly on the 1st of April, Pete suddenly passed away, We are all in shock and i thought it might be appropriate to let every one on here know as he was very proud of the stories that he shared with you and always spoke about this forum with pride, i will inform you all of any funeral arrangements if any of you would like to attend.


Many Thanks To You All

Ant and Family




deaffred
Posts: 4818
deaffred
   Old Thread  #710 31 Dec 2017 at 11.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #709
Been reading some of Petes stories as he was a nice guy and we talked privately about various things but mostly wildlife and foxes .
Sadly missed .
KenTownley
Posts: 30589
KenTownley
   Old Thread  #709 27 Jul 2016 at 11.08am  0  Login    Register
Just been re-reading some of Pete's reminiscences. What a writer and what a fabulous thread this is! Pete was a really well known angler in his day, always in the papers, mates with the great and the good of the time (Walker, Taylor, etc.) and his stories shine a light on the old days and old ways. They are a delight compared to the hard bitten, cold and humourless jargon-ridden crap we are served up with today.

Deserves a bump IMO.
Bluepanido
Posts: 2944
Bluepanido
   Old Thread  #706 14 Jun 2015 at 6.38pm  0  Login    Register
I haven't looked at the Old School Angling thread for a while. Very sad to read of Pete's passing. An old school legend, I've enjoyed reading your stories. RIP.
kenwright09890
Posts: 458
   Old Thread  #705 9 May 2015 at 6.09pm  0  Login    Register
Rip Pete
oldfletch
Posts: 1458
   Old Thread  #704 18 Apr 2015 at 8.49am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #703
Great enjoyment reading your stories. May you rest in peace.
tinofmaggots
Posts: 5835
tinofmaggots
   Old Thread  #703 17 Apr 2015 at 11.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #701
sad to have a final chapter,, Pete we gonna miss you buddy,


RIP Peter.
chopper
Posts: 4742
chopper
   Old Thread  #700 10 Apr 2015 at 8.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
only just seen this. r.i.p peter.
Andy_P
Posts: 7989
Andy_P
   Old Thread  #699 9 Apr 2015 at 5.01pm  0  Login    Register
Such sad news, RIP Pete
Expat_in_Poland
Posts: 7979
Expat_in_Poland
   Old Thread  #698 9 Apr 2015 at 4.45pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #694
Very sad, Peter was a good friend to me in times of trouble and in all times, always kept in touch despite me being here and him in the UK. Am really gutted to lose such a friend. A sad loss to the angling world and his family. A fantastic chap who always had time for others to listen and to exchange experiences. So glad he shared his stories and history of ordinary people's lives with us on here and more. Sadly the world of angling has lost another great fisherman. RIP Pete, hope you are dangling a line up there somewhere
Dicky
Posts: 2346
Dicky
   Old Thread  #697 7 Apr 2015 at 9.36am  0  Login    Register
This is really sad news I aways looked forward to petes stories. I my self will miss them. The fourm won't be the same without him.

I hope the funeral goes well and sending my best wishes to petes family at this very sad time.

Rest in peace pete.

Rich
rob-d
Posts: 2118
rob-d
   Old Thread  #696 7 Apr 2015 at 8.32am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
so sorry to hear this, i had the pleasure of meeting pete a couple of times and i loved listening to his stories of his life and times. truly an inspiration. rest in peace mate.
Serenity
Posts: 857
   Old Thread  #695 6 Apr 2015 at 1.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
I am very sorry to hear this. I remember Pete appearing all those decades ago in the Angling Times with his catches of specimen bream and hugely enjoyed his trips down memory lane on here.

Hopefully, he will meet up with Dick again at that special venue in the sky.

R.I.P. Pete

KenTownley
Posts: 30589
KenTownley
   Old Thread  #694 6 Apr 2015 at 1.27pm  0  Login    Register
Tragic news. So sorry to hear that this grand fella has passed. I worked closely with Pete on a manuscript he did for a fishing book and he sent me reams of material and photos. I don't think many of us on here realise just how high profile Pete was back in the day, the guys he knew and fished with, the publications he worked for, and the huge high regard in which he was held by his peers. We are all very privileged to have had access to his wealth of knowledge and experience and the world will be a greyer place for his passing.

I am not religious in any way, and mentioned this once to Pete. "Not to worry," he replied, "God loves you anyway!" He always closed his PMs with 'God bless' and while it may be inappropriate for an atheist to say so, God bless back at ya, Pete.

So sad.
charlatan
Posts: 100
charlatan
   Old Thread  #693 6 Apr 2015 at 12.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
SO SAD . R. I. P. PETE.
andywilcock
Posts: 1920
andywilcock
   Old Thread  #692 6 Apr 2015 at 10.42am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
So sorry for your loss.
I read his stories with great excitement for the passion that he brings to it.
You can be very proud of him.
R.I.P.
loncilott
Posts: 37
   Old Thread  #691 6 Apr 2015 at 7.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
RIP
john5
Posts: 1600
john5
   Old Thread  #690 5 Apr 2015 at 11.38am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
R.I.P.
bigjim001
Posts: 9220
bigjim001
   Old Thread  #689 5 Apr 2015 at 10.02am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #688
Jesus

a true gent long time forum member

Thoughts are with your family R.I.P
SlugHunter
Posts: 22735
SlugHunter
   Old Thread  #688 4 Apr 2015 at 6.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #687
I am so sorry to hear about your loss...

R.I.P
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #685 26 Mar 2015 at 12.26pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #684
I am sitting here at home watching a very cold wind sway the trees no fishing today for me, i will see what its like tomorrow but the banks get packed most week ends so i will have to take my chance

Years ago you never saw the amount of anglers you see today things have altered, most lakes we fish to day are not private like they were in my younger days, private or not i used to fish them, i really enjoyed going you never knew what situation you would find your self in, i used to fish a quite a large lake in a village about six miles from my home, it was a most beautiful lake full of big tench and lovely Rudd you really never saw anyone, but this one morning was a bit different,i had caught a number to tench not really big all around two pounds i had just had a drink of mums ginger beer, when i was a bit startled to see a number of gentlemen standing on the lawns in front of the hall. They had all got guns in shoulder bags and a glass in their hand i heard sir saying drink up plenty of time latter on for drinking, i watched as i heard the keeper say you will all draw for your peg some had their wives with them they were all wearing tweeds and long laced up boots no shooting low he bellowed i never realised they were shooting the lake i was fishing you can shoot any pheasants he shouted i moved further into the undergrowth and lay down and watched, it was to late to make a run for it.
I watched him putting the guns out there must of been around twenty guns they must have been friends of sirs from the army as the war had not finished that long ago i think they had only got the estate back into some order but there was still a lot to do especially for the keeper he still had the vermin to attend to as the estate had gone completely wild as it had been left to own devises for a number of years, i was a bit frightened when the guns started to shoot but soon relaxed and watched this magical spectacle going on all around me god some could shoot, they would hit those duck really hight up, some would come crashing down hitting the bushes not far from where i lay, i thought bugger the fish, lets collect a few of these ducks that had been shot it was a bit dodgy but i managed to collect half a dozen or three brace of pheasants, and a couple of ducks, i popped them in my big post office bag, i carried my tackle in and half walked or crawled away from the shoot, i got into the field and lay behind this sheep feeder it was full of hay i could hear one off the guns say keeper theres one or two down over there, he could not find many maybe a couple. The keeper said they must of been runners sir i can't find anymore than a brace of pheasants and a couple of ducks. I laughed as i made my way home i collected my bike from where i had hidden it, and soon got to the gate of our house, mum said your home early yes i replied i have got you these her eyes lit up you will get caught one of these days she said laughing. well there you are more, latter
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #684 21 Mar 2015 at 11.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #683
I was fishing yesterday and it really went cold while the eclipse was going on, i think every one blanked i did have a run but lost it on a snag that was enough for me i packed up at 5-30 and headed for home i could not get warm all night, the wind blowing down the lake was absolutely bitter, lets hope it gets a bit warmer in the coming weeks my mrs thinks I'm a bloody nutter going in cold weather like it has been but i have caught a few over the weeks if i had not gone and took my chances i would not have caught i know i am in my seventies but i will keep fishing while i can.

It really is funny this small lake used to be full of rainbow trout, i used to poach it many years ago and caught some nice fish there was also some good eels, in the water i had them to four and a half pound i few years ago the bailiff on the water, came around to my house hi pete can you help me out whats up Bernard, we think we are getting poached can you come and have a look, it was not me as my poaching days were over. I had heard some one was selling trout in the pub, but i could not get a name, yes Bern i will meet you down there on Saturday afternoon, i took an old gaff with me i soon showed them where the fish were going i had eighteen night lines they had been expertly covered up no one fishing the lake would even know they were there.

Can you catch them pete i will need two or three chaps, with me ill come said Bern, my mate Graham, will come said i do you won't them caught on frightened, we will think about it at home i decided to frighten them i had some of these Halloween faces that glowed a horrible green, and one that looked like an old witch, i picked Bern up before dark have you got those old sheets, yes four in all we put the masks on around dark and sat down and waited i did not think they would arrive until midnight i was right over the style got the four poachers and headed straight away to their night lines, we waited until they were about to set some more when Bern let out a call like a banshee they turned around to see what it was they shone a torch up into the wood there was one hell of a shout run lads the place is haunted we fell around laughing we ran after them to the style they literally fell over into some of the brambles but we let them go we will go to the fox tomorrow night Graham we may get a laugh.
we went for a pint on the Saturday night we saw them telling the landlord what had happened, the one said to us do you still fish Bomere yes we replied, if i was you i would not go any where near the place its haunted we listened to his story we had a job not to laugh the landlord twigged what had gone on, good lads have a pint on me they have been selling trout in here for weeks i wondered when they would get caught we all had a good laugh.
well there a bit more. more latter.
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #683 17 Mar 2015 at 11.33am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #682
I have been chased many times, i am one lucky chap i have never been caught the one lake i had permission to fish. Graham and i were sitting there very relaxed, when this big women started shouting abuse at us telling us to get off the property, next thing she started running towards us like a big peace of blubber with a big carving knife in her hand, its time to go graham she means business, we picked up our rods and bag and made a run for the van, i looked behind us she was still coming and still had the knife in her hand we reached our van opened the the rear door and literally chucked our tackle in we just made into the car and started the engine when a police car arrived, i heard him say i will have that knife please now go back to the house i got out off my van hi pete hows it going it isn't, no he said she is puddled i said its like something out of a fairy story, who gave you permission john his about the best of the family the other brother is just like his sister, but i have fished here for months with know trouble, pete i would go now let it cool down i will see john later and get you written permission i am sure it will be ok i will ring you Monday at work and he did it all ended very well we had our tickets one each, thanks Paul what about his sister with the knife i gave her a stern talking to and gave her the knife back you will have no more trouble with her so every thing turned out right we fished there again and never had any trouble the sister came out and gave us a wave which we returned it was if nothing had ever happened.

There was another lake not very far from where we had been fishing so off we went i have not got permission but i do know him he is the hight sheriff of Shropshire i have got to know him quite well we arrived at the house i gave the bell on the door a push it was answered by a young lady is sir in i said she looked us up and down i will go and see whats your name i told her the next i heard is that you pete yes sir, come on in we are a bit dirty never mind, i will get us some of our home made beer and he did it was very nice over another drink i told him what had happened at the other lake i have had some trouble with those people
he answered. well i suppose you would like to fish my own lake yes sir he wrote us permission you are the only ones that are allowed down there you can take your car to the water you may see my gardener down at the lake he may come for a chat we gave it a go before going home and caught a five pound tench but also some common carp were seen so the day ended well. A bit more latter
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #682 13 Mar 2015 at 12.14pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #681
I have been doing a bit of carp fishing and i am quite pleased that i have caught not big by any bodies standards but big enough to make me very pleased, there are some lovely fish in this old lake worth catching, Bernard graham and myself stocked it with eighteen carp many years ago i was contacted by this chap that had quite a big pool at the bottom of his garden the fish were mostly small in size but did they grow when we transferred them to the lake we are fishing now.

i know there are some mid twenties and there could be the occasional thirty but thats to be seen one thing i have got fishing in this weather is a chill i have felt quite bad shaking and shivering the quicker it goes the better so i can continue with my fishing you may say not in this weather but if i can catch fish i will be there no matter what the weather is my wife does not like me going because of my health, you only come this way once so get out there and fish.

over the years i have fished in some terrible weather once with Graham on the Shropshire meres i had just moved to discuss the fishing whether we should go or stay when there was a terrific crash the lightning hit a tree behind where i was fishing it came crashing down on my bed chair, it was only a garden lounger, as we could not buy the bed chairs of today, i think some one was on my side that night as if it had hit me i would not be here to tell the tale, we decided to go but it was flooded behind where we were fishing its a good job we had waders it was nearly up to the tops as we got to dry land under the big beech trees there was another bang and flash we could see in the distance of the wood, another tree came crashing down, we went over the canal bridge to my van and we were away it took more time to get home, there was tree branches over the road we moved most and just managed to get by what a b night when i got onto our village i took Graham home leave to tackle in the back he said and that exactly what we did it was still pooring with rain and still lightning i was glad to get to bed that just one more story. A little bit more latter
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #681 3 Mar 2015 at 11.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #680
Having bad news last week it has really made me think, so here comes another tale from long ago it was about a young lad that really struggled to catch fish that youngster was me, i had no idea how to fish, until i met a gentle man called peter finch. he put me in the right direction, i had all the right tackle so it was a matter of catching. I thought to my self i know the river, i was told i would get caught the locals were ever so good to me and would pass on information but they told my parents it was very private and was owned by shropshire fly fishers and some was owned by private individuals well i took no notice and caught trout until they came out of my ears my parents and our next neighbours who were very grateful, one place i really loved was the water falls i had a spot i liked to fish i would ledger a worm right under the sill of the falls i had no rod rest only one i had cut from hazel i had left it to dry out and had not used it for sometime it certainly did the job this one day my rod flew around i was lucky i did not lose it, i played this fish i had got him to the side and there lay a most beautiful pike it must of been at least 10 pounds how on earth was i going to land it i had no net in i went and lifted it out with my hands i caught my finger did it bleed after i just stood admiring the fish and its lovely colouring, i must get it back, i looked around to see there was anyone around i.e the water bailiffs all was clear, into the river i got and held it in the water, i watched as it swam away i dried my self with an old towel i had with me.

i carried on fishing the next fish was lovely brown trout, that went strait in my bag i cast out again and watched as the rod top bent right around i played the fish i could see it was a lovely perch it was at least two pounds, i heard a voice behind me shout, it was a lady mrs smout from the terraces where i lived ill have that perch she shouted, no i am going to put it back which i did i put my hand in the bag and gave her the only trout i had a smile broke across her face thanks pete our sid will love this with a few potatoes and peas no problem i shouted to her as she crossed the field i will have to catch a few more trout before i go home. well more to follow
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #680 26 Feb 2015 at 12.05pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #679
I could not wait until august i would lie down in the heather and watch the guns preform i kept a fair way from them as the guns made me nervous, the guns really got exited when the grouse come hurtling towards them i kept my head down as the beaters passed me by it was a dangerous job for every body that took part it was certainly not like todays grouse shooting when i think back they had some keepers, involved beating others, picking up i was nearly flat out in the heather when this big spaniel came and licked me all over i tried to get him to go but he would not, he prefered to lie down with me, i was getting a bit worried i did not fancy running in this thick heather, its funny really its the only bird that has eluded me never mind ill keep trying.

i heard a wistle that signaled the end of the drive, the keeper called his dog come charlie he shouted and away went the dog, you got nothing the keeper said, no said the beaters he was working with us they knew how cruel he could be he would shoot his dog if he did not bring anything back. On the way back i looked at sirs pens i have a friend who told me they had put 18000 thousand birds in the two pens nearest the big hall they were full of young poults i had a look at the other pens and they were full, also what a time i am going to have latter on i must learn a bit more about the woods as this would be the first time i would poach it. I called at the miners arms i asked the landlord when the keepers came for a drink fridays and saturdays said Bert you going to poach sirs pheasants pete if so bring us a couple of brace ill do just that bert they get rather drunk there not much good by the time they leave here they would stay all night if i let them, they play darts and tippet they love the games what time do they leave around midnight they can hardly stand up, does the police get here never seen them said bert we have only oil lights so when them big curtains are shut you would see no light through them. I will tell you a story pete the old sgt would call here and put his car around the back of the pub i think it was a westminster, he would have a constable with him they loved a drink what if you get caught drunk behind the wheel i said who's going to catch me there only us in tonight and i am the sgt well that was that the sgt has now retired so i take no chances. I said good night to bert and made my way home he shouted behind us don't forget the pheasants pete i put up my hand . a bit more latter.
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #679 21 Feb 2015 at 11.20am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #678
Yes ralph i did have a few escapes, an old gypsy friend asked me to go with him to get a few partridge he had a camp not to far from where we were standing, in fact four of the clan turned up bring your gun pete, i turned up just as it was going dark you ready then he said to the others yes they answered and away we went across this fields god it was cold with the wind blowing i would be glad when it was over i could just about see a stick in the distance my old gypsy friend tom, said don't make any noise you see that stick that is where the partridge are they roost on the ground so we should catch the lot thats if old bell and gerry and their under keepers keepers have not put any briars on the ground so our net will snag they are both buggers for doing that.

What ever have i got myself into i thought, but tom was an expert poacher who knew his job he would not have come this far if there was not something to catch and take home, four men one on each corner of the net and me behind with my gun over the birds, they went they tried to escape, but there was no getting away they dragged twenty grey partridge from under that net, you got y bag pete, are you taking the lot i asked i was a bit upset why do you ask well i always leave a few i understand what you are getting at. No if they were wild birds i would but these are reared by the keepers they rear thousands for the gents, and ladies, to shoot, i knew that from watching them when they shot.

How many have we got tom i counted twenty not a bad night eh pete we will make a few bob between us they should get most into your big bag ill carry it he said, but we have another covey to deal with which is a bit nearer home not far from the fish pool i know were that is i whispered as we came towards the pool in the wood we stopped can you see the marker pete yes tom, we will hide the bag with the birds under the big hedge behind us now all was ready you walk behind pete with your gun we aproached where the birds were they dropped the net over them it was over so quickly another sixteen they folded the net up and put a few more birds in my bag god tom you won't carry that far wait and see said tom, in the distance i could see some one waiting it was toms brother with a cart to put every thing in how many tom he shouted thirty six said i. Thats a very good night we all agreed, it was back to the vans for a welcome cup of tea we chatted sitting round the open fire i owe you some money ill take the birds down tomorrow and see how much we will get good night all i shouted. well theres a bit more until the next time
ralph69
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ralph69
   Old Thread  #678 21 Feb 2015 at 0.29am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #677
In the clear for once
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #677 15 Feb 2015 at 2.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #676
i have just been watcing a male blue tit, going mad with my car mirror the problem is he can see himself and he thinks he is another male, they are looking at my two nest boxes i dont know which one they will choose
I am very pleased i have a pair of bull finches, in the garden the male is spectacular with a beautiful red breast. I am sitting at home making a few rigs also filling my new centre pin up have not used one for years and am looking forward to using it. Its my second chilhood you know, but on a serous note there are some huge perch in the small lake i fish i have seen them taking quite big rudd i could not fish for them last year as i was rushed into Hospital and missed most of the season but i am just hopping this year will be a better one.
This pool is one i poached for thr trout years ago there was some nice fish in the pool, i would go after dark and worm, the place i did not know at the time there was some big eels in the water i caught one of six pounds while fishing for the trout, it was a lovely fish so i put it back, i do wonder if they are still in the pool i was there one night a saw the headlights of a car coming over the fields, i hid in the wood above the lake i soon recongized who it was the sgt with two constables from my village, and another landrover with the keepers, god they were out in force tonight no one knew i was there so perhaps they were after some one else.

I had broke the rod down and carried the fish in a bag on my back. Just behind where i was hiding was a very big tree it was a fir with plenty of foliage i shinned up rod tied to my back with the bag i got to the top and lay down across the branches. They could not see me but i could see them the one keeper jerry, had got his dogs with him but i did not fear them i used to feed them over the top of their pen they were used to me so i knew even if they caught a smell of my scent they would not bark. Come around here shouted the Sgt to his constables. They have not been shooting tonight gerry who was one of the head keepers perhaps they have gone to my place shoputed another i reconized him staight away it was old bell the keeper from condover. Its worth a look said said the keeper i waited for them to go and caught another six trout i looked at my watch it was 1-30 it was time to go i crossed the feilds with a big smile on my face no chase tonight i was in the clear for once. a bit more latter
petethecrip
Posts: 2831
petethecrip
Honorary member
   Old Thread  #676 10 Feb 2015 at 12.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #675
one thing i shall never forgot i was hoping to start work for the home office it was many years since i poached to make a bob or two. I had to go before the super, who was in charge of the police station where i was going to be working i knocked the door. I was a bit shaky i heard a shout from within come in i walked towards a chair sit down so your the one that poached our shoot all those years ago. I honesty did not know what to say i literally froze, come on then he shouted don't be frightened i honestly enjoyed our little forays, i felt a bit more brave and out it came yes and i really enjoyed your pheasants and fish, i thought thats it i was waiting for his reply god is he going to give me the sack before i had even started, he gave out a big laught, hows your mother and father pete god she would not tell me anything you were involved with, my sgt used to go scaty he would get in his car saying one day one day.

Listen pete i have a small trout pool around an acre i have been poached a bit can you come and have a look yes no problem. I will pick you up from home on saterday if thats ok with you you can shoot the ground its about forty acre the farmer will be pleased he is over run withj rabbits, thanks have i got the job of course you have you can start tomorrow i will tell your boss at head office, before i go can i take my freind graham with me two is better than one catching poachers, do i know him he blurted out no i dont think so said i you will have to trust me i saw i smile cover his face i could not years ago could i. We both gave out a chuckle is 9-30 to early to pick you up to show you both the small lake no sir that will be great we will be waiting.

He arirved on time and trasported us to this lovely lake if fact Graham and myself knew this lake from years ago but we had never poached it. It was set in this beautiful valley and belonged to a farmer freind we knew i got a hook out of his car and screwd it onto a landing net handle whats that for pete i will show you sir dont call me sir call me tom around the side of the lake i went i had five night lines straight away two had fish on, Tom just stood there and said good god i have never seen that done before, ill leave the rest and come back friday and saturday thanks pete. he took us see the farmer bloody hell tom what are you doing with these two rogues best poachers in shropshire hellow pete how are you both not to bad, come in for a drink i knew what was about to happen out came the glasses and they were filled with golden cider want some bread and cheese to go with it he shouted from the kitchen, tom explained what was about to happen no problem i would rather have those two on my land than any body, the poaching will soon stop if i know pete.

I will tell you more latter we both smiled on the way home tom said you can fly fish it if you like, thanks tom we will give it a go latter on.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #675 7 Feb 2015 at 2.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #674
One thing i always did was put a brace of pheasants or trout hung on the keepers gate it really wound old bell up but it was my way of saying thank you he knew it was me he sent the police to the house a few times but i always had a excuce. This one day i was asked did i fancy poaching a new shoot, i said to the person that asked i have never poached or heard of the place if i went i would want to have a look at the place before giving it a go i asked how many keepers on the shoot the aswer was five, one head keeper and four under keepers i was not sure so i put the invirtation to one side for the time being.

In the meantime i was going to catch a few rainbows i hope. It was a dark windy night when i set off across the fields, i had one rod ,a few worms, and a few spinners, it was about a mile from my house i had been given a night scope from some one that was in the army throught the war years, he showed me how it worked it was a bit old and antiquated but i thought i would give it a go i looked over the field and found it was not to bad i soom reached the bank, and just looked throught the scope i could see all around the lake and no one was preasent i used a devon minnow first they were dfeadly i caught a few minnows in my trap in the afternoon i mounted one on the flight of the minnow and clipped it in. My first cast produced one of five pounds a really nice fish i put it back it was to big for what i wanted, next fish was around two pounds i knocked on the head it was just the size i wanted i had i had caught six and just sat down when i heard a car or tractor coming in the distance i grabbed the rod and bag and ran for cover, i watched from the wood there there was at least five and they were all poaching i let it go quite. The car was not from around here so i shouted your all under arrest i fell about laughing they all ran and tried to get in the car all together, i have broke my rod shouted the one shut up shouted the driver or you will be left here it was like something out of the circus talk about panic i watched from a distance as the car shot across the field onto the road, well that was the last for tonight i vanished into the darkness of the wood and made my way home. i will tell you more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #674 5 Feb 2015 at 1.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #673
I walked by night, and day, poaching fish and game, there are not to many of us left today, to me it was a game i loved the exitment of it all in my latter days i caught them but they were not true poachers like yesteryear when i was young i poached to live and of course make a bob or two as money was needed to help the family. As long as we caught a few rabbits for home and freinds i could keep the money which i made selling to the butchers. It was money that helped me out to buy fishing tackle hooks line and such.

I was never frightened to be out at night by myself in fact i liked my own company as i was not responsible for others. I was using a rifle to shoot the pheasants i would tie a torch to the barrel of the gun it was very acurate way to shoot the birds, when they were at roost in some of the couverts there was so many birds you really wondered which ones to shoot at i would take three or four and move on to the next tree, the keepers had put thousands down they would not miss a few or so i thought i was soon to find out i loved being out i loved to hear the vixen scream, some men i had taken with me froze at the noise i would laught to myself they were not true country men infact that is one reason i took no one with me.

I would shoot around twelve that was enough for tonight i some times hid a few and went back for them if they were two heavy to carry, i would pick another wood the next time i went always one step a head of the keepers i found a friday or saterday were good nights to go, as most were in the pub it was not just the pheasants but duck, as well i did take a friend that could really shoot he never missed many the problem was retreaving them i have seen us botth stripped to the waist and wade in to pick any up any that had dropped in the water bloody hell it was cold we would get out to dry our selves, our teath would really chatter, in fact i did trust john and did give him an opportunity to come with after the pheasants but he would always say no i am not being hounded by the keepers dogs he would say, i will tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #673 28 Jan 2015 at 12.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #672
On this one esate that we beat for sir told raymond and myself that we could if we liked fish on his lake over xmas it was a wonderful place we thanked him he told us he would be down to see us, sir we will have to see how the weather goes, we arrived and set up we both were catching rudd within and hour, i set the old pike rod, up i was in straight away he was only a couple pounds but very welcome i hid it just like his wife had told us she just did not won't the mess.

The next fish felt a little bigger around the lake he went, he ploded on never giving any line at last i got him to my crapy net i was praying for another for Christmas mum said i would have to see. I can see it now all my mates were exited as christmas eve was the very next day but this day had not finished yet i heard a noise and looked around there stood Sir i have brought you both some ginger beer which i made a couple of days ago and whats this as he parted the net can i have that fish,, Sir your wife has said no god thats a blow i will go for a camera wich he did it looked if it had come from the ark he set it up, he was using big slides he said he would show us when we went to the hall.

Raymond have you fished the lake by the hall no sir come with young pete after the shooting season there are a few good carp in there, thanks sir said ray it was getting dark i am sure i could hear the sound of singing coming from within the castle walls we were asked in even though we were all going to a Cristmas eve party tomorrow night as we entered to us kids it was like a fairy groto here young pete try these on i went away with socks gloves sir asked if sam had come down from his shoot to see us i really did not know, until i got home we stayed singing carols it looked if it was going to be a great xmas Sir took us home we will pick the bikes up tomorrow i hope your coming to beat with old sam after xmas yes said both of us, thanks sir don't forget tommorow night he said as he dropped us off look sams bike, is out side your house i wonder what he has bought you all i did not have long to wait as i walked sam sat decide the fire drinking damson wine how are you young man sorry i could not come up as sir wanted us fish his lake. never mind said sam ill be there tomorrow night i showed him what sir had bought your a very lucky lad ray had the same. well ill tell you all what happened the next night.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #672 27 Jan 2015 at 11.19am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #671
When i was a young lad at school i had a paper round like many others i used to cycle seven miles every day before school it was hard going on the shop bike it was a sit up and beg sort of thing the paper bags wen't over the back weels either side on a frame.



We went in hail rain or snow it was really hard if it snowed the school turned a blind eye if we were late on days like that we were the only way to get to the farms with there papers it was like a life line to them my mate dilvivered to half of the round it used to be very big round and failed to get the papers to all the customers so the round was split with my mate ray it was great at christmas the farmers were extremely grateteful for the the years work at times i had trouble carrying the amount of money if one missed you out they would send it in a sealed envelope if lucky we both had a few pounds i used to look at fishing books but mum said don't buy any as you never know what i would be given in my stoking.



My mother and father were very kind it must of cost them pounds but when young you don't think life was very hard it was not long after the war and money was in short supply i bought hooks and line for my reels even a cane rod it was great i would cycle out to a local lake catch some rudd for live bait i struggled as i had know idea at all but a man called peter finch put me in the right direction i had a big old cork float with a couple of trebles it was hard going in the deep snow but i wrapped up warm a couple of wool socks in my welingtons a big duffle coat with pegs for my pockets my first cast caught after sitting there around two hours i watched as my float slowly drifted under i struck and what ever was on the other was not letting me have much line butt i persevered and caught it was only five pounds but really lit my face up after that my world was my oyster i really could not get enough of it i would sit for hours but never caught another pike. well a bit more later












god it was cold you could not get my hands warm i has frost in my feet i could hardly walk when i got home mother warmed me up beside the fire my toes had turnrd a funny couloir but after a while they started to work but hurt till i cried never again will you go out when the weather is that severe but she never complained again.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #671 22 Jan 2015 at 2.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #666
Thinking back i have been asked to catch a number of poachers over the years can you help us out usually, the estate got in touch before the keepers, i would answer depends what it is they are taking all our trout we can't catch them we have tried there crafty little buggers lads from the village i will see what we can do i found out they were not from our village,and most were only taking few for there parents, i had got a few cartridge that were unloaded no pelletes only powder they certainly made a deference if strapped to a fence and loaded into a device that the old blacksmith had made for for us i would strap anything up to ten along the top top of a fence they had only to touch any one of them there would be an almity bang and a big flash they would be away across the field calling the keepers all the names they could think of it stopped abuse and most never came back

It was a big laught if you could se them runnig across the side,of t wood the men and women were all dressed up in there good cloths so they could go to the pub when they got back the women's skirts must have been covered in mud but that never stopped them from having a drink or two i contacted the landlord on how many trout was sold that one night twenty trout was the answer They never came that way again we had them covered not only by muck from the grass but they also covered in cow **** they were livid with all the smell and mess from there skirts it also offended the land lord who had to scrub his stone floor i can tell you there was a few harsh words said that night but given as week it was all forgotten

It was soon forggoten they rolled up[ with a few brace in the bottom off their cart they had a right old time that night but it was to be there last before my feet touched the bedroom floor mum shouted me the estate men have been here can you give them a call tomorrow i knew what it was about it was about the increase in the poaching we stopped it once and for all but ill tell you it was really hard. more next week
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #670 17 Jan 2015 at 6.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #669
talking about parkas i think i lived in one they were a great coat when i was catching big bream in the seventies i think i slept in one i used to pull it up over my head and away to sleep i was lucky and my mate that has sadly passed away, dick walker gave us a pair of heron bite ind iindicators what a difference they made we did not have to lose any sleep they did the job i appreciate you comments god bless pete
Big_Man
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   Old Thread  #669 16 Jan 2015 at 11.55am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #661
Some wonderful antidotes and stories, found them fascinating and informative. Like you getting older now, love all sorts of fishing, particularly float fishing running water. When I was a kid we were poor so no money and mum wouldn't have us in the house during school holidays. Birdnesting in the spring, fishing in summer and winter and also rabbiting with ferrets and nets. Use to sit wagglier fishing for roach in winter totally frozen, only had a parka from Milletts, thick jumper knitted by mum, white sea socks, rubber wells and jeans (with a pair of mums old tights on underneath jeans.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #668 13 Jan 2015 at 10.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #667
I certainly do remember that snow it was really hard i never got out for at least 8 weeks, we had a letter to go back to work on the tenth week when we got there the forman sent us back home he said the frost was in the bricks, he also said the ground was still frozen to cut a story short they kept me their with a few others just incase any new bricks arrived, god did we have some fires in the new fire places we played cards most days


god bless pete
biggsyhaulin
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   Old Thread  #667 13 Jan 2015 at 10.41am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #666
Nice one pete,remember the snow of 63,,
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #666 11 Jan 2015 at 12.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #665
Looking over the feild from where i live it certainly looks like snow the wind seems to be blowing from the cheshire gap that usualy means snow but we will have to wait and see.

Over the years i have seen some snow mostly waist hight i have pushed myself throught with just a shovel but some was far to deep over a five bar gate and frozen solid. The roads compleatly blocked no lorries and such could reach us only a hellecopter, that flew animal feeds in and a big tray of bread, for us living on this sparse hill side was very hard in the winter, but beautiful in the summer months, but i liked most months i would be away with my gun i poached most things rabbit, hare, pheasent, partridge, and such a friend even got a sheep, or two but i kept out of that it was taking it a bit to far. i would l find a good ditch i could lie in with some bags to keep the mosture out then feed an area in front with currents the pheasents loved them i would return the next day i had made a line, up especaly for catching the pheasents, they were suckers to catch this way tie it on to a hazel stick using a size twelve or eight hook cast out and wait for a bite, it would soon come it was nothing to catch half a dozen or so that was enough for me they are quite heavy to carry back in a sack but they will last a few days well in freezing weather they will last a lot longer, we would clean up feathers and so the keepers would not notice anything unusual.

I would also shoot i was given a old two two it was a bit of a antique some one had tied up the stock with wire but it worked and was quite accurate so i could lie down on most shoots and have a few away it was not as messy as catching on currants or raisins, then the melting snow swelled the mountain streams and small rivers as it fined down and flowed to the valleys below of i would be away with a rod line and worms i would soon have a dozen or so they never grew that big half a pound at the most but were nice eating when i met dugie he had a marvelous dog we shot some good bags of rabbits we had no trouble getting rid of them and made a few bob this was in 1962 we survived the snow it was april by the time i got back to work and some of the ground was still partly frozen. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #665 7 Jan 2015 at 12.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #663
Thanks all for your kind remarks very much appreciated.


I loved the country side and all that was in it but this was taking it a step to far, come on pete lets explore the grave yard it was not for me, but how do you say know i could not be called yellow so we had to get on with it we lit our candles in our lantern,s there was only five of us my mouth was dry before we got anwhere near the place we got under the oldgate house it was absolutly over grown mostly by black berry bushes in places they were over our head. Althought some had been cleared i was taken back a bit some were from the old gypsy clans some i knew from years ago i must admit i shed a tear, then i heard my mates shouting i had got down on my knees i had waited for this where are you pete, with a granky voice i answered them and a bit of hi oh i heard then running coming towards me i let the first go by but grabbed the next by his shoe, he has got me, he shouted please let me go i did as instructed making one hell of a noise i was screaming i could not could not stop laughing, away, they went up the old path i had managed to clime one of the tree,s they were calling pete as they came by i shook the bought unmerciful god did they go well i should say screaming and it never stoped untill they were under the gatehouse and half way aqcross the field they were still shouting by the time i had caught them up.

WHERE have you been pete same place as you did you not see the ghosts what ghosts the one grabbbed his ankle and pull him in to some old brambles i only saw him once bu it frightened them to death who was i to tell them the builders and funeral directers had been around repairing walls, well they had and were making a Fair good job of there efforts the undertakers were mostly recarving most of the old grave stones they seemed to get on well together looking back the venture would take a few years but it would keep them in work for some time. well theres a bit more latter.
kenwright09890
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   Old Thread  #664 5 Jan 2015 at 2.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #663
Lucky indeed the chap saw you,have to admit I used to regard cross country as more of a punishment than a sport when I was at school Thanks again for all the time you've put into these posts
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #663 5 Jan 2015 at 2.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #661
I bet you did fred bath nights were on a saterday, or a sunday, depending the state you got in and beleave me i got in a few never mind ha ha. did i ever tell you the story about me nearly getting drownwed it happened i asure you all. In those far off days i was a good at cross country running i won `a few titles all over shropshire this one particular day we were running competing against another school i think it was ludlow away we went down this lane towards the river over a barbed wire fence most crossed i helped them then all of a sudden a huge wave appeared i heard them shouting but it was to late it caught me at chest level i had my back turned when it hit me it liffted me off my feet the next thing i knew i was in a raging current the river i went under a few times before grabbing a fence and there i stayed i saw this man shouting where are you here just under the bank with an almighty heave he lifted out of the water he put me over his shoulder and carried me clear of the river good job i was looking he said as he carried me to the local abattoir they had contacted our headmaster and he came running are you alright lad yes sir this kind gentleman manged to lift me out of the river mr kenedy shook him by the hand and said thank you then he sdaid to me who authorised
this race today i dont no sir get off home we will see you tomorrow yes sir and away i went home my mother was not well pleased look of the state your in i nearly drowned mum she put her arm around me
and said ill go and get the bath why i have had enought water today to last a life time she then shouted you dont know what is in that water so i ended the day in that bath who said you can run in this weather there
was many more complaining i hope they dont stop it,, no mr Davies had been lisning its no ones fault it happened we should have watched the weather more thats what most were saying as we stood to attention next day my name came up and old kenedy thanked god for allowing me to live i was a bit nervous what the others would say but all was welll well thats another of my stories, more to come latter.
biggsyhaulin
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   Old Thread  #662 29 Dec 2014 at 6.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #661
I too loved those tin baths,as I got out my sister got in,
Happy new year to you pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #661 29 Dec 2014 at 3.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #659
Well nearly another year gone its been sad for me losing a fishing mate. Graham and i did most things together some legal some not its fifty one years of fishing shooting and poaching, We also reared pheasents partridge they were great good days we spent hours watching a goshawk with her nest some say you should not clime a tree with a nest with eggs i did the bird went a bit scaty or should i say attacking me she had a good clutch of four eggs the male loocks very much like a large sparrow hawk the pair did quite a bit of damage between them i.e. taking young poults from our pen, good job it was graham and myself as some would have got shot by some keepers we both loved the wild life so we covered the pen with more wire and camouflaged it that stopped then any poults that died would be given to them i think we kept them alive on rabbit, the female let me get to her nest without attacking so she exepted the fact it was us the pair reared four lovely chicks and gave graham and myself a great time watching them. When i first met Graham we were everywhere together one day he said to me i have been told to keep away from you pete the chap said you were bad news little did he know i am the same we both hour heads off. We loved those days it was not only wil both we watched farmer jones when he coupled those big gray and and black shires they were so lovly pulling the tool that got the potatoes he knew we would take a few so he did one row just out from the big hedge, he shouted they be for you we soon picked ours up the farmer had a look there for your parents take no more and we certainly took no more he was a good farmer and he trustred us to keep av eye on things and we certainly did .He let us fish his part of the river if them baliffs come take no notice, tell them to come and see me we never gave them the oprtunity we were away if we saw them in the distance .

On the farmers stretch he had a wood that was in the middle of the river we were lucky to swim over dry our selves then start fishing we made a few pegs we would usualy catch around twenty between us if the baiilifs came jusy lie in the under growth it was realy called garlic island a good name considering the semll,
you would be plasterd all over your body mum would get the old tin bath out infront of the living room fire they were great days well a bit more latter may i say a happy new year to you all, god bless pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #660 22 Dec 2014 at 2.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #649
photo 004-2.jpg

This is the last fish that graham netted for me, before he passed away
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #659 22 Dec 2014 at 12.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #657
Thank you all for the kind messages i really appreciate them well i do hope you like the next story its set not far from where i live.

It was christmas eve and a lovely night to be out , there was a slight breeze but before long it had turned to a raging storm, the trees creaked as the wind ripped through the tree tops i stood with my back to the tree, i had taken a friend with me this night his name was billy a nice lad and one that kept his mouth shut whats up pete nothing bill just listening to see if outs about how do you listen when its so ruff sh sh don't talk i am listening for any noise from the house, he must of gone to the pub, hold the torch bill and shine up this tree it was quite a big oak there was always a few up in the branches hold the light on him i looked down the sights it made a slight bang down came a big old cock he had survived last years shoot if not more i looked at his feet he had spurs like nails, he is no good i will feed him to our dogs thats a waist pete ill have him if you don't mind ok put him in the bag said i with a smile on my face Is this the wood thats haunted pete so the say billy, i hope we don't run into it you will know if we do it makes a bit of noise said i after that billy eyes were every where and not on the job, billy give me that torch you can pick the birds up so i strapped the torch to the gun we had shot about six when this old vixen let out a terrible scream bloody hell pete its the ghost away went billy i fell about laughing i could just make out billy as he ran to the path i thought thats the last ill see of him tonight. I shot another four it was now time to go i made my to the path i heard a noise pete pete where are you bill up this bloody tree i heard him the keeper coming back from the pub so i climed this tree he was a bit pidled the way he rode hid bike he will off had a skin full tonight being Christmas eve all of a sudden the bells rang out they sounded if they radiated from under the water bill was away once again its them bloody haunted bells ringing from that long lost village who told you that me dad as he disappeared over the gate into the farmyard he was soon back the old bugger had left his bull in the yard to keep the likes of us out ill never come with you again why bill because of those bells and that screaming ghost i had not the heart to tell him it was only the bells from Condover church ringing xmas day in . Bill is now in his seventies and still tells people he heard the bells and a screaming ghost. i laught when i hear him as i know better so i do not want to spoil his tail well ill wish you all a very nice christmas
and a great new year. god bless pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #658 22 Dec 2014 at 12.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #657
Thank you all for the kind messages i really appreciate them well i do hope you like the next story its set not far from where i live.

It was christmas eve and a lovely night to be out there was a slight breeze but before long it had turned to a raging storm the trees creaked as the wind ripped through the tree tops i stood with my back to the tree, i had taken a friend with me this night his name was billy a nice lad and one that kept his mouth shut whats up pete nothing bill just listening to see if outs about how do you listen when its so ruff sh sh don't talk i amm listening for any noise from the house he must of gone to the pub, hold the torch bill and shine up this tree it was quite a big oak there was always a few up in the branches hold the light on him i looked down the sites it made a slight bang down came a big old cock he had survived last years shoot if not more i looked at his feet he had spurs like nails he is no good i will feed him to our dogs thats a waist pete ill have him if you don't mind ok put him in the bag said i with a smile on my fac Is this the wood thats haunted pete so the say billy i hope we don't run into it you will know if we do it makes a bit of noise said i after that billy eyes were every where and not on the job billy give me that torch you can pick the birds up so i strapped the torch to the gun we had shot about six when this old vixen let out a terrible scream bloody hell pete its the ghost away went billy i fell about laughing i could just make out billy as he ran to the path i thought thats the last ill see of him tonight. I shot another four it was now time to go i made my to the path i heard a noise pete pete where are you bill up this bloody tree i heard him the keeper coming back from the pub so i climed this tree he was a bit pidled the way he rode hid bike he will off had a skin full tonight being Christmas eve all of a sudden the bells rang out they sounded if they radiated from under the water bill was away once again its them bloody haunted bells ringing from thet long lost village who told you that me dad as he disappeared over the gate into the farmyard he was soon back the old bugger had left his bull in the yard to keep the likes of us out ill never come with you again why bill because of those bells and that screaming ghost i had not the heart to tell him
kenwright09890
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   Old Thread  #657 19 Dec 2014 at 10.42pm  0  Login    Register
Wonderful thread,wish you a happy Christmas and a great new year Pete and thanks for a great read
Dicky
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   Old Thread  #656 19 Dec 2014 at 8.26am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #655
Merry Christmas pete I love reading your stories they make brilliant reading! keep up the good work
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #655 18 Dec 2014 at 11.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #654
Thank you fred very much appreciated. I like your kind remarks regarding the haul of big chub it is true about youngsters missing out there are some good fish to be caught on our rivers using a waggler a very happy xmas and a wonderful new year. god bless pete
biggsyhaulin
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biggsyhaulin
   Old Thread  #654 16 Dec 2014 at 7.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #648
Oh mate,a great chub bag,had a few like that from the lea at broxbourne.
Unfortunately youngsters are missing out on putting a waggler through running water.its an art in itself,
Great stories pete,keep em coming,merry Xmas to you,
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #653 16 Dec 2014 at 1.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #652
Hi dean Rodger is the most caring man the keep net he uses is absolutely huge, if their was any cruelty Rodger would not have put the fish at risk, he is a fantastic angler and helps many others along the way i hope this puts your thoughts and mind at ease. god bless pete
Fozzy
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Fozzy
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   Old Thread  #652 15 Dec 2014 at 11.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #651
Lovely Barbel, The jury is out on those nice big chub being kept in a keep net Pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #651 15 Dec 2014 at 10.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #650
Hi Adam we certainly have some nice fish but we are still getting trouble from the otters and other predators ,but the chub dace and roach seem to be making a come back which is nice to see sorry i am late answering your thread, i have not done the fishing i would like to have done this year, maybe latter good luck pete.
wandle1
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wandle1
   Old Thread  #650 14 Dec 2014 at 11.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #649
Brilliant pictures there Pete...how I wish we had some decent river fishing down here.....,well we have big perch in the Camel but the Salmon/Trout chaps remove them.....................
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #649 14 Dec 2014 at 3.51pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #644
photo 2014_11_24_1SA_12-12-3_zps443c63ab.jpg
my dear friend rodger with a big catch of chub from shrewsbury also with a good barbel weighing in at twelve and 120z

photo 2014_12_04_Sydney_Avenue-3_zps4ce8fc6b.jpg
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #648 14 Dec 2014 at 2.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #647
I promised to put these photos up they were caught by my dear friend Rodger he has not been a well chap he is also bailiff he is one of the best waggler fisherman i have ever seen. more of the same latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #647 12 Dec 2014 at 5.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #646
Thanks wandle very much appreciated
wandle1
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wandle1
   Old Thread  #646 11 Dec 2014 at 9.47pm  0  Login    Register
Brilliant stuff Pete.....when I`m out night walking in the woods with my lil cocker your experiences are always in my mind especially when I`m near a stream or river...

glad your feeling a little better....
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #645 10 Dec 2014 at 6.25pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #644
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #644 10 Dec 2014 at 1.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #641
My old mate the bailiff Rodger has been in touch he was worried he had not seen me this season well i suppose he had not owing to me being in hospital a couple of times he tried to ring but there was no reply he has sent some lovely photos of one a big barbel. And one of a big catch of chub, i will post them latter i am sure you will be interested i am really fed up as i have to rest until after christmas maybe more thats not me i am used to going down the woods and such or fishing the river like Rodger and friends the wife won't take her eye off me incase i have gone there is a little lake not far from my house i have watched the the perch taking the Rudd some over 4oz quite a mouthfull they are big fish i can't wait to have a go at them. I will give them a big mouth full of worms i can't understand why no one fishes for them i have watched them tearing through the shoal of Rudd
right in front of were i was standing, they are big and i cannot wait to have ago but that will have to wait until i feel better.

This is a storey from long ago about my family and others who did not have much money it was around eight years after the war and every one struggled to get enough money to keep the families going, i suppose this is what made me a poacher. It wast fast coming towards Christmas eve , The farmer up the road had a big pen of cockerels they were nearly ready for market, so they would be killed within the next few days. A friend called ray said he would help me we went very quietly not a noise did we make. they were all in this hen house i went in like lighting and grabbed two they were big birds we put them in the bag they were around eight pounds a piece we took them down the fields it was pitch black we did managed to kill and feather them i hoped they would think a fox had been in the pen at there time i did not know they had a couple of men guarding the birds we were lucky as if we had gone latter we could have been caught they were in the pub before their shift i it was three days before christmas should we have another couple pete said ray we could i suppose so the next night just on dark we had another it all went well we killed and feathered them and away home we went i gave ray two give one to your neighbour ray. They killed those birds next day they asked if we would help ray and and i feathered the birds i felt rather bad he gave us another bird each and five bob no one missed the other birds as he had far to many. well there is another story more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #643 5 Dec 2014 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #641
In reply to Post #641
THANKS
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #642 5 Dec 2014 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #641
In reply to Post #641
Thanks
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #641 30 Nov 2014 at 12.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #636
I was encouraged from a young age to go fishing although when my Granddad died i was really lost and taught myself it was hard going, i was completely obsessed and even played truant from school to be on the bank but in the end i got caught and faced the dreaded cane which i had three time on both hands god did it sting i would not cry to give the head master satisfaction it slowed me down for some time after, about six miles from my home lived a mr evans he was nice old boy and a friend of the family come on up you can fish my lake anytime, he said to my father its alright Bert no harm will come to them and i must say it did not we would cycle up i loved night fishing we would lye on a plastic sack covering our selves over with a big army coat we would watch the stars shooting across the sky what a beautiful sight.

One thing i did not understand was these gentlemen that walked around the lake night and day with a rod in their hand and wearing a big hat there was one chap that shared information with us his name was peter finch he taught us quite a lot and i will always be indebted to him but others would tell you nothing i knew Raymond and myself would catch in the end we were mostly self taught i had no one to turn to as my mentor and granddad died in 1947 it was a very sad time in my life as we were very close, but we must keep on trying well thats what i told Ray little did i know it would come by pure luck, at the bottom end of the lake was a big weed bed i would throw pieces of bread into the weed and watch the carp take it. I only had the tank aerial rods and a couple of old wooden centre pins i would pull the line from the reel and coil it behind me put a piece of crust on a big black eel hook cut a bank stick out of the hedge to put the rod on i would give it the big chuck and out it would fly out landing amongst the weeds i could not believe i would catch on this method but i did i watched this one fish bow waved towards the bread and it was gone in a instant my line flew from my pin i lifted the rod and he was on it took around twenty minutes to extract him from the weed one angler came running with a net and we landed a superb common of ten pounds this angler told me that it was a good fish for this era i never saw him again in all the years i fished there. Mr Evans came out carrying big bottles of ginger beer for myself and Ray good lads congratulatoins was in order but i never thought like that it was only a fish to me i also learned a lot from mr crabtree goes fishing, i did not realise in a few years i would meet my boy hood hero Dick walker and strike up a friendship until he died in the eighties. well there a bit more lots to come latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #640 29 Nov 2014 at 4.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #639
Just ordered a pin not used one for years i can remember wallis super wizard lovely rod i hope i will survive feel a lot today thanks appreciated
biggsyhaulin
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biggsyhaulin
   Old Thread  #639 29 Nov 2014 at 2.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #638
Glad to your ok pete
On looking around my loft for the Xmas bits,bobs,just had to get my dads rods out for a look.......Wallis super wizard(whole cane,split cane,agatine rings) and Avon royal supreme centre pin .....I remember sitting with him in the mid 50s on the lea and Thames ,great times,
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   Old Thread  #638 28 Nov 2014 at 1.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #637
Thanks ken apprecated
KenTownley
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KenTownley
   Old Thread  #637 28 Nov 2014 at 1.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #636
Glad to have you back, Pete, and equally glad to hear you are on the mend. Must have been a bit scary for you though. Keep the stories coming. They are a beath of fresh country air in this over hyped carp world.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #636 28 Nov 2014 at 11.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #635
I will be home recuperating from my illness for some time so i will be able to add to my stories. i suppose people knew me as jack the lad when i was teenager i was always out fishing or shooting or watching my beloved wild life, i poached the trout because food was not easy to get we lived on rabbit and trout with the occasional salmon if i was lucky, it kept my family in meat and all our friends, i loved trundling a worm down the brook or river this was done mostly at night when the bailiffs and keepers were tucked up in bed i would always keep an ear open if i heard a twig crack it was time to move or smell tobacco especially a pipe its surprising how many keepers smoked a pipe the smell carried on a breeze for some way.

This is the story is of such a night i always traveled alone as i was only responsible for my self i would travel by bike and hide it until i finished, this particular night i was trying a new venue i traveled light only a rod worms a a few spinners mostly devon minnows, although i had never fished this stretch before it still belonged to oid bell the keeper i was going to fish from inside a big wood i would have to stand in the water, cast out and feel for a bite i had caught about twelve trout, when i smelt tobacco smoke not taking any chances i crossed the river and lay in the undergrowth the other side, it was not long before i heard talking i recognised the one voice as the police sgt from our village looks if no ones around tonight frank i could hear them as clear as day they shone a light across the river then down the river making sure all was quite, we will have a look further down on chris jones land ill take you down in the land rover said the sgt, and away they went i never trusted old bell he was a real good keeper and had a habit of coming back when all was quite i had quite a few run ins with him but i did respect the man i wondered if to carry on so i stuck a devon minnow on and fished from the bank side i had just caught another nice fish when i hear a shout the bugger had come back don't think he had seen me or so i thought ,this was to be one hell off chase i saw the sgt ford the stream with his land rover i was way i hid the fish, i was way up the field and onto the road through the village of Condover and onto Howard joneses land there i crawled into a big pipe that went down the side of the railway line i could hear shouting in the distance so there was more than two in this chase i just lay there and hoped for the best i heard the sgt say i will bet its that bugger from bayston hill meaning me i nearly burst out laughing they moved on to my village that gave me time to slip back and collect my rod and fish i found my bike an started walking across the fields to the back way to my home i arrived home at two am i left the fish in the shed i had just got in when there was a knock on the door it was the police and old bell they were out of luck no one answered i heard the sgt say ill check him out tomorrow and he did he could not prove a thing mum said i was out down in town with friends. so here ends another story. more to come latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #635 27 Nov 2014 at 5.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #633
Being a shropshire lad i was brought up to hunt and fish to harvest what was good for us i shot to eat it ts part of my heritage i have looked after a few shoots and fisheries it takes a poacher to catch one or so they say and i have caught a few.

I would like you to come with me to shoot the geese on a clear moonlight night the frost was white upon the grass as Graham and myself walked across the fields if you looked back you could see your tracks in the grass every blade was a shimmering white we we're wrapped up warm to keep the heat in i suppose we were both in our twenties, up they went in front of us we had disturbed a covey of partridge they had been sheltering under a big oak tree for warmth we never raised a gun and watched them disappear over a distant hedge, the geese would fly all night in the moonlight but we were prepared to wait it out as we knew they would come in onto the lake behind us, i had my big black lab with me his name was blaze a very strong and trusty dog we made our way to a distant ditch which was warm and dry getting our selves comfortable to wait it out. It may be midnight before they came they will be in there hundreds with Canadian and greylags and a scattering of snow geese that flew with the scenes, we had pulled a branch or two over our heads we could shoot through the openings we had left open, in the distance we could hear a dog fox calling his mate she answered his call with three sharp barks of course they will now be mating i know this big dog i have mentioned him before his name was white tip now long since gone i found him curled up behind a tree his life had gone his beautiful brown eyes had closed for ever i could of shot him many times but i let him go i had an understanding with him he was not frightened of me one bit.

My dog was shaking with with excitement we listened you could hear the geese calling in the distance blaze had heard then long before us they would take some time to reach us we loaded our guns we were using magnum loads the first geese flew over our heads we let them come in we shot the next scene taking the rear birds i saw four drop away went my dog bringing one greylag back to hand and a further three Canadian we only wanted wanted around a dozen to share with friends the next that came were greylags up went our guns they were much higher we only took two but nice birds all the same, we then settled down to wait an old tawny owl decided to land in the tree just up from where we were now he was in fine song before long what a racket he made he would soon be down the farm looking for his nightly dinner, it was a good hour before the next scene came the sky was black their must of been at least 500 birds we manage another four all Canadian, then another scene appeared we took four more all grey lags and that was that enough for one night we tied the geese together and slung them over our shoulder and made for our van across the field it was a successful night i said to graham we will have to leave some and walk back for them they were far two heavy we put the dog in the van with the birds and fetched the rest it was now one in the morning we looked back and they were still coming in, now it was time to let them rest we would not touch them for at least two weeks that was near xmas we would have more orders to fill this was many years ago we were both young and strong now there is me left as my friend Graham has passed on well theres a bit more from years ago more to follow.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #634 26 Nov 2014 at 6.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #633
Well after collapsing i have been in hospital two weeks they found a big hole in both side my lungs one with a big apses i could not breath i am a lot better now and i am hoping to return to my stories god bless you all pete i really though it was my last .
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #633 6 Nov 2014 at 11.52am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #632
I was sitting on my chair hoping for a fish or two, when i see this old dog fox he came down for a drink he saw me sitting there but it did not frighten him one bit he had his fill and slowly walked back into the wood, i listened the birds were kicking up stink, they did not like this preditor in their mist, and who can blame them a couple of pheasants got up and flew over the pool, right behind where i was fishing is a hide a friend made but inside can give you a bit of a shock sitting in a chair is a skeleton, he has a yellow coat on some one has been playing tricks with our members i don't know why they don't sit him beside the lake and put a rod in his hand i am sure it wold act as a deterrent and send any poachers running.

I like this water it has a mixture of big and small fish. the biggest i have had was fifteen pounds but there are a number of upper twenties that have been caught so it leaves me with a bit of hope that i may get one or two out, another fish i have seen in the water is perch i have watched as they chased the Rudd scattering them in all directions there are not small perch but big fish i would really like a go at these predators we will have to see how the winter progressses the lake can get frozen over quite quiickly i am afraid at my age i dont like being out in the cold and the wind really is a factor on this water

Not far from this water is the lake i fished behind the keepers cottage, i used to take my life in my hands the place was really a bog and you had to watch where you put your feet i had some wonderfull days fishing this water i would hide in the reeds it was nothing to catch a good bag of bream they were not huge fish maybe the biggest around five pounds but good fish i was only around fifteen years old i also caught some terrific Rudd from this water you could not get your hand around their bodies they were a lovely golden colour there is still one or two in the water Graham and i had one or two goes for them and always caught a couple i was always on edge the keepers dogs barked nearly all the while he came down once or twice when i was there i would hide up the nearest tree i could time him when he would come down how long he stayed he would bring a couple of sacks of potatoes mixed with barley for the ducks i have never seen so many ducks so i made my plans for latter i was going to have one or two away on shoot day. Well a bit more later
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #632 28 Oct 2014 at 11.13am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #631
Not far from our house lies another small lake the locals would say don't you dare fish there as the keepers will catch you i would take my gun around dusk and wait for the duck to appear it was a natural water infact i never saw it ever fed, i had bought my self a single twelve bore shot gun, i shot a few birds with that old gun but you were always on edge i would be keeping an eye open just incase the keepers turned up, i got carried away this one night before i knew it they were onto me i heard a shout drop that gun no way i was away into the adjioninig spinny i litterally dived under the the barbed wire fence i was followed by a couple of guns going off the buggers were shooting to scare me out of the little spinny they need not of worried i was away the other side. I must admit it happened a few times over the years and i always got away i had a few near misses when the old sgt was involved you could usually hear is old land rover coming over the fields, the old honey meadow was another water the place was full of eels good fish i used to set night lines for them it was nothing to catch a dozen a night the locals would snap them up they were a good source of food as it was not that long after the war i can still see my mother stripping the skin from the eel then rubbing it with salt they were good days we never starved we always had plenty of Game to eat.

I it was not the pheasant it was the trout i had no trouble getting rid of the trout friends would snap them up i always let old bell have a couple it was my way of saying thank i would of loved to have seen his face when he opened the garden gate next morning they were good days so full excitement i used to get asked can i come pete when you go next i preferred my own company, i had only myself to look after and not others but i did have some friends i would let come when i went, they had been brought up in the countryside and i could trust them with my life but most were to frightened to come along especially in the dark i would say i have seen no one worse that my self now,t will hurt you in these woods only another human it was true i never ever saw anything other than the wild life, i have seen grown men freeze at the sound of a vixen screaming. Well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #631 25 Oct 2014 at 12.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #628
I loved the the countryside and its wild life i spent hours in the woods and down the fields i learned by spending time watching the wildlife i loved to poach the trout stream and catch the beautiful brown trout when fishing it would hit the devon minnow in a see of spray i have caught as many as ten fish in no time at all they all past the same size around a pound just the right size for eating i could not catch enough for home and our friends.
Over the years i met i met some good friends some were the local gypsy clans they were good people and made there living from the land as i have said before i would ride their horses up and down the woods and fields they learned me a lot i would go with old jack ferreting the rabbits, he never took to many usually half a dozen they would cook them in a big pot hanging from the open fire with potatoes onions any thing they could Get free from the local farms they would all sit around the stew pot waiting for it to boil they always handed me a dish full with great slabs of bread it was really good to eat i never got hungry after that, they even went to see my mother to make sure it was alright for me to go down there i can remember old jack knocking the front door hello misses just checking to see if it was alright to take the lad with us when rabbiting thats alright jack she shouted, left you a couple of rabbits said he how much said mother nothing to you.

i spent hours and hours with these people they used the old traditional caravans lovely painted i never once spotted dirt or such after tea they would sit around the fire smoking their clay pipes and if fiddler was around they would ask him to play a tune they would sing and dance around the fire they were quite religious and would sing hymns jack even learned me to tickle the trout. when i think back most have died years ago some of the youngsters now live in houses not many on the road anymore no romanies around any more. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #630 25 Oct 2014 at 12.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #628
I loved the the countryside and its wild life i spent hours in the woods and down the fields i learned by spending time watching the wildlife i loved to poach the trout stream and catch the beautiful brown trout when fishing it would hit the devon minnow in a see of spray i have caught as many as ten fish in no time at all they all past the same size around a pound just the right size for eating i could not catch enough for home and our friends.
Over the years i met i met some good friends some were the local gypsy clans they were good people and made there living from the land as i have said before i would ride their horses up and down the woods and fields they learned me a lot i would go with old jack ferreting the rabbits, he never took to many usually half a dozen they would cook them in a big pot hanging from the open fire with potatoes onions any thing they could Get free from the local farms they would all sit around the stew pot waiting for it to boil they always handed me a dish full with great slabs of bread it was really good to eat i never got hungry after that, they even went to see my mother to make sure it was alright for me to go down there i can remember old jack knocking the front door hello misses just checking to see if it was alright to take the lad with us when rabbiting thats alright jack she shouted, left you a couple of rabbits said he how much said mother nothing to you.

i spent hours and hours with these people they used the old traditional caravans lovely painted i never once spotted dirt or such after tea they would sit around the fire smoking their clay pipes and if fiddler was around they would ask him to play a tune they would sing and dance around the fire they were quite religious and would sing hymns jack even learned me to tickle the trout. when i think back most have died years ago some of the youngsters now live in houses not many on the road anymore no romanies around any more. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #629 25 Oct 2014 at 12.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #628
I loved the the countryside and its wild life i spent hours in the woods and down the fields i learned by spending time watching the wildlife i loved to poach the trout stream and catch the beautiful brown trout when fishing it would hit the devon minnow in a see of spray i have caught as many as ten fish in no time at all they all past the same size around a pound just the right size for eating i could not catch enough for home and our friends.
Over the years i met i met some good friends some were the local gypsy clans they were good people and made there living from the land as i have said before i would ride their horses up and down the woods and fields they learned me a lot i would go with old jack ferreting the rabbits, he never took to many usually half a dozen they would cook them in a big pot hanging from the open fire with potatoes onions any thing they could Get free from the local farms they would all sit around the stew pot waiting for it to boil they always handed me a dish full with great slabs of bread it was really good to eat i never got hungry after that, they even went to see my mother to make sure it was alright for me to go down there i can remember old jack knocking the front door hello misses just checking to see if it was alright to take the lad with us when rabbiting thats alright jack she shouted, left you a couple of rabbits said he how much said mother nothing to you.

i spent hours and hours with these people they used the old traditional caravans lovely painted i never once spotted dirt or such after tea they would sit around the fire smoking their clay pipes and if fiddler was around they would ask him to play a tune they would sing and dance around the fire they were quite religious and would sing hymns jack even learned me to tickle the trout. when i think back most have died years ago some of the youngsters now live in houses not many on the road anymore no romanies around any more. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #628 14 Oct 2014 at 1.54pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #627
I those days i really did not like myself i think that it was brought home when i took on to many i looked as if my head had swelled like a football plus a broken nose and missing teeth i soon learned that fighting was a mugs game i ended up in hospital and nearly broke my parents hearts. lets say the four that did it to me came unstuck the local police did nothing as they thought it would get the four off the streets. And from that day i never fought again unless it was a necessity and i was threatened i can't even remember going down the fair again if anyone thinks fighting makes you look big they are telling porkis some in their eighties and nineties that still live on my village can still remember those days, i can remember the pain thats about all. All the men i worked for including mr joce stuck by me be jesus he said you will have them back and when you do forget it. And that what i did i resomed with my poaching and kept to my self a lot of the lads bought pheasants from me some even offered to come with me i really did let three come with me mr Joyce himself he new what were going for and had learned at a young age in southern Ireland he had a few bust ups with local keepers i won't none of that i have never been caught and i won't it to remain that way.

It was nearly Christmas and i wanted a few birds for the locals so the i thought it would be some of Bells he put a large amount of birds down in the woods i explained to the lads to follow me and don't make a nose and thats exactly what they did i think they really enjoyed the experance we shot over twenty birds i led the way out of the wood past old bells gates i looked at those gates with a tear in my eyes i remembered some of the great times we had over the few years, i had poached those woods.

What times the pub shut said mr Joyce iil tap the window i did and the landlord said come in he knew mr joyce from working on then road where have you been pete poaching yes any chance of a few to put under the dominoes
yes it will buy us a bit of beer i know we sold over 15 birds over under the cards and made quite a bit of money, i offered the lads there share no way they were quite happy to come along i knew i could ask them again so theres a bit more. more latter to come latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #627 7 Oct 2014 at 5.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #626
When young i had no fear of any man to my mother said i was spoiling myself, i would end up at the fair ground they would offer five pounds to fight their prize fighter me a young chap would go down and watch for a bit then if i though i had a chance i would put my hand up for a go i would be stripped to the waist i stood in the ring eying their fighter he was made like a bull he came out of his corner like a swinging his fists he expected me to go down and call an end to this fight but i was made of sterner stuff he jabbed with a right it bloody well hurt i was up when he came at me again i was ready i stuck the nut on him he went down the canvas was covered in blood i don't think they liked what i had done it was time to run i grabbed my jacket and shirt and run like hell i was stopped by a gentleman the other side of the ring whats your name young man i can put some business your way meet me tonight i saw him latter at the old sun pub now gone demolished to make way for shops and such when i went there they would be playing the piano funny really they were all irish come in young man i looked around and their sitting by the piano he nodded i hear you sorted one of the fighters out at the fair.

I knew this man well he was my foreman on the job i was doing with a local firm in the beginning i was the only local man working mr Joyce, kept and eye on me if i got to cheeky and he caught me he would give me a good hiding he was only trying to teach me to be a gentleman and not to loose my temper so easily i loved these irish men they worked hard and played hard most came over to work and never went back to there homes in Ireland i loved their company. i would take a big jug of tea around the men most had tin mugs i filling one mug when i was grabbed by the balls bloody hell did it hurt the next thing i knew was my foreman pulled this welsh man to his feet he gave me the nod although in pain i was ready he let this welsh man go he came at me like a mad bull i dropped him very easy and i was given a clap by the lads. Now mister you can collect your cards at the office shouted mr joyce i went over to him don't sack he may have a family to support that welsh chap came a big friend over the years mr joycs died early in life i would like tp think he was a friend the next foemen was mr Donnelley he was another hard man he liked me i liked him we had great respect between us he called me one day what pay do you get i told him i have just put it up to twenty pounds a week god that was big money in those days i could go out and have suit made to measure ill tell you more latter. I loved these lads ill tell you more about taking them poaching. more latter
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   Old Thread  #626 29 Sept 2014 at 3.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #625
I loved the hill side it was like walking in a different land in my time as a youth it was so pretty it had not been spoiled like today with cars and such i spent hours watching the game grouse and such i also watch the various raptors that seemed to be making a come back buzzards sparrow hawks and kestrels they used to feed off the humble rabbits. i loved fishing the mountain streams off would come my boots roll up my trousers and in i would go under the over hanging bank i would feel the stream lined body of this fish i would soon have him on the bank i looked at this pretty fish no more than there quarters of a pound big for this mountain stream.

i continued down stream catching one or two for the pan at home I had tickled at leased twelve when a voice sounded whats e doing down there young un nowt sir. you be after sirs trout he won't be very happy about that. YES but his got to catch me first i managed to get my socks and boots i looked up he came hurtling down the bank but i had a least five hundreds start have you tried to run in heather i looked back he had vanished from sight i saw him crawling up the side of the stream bank he certainly was not in a good mood i wished him good day and i was away shouting i will have a few more yet i managed to get into the adjacent woods i heard another shout thou won't get away this time, you don't won't a bet does you i looked up the bank behind where i stood and there stood the lord of the manner well i called it that infact it was the big hall, he shouted once again your the bugger that had my duck last year it could of been sir i thought for a minute he was going to blow up, i thought to make my escape i managed to get to my bike with ease and cycled across the fields i saw no more of them and managed t get to the farm of a friend Chris Davies we sat and had a laugh with a big cup off coffee got your rod pete yes i have not used it yet have a go on my piece of river bloody hell Chris what will bell say nowt its my land i let who i won't so i was away pete get us a couple as approached the river i will mate i caught forteen in all not one under a pound i gave Chris three and i was away as i cycled passed bells i tied a couple to his gate thanking for the sport i had on his river. well thats another story. more to come latter

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   Old Thread  #625 27 Sept 2014 at 1.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #622
I really think christmas was my busiest time even into the sixties things were very hard i would be kept busy cutting holly and mistletoe anywhere i could get it for free, then there were the nights out i even had old farmer prices turkeys, it was only by luck i found he had any. I was up the fields when i heard all this noise what was that i found an old brick shed which really had not been used for years and in it were these black turkeys i had made my mind up i would have three or four before he killed them for xmas

I took another friend with me the night i was going to have them, his name was ray where be they pete up the grove wood i said I'm not coming up there it be Haunted well me mam says it is, i have never seen anything all the years i have been going up there alright ill come i want a bird for me mam, it was the worst night i have ever had i opened the latch on the gate to the shed i was hit in the chest by this big angry bird bloody hell he had me on the floor i managed to get my torch out and called

ray, no answer i am sure he hit a new world record for doing the mile i was scratched all over but managed to get the best off this old bird i took four in all i met ray down the field i was just coming back bloody hell pete your bleeding all over i gave one to ray for his mam although he ran away .

That was that i never ever took anyone with me again i made quite a lot of money at that time of year i poached the pheasants they were very daft birds so easy to catch they would put thousands down on some estates all you needed was a bit of luck i used a piece of line with a hook tied to one end bait was sultana i would buy a bag and scatter a few around god those birds loved them i would hide in a ditch the silly birds hooked their selves you just pulled them in and smack them on the head and into the bag they went i have had twenty or even more . This is how we lived they were good days more latter
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   Old Thread  #624 25 Sept 2014 at 6.32pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #623
Thanks ken i appreciate your kind remark
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   Old Thread  #623 25 Sept 2014 at 5.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #622
Many thanks, Pete.
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   Old Thread  #622 25 Sept 2014 at 12.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #618
Old bells dogs were very good the old bugger trained them quite well, he sold a lot all over the uk he was no fool, i had one or two near escapes but i also had great respect for the old gentleman. I was a fisherman and dearly loved the trout in the stream they had been stocked by the owners they were fished mainly by friends of the estates and looked after dear old bell. It was not long after the war and people would eat most things offered them they had lived off rabbits for years. As i crossed the field i could here the wind rushing through tree tops i hid my bike in some big ferns into the wood i got and sat down and listened there was a sharp yap further into the wood a dog fox no doubt little did i know that at one stage in my life i would lease the woods and such but its not then but now the river was well kept i got up from my resting position and looked in my bag i had some lovely red worms in a jar which i had collected from the farm yesterday they would do hooking a couple on the hook cast out the only weight i had was a box of BB shot i used two. The line swung around then tightened up no need to strike the fish was on i played it to the bank we had no landing nets then into the shallow water i got and picked this lovely deep fish from the water a good pound i need more around his size to night. THE wind was blowing well into the trees i would not expect ay Baliffs or keepers to be out tonight but how wrong could i be, i had caught another dozen fish when i could smell pipe smoke its got to be bell before i could turn around he was there i dived into some bracken and just lay there he never saw me he shouted to some on the other side of the river have you seen any one bill no nobody is around tonight ill cross the shallows to your side i don't won't to be out all nigh i listened for his land rover to start up he was away i could hear it fading in the distance

i caught another five or so fish, when i heard a shout the crafty bugger had not gone home he was now joined by mr pc plod and company i heard him run through the trees he has gone that way away they went blowing there whistle as they went i just walked over the water fall i stumbled onto the blind school land i hid my rods and bag under the chicken pen and climed the nearest big tree i watched as they came back and stood talking its that bugger from Bayston hill he was talking to the Sgt we will check him out today or tomorrow thanks said bell we may as we'll call it a night i got my bag and rod and i was away on my bike i got home around three in the morning i washed the trout and put them into the pantry i washed and went to bed
i heard the police motor bike i had a look it was pc jones he looked quite funny on the bike as he was very big man, your lad in mrs yes he is a sleep and has been all night thanks we will call again and away he went well theres a bit more. more to come
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   Old Thread  #621 22 Sept 2014 at 6.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #618
Been away for a time so more stories to follow
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   Old Thread  #620 6 Sept 2014 at 7.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #619
appreciated Daniel
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   Old Thread  #619 5 Sept 2014 at 1.03pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #618
Abosulutely briliant snippets of a life full of living!!...I'm sure alot of us feel we were born to late reading this thread. Good mates being out there with nature is what carp fishing means to me, however i'd say we have all had a watered down version in comparrison.
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   Old Thread  #618 31 Aug 2014 at 4.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #617
Well I have managed to put a few fish on the bank nothing really big but mostly doubles the biggest around fourteen pounds but have seen some good photos of middle twenties so it is only a matter of time. Although I am seventy two I still get that buzz when fishing a new water I wish I was younger to do the things I loved to walk the fields in the dead of night holding my trusty rifle graham by my side we would shoot the humble rabbit some night over fifty, I have had a wonderful time over the years simple things gave me pleasure like standing in the woods listening to the wild life I have slept under the ferns they made a comfy bed covering myself with the same the vixen screamed it would freeze the blood of most that had not heard it before the screech of the owl one wood I poached he put down galinees they soon warned the keeper if there was anyone around lovely to eat I would have a couple before they even called into the bag they went and so did I what a racket they made in the dead of night the keepers would soon be out of their beds, I would be long gone onto the next estate it all gave me pleasure. Into the next wood, I would listen for a while just incase they had been called out to watch their coverts not a noise you can tell when someone's about a crack of wood where he had stood a rustle of clothes catching the undergrowth the smell of a distant pipe they all gave you a warning when some one was around I would take my time have six nice birds with my rifle and torch then away to the next wood.

At times you would be discovered then the chase began this really excited me I would be away with the keepers and maybe dogs I would hide my pheasants one ploy I used was to run the river bank crossing where I could if near old bells shoot I would run the top of the waterfall then down the other side across another fall under the road bridge and wait and see I smelt pipe smoke knew instantly it was old Gerry Haiz, if he was here so was old Bell the next thing I knew was my face being licked by a big old lab it was bells he knew me he soon got fed up
and away he went when bell called him back come you old bugger I watched and waited but they disappeared into the distance I was lucky once again. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #617 16 Aug 2014 at 1.10pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #616
I have been doing a bit of fishing, i have caught a few i have been going with a big friend, well two they have made me go as i would not of gone after Grahams death, but i suppose i must move forward so i have been going with Bern and big Tom they have both been a big help Bern fished with Graham and myself loads of times in the sixties and seventies Bern has been a friend for 42 years Tom not so long about 15 years he is a member of our shoot personally i could not do with out him he is a lovely chap and will help out anywhere we need him, well the fish i have caught have not been huge but i have enjoyed going, there are some big fish in the lake so we will just have to wait and see i will put the time in, there are some lovely Rudd present so i might just have a go for them.

Graham myself a Bernard have had some good times together not only fishing, we liked a drink or two god we have been in some terrible states over the years but it has done us no harm we all loved nature and that lead us all over shropshire watching foxes, falcons, deer, anything that took our fancy Bernard was never with us when we poached. Grahams brother came along we would go out with a long net and caught loads of rabbits a Dark windy night was the time and we poached a few estates, and we were discovered on a few occasions so the net was up and away we went,at times they would call the police, they would come with their horns blaring away any self respecting poacher would be long gone. I can remember one particular night we failed to get away before the law appeared with three very angry keepers, we hid the net and away we went in those days i could run we were surrounded by the river and it left nowhere for us to go only in the water i said to Graham we can ford it further up stream dick said there a farm a little further up the fields we could hear whistle and shouting all around us we approached the farm up into the hayloft we climbed

we removed a few bails i making it big enough for the three of us after getting in we pulled the bails back over us and there we stayed for over two hours the police and keepers did arrive but never twigged where we were, we heard one keeper say they must of crossed the river
where the ford is its not to deep they may of got their feet wet but then they were in the woods by the big
hall , they could soon be on the road and away home. we nearly burst out laughing, i have got a road block said the Sgt if they go towards shrewsbury, we will nab them, and away they went, the car was hidden on a old airdrome which the yanks used in the war, no one ever went near the place they said it was haunted by the air men that had lost their lives in the war it was now covered and very over grown but easy to hide your car we were soon on our way to dicks we only caught twenty rabbits which was really waste of time but we enjoyed every bit of it we were soon enjoying cheese sandwiches and mugs of hot tea if the police were waiting they would be there a very long time. well thats it for now rigs to tie more later
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   Old Thread  #616 8 Aug 2014 at 11.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #615
Graham and i made one more visit to the pool in the woods what a rout march it was the ferns they were over our head we sweat gallons before arriving at our destination, on looking around things were just the same as when we last left it we fished together this time with our backs to the ferns i said look at that graham one of the biggest grass snakes i had ever seen came across the water and disappeared into the ferns we had not seen an adder as yet. But as the day warmed up they made an appearance they lay on the beech sunning there selves we left them well alone i must admit it was one of the best days fishing we have ever had we caught some tremendous Rudd some over three pounds i wonder why no others fish the place graham, the dogs still barked at the hall well half a hall most had been burned down.
We were just having a sandwich when this funny looking bloke came down the path towards us he looked as if he needed a good wash he had a great big beard which looked as black as soot it was to late to run.

Morning gentlemen whats e doing here if e catches y from the hall e will kick your asses, we did not know what to say, we did meet him years ago he would not give us permission to fish the pool but offered us some fishing on the river severn i must admit we never took him up over his kind offer, he won't give e permission on here iii tell e the story why, he once had a rowing boat on here his wife and son were rowing around when the young lad stood up and overturned the boat well that is what they thought happened, they both drowned they never found them for over a week this was once an old marl pit and is quite deep at the one end in those days they never had the equipment they have today. The inquest said the boat should never have been taken out it was dangerous for two people, it was only made for one person so that is why he does not let anyone down fishing, i own the farm up the road i can not stand the miserable old bugger, out shot his hand and grabbed a big grass snake i got my dinner now and off he went, i looked at graham what do you think about that i have never seen anyone eat a grass snake before, we watched where he went he got over the fence onto the field we had a look but he had vanished, we will call at the farm on the way home and ask the name of the gentleman that lives at the hall, and thats what we did we were greeted by a youngish chap we have just met your gaffer, he told us a bit about the accident at the pool he can't have hang on he brought a photo out is this him yes, well he has been confined to bed for over two years he can't walk, well thats him we both said, well that is a bit strange ill have a word with the doctor on his next visit, by the way the chaps name is Mikel Travaloin if i was you i would not go to see him he is a nasty old bugger, that was the last time we ever fished that pool that was in the sixties make of it what you will but its all true. well more latter
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   Old Thread  #615 5 Aug 2014 at 12.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #614
When fishing we always had a look at the land that surrounded us trees, and hedge rows, this was in the sixties or even in the late fifties if there was a few rabbits then we may go back and use a long net, or if pheasants then we would pay them a visit one windy nigh and shoot a few. On this big estate we discovered it had quite a nice lake, we had a look just as it was breaking light it was quite big with a boat house at the one end.

We would only take a float rod with us charlie would not come as he said the estate was quite heavily
Keepered he should know as he been a keeper,himself, ill wait in the car and see what happens he said in a heavy voice. On this particular night saw Graham and myself lightly loaded with two float rods bait and a few hooks and weights we left old charlie tucked up in a old blanket and put a bit of fern over the car looking back you could not even see there was a car there, it was standing on a old concrete run way that was now heavily over grown no one ever went there.
Graham and i made sure we had adequate bait with us we settled down between the the boat house and the reeds it was quite dry it was a fish a cast, mostly a tench lovely green colour i suppose we got carried away we had caught at least forty fish when we heard movement along the bank side he is smoking a pipe pete, said graham, lets wait here and see what happens and thats what we did until a few more, joined the other one, they binner here to night gaffer is em in a deep shropshire dialect, no we will walk on a bit father into the wood before he could say any more two shots, rang out thats jim the other said his got a problem, bang, bang, away they went like a herd of cows chasing a dog, come on out you two i knows yer there we charged up the bank to be met with the strangest chap i had ever seen he had an old bag over his head he then pointed a four ten shot gun at us, he could do no more and started chuckling like an old hen, you prat charlie we jumped and wrestled him to the ground and could not stop laughing. Stop them keepers may be back no said charlie they will be tucked up in bed by now, whats you gone a do with my gun charlie we will bag a few pheasants when we get nearer the car what a night forty tench and fifteen pheasants it ill do for me says i as drove for home we dropped charlie off i only want a brace for myself said charlie and ill come fishing next week he said ok see you then, i dropped Graham off outside his house i had a snack the wife had left me a wash and off too bed looking at my watch it said four thirty i soon slipped into heavy sleep and dreamed of things to come. well more latter
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   Old Thread  #614 29 Jul 2014 at 11.26am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #613
I can well remember sitting with Charlie and graham on the river Severn we were ledgering for roach and chub I noticed a few rats running over our baits that were in boxes then a few more passed us by have a look up the bank Pete said Charlie before I could open my mouth Graham shouted run looking across the field all I could see was like grey black wave its bloody rats Pete hundreds of them Charlie took one look and shouted up that tree, I was half way up before he shouted, I had seen this before rats were moving home something had disturbed them we all waited when they passed under the tree the big ones came first then the younger ones followed by the very young and infirmed there was literally hundreds maybe over a thousand it was like a big wave coming towards us I had only seen this once before but that was when was at school I was stood by a river bridge crossing the main road they passed us by on the field side then crossed the road there was not many cars around in those days to run a few over I was standing with an old farm labourer let em be he said they wuner hurt e as long as yer stand well away in broad Shropshire language, I was only a nipper I was not going give them any chance.

Did you say you had seen this before yes Charlie on the bridge by prices farm craven arms, I have seen it once shouted Graham when I worked on the farm with my dad, so we have all seen it before as we sat up the tree more and more came in all my years I have not seen as many said Charlie, some that passed us were real oldies manky looking like they were on their last legs I felt like climbing down the tree and smacking them one with my rod rest but I did not, we watched them go through the distant hedge Charlie said look at that, one of the biggest rats I have ever seen came back through the hedge and came this way keep quiet and watch said Charlie he was making sure all had gone I said to charlie and graham after they had all gone what intelligent animals they were, from when we got up the tree it was a good half hour.

Lets have a sandwich said Charlie that's really made me hungry we can then carry on fishing he took a big bite it nearly made me and graham sick at least ours were in an old oxo box I would not touch them I fed mine to the swans graham and myself fell about laughing whats a matter with you two said Charlie nothing really nothing. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #613 26 Jul 2014 at 3.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #424
I suppose it was the sixties that had put a swagger in our step, as we had all left school but other things had me thinking and planning, How can we fish old jaspers pool I was determined to have a go it was a long way to go from home,but it was ok when we lived in hill country, but that was years ago my in laws may not be very pleased if I disturbed them from their slumber. A pete said john I hear he stocked the lake or pool as you call it with some good size rainbows and Brownies l will have a look before we go said I, can i come said john wait and see said I. We will wait and see i always picked my dear friend Ray, you can come if you wish ray no probs shall I go now no I want to introduce to others you have not met as yet and Malcolm is one of them he is living his dream and can't wait for for us to get on our way john I shouted come before ye gets very wet which he did he looked like a wet lobster sorry john I don't mean it as we neared our destination I called them together I will say it again no killing just have look tonight can we have a pint tonight the others came back quite quickly we crossed the hill quite fast

Onto our bikes and away home, we reached the public house quite fast, persey never minded us youngsters in the bar and would say miss behave and you will get chucked out. I just hope the law don't turn up tonight, old persey did not know when the law would turn up it could be any time you younguns up the stairs if they arrive
hear me whistle and the copers have arrived out side, up stairs we we would go, i knew the landlady well she spoiled us rotten, we had a big dinner and a couple of pints.we would not leave the house until it was quite. the police had gone are we going latter said john I don't know yet to much against us and the weather is about to change so we will wait and see. i am very tired. so more latter
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   Old Thread  #612 17 Jul 2014 at 11.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #611
Well i am starting to feel a bit better, and have joined a small syndicate, although i have fished it before years ago i never relized how big the fish have become. there are a few small ones but it is such a lovely place i could not refuse, Its funny really it was a trout fishery for many years the chap in charge asked me if i could sort the place out my answer was no, although i ran an old gaff hook around the side of the lake for him and discovered sixteen night lines some with fish on, it helped him tackle the place and show him how most of it was done the next time i saw him he was well pleased the police had caught two but not all but at least it was a start.

I was fishing the big lake at the time i used to watch the poachers arriving, from my village side of the lake, there was always around six they would arrive around twelve thirty and would be away around two thirty you could set your watches by them i used to say to my mate Graham, they are going to get caught if they don't alter their times, if you could not see them you could hear them they were a noisy lot. You can tell how long ago it was. it was a vey still night when a police whistle aroused us from our sleep, the year was around late fifties early sixties the place was swarming with police officers, and keepers, we were all right we ran a small syndicate, on the lake i think most our members kept heads down i heard next morning that the tally was none, i should think not with all the noise they had made but at least it kept the poachers away for a few weeks.

This very beautiful syndicate that i have just joined was the same lake that the trout poacher had fished all those years ago, and i will let you know another secret it was the same pool that Graham Bernard and myself had put carp into this was in the early sixties they had come from a small water and the owner wanted them removing you would not do it today because of the possibility of what other fish carry i.e. decease and such the first carp caught was on a fly and weighed in at eighteen pounds the owner of the fly fishing syndicate who was also a big friend, asked me where the carp could have come from i nearly laughed in his face i don't know i said. But now years latter i can say. well more come latter
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   Old Thread  #611 8 Jul 2014 at 10.55am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #607
Well we fished that pool many times until this one day graham came running pete there are keepers every where,don't worry graham, we will have some fun and be away with some plump ducks and pheasants hide the rods and come back here we will hide in the bushes if any shot birds come our we will have them away have you got a bit of room in your bag to put a few birds in i have my big postal bag we can get at least eight or nine in mine they came out of hall onto the lawns they were all dressed in there tweeds of course they had there loaders there wives were all dressed up in long skirts god there posh pete well they are related to royalty they will shoot the ducks and pheasants there are some first class shots amongst them what about the dogs pete won't they find us we can clime that big old tree if it gets a bit to hot but honestly i have no trouble before just pick the birds you can see the dogs won't be along for a bit they will not use them until the end of the drive i had managed to pick a fair few i called graham he came running have you got a few six then lets be way over the river we went we got a bit wet we had picked our rods up before making our way through the hedge, do you fancy a pint graham i certainly do he replied they know me in there we walked into bar there was a nice warm fire and plenty of customers hi pete not seen e for a bit in broad shropshire drawl do you have any wares i might in took him to the van he bought all the ducks i had i stuffed the money in my back pocket i will share the money when we get home, you calling at the fox pete can do if you won't we can keep a brace a piece and put the rest under the dominoe table we will make a bit, we walked out of the fox two happy chaps with a bit of cash in our pockets it was nice to get home to my young wife and a warm fire forgive any spelling mistakes as i have just come out of hospital thanks for reading my stories god bless pete more to come latter
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   Old Thread  #610 7 Jul 2014 at 10.59am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #609
Thank you shane appreciated i am very sore band bruised
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   Old Thread  #609 5 Jul 2014 at 7.15pm  0  Login    Register
Hope you make a speedy recovery Pete.
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   Old Thread  #608 5 Jul 2014 at 5.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #607
sorry there are no stories have just come out of hospital and i am quite sore and can hardly walk around but will continue as soon as possible thanks for reading my stories god bless you all from pete
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   Old Thread  #607 24 Jun 2014 at 3.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #604
As i have said i took graham to see this other lake it was a few years since i had poached it the problem was it was right in front of this big hall and it was still private absolutely no fishing and still is to this day, on arriving graham looked at me and said where are you going to leave the car, down the lane its a bit over grown it looks as it had not been used for years, so it should be alright. we will fish in front of the Rhododendron bushes and fish between the reed bed what if we get caught pete said graham no chance its not the shooting season yet but at times you may see the keepers, around but as long as we are quite we should be ok.

Do you think they will see us from the hall said Graham, they never did when i poached it all those years ago they even had a garden party out front on the lawns which came down the the lake side and they never saw me. We started to use one rod each it was only about four ft deep so it was to be float fishing we used bread flake with a maggot on the tip of the hook, we started to catch Rudd, big fish you could not close your hand around them we only had a pair of old spring balance scales, but we weighed them in an old piece of net we had acquired they were mostly over two pounds with a number over three pounds. God it was some of the best fishing we have ever had, we tried a little red worm tipped with maggot it had hardly sank to the bottom before it was away it bent the rod double what ever have you got on pete, i don't know but its quite big i replied i managed to get it to the waiting net its a tench said Graham, and it was, and on weighting the tench,it was over four pounds a good fish as it was the early sixties, when we go Graham we must cover up any trace that we have ever been here we carried on fishing most of the day and caught many more Tench, the biggest
over five pounds which Graham, caught it was a good day that we both enjoyed, we packed up about six in the evening, on arriving back at the car some very angry farmer, or keeper, had left a note on the windscreen of the car could we please call at the hall and tell them why i had parked the car down the lane and what business we had in the area, what are you going to do pete nowt what if they have taken the redg number of your car, its a chance we have to take i said so away we drove looking in the mirror i could see this motor bike following us driven by the biggest fattest police man, i had ever seen he was like a pork pie on a round of beef he waved us down, where have you been ludlow, said i but your car was down the lane by the hall, thinking i quickly i said we had run out of petrol he never looked in the back but said so you parked it in the private drive no the lane, i said, how did you get to ludlow we caught the bus said i, have you got a can yes putting my arm behind my seat i pulled out this old red can,
thats fair enough i will tell them at the hall thanks have a good trip back home he answered, as he drove away we both burst out laughing, Graham said that was a bit to near for comfort it was said i we will have to find a better hiding place next time, graham laughed how long before we are back here next week i said and winked my eye. more to follow
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   Old Thread  #606 23 Jun 2014 at 9.52pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #605
Thanks ken more to come it all takes a bit of memory its such a long time ago thanks again appreciated.
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   Old Thread  #605 22 Jun 2014 at 1.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #604
Brilliant, Pete, just brilliant.

Many thanks...
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   Old Thread  #604 18 Jun 2014 at 10.58am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #603
We used to fish a pool in south shropshire it was a pretty place the water was always a shade of blue a local said it used to be a marl pit, a local farmer told us if we got caught fishing it we would be in terrible trouble and maybe end in court, as usual we took no notice, it was a route march to get there the big ferns were over our heads there were two pools, the smaller one you could sit and watch the carp feeding on the bottom they would stir the shallow water making big clouds of silt until you could see nothing there was only about ten carp in that small pool and no matter how hard we fished we could not catch one, they all looked to be upper doubles this was in the early sixties.

The other pool was a lot bigger with a boat house at the far end we started to float fish and caught some wonderful Rudd thinking back there was none under a pound with a lot over two i was fishing in about eight feet of water the float dipped this was no Rudd i had hooked into one of the carp i just could not stop it on the light tackle i was using but it gave us an indication what was in the water the only trouble you were constantly on edge, i could see some one had been down there on a regular basis as they had made a path throughout the ferns and brambles, right behind where we were fishing there was a big Hall and they had dogs, which were barking most of the time we just hoped they would never come down to the pools and discover us.

We fished those pools for a good many weeks but in september it nearly came to a end, graham some ones coming we both dived into the big ferns rods and all we lay there hardly breathing we watched as two men arrived and walked over the dam they were carrying a big bucket each i heard the one say its a pity we can't get the tractor down here it would be a lot easier than buckets but sir wants the pheasants fed its a bloody long way to the pen twice a day, they vanished into the woodland but never returned that way, i said to graham they must be the keepers who are feeding some young birds in a pen in the woods we will go and have a look latter on, but we never fished the water again until the following year i personally i had not seen as many snakes they were every wear we fished on the pools, most were grass snakes but there was a few adders as well it was a bit off putting to say the least graham brought a big adder he had caught in his net it would strike if you but a stick anywhere near it it was lovely marked with the sig sag on his body we put the net down and let the snake go the funny thing we never saw one the year before, i took graham to another lake not far from where we were fishing and we caught some beautiful tench which i will tell you about next time. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #603 9 Jun 2014 at 12.40pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #602
I grew up with nature and have loved it all my life, i have had a wonderful time along the way i loved the woods even at night they fascinated me i spent hours just listening to the noises of the night the scream of the vixen can freeze the heart of some body that had not heard it before, i have listened many times and have heard the vixen calling her cubs, it can be just a couple of barks or even more, if someone was about she would call them to the safety of the earth.

Myself and Bernard regularly used to film them with our camcorders some of the things the vixen would do if she thought there was anyone around, we were well hidden at the side of the wood, she circled the field four times even squatting down for a leak just feet from our hide, when she was sure she would give a yap yap or a wo wo wo when calling her young cubs out to feed on the rabbit she had brought them, they were only small i don't think they had been out side the earth before i think they were only four or five weeks old i have watched that vixen bring rats even hedgehogs to the earth, one evening i followed her at a distance she had got a young lamb in her mouth i could not tell if it was dead or alive but it kept her five cubs happy for the rest of that day.

Not far from that earth was a small pool, it held some really good eels it was used for feeding the keepers ducks i would put night lines down after casting it out using a rod i would cut the line then peg it down then cover it with soil i have caught at least five or six in a night they were greedily eaten by our neighbours and our selves, in the late fifties and early sixties the wages were not that good so we would eat most things that were edible as it was a change of diet, I can remember buying my first shot gun i was only sixteen it was a webley four ten bolt action it opened up a new world to myself i would shoot the ducks on the same pool i caught the eels i would wait for the keeper to come and feed them, then he would be away to the pub he used a Bsa motor cycle so you could hear him coming long before he got to the pool, At the time i had a good friend called john ledington he had a double barrelled four ten there was no finesse in the way we shot as we were poaching so we would hide in the reeds and shoot them on the water then try and pull them in with a long stick if that failed into the water we went it was not to deep but it was bloody cold we usually shot
around ten between us then we would be away over the railway line up through the wood and and away home. well more to come latter
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   Old Thread  #602 4 Jun 2014 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #601
I was never at home when i was a youngster i was either fishing or poaching some lake or even the pheasants one such lake was outside bishops castle, no one fished the lakes as they were strictly private and when i was young they were used for shooting no one ever fished there they were most beautiful set in a valley. I would ride my bike from craven arms hide it then clime over the wall and make my way through the
Rhododendron bushes to the side of the lake i hid my self in the reeds they went all the way around the lake i fished a float using little red worms i caught from the start mostly Rudd they were nearly all the same size around a pound i also caught a few tench not big around two pounds did they fight i was so engrossed with my fishing i never noticed all the guns the other side of the lake until i heard a whistle it looked if they were going to shoot the duck i did not know if to go or hide myself in the undergrowth i chose the latter.
photo 2442b577-6dee-49a2-8d9d-cd1b6f8abf99_zps4ad520a9.jpg
The lake I poached all those years ago

There must of been over fifteen guns plus keepers and beaters god some of the guns were very posh all in their tweed suits they spoke like they had a plum in there mouthes, some had a gentleman with them loading their guns from the off you could see they could shoot some birds were very hight if they came down by me i had them away before they were picked with the dogs, i was taking a big chance but i managed eight duck and two pheasants that was enough for today i was over the wall with my rod and birds i never thought how i was going to carry them i had quite a big postal bag i used to carry my sandwiches and tackle so i managed to put most of them in the bag but the rest were tied with binder twine i hung them around my neck hiding them under my coat it was a bit uncomfortable but i managed until i came to a little village i was waved down by this big fat farmer where have you been he said fishing said i where not in my river i hope no sir what have you got in your bag nowt i answered only my pop and tackle on your way, then he said and shouted don't let me catch you fishing my river no sir and i was away as quick as i could pedal it took me two hours to get back home but it had been worth it the ducks were shared with our neighbours as it was only a few years after the war as most people had very little money to buy meat and such well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #601 28 May 2014 at 11.30am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #600
In the early days when i first met graham we would poach and fish where we wanted we have been chased a good many times Bomere, and Shomer, were strictly private we poached the place but we never seemed comfortable. At the time the owner was a mr Davies i had been warned about him on a number of occasions he was a hard man and had put a number of locals in court and that was for staying off the public foot path that ran through the wood i had rang the owner on several occasions but his answer was always the same even thought he knew my family he would shout and rant if i catch you on there you will be in court. I was not going to be put off so we dicided to go down to his farm i can always remember knocking on the door it was opened by a very angry gentleman what do you two want can we fish your lakes no you bloody well can't we won't do any harm and we will keep an eye on the woods that what my keepers for he answered, i kept arguing with him i could not believe what he said next you can go but don't stray into the woods i had a bit off a laugh about this as i had poached his pheasants years ago when gerry was his head keeper i think at the time gerry was still there well on the sunday saw us beside the big lake known as Bomere it was very windy so we sailed the dead bait out on polystyrene tiles with a baloon attached, then when it reached the distance we wanted we would pull the tile back by a piece of string.
photo 04484f2b-c48f-4607-a0fe-3b3d5fd9b6a5_zps16865c95.jpg
A young me with a Tench from Bomere
That first sunday saw us catch twelve pike the biggest around fifteen pounds i said to graham we will go back and see him at the farm, i knew he would not exept money so we got his wife a big box of chocolates, so the following saturday saw us back at the farm i knocked the door it was opened by sam mr davies can we go and have another go on the lake these are for your wife he looked and said no one has done that before and shut the door in our faces it caught my boot he had to open again it again well can we. Go when you want now bugger off i have things to do, before you go keep an eye on the lake any trouble get my keeper he will soon sort it out none of the locals believed we had got permission gerry the keeper would let us use the punt we would float fish for the roach using sliding floats we has some very good bags with fish weighing two pounds it was our piece of heaven and we fished shomere as well catching bream to five pounds god they did fight on light tackle we even caught an eel that weighed six pounds, At the one ends of the lake was Bomere farm owned by mr Adkins he came down to see us have you got permission young man we have mr adkins, do you two still shoot yes we answered if i give you written permission can you come down and shoot the rabbits yes no problem but what about the keeper ill keep him sweet he answered it could not get any better we soon had mr jones land as well we, had some great times and over the years made good friends with the farmers. more to come latter.
photo Image1-1.jpg
One of the first carp I caught from Bomere
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   Old Thread  #600 22 May 2014 at 11.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #599
Another lake we fished was in hill country it was a most beautiful place with a big house at the one end when we fished there no one lived in it, apparently it used to be the game keepers house, god what a long way to do your shopping we got quite friendly with the farmer ill take e down on the trailer if y likes he would say he would leave us there and pick us up in three days time he was a nice old boy, they still own the farm it had been in the family for generations.
It was a funny place to fish you always felt on edge the farmer told us there was some good carp in the water and a few good tench i had been by the lake many years before poaching the pheasant and rabbits that was in the early sixties, but i had never fished it we started using luncheon meat it was just getting dark when we had our first run it was to my rod the fish went mad and led me a merry dance up and down the lake it went and put a good bend in my rod, graham and Bern were ready to net it then the line went slack i had lost him what ever was that said graham i don't know it never felt much like a carp, so out went the bait once again i was just getting into my sleeping bag when it was away again god did it fight it turned out to a nice wild carp it was shaped like a torpedo and all muscle we left the weighing to next morning in the night we caught another eight fish between us the biggest was seven pounds we were quite pleased with what we had caught.
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A few of the wild carp from years ago
I went back to bed i was very tired on waking up i looked to my right and saw this funny little chap he had a big beard and looked if he had come out of the ark i strolled over good morning i said he sat over two antiquated rods they were made of bamboo have you caught i said, none as yet he seemed a bit unfriendly he kept muttering to him self you after the carp i said no I'm after them pussies what do you mean catfish yes he said I've had em to sixteen pounds i take them home and eat them i made my way back to graham and Bern he is fishing for cats said i bloody hell he looks a bit queer what with that big beard he looks a funny colour to like a baker covered in flour.
photo 1149edcd-e3bf-4b65-913b-4a2d2b40859a_zps3ccc943a.jpg
Graham and bern holding wild carp from years ago
We never took much notice of the old gentleman until i looked across where he was fishing his gone i said he was no where to be seen we never saw him go we looked over the fields but he had gone there was no sign of him where could he have gone said graham we fished that lake many time over the years and never saw him again when the farmer picked us up he took us to his house for a nice cup of tea i mentioned this old chap to him so you have met old George he said looking at his wife he died years a go didn't he she said i don't really know as others have seen him down by the old lake smoking his pipe i know he came from bishops castle and always came by buss and walked the rest of the way he just vanished i said don't know where he went he never payed me said mr whyke laughing his head off ill have to keep an eye open for him, i don't think he was ever seen again when we fished the place again mr whyke said he had traced the old boy to a old peoples home in bishops castle so he is still alive how on earth did he get here when we saw him i really don't know said mr whyke as he has been in the home for five years. well funny things do happen he said. more latter
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   Old Thread  #599 15 May 2014 at 11.28am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #598
I had a friend visit us the other day we ended up reminiscing about fishing which he and graham and myself did years ago of course it was Bernard, i think in the sixties we went everywhere together at the time we fished a lot at landridnod wells over the welsh border, at the time the carp society fished there socials on the lake most years. There was some stunning carp in the water we would travel up in our vans we used umbrellas in those days with a cover we had some great time fishing there i don't think we caught a carp over twenty pounds but caught some big bags.
photo dd455a48-19d6-4248-ac1d-be1a4d74966c_zpsedf4b36a.jpg A young graham at landod
I can always remember the last time we fished there it was a beautiful week and very hot in the day time we fished below the road at the far end fishing towards some islands, it became so hectic in the night we packed up using two rods it was a run a cast a lot were mirrors lovely marked fish stubby and fat, the one night we caught over a hundred and fifty pounds of fish we were so knackered we slept most of the next day, the fish came in all sizes from between twelve and twenty pounds we were so bothered by other anglers asking us how we caught them and the bailiffs, that we decided to leave the lake early we did three days catching over four hundred pounds of carp between us i can remember arriving home tired out we had only been in the house half an hour when the phone rang it was Bernard fancy going to acton Burnel for a couple of nights yes i said ill give graham a ring so by three a clock it saw three really tired anglers arrive on the lake by the time we got the umbrellas up and rods out it was time for a kip i was awoken to a screaming run on my right hand rod in the early evening it turned out to be a seven pounds tench i said to graham not a bad start by midnight we had another seven tench all around the same size we had a visit from the game keeper who kept us quite entertained for a good hour
 photo 35ec27cf-9e62-47b2-acc1-5dca919fe539_zps7ff6f56e.jpg
Bern at landridnod all those years ago
Bern had a storming run at around three in the morning it turned the scales to over thirty three pounds then he had another mirror of twenty three pounds god was he proud the next one was mine or it should of been we lost it at the net it looked a good thirty plus from the light of our torch well you win some and loose others then i had a lovely marked mirror of twenty pounds followed my a smaller common poor old graham struggled but he did catch a few nice tench by morning were all truly knackered we had breakfast and slept most of the day we had another great night catching mirrors to over twenty pound plus and plenty of tench i was not unhappy to get home it was a bath and straight into bed we had a wonderful week it gave us plenty to dream and think about for the future well a bit more latter

photo Image19.jpg
A young me at the burnell
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   Old Thread  #598 7 May 2014 at 11.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #597
My wife and myself have been quite ill and its really taking its toll we could do with some really good weather to help us recuperate one of the members on the carp forum has sent me some nice shots of fox cubs well done keebs i loved this time of year being out watching nature i cant count how many cubs i have watched over the years, and the amount of freinds i made taking them with me quitness was the order of the day no talking i have had them so tame they would come and look for me not the other way around i have sat beside a big hay feild it would not be long before they made there way towards where i lay they would look at me with big brown eyes.

It was a real shame out of a litter very few survived into adult hood lots got run down on the road others got shot there was always one and he lived to a great old age ill call him white tip he was a wonderful animal and quite big he was of course a big dog how many cubs he had sired over the years i could only guess i have told you before about white tip he would traverse the water course he would draw the hounds on and on i have seen them standing below this big ivy tree and as i have looked up you could just see his nose poking between the ivy branches who ever heard of a climing fox but he did and cheated death many times i watch him once on a big fox shoot i lay in the bracken i don't know who was more surprised him or me he walked right into where i was lay i could of touched his legs he just stood and looked i just told him to shoo go he knew i would never would hurt him when he died i found him curled up under a big old oak he had died alone he was areal old gentleman lots of his teeth were broken some had rotted away but i loved every bit of that animal and i shed a tear there has been no fox since that came anywhere near him but they all had there little traits i have been lucky no more than a mile from where i write i have seen a compete black dog blacker than midnight and i have seen a white litter with pink eyes i find it hard now to walk the hedge rows but my mind is alert as ever and i have my memories that will stay with me forever. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #597 28 Apr 2014 at 1.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #596
Thinking back over the years the best time of my life was when I first met my boyhood idol it was good when he phoned me for the first time but it was even better when i met him i was not old and decrepit like I am now,I listened to every word he said of course it was dick walker he was a wonderful man I first read all about him in angling times that was in the early fifties and I know all of us youngsters read his bit in the times, he was someone to look up to I never dream'd in a million years that i would meet him some day but I did and it altered my life to some extent.

I remember reading the Shropshire star and saw an advert for a group of anglers to fish the big Shropshire meres in search of the big bream it held,I mentioned to graham he was all for it we met at the public house opposite ellesmere I just can't think of the name it saw twelve of us altogether and a man called dennis Kelly tabled the chair he was a very knowledgeable chap and knew his stuff but when I looked at the mere we were to fish I said to graham were ever do we start, well to to cut a story short it saw us on the mere at first light looking,for rolling bream and we found them in front. our swims. Graham And myself fished together we made some staging we could fish from,, it was built on boggy ground but we managed,we baited up three times a week for around three weeks we knew we had bream in our swim as we watched them roll over our baited spot.

We were so excited when the time came around for us to fish it was of course June the fifteenth we got set up bait out, and waited for midnight it eventually arrived I did not know how this night would change me forever,I had my first run at approx. 130 am the bobbin moved up and down then slowly moved towards the butt ring up went the rod I am in graham I was watching pete,he put the landing net in the water as i played the fish in the end we netted this big fish we looked into the net and stared in wonder at the sight she was huge,not like the small fish graham and I had caught at other venues. we put it into the net until morning within half an hour another was put in the net. At first light Dennis came around to see how we had fared graham,said he's got two fish here Dennis, looked into the big keepnet turned around and shook my hand you have got two decent bream there i'll go and get the photographer,I did not know we had one well it was the angling times man, i had two fish taken with me holding them what a fuss they made over two Bream one nine and three quarters and the other nine pounds well done pete it was congratulations all around I was the only one to catch and it was not to be the only one over the coming months, cheer up graham its your turn next well that's how it started of course it was colemere ill let you all know how we got on next time I write, that's enough for now, more latter.
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   Old Thread  #596 19 Apr 2014 at 11.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #595
From where i stood you could look into wales a wonderful sight, a buzzard soared on the thermal hight above the hill side, a Hare came running up the hill and passed me by he never even saw me i was standing with my trusted gun waiting for some unsuspecting fox, we were on a fox shoot i could see the beaters they were specks in the distance, they were made up with mostly farmers who's family had traversed these hills for generations they were all sheep farmers and by shooting a animal, that is close to my heart they were protecting their flocks before the young lambs were born latter on in the year althought distastfull to some it had to be done at least twice a year.


I am sure these farmers had one leg shorter than the other they would even run up hill, they were used to it and had done it for generations, i could hear a few bangs in the distance i sat down in the heather and bilberries bushes, a little blue fruit, these hills would be full of pickers come august as they get a good price from there local market, i had put my back to a big fir wood it was so dark inside and no other plants grew i lit my pipe and lay back it was a red hot day i could hear the dogs in the distance i was hight up and could see the valleys down below i had just put my pipe away when i heard a twig crack up i got and waited out came three big deer from the wood behind it gave me quite a shock and my heart raced what ever were the doing this far up the hill maybe the dogs had moved them on i watched as the ran acrooss the hill and vanished into the next valley as i watched as a covey of grouse got up and skimmed the hill side they had certainly been moved by the beaters and dogs.

I loved these hills they were full of wild life, i heard a shout and up the hill came a fox it was a big dog he came within twenty ft from where i stood he looked at me with those mournful eyes they were a deep golden brown, we both stood and watched one another he was lucky i let him go he was a most beautiful animal no one would know i watched as he went towards the top of the big hill he stopped and looked back was he saying thanks i will never know, i should not have done that as we were here to do a job the beaters eventually arrived did you see owt pete not a thing only a big hare then it was away to the next drive how many did you get 16 so it was worth it. I had a look at the end of the day my big dog was not there they had three more on the next drive but none for me but it made a good count 18 less for them to worry about, we ended the day at one big farm, our tea was layed out big slabs of cake cheese and beef sandwiches plus pork pie and big jugs of home made cider i said to graham on the way home i think we have had a bit to much to drink this was years ago you never saw a policeman, in those days we arrived home graham could not get to the door his legs had given way his wife, opened the door with laughter saying it serves you right, i had a job getting up the stairs my wife said nowt and helped me get to bed god that was some sort of cider but we had a wonderful day in the company of those we loved my secret stayed with me i never told a soul not even graham. Well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #595 12 Apr 2014 at 2.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #594
Times were hard when i was a youngster my father got killed in the war my mother went out to work to support me until she met my step father then things changed a bit my step father worked for the railway as a signal man but even then the wages were not very hight so anything we got like trout, rabbits, pheasants, and such were eaten with relish, i was only eight or nine years old but soon learned the way of the countryside what i learned then has helped e all my life, i loved the birds, the fox, and the rabbits, we lived on the humble rabbit until that terrible disease nearly wiped them out.

I can remember going round the fields knocking them on the heads, it was a terrible thing and it effected a good many estates, some men losing their jobs but it did not kill all and slowly they started to get over the decease, but a lot of people would not eat them again we sold ours at Bridgnorth market even in the seventies we got three pounds a couple as long as they were not shot, I got to know a chap in shrewsbury who gave us four pounds a couple he was not worried if they were shot that was good money, he would open his freezer it was full of rabbits there was thousands all hanging on hooks what ever are you going to do with all these i asked, a lorry is picking them up on monday then taking them all to France they have all the game pheasants, even pigeon, i wondered how much money he was getting i suspect a lot but we did not care as long as we did all right. I got to know one chap his name was mac night he was an ace at long netting of course it was poaching, we ran this net over one hundred yards along the side of this big sand quarry then another net along the side of a wood, that joined the side of the quarry we left the net up for a couple of hours then dropped them down, we walked the fields that were facing the quarry bloody hell we caught over one hundred rabbits in two nets that was really good going there were four of us to share out the money with but it gave us some pocket money, I used to smile when i was asked where all the rabbits were on the quarry by a couple of friends that shot there probably got mixey i replied and walked away mums the word you never told anyone you could literally wipe the rabbits out on a good night.

They were good days i met another chap named George who lived on our village he liked salmon fishing did i won't to go i certainly did So one saturday morning it was up the the Severn it was a beautiful stretch of river i was spinning away when i get snagged george took the rod from my hands we will use an otter board to free it from the snag he said, it suddenly started to move you have a fish on pete he gave the rod back god upstream he went with me running to catch him up i eventually got him to the bank and George netted him he weighted in at twenty seven pounds, i shook with excitement before we went home that night we caught a further three but not as big as my first one poor old George passed away a few years ago i learned a lot from him and still miss his smiling face. more latter
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   Old Thread  #594 5 Apr 2014 at 1.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #593
I have renewed all my permits and my rod licences so i suppose i have no excuses, although i am finding it very hard not having my mate to go with, The last thing he said to me was carry on fishing so i shall have to try we fished together all over shropshire and the surrounding counties, never really apart when out in the countryside, or watching foxes, we were also bailiffs on a big trout fishery and at one time on the ellesmere fishing committee, i suppose he was like a brother thats what was said at his funeral thats enough of that so lets get on with my story. As far back as i can remember i had an affinity with the countryside if i was not down the fields i was in the woods in those days you were safe everyone knew one another my parents knew where i was and would always say don't get in trouble but i did and always got away with it.

i would walk the lanes especially in april and may, to me they were beautiful months the birds would be nesting and all the flowers, would appear down the sides of these old lanes, the birds would be singing totally different than today. I loved to lie in the hay fields and listen to the sky lark, hight above or watch the curlew and find its nest, i carried my catapult everywhere even to school, i would hide it in my pocket in the days after the war the fields and hedge rows were full of rabbits, they loved to hide in the nettle patch and i was sure of a rabbit from them times were very hard i used a lead slug, we made them our selves it only needed one to hit a squatting rabbit and he was dead, it was no trouble and i usually got three or four they were always welcome at home, After the war the keepers, that worked for the local estates put thousands of pheasants down the woods and fields were full of them, how its changed they had rearing fields hundred of small pens in rows they would hatch the chicks using broody hens how they got that many hens i really don't know the keeper lived on the rearing field and would shoot any vermin that approached and threatened his birds it was a hard life. It has altered today not so hard i would hide by the rearing field and watch what went on he had a young lad working with his under keepers he boiled the food for the chicks he slept with two under keepers in a hut.

If i was not doing that i would be fishing you would find me up the river catching the brown trout i caught them to order and believe me most wanted them the locals would not go there selves owing to the river having bailiffs i learned what was the best time to go i would go if it was raining or early morning or late evenings i loved the fishing i learned to trot a float down the ides of the river if i got some maggots i would catch the grayling they were a beautiful fish it was nothing to catch three or four and i always put them back in those days they were called the lady of the river. i also fished a lovely little lake it held some nice carp i got on well with the owner and he never charged us youngsters a penny, and was always keen for us to have a go on a hot summers day he would bring us bottles of ginger beer and big slices of cake and if it was on a thursday he would go to auction when he came back he would bring big slices of home made pork pie some local made them for him they had been friends for years and he had a pie every week he was a nice old chap he envited me in one day, he sat around a big table with his friends they were eating home made lamb stew and dipping big pieces of bread to mop up the gravity here youngster have a plate full it was delicious the the meat in the stew was from my own lambs said sid that was his name well we had lots of days fishing sids lake up until his death. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #593 31 Mar 2014 at 1.06pm  0  Login    Register
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I got permission to fish one lake up in hill country it was a nice water but could be quite cold as it really caught the wind but it held some nice fish, i used to like fishing for the crucian carp you could catch them quite regularly as long as you kept the bait going in they were not huge but the heaviest was around a pound and a half the tench went to four pounds and there were a few commons and mirrors in the lake. I arrived this one morning there had been a slight frost, the chap fishing next to me had lost the top three sections of his pole it was being towed up and down the lake i could not believe what i was seeing off he stripped and in he plunges and half walking half swimming he gets this pole and swims back bloody hell it was cold the chap was in his late seventies and he landed a carp of fourteen pounds, he dried himself off back on went his cloths and carried on fishing when i went to see him he was blue and his teeth were chattering i offered him a blanket out of my car, but he refused and carried on fishing for the rest of the day i still don't know if he was hard or foolish.

I fished that lake many times but it is now let out on a weekly basis and has been stocked with some very big carp not far from there was another lake well more of a pool, it certainly held some beautiful carp i asked the farmer if i could go he could not give an answer until his wife popped her head around the door hello pete she said god i went to school with her years ago hello jill, i answered we all had a chat then her husband said go when you want the biggest carp i had was twenty three pounds, and loads of twenties, he started letting the pool which in my opinion was the beginning of the end. There was more and more fishing the place then one day he rang me up how can i protect my fishery, whats up i said i have been robbed pete ,they have took a lot of my golden orfe my neighbours, saw them they had a pick up and tanks on the back, did they get the number of the car no he answered ill go and have a look. well i found where they had got in as it was fenced all around the lake they had cut the barbed wire and drove their pick up in they had netted the pool, there used to be four different shoals in the pool they had taken at least two. We got in touch with the police but had no luck. Their farm was some way from the pool so i put down some trip wires around the fence, over the years we never had anymore poachers, well only one a big dog otter that made quite a lot of mess but he is not there now he must of been traveling through well he has now gone i have not been up for a long time owing to my arthritis but still talk on the phone he stopped everyone fishing there and now only lets people he knows well he says i can take my car around to get into the fishery i might just have a go its going to be really hard without my mate graham, but everyone tells me i must go we will see. well a bit more latter.
photo f68d5af9-d8e3-4cdd-b231-8d9441ad7ce7_zps1edb7447.jpg

a cross golden orfe my friend andy caught from the pool years ago
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   Old Thread  #592 23 Mar 2014 at 12.44pm  0  Login    Register
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I loved the woods and i was quite happy in them day, or night, i have laid down in the tall ferns many times and watched the wildlife especially foxes, i have watched the stoat take a rabbit or the little weasel a small slender mammal kill a rabbit, that was huge to her small size. This was done on the ride going through the wood i would watch from the safety in the ferns, i have watched a family of these small weasels, they were only the size of my middle finger but what beautiful little things, they would run about but never strayed far from their mother, i have been lucky to have been born in shropshire, and had permission to roam where i pleased its funny really many years before i had poached most of this land, i think the white foxes, gave me most joy i was very privileged to have seen them they were most beautiful, and were the only ones i have seen in my lifetime, we did move them by walking on the earth and leaving our scent, i suppose you will ask why because it stopped them being dug out and maybe killed or even sold a lot of this went on when i was in my twenties.
photo DSC00181.jpg
The woods i walked now part of my syndicate

I loved to clime i would shin up a tree to have a look in the kestrels, nest it was usually in an old crows nest i would look in and pick up the young chicks, and stare in wonder god nature is so beautiful or clime to the buzzards nest, she would swoop and mew warning me not to touch her chicks, but i did the one i would not touch was the tawny owl, i saw a friend who i have mentioned in my stories nearly lose his eye when he took one of her chicks, he did return it with his granddads, foot up his back side and put it back in the nest, he had the scar on his face for the rest of his life, in those far off days we seemed to have lots to do fishing, camping, birds nesting, i loved to spin the devon minnow in the river and catch the beautiful brown trout, i would catch enough for our tea. Another fish i caught was the grayling, it is a member of the salmon, family i would trot a maggot down under a small float they were lovely looking fish i would never kill one to eat and always put them back. Another fish i loved to catch in winter was the perch, i would fish under the sill of the falls at Halford mill with a couple of red worms, the float would dip and i was in i dragged them up the bank as in those days i had no landing net i never saw one injured in that long grass, the locals would come down and try and scrounge one to eat how could you kill such a pretty fish, but in the war years and after they would. I suppose i would be around eight years old they were wonderful days the days of my youth, a hole in my trousers a katty in the back pocket and all the woods and lanes to walk.. more to follow


photo 8419898e-767d-4295-a121-0e3909da4bff.jpg
The red worms i would collect from the farm land
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   Old Thread  #591 18 Mar 2014 at 9.27pm  0  Login    Register
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   Old Thread  #590 17 Mar 2014 at 11.56am  0  Login    Register
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Looking back I really have had a wonderful life I have walked fished and shot and made many friends along the way its not all been easy in fact some was very hard I had to think and look after myself from a very young age when my grandfather died, I lived with my grandmother as my mother had to work, she could be a cruel old lady who would give you a clout with her walking stick at any time especially if she had been drinking with her old friend mrs Evans god they would get together and drink a bottle of sherry between them even more at times, when my mother knew what went on she took me from there so I never had anymore clouts with that stick , but my grand mother mellowed over the coming years until her death in 1956 just before I left school.

I used to go down to see old Harry the rabbit, catcher I was only six years old he let me handle his ferrets, he had about twenty, but he would snare most he had a old horse, and cart and would take me around the fields with him when he checked his snares, I would sit and watch as he reset his snares, after taking the one rabbit, out I have never seen so many rabbits, by the time he had been around them all he would go back to where we started and there would be rabbits, in them again we ended up with over five hundred which nearly filled his small cart so you can see how many there was before myxomatosis struck it put a lot of people out of work who made a living catching rabbits.

I can remember picking mushrooms, with my mother she had one of those big wicker baskets by the time we had walked across the field it was full you never see that anymore they were wonderful days, I got to know the gypsies old Charlie lock he married dolly they were lovely people as i have said before I would ride their horse around the foxes, and berries, that was the name of the woods and fields,
, thats another thing that has gone no true Romanies, to day they have all gone what a shame it was old dick from another clan that taught me to tickle a trout, or two. he was a mine of information infact i loved his family his wife, still lives up the road from my house she lives in a house today, dick died years years ago but i am friends with his sons ,and daughter they are the salt of the earth and have all got jobs and work hard, and live in houses, no more caravans those days have gone. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #589 12 Mar 2014 at 6.04pm  0  Login    Register
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It was a dark and frosty night as i made my way across the fields i could see my foot prints i had left behind on the frosty grass, the year was october 1957 and i had one thing on my mind that was a few pheasants, i was making my way to old bells wood, i had crossed the river it was fordable in places, i was making for his coverts the woods would be full of birds, i climed the stile just up from his house. i sat on a old log and l listened all was quite i could not even hear a whine from his dogs, he owned several he was also a good dog trainer and had won many prizes with his dogs he was also a good keeper that i held in respect.

The only worry i had was from his black labrador, it was a mean dog ,give him a chance he would have your ass or leg, i sat on that old log for some time the only noise i heard was from the tawny owl he was out looking for a meal. I heard a bark from a fox ,it carried on this still night, i don't usually poach on nights like this but this was a must, as had to fill my orders times were still hard. Why should all these toffs have the birds, his first shoot was yet to come he had put seven thousand birds in this one pen, and i was going to have some away, i loved to be out at night, i was better by myself as i knew the woods well. As i sat there i taped the torch to my trusted gun, and walked into the wood, i brought the gun to my shoulder shining the torch into the trees, there were hundreds of birds, some on the lower branches, i decided to shoot them first. I took the first shot and brought the bird down he fluttered a bit and was still, i picked him up he was a nice big cock i shot a further six from that tree and put them in my bag, i cleaned any feathers away and left no evidence i had ever been there. I made my way deeper into the wood and shot a further three, i tided up and listened did i hear a noise it seemed far away then i smelt pipe smoke, there was some bugger in the woods was it old bell with his under keeper, i made my way back across the field into another copies, i sat and listened then i heard the unmistakable sound of a dog, they can't be after me i had made no noise, i crossed the river into the grounds of blind school i knew it well and could soon hide in one of the big firs, i hid my gun and birds under the hen house, and climed the nearest fir, i could see across the river and sat on a bough, and waited there was a bang and then a shout there is no one around tonight frank, no Bob, bloody hell its the the police sgt it was old landers, and he had another bobby, with him, i am sure i saw some one cross that field i have seen foot prints in the grass well he has gone now said old bell, i reckon its that bugger from bayton hill again i looked at my watch and grinned to myself ill call at his house in the morning frank, but i don't hold much hope with his old lady, i thought don't go now as you won't get a answer it was now two in the morning all i wanted was to get home i soon got to my hidden bike i could not ride home on the road, so across the field i went it was three am when i got home i hung the birds in the shed and locked the door i was soon in bed the sgt did call next morning mum said i had been in town. god he was determined to catch me but he never did. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #588 6 Mar 2014 at 11.51am  0  Login    Register
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Graham was not past doing a little bit of poaching i can well remember him swimming in some flood water at atcham shrewsbury, to catch a twenty three pound salmon, that had floundered in some shallow water left on the field, he caught it alright and had just pulled up at home when there was a knock on the door, on opening it there stood a water bailiff, he showed graham his card a duly asked for the salmon, i have caught no salmon said graham you were seen taking the fish and was reported by some one watching you. I warn you that you will be prosecuted if you dont hand me the fish, it was no good he had been seen well it was in broad daylight, he gave him the fish and had to sign some paper work he never heard anymore about the incident we tried to find out who had reported him but it was useless as there was so many watching.

That was in the early sixties another incident concerned some potatoes, when i think back what a laugh, money was not easy to earn yo could work many hours for very little. At the time i lived next to a chap called bill price, he was always after anything going cheap he also did a bit of poaching for pheasants especially at christmas, to make a bit of money for a drink or two. Pete do you and graham fancy a few bags of potatoes i see the farmer is storing them in that little building by the side of the road, so the next night saw the three of us away we took two cars, and parked them up the lane, over the field we went and got a bag a each and took them back to the cars .we were just about to get our third bag when i stepped on something there was an almighty howl and shouting i had only trod on someone that was lying in a hole behind the bags of potatoes if you could of seen us running across that field with a bag on our shoulder, talk about being frightened it took a bit to realize what had happened how we did not tread on him before is anyones guess we had nine bags between us i sold one bag and gave my parents a bag one bag was enough for me lets say we never went for anymore.

I can remember one christmas very well we were always after making a bob or two Graham and i had been shooting a rabbits for the landowner it was nothing to shoot fifty or so. We had seen the farmer down the fields he could not even wish us a happy xmas, and he wanted a few of the rabbits,we had shot we had no option we gave him three brace, when his father was alive he always invited us in a christmas, for a drink he was a great chap but not his son talk about chalk and cheese they were so different. We carried on with our rabbit shooting we got to this big hedge row graham shone the lamp up into the nearest tree we were surprised to see a few pheasants at roost it was all to much i did the shooting Graham shone the light we emptied the first tree we shot six birds we had twelve all together graham went for his old land rover he had parked up and we loaded the game not a bad night we had shot fifty two rabbits which we had hung on the barbed wire fence when they became to heavy to carry, we gutted them and left the the entrails for old foxy to eat what a good night those we did not sell around the village would go to market, we made a few bob for christmas it kept us in beer for a few nights. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #587 3 Mar 2014 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
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My first memory of graham, was around 1961 he lived around the corner from me I really did not know him but had seen him in his car with his family, little did I know it was the beginning of a friendship that lasted fifty one years, I was always out with my fishing rods I would walk down the river Rea, it was only across the fields from where I lived graham must of seen me as he stopped me one day I see you do a bit of fishing yes I replied, I like fishing myself he answered and that was it, he came around to the house this one day not long after I had met him, Pete, I have been told not to knock around with you anymore, why is that then I replied I knew what was coming I had been a bit of a jack the lad poaching and,even fighting, down the fair ground, they said I would get into trouble whos they graham, he would not tell me I suppose most of it is true its up to you mate, so he took no notice and that started our friendship we fished nearly every lake within a ten miles radius some legal some not most lakes were private, then and you could not get permission.

We went to one lake it was a Bird reserve well it still is you could not get permission it was in south Shropshire we only had float rods in those days i still had the tank Aerial rods and the built cane rod the tank Aerials rods did all I asked from float fishing, to ledgering, I never did forget fishing that lake, you no sooner cast out and it was away the fish were mostly common carp, and tench, nothing huge the carp went to around five pounds, we caught loads of tench, to three pounds we ended the day with over two hundred pound of fish, we tried to weight them but I don't know how accurate grahams, spring balance scales were he said they were alright as they had used them at the farm he once worked at. We could not wait to go again and we both were very excited when the weekend came, we had got some big lob worms to try out we both ledgered a bunch it was not long before my rod slammed around I struck and landed a nice carp, weighing six pounds I looked at graham with a big smile on my face, he was also in but it was not a carp when we landed the fish we both stared into the net there lay the biggest eel, I had ever seen when weighed it was just over five pounds, we unhooked it and let it go, we heard a shout and looking we saw two men climbing the fence, I think they're coming to see us said graham, and they were. We stood our ground, the taller of the two said who are you we are fisherman I can see that don't get flippant, with us said the little fat bugger, we are confiscating your rods you should not be here you're poaching. There is no signs saying its private says graham, and while your at it can you swim, the taller one said whats that got to do with it well if you touch those rods you better start learning I nearly fell of my basket laughing, come on Bill, said the taller of the two we will go and ring the secretary, and away they went and so did we. It was not the last visit to this lake over the years and we never saw those pair ever again, thinking back it still leaves a smile on my face. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #586 27 Feb 2014 at 12.24pm  0  Login    Register
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Over the years I have met some real funny characters one was a chap named podmore, god he was a good poacher if you asked him to get a water buffalo he would get it which a believe he did for a bet. I only met him a couple of times and he really made me laugh at some of his tales. It's a long time ago so if i am wrong correct me as his family are still alive he once told me that he was about to be arrested and he nailed himself to a tree through his ear which was correct as i can remember a picture in the press he also broke into shrewsbury prison and played father christmas to the inmates there was a picture of the said gentleman on the front page of the paperers but i remember him as i real gentle character now long gone

I have mentioned charlie before in my stories he was another character, if the farmers had any problem with foxes it was charlie they called. He was a very dear friend, when he was in his seventies he could walk up those hills like a mountain goat he would leave men half his age sitting in the heather absolutely buggered and giddy he would shout at them come on you young uns i am sure he had one leg longer than the other god he would go straight up those hills and he never seemed out of breath but he knew the countryside well and all the animals in it. We were together when we found the white fox cubs, they were beautiful one had a black nose, we could not leave them where they were, as they would have been killed by the farmer, we watched them from a few yards away lying in a field of barley we walked over the earth hoping the vixen would move them she did and we never saw them again.

I loved old charlie he had about forty guns in his shoot we were called the paterson hunt, it was formed to shoot foxes, that were troubling the farmers especially at lambing time, they could do the hill farmers a lot of damage taking newly born lambs, i watched one such fox, he was trying to get one from the mother, she had twins, he would separate them she could not protect two, his mate would take the other this happened in hill country a lot we found the remains of seven lambs on one earth, there were two vixens and fourteen cubs in that one earth.

I saw that twice in the years that i knew charlie the other held twelve it was charlie, who started my fascination for foxes, i have watched and took others with me who had never seen a fox or a cub in their life time and they have really enjoyed coming with me . i really get angry with myself that i cannot do it anymore due to my illness but old age does not come by its self, every christmas myself and graham would take charlie around the farms he had helped out over the year, by the time we got to the last one old charlie would be as drunk as a skunk, he could hardly stand graham and i could not stop laughing the tears would run down our faces when we got him home his dear wife would ask us in to have a couple of mince pies and a few glasses of malt, been around your friends have you charlie i dont think you want anymore do you but she was only kidding out of those three good friends i am the only one left they have all past away and most of the farmers charlie visited that night well it is many years ago and you dont realize how fast life goes by. well theres a bit more. more to come latter
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   Old Thread  #585 21 Feb 2014 at 7.57pm  0  Login    Register
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I shall tell you a story about a poacher and a game keeper , i met both in the early seventies they were both hard men and would stand nonsense, i will say no names as the one took his own life due to his wife having an affair, both had done a bit of time in nick but they were both my type old school and knew the woods and fields back to front they both loved wild life, i can't say names so we will give the game keeper a false name Jason the other was phillip who lived on my village i would often see him down the fields with his peregrine falcon and his lurchers he was a nice chap and loved to talk to Graham and myself we would often see him on a friday night at our local pub the fox, he would sell his wares Pheasant, rabbits, partridge, to the locals he had also made his name fighting bare knuckle, he knew i had done my share of poaching and had asked me to accompany him i was very tempted don't go down the big woods i would say the keeper is a bad bugger, he wunna have me he said in a broad shropshire dialect i have handled harder men than him.

Jason was a very hard man we had seen him in action we saw him in the local pub he dropped three men in minutes he was pure evil, but i got on well with him, he was a real old rogue who thought nothing about selling a few of his employes birds to make his wages up, he reared most of the birds himself and would sell a few chicks, i think his employer knew what he got up to but loved him as a keeper, i can honestly say Jason guarded those woods and pheasants with his life, it had got to happen one day they both met up in the woods Phillip had got a few birds and was not going to give them to Jason, Phillip put his bag down and floored Jason up he got took of his jacket and got stuck in god did they fight they were black and blue and both were scratched from the brambles, they fought for two hours and both could hardly stand when they called it a day, from that day on they became the best of friends Jason took him to his cottage and his wife patched them both up the best way she could i saw them after at the local pub the landlord was giving them some strange looks.

A few years latter Jason tried to do his employer by claiming more money than he really wanted he claimed for fifteen beaters when there was only ten, he was sacked and was prosecuted by the police the under keeper had dropped him in it god Jason nearly killed him, and was given three years for his crime poor old Phillip came to a very bad end he shot his birds, dogs, and himself, he was found lying with his beloved lurcher his wife had an affair, he half killed her lover it was all very sad and was really missed by those that knew him,
when we saw Jason again he was no longer a gamekeeper but a man of the cloth we could not believe it no more bad language, no more fighting, he told us he was in prison when he had the call and he had repented for all his bad ways and deeds, as far as i know he is a vicar somewhere in worcestershire well he was the last time i heard of him so if you are reading this Jason god bless my mate. A little more latter
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   Old Thread  #584 14 Feb 2014 at 6.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #583
What terrible weather we are having i do hope that skef and Bob from somerset are all right it must be awful to lose all your furniture and your house full of water and there is nothing you can do i watched those in London it must be soul destroying it makes me think of the big winter of 1963, it nearly brought us to our knees but we managed to survive with a little bit of poaching, i had a friend called dug it was just before i met graham, dug had a bit of knowledge about the the wild life, and the countryside we talked about where to go we will have to be careful as there was a number of keepers ,well one thing dug the estate would not doing any shooting for some time but they will still feed the birds, old Evans said they had put down thirty six thousand sounds about right said dug well he has all his friends mostly royal and members of parliament but not this year we will have a few dug he gave a great laugh lets wait and see.

There is only one problem i can see dug is the snow we will get there said dug and we did it took at least three hours to reach the estate and we were both wet from getting through the big snow drifts, we decided to feed the fence line and lie in a ditch we are going to use some fishing line tied to a cane we tied on a small hook and used sultanas as bait with a handful of corn around the fence soon got the birds feeding, infact there were birds everywhere you looked we had one after another dug was kept busy putting birds in the bags pete i will go and see if anyone is about he was back in a few minutes all quite he said, how many have we got as he had dispatched most himself twenty thats enough go and kick a bit of snow over those feather that were scattered about, after he had finished it looked if no one had been there, God the bags were heavy walking through the deep snow our hands were freezing, we had no gloves in those days i used to wear socks as gloves but forgot them call at the miners arms, said dug we will have a pint when we went into the pub the fire was roaring we sat next to the fire god our hands tingled as the circulation came back.

Where have you two been asked the landlord, or should i not ask after a few long tailed I
uns said dug, you pair of buggers will get caught and have your ass kicked, a couple of the keepers, come in here but i aint seen them since the snows, sell us a few will you how many can you spare ten, if that ok with you ill get the money has your misses got any of those pork pies she makes, yes do you want one there the best pork pies i have ever had, can i have four more to take home she parcelled them up and we made our way home it took about one hour god i was glad to see it, we will have a look at the valley next time they have put a few to covert old Evans says there are birds everywhere you look, ill see you tomorrow dug, here is your share of the money and the birds we still had five each they would keep us in food for a few days we will make our minds tomorrow where we will go next time good night dug i shouted. more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #583 14 Feb 2014 at 1.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #582
sorry about that i lost all my post ill put it up tomorrow
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #582 7 Feb 2014 at 2.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #581
Come poaching with graham and I to a mountain lake it was the carp we were after plus the beautiful golden orf the pool held two shoals. The carp were quite big i had caught them to over twenty pounds but you were always on edge looking for the farmer or land owner' it was a wonderful place where you could sit and watch the wild life the lake its self was quite stunning with the beautiful lilies there were pinks and whites we fished in the holes between the lilies and caught some impressive fish the hills were covered in heather and gorse a most spectacular sight i said to graham we must find out who owns the lake and the surrounding land.

So the next day saw us going to one of the local farms in the area looking for the owner of the lake' and we struck lucky' i own it said the farmer he was a jolly fellow with a big ruddy face caused by the weather these hills get in winter you could tell he was a hard working chap' what can i help you with he said we wanted to know if we could fish your lake' the answer was a firm no i do not want any one here they bloody netted the place the other night taking a shoal of my golden orf i have had them for years' how did they get in from the bottom gate that leads onto the road they were seen by neibours of ours they had big tanks on the back of a lorry they never got the registration number the police were informed but up to now we have heard nothing we heard his wife shout bill come and get this tray of tea he went in and was about five minutes before he reappeared. You went to school with my wife where craven arms god thats a long time ago i answered it was pete she appeared out of the house god is that you judy'it is' you have not changed a bit where do you work pete tung in cheek i said the police station at shrewsbury' i am not a police man i work for the home office come in said her husband get the glasses out judy and fill them up with cider i looked at graham he knew what was coming where do you work and whats your name i am graham i am a manger at gonsal quarry he seemed impressed we were slowly getting drunk who's driving me well go steady on the way home.


By the way you can fish my lake anytime you want just call at the farm if no one is around put a note through the door. Well we did manage to get home both worse for the ware graham got out and was walking three steps forward and four back his wife appeared not to happy i am sorry enid the farmer gave us to much cider well to cut a storey short he could not get up the stairs he had a few tries but kept falling down we both stood there laughing well thats it for now. more latter this is the first try on my new apple computer .
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   Old Thread  #581 3 Feb 2014 at 10.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #580
I am not looking forward to wednesday as it is the funeral of my dear mate graham, I went to our last shoot Saturday another season over. We are all old fogies we have lost two of our members this year I realy don't know if I
shall run it again next year, we have had it for over thirty years its not going to be the same without my mate. I met someone I had not seen for a number years last week and he was on about some woods above clun in south Shropshire, I knew exactly where he was talking about, graham Bernard and myself shot those woods years ago he said were you caught, no said i but we were chased all over south Shropshire, its a long story we were invited to a big hare and fox drive at clun, the chap that ran it looked a bit like joe ninety, We had shot over fifty hairs when we went to another big block of fir trees, it was a huge plantation, joe said they had a lot of trouble with foxes, taking lambs they left graham, Bernard, and your truly, standing on this big earth road, that went up through the plantation after about one hour we heard a bit of shooting then to my amazement this land rover arrived this huge chap got out you could not see his face, through the big beard he was sporting, and in a welsh accent he said you're all pinched for poaching, not us mate I said, the police are on the way he shouted god was he nasty, graham looked at me we will be off then mate no you wont your pinched, you wait here ill go and catch the others like hell we will up the road he went blasting away on his horn.

As soon as he was out of sight we were in our car and away we passed two mini countryman with at least five police men, in god we did not even know are way back home. I managed to get as far as craven arms then rather than go on a 49 to shrewsbury we went through the countryside, to a place called much wenlock, we called at a friends house we told him all that had gone on then from there we made our way to shrewsbury, then home dropping Bernard on the way. Latter that evening I rang a friend who had been on the shoot did they catch you Ray, na not me I hid in the forestry but he caught joe ninety and his mates they took them away to knighton police station.
It was in the paper a few weeks latter they all got fined for trespass, they would get away with it today we were lucky and got away apparently the big chap with the beard was the local game keeper, and he had got quite a reputation for drinking and fighting and such. a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #580 30 Jan 2014 at 11.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #577
There are two or three threads on otter running at the same time its realy nothing to do with me but would it not be better if they were all in one thread its definitely frenzies, thread for me as it has become very confusing reading so many different threads on the same subject. When I was a young sprog you were lucky to even see an otter the game keeper and water bailiff and of course the otter hounds saw to that. The river ran just below the school, I would sneak down in my dinner hour taking with me a rod I had hidden a couple of red worms on the hook would soon catch me a couple of nice trout I would take them to a teacher a miss Thomas who gave me sixpence for them. We could cross the river by going over a small white bridge, I went this one day and had a surprise the wind was blowing towards me and as I looked I could see two otter playing a bit further down stream I crept down the field and lay in the undergrowth opposite where they were playing they were chasing one another there was a big boulder the other side I watched as they dragged this trout up and onto the boulder to eat their prey I forgot all about school I was so fascinated by these animals god they were big I saw one or two kills but they always eat what they caught.

When I went to school the next day the headmaster was waiting for me I thought to myself the cane again, where were you yesterday afternoon he said watching some otters, I said he asked me about them then said I suppose you learnt more than you would at school, go and write about them then read it to assembly tomorrow morning and that's what I did. I was awarded with one of those little books the I spy ones about nature, if you saw it in the book you put tick by it I used to carry it in my pocket with a pencil, that was only one side of the otter I was up the river fishing this one Saturday when I heard this unearthly noise I hid my rod and went to investigate, on arriving at the scene it was not a very pretty sight, there were half a dozen men in the water with the dogs, the water was red from the otters blood they held the one above there heads to show all the followers the kill, it was a very small Bitch,i saw the dog dive under the bridge into deeper water he was away I saw him leave the water and run across the field no one saw this only me, come on lads his got away lets see if we can pick him up further down stream it put me off otter hunting I was only young and it did not impress me one bit, but after meeting Sam he taught me differently they were needed to protect the fisheries, I was with Sam this one day and he shot this otter god was it big he was armed with a vicious set of Nashers it was trying to get into the big pheasant pen, i'll take him to the gaffer maybe he will have him set up what do you mean Sam he explained all about taxidermists and how they made their living. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #579 28 Jan 2014 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #578
Thanks kesa appreciated
charlatan
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   Old Thread  #578 27 Jan 2014 at 5.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #572
R. I. P. GRAHAM . And all the very best pete love reading your posts fella you take care.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #577 25 Jan 2014 at 12.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #572
I write this with a heavy heart many years ago graham and I found a lake in south Shropshire we approached the owner about fishing the place, it was surrounded by trees and a most beautiful place, the owner lived in a black and white house at the very end of the lake,, yes you can have a go she said I have not let anyone fish it before, I know there is Tench in the the lake and some good carp when can we come, next Saturday she answered the year was 1964 the day soon came around talk about being excited we were the only ones on the lake our tackle consisted of a 12 ft float rod each we had recently bought from our local fishing shop. We had decided to float fish we balled a bit of ground bait into our swim which consisted of bread crumbs from our local bakery, mixed with pink sausage rusk, we fished the same swim out we cast it was only three feet deep it was quite windy but our floats remained steady as we were fishing slightly over depth, we did not have to wait long my float lay flat and shot under the surface I struck and was in I said to graham this seems good fish, I played him to our net it was a lovely fish around four pound into the keep net it went it was grahams turn next, he caught a similar fish and that's the way it went all morning the lady owner came down how are you both doing she enquired i'll show you I said and tried to lift the net I had a job so graham gave me a hand how many there she said we don't realy know maybe over a hundred pounds she was so excited,come again anytime she said thank you we answered.

We could not believe we had a lake to ourselves, and that's the way it continued for weeks, we had steadily caught fish over the weeks with bags of fish well over a hundred pounds, we did hook a carp, but it soon broke grahams four pounds line, then one nice morning we were visited by the owner morning peter, morning graham, thought I would come and tell you I shall be letting the water for day tickets the price will be two shillings and sixpence, our hearts nearly broke but the good news was we had not got two pay, but steadily over the weeks more and more anglers appeared I said to graham I wonder how long this will go on people living litter and such one morning she came around a stopped the lot, even us she told us that she had let the lake to the wildlife trust, and bird watchers, and they did not want angling on the water but I think it was the litter being left. We Did fish the lake again a few years latter I got permission for few of our friends to fish for a weekend but it never fished again like it did for us all those years before. Well that's all for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #576 23 Jan 2014 at 3.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #575
Thank you all for your kind remarks about Graham I realy appreciate them pete
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #575 20 Jan 2014 at 9.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #572
Pete mate. I'm wishing your chin up bud . Happens to the best of them.. and you have so many memories that we all have also enjoyed. Keep enjoying them Pete

Bless ya Pete.

Peter.
heathrow
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   Old Thread  #574 20 Jan 2014 at 8.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #573
RIP GRAHAM
Andy_P
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   Old Thread  #573 20 Jan 2014 at 8.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #572
So sorry to hear your sad news Pete, a close friend can never be replaced but, you have the memories of all the times you spent together enjoying the countryside, they will last forever

petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #572 20 Jan 2014 at 5.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #571
My dear mate graham passed away this morning at twenty past two, he has been my fishing partner for nearly fifty one years I don't know how ill manage without him god bless m8 rest in piece


photo PA200066.jpg

My mate Graham who died today aged 77 god bless
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #571 16 Jan 2014 at 4.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #570
I will tell you a few tales about my friend graham who I have fished and shot with for fifty one years, I shed a tear as I write this as I will never fish with him again, I watched how he struggled for breath yesterday I think he knew my wife and I were there, they had sent for his family so my friends life is ebbing slowly away. Since I have had arthritis he has been my right arm only last season we fished for the carp and barbel and caught a few nice fish, how things have altered in the last few months. I first met graham in 1963 little did I know he would remain my friend all these years, he told me he liked fishing so did I, so off we went in a little white mini car that had seen better days you could see the road through the floor, as we sped along, we toured the lakes of Shropshire, looking for places to fish we found plenty some legal some not. One such lake I shall not name as the same owners still have it. It was a wonderful place lilies, everywhere you looked pink, and white, the side of the lake was a big lawn with a big wooden conservatory, graham said we will sit in there at night, you can't do that why not we can lie on those big chairs, they have got in there it was nearly next to our rods. So three nights latter saw us casting our rods out. we were soon comfortable lying on these lovely chairs they were infact rockers, god we could soon fall asleep I watched and saw grahams indicator which was silver paper slowly move towards the butt ring.

I shouted graham you have got a run but all I could hear was his snoring, I lifted the rod and i was in he eventually staggered to me and grabbed his rod, I could see it was big one by looking at the bend in his rod, he played it to the bank, we did have a landing net, of sorts which we had bought between us, I slid it under this fish I had difficulty getting it in, its a bloody big eel, graham how big, very big said I, as we shone the torch we could see how big he was. We had some old spring balance scales with us he weighed in a 6 pounds a very good fish we were lucky to land it on the tackle, we had, out he cast again with a couple of big lobs,for bait you could collect your own while fishing from the lawn, I said hope we don't get caught there was only one way out over the field behind where we were fishing, I thought to my self we wont get another then away went his rod again he picked the rod up and he was in once again you jammy bugger I said this time it was three pounds he had another of two pounds, well that's my mate graham I shall miss him very much I must admit i wonder if I will fish again we will see so god bless m8 I hope you catch many fish in your dreams. More a little latter
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   Old Thread  #570 12 Jan 2014 at 2.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #569
photo 626d2e30-3656-4bce-ad77-86da31cd2b33_zps71219337.jpg


My dear friend graham who is in hospital struggling for his life I have fished with him for over fifty years he has been mentioned my stories more than once he has been my right arm since I have had arthrtis we have had some great laughs when we all went on holiday together with our families. I really hope he pulls throught those that know him on our village and the surrounding country side love him to bits and pray he well get better god bless m8
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   Old Thread  #569 10 Jan 2014 at 3.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #565
Now they say we may have snow, for once I really hope not the weather,, has caused enough damage already my heart goes out to some areas that has had severe flooding. Well lets get on with my story I used to fish a place that belonged to a cousin of the queen, or so I was told. There was two lakes covered in lilies I never got permission only told to be on my way by a well dressed gentleman with a plum in his mouth god were they posh, I could only just reach the big knocker on the door, and then to be told be on your way, I thought no way I am going to fish those lakes, and I did one morning in June, it was a glorious day I got there about six thirty in the morning, you could see it could be hot latter.

I had a look around and decided to fish between the lily bed, in a piece of clear water, I was only using the old tank aerial Rods, the dad, had got made for me, I used a big porcupine quill, to be honest you could not get much else it was only a few years after the war, I used a wooden reel with silk line I managed to cast with it quite well. I would scrounge a few lead shot from the fishing shop manager, he really helped us youngsters, I would nip them onto the line and managed to cock the float, it was casting that could cause a few problems well that's if you did not clear a place behind where you fished, I would coil the line behind where I stood then I would give it the the big heave ho out it fled, landing nicely in the clear water. I waited until the float cocked then I would sit and wait I could see a few bubbles around the float it trembled then vanished under the surface up with the rod, I was in god did it go, I got it to the side of the bank but could not get my hands around the fish, so in the water I got and lifted it out I scrambled out i just stood and stared at the fish, it was a Tench a lovely shade of green I had no scales to weigh the fish but looking at him i guessed he was around three pounds the biggest I had ever caught.

I stood trembling with excitement how many more would I catch, the next was even bigger around four pounds, had I found my heaven, i certainly thought so until i hear a shout come here lad and bring the rod with e, no way was I going over there, I made my way through the rhododendron bushes, and hid the rod and climbed up the nearest tree, it was a big old oak, I got to the top and just sat there no one could see me if they looked up I could see the keeper, and there were others I heard the big chap say he wanna have done any hurt sir e was only fishing. I do not want anyone on the estate do you hear Travers do you understand, yes sir he answered he then walked away with the other keepers. I stayed up that tree until they had gone. I caught another two before it was time to go home I got to my bike there was a note attached to the handlebar, it said if you fish the lakes again keep out of sight of the big house, and hide your bike, else where if I catch you I will take the appropriate action, good luck young un I hope we don't cross paths again, it was signed Bob Travers head keeper. I never did and fished it many times, I never saw Travers or heard from him again. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #568 3 Jan 2014 at 10.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #424
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   Old Thread  #567 2 Jan 2014 at 9.22pm  0  Login    Register
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Thanks pete graham is seriously ill, I hope he recovers he has a operation on the 8th jan so we will see his daughter is going to the hospital tomorrow its in Sutton coldfield appreciate your kind words I hope you have a great year. god bless m8
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   Old Thread  #566 2 Jan 2014 at 8.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #565
Happy new year Pete, Wishing Graham a speedy recovery..

Chin up friend...
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   Old Thread  #565 1 Jan 2014 at 2.00pm  0  Login    Register
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Happy new year all, the weather here is atrocious what with the wind not really the weather to be down the woods or in hill country, but when I was younger graham and I would fish in all weather we have sat many times with a big plastic bag around us to keep out the wet and wind, but that was years ago in the sixties we had not got the money in those days but we still caught fish, I remember one night we fished at Acton Burnell we had been set up for about two hours the wind got up and the sky was streaked with lightning, then came the rain, it lashed down the rain was to hard to even get back to our van, we only had umbrellas, we pulled them down right over us and stuck it out and we caught fish tench, mostly around five pounds they were put back without weighing I think it was the worst night I have ever fished .

Another time saw Graham and I up in hill country, we were shooting the ducks, coming in to rest on the trout pools, it started to snow, I said to graham had we better head for home no said he we will be ok. I suppose we were in the middle of a fir wood with the pools down below the tree kept most of the snow off us, the wind got up god it was blowing the duck, still came in I had a big lab at the time his name was blaze, graham had wounded a bird my lab would not come out of the water, the duck kept diving old blaze waited his time up popped the duck and he had him. Graham lets go while we can we put the ducks in our bags, sixteen in all over the fence we got and made our way up the field to the road, god the road was partially blocked we ain't going to get thought that I said good job we had brought grahams land rover, the drifts were at least two ft deep in places then it happened we went into the ditch, what are we going to do now graham we tried digging it out no way would it budge, i'll have to walk to the farm I said to graham, away I went I pulled my coat around me and started to walk then I saw a vehicle coming towards me, it was the council snow plough, he stopped he knew me where ya going at this hour pete, we are stuck I was going to the farm to get the tractor, jump in he said I thought you knew these hills well, I do but we got to greedy shooting the ducks, and left it to late he soon had us on our way ya owe me a pint he said smiling all over his face no probs we both replied.

We got to the nearest pub which was at dorrington, my finger were dropping off bloody hell they were cold, we took the dog with us and sat beside the roaring fire, it was new years eve, and the pub was full we sold all our ducks had another pint and made for home graham invited me in we sat before his fire and both had a glass of malt tomorrow would be another day the start of the new year it was 1982, it seems a long time ago there was a good many more adventures to have over the coming years. I will tell you about them latter, graham and I have been friends over fifty years we have fished and shot together and have got drunk together, but he now lies in a hospital bed seriously ill I have just rang and I am told he is a lot better today he is awaiting another operation and has been in terrible pain, if anything happened to him my wife and i would be broken hearted mind you he is a tough old bugger i'll tell you more latter.
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   Old Thread  #564 27 Dec 2013 at 11.20am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #563
As I have mentioned before I had many friends that were gypsies one such individual was fiddler lock he would go around the local pubs playing his fiddle, especially at Christmas and the new year I can remember him playing the fiddle around the campfire in a place called the berries that is on our village, they would be singing and dancing to the sound of his fiddle. I Was Only a nipper at the time,I would go down and sit with them they bought me sweets treacle toffee in big slabs and apples and oranges.
They were very religious people, I liked old jack he was quite a rogue he taught me to shoot a catapult,he would put a tin on the end of a stick and let me shoot at it until I hit it ya learning he would say, but what I loved most was riding the big hoarse he was brown and white a beautiful animal and so friendly I would ride him around the paths in the berries there was no saddle, I would hold him around his neck or by the mane not once did I fall off, mrs lock lived until she was 108,and I can remember the caravan burning,dolly lock who was a daughter lived to over 100 years old,they lived off the land,I would sit with jack when he was making clothes pegs he would cut two pieces of withy to size then bind a piece of tin around them to hold the top together you never see those pegs around today. I Remember dolly knocking our front door mother would open it hello misses do you want to buy a few pegs or lace today,mum always bought a few pegs,she would be given a posy of flowers thanks bless you misses.
I can also remember the tramps calling saying can you spare a bit of tea for my billie can,they knew were to call mum always gave them a bite to eat and filled there can thank you lovely he would say we would not see him for at least another twelve months they were men of the road. We Also had the knife grinder call he would use his bike to turn the stone that sharpened our knives and axes it cost only pennies you never see them today they have disappeared never to return.

The locks were true romany gypsies,along with the prices,and the stevens,their caravans were beautifully painted,when parked up most had a couple of lurcher dogs tied to the back of the van, they would use these to catch a rabbit or two I went with jack one evening he caught a couple of hares,and a couple of rabbits,they were soon in the pot that hung over the fire. I can still see them in my dreams sitting around the camp fire all smoking the clay pipes they were wonderfull days, alas we will never see the likes again. more a bit latter
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   Old Thread  #563 27 Dec 2013 at 9.49am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #562
Thanks greg very much appreciated have a good one
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   Old Thread  #562 24 Dec 2013 at 8.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #561
Another great episode Pete, well done for sharing mate.

Happy Christmas to you and yours.

Regards

Greg
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   Old Thread  #561 24 Dec 2013 at 9.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #559
I realy thank the both of you two pete,s god bless and have a great christmas
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   Old Thread  #560 24 Dec 2013 at 9.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #559
I realy thank the both of you two pete,s god bless and have a great christmas
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #559 23 Dec 2013 at 11.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #557
Merry Xmas Peter and co. Thanks for another year of tales from yonder.I do love our you Generation lived, and have seen similar in my life time too,, maybe that's why,,

always out doors exploring,, a brilliant life,

Thank you.
Bluepanido
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   Old Thread  #558 23 Dec 2013 at 2.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #557
Greaf stuff
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   Old Thread  #557 22 Dec 2013 at 1.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #556
Christmas is here again let me tell you all about a lake that was supposed to be haunted, the locals would say don't go in them woods tonight you will hear the bells from the church ringing under the lake, the locals believed that a wicked man lived in the village, and was warned that if he did not change his ways his village, would come to a bad end and the story goes that one night there was a huge storm that flooded the valley, where they lived and it drowned all the people living there.

I laughed at such an idea I have been down those woods all hours and I have seen nowt worse than myself. I was determined to have a look myself they only rang on Christmas eve, so it saw me and a pal going in to the woods are yer taking the gun pete, we could have a few of them longtailed uns said Gerald, in his broad Shropshire voice. Well I suppose we could have a couple a piece said I. we waited until old gerry had gone to his local which was the three fishes on our village, he would not be back until midnight and if he came back early we would hear his motor bike so away we went it was not long before we're deep in the woods I would use the four ten tonight it was a webley bolt action gun, Gerald held the light he shone it up into the trees,i picked out a bird, bang it fell to the ground pick them feathers up Gerald leave no evidence. we had six birds for six shots that's enough for tonight it had started to snow and it was coming down quite heavy lets go past the big lake and hear those bells not on yer life he said don't be such a prat I answered theres no such thing as ghost bells, so we made our way down the track towards the lake. On arriving at the path that ran through the woods above the lake, the heavenly bells started to ring, before I could say anything Gerald was away dropping the bag in his haste to get away, I shouted come back Gerald, not on your life he answered. I heard the clang as he got over the the five bar gate at the farm its the quickest mile he had ran for some time.

What did I do I made my way to the side of the lake the bells were chiming in Christmas, they did not come from the lake but from condover church, which is about half a mile away, for some reason the bells seemed to come from the lake, whether it was because the lake was in a valley I don't know as I made my way over the field to towards home I could see the church spire it was all lit up, the bells were ringing out Christmas carols, pete I heard this voice it was Gerald, I binner going there anymore them ghosts i'll have y don't be daft Gerald the bells are ringing from the church over yonder at condover, na they came from the lake I could not make him understand so the story still goes on to this day. On the same lake a few years ago two friends fished the lake on Christmas day when they heard a scream, thinking someone was being mudered they both went to investigate and saw a woman running up through the wood they called to her she turned around and they could see she was bare from the waist up and she was wearing a long black skirt they both shouted stop, we will help you she got over the fence onto the adjacent field they both followed on getting over the fence there was no sign of the women, she had simply vanished there was nowhere for her to hide. Believe or don't believe I knew these chaps well one was x army who was quite level headed the other man called dave who was a good friend, I had no doubt they saw something that should have not been there unfortunately only dave is alive to tell the tale as the other man died a number of years ago. A bit more latter.


I would like to wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and a happy new year. god bless you all pete
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   Old Thread  #556 17 Dec 2013 at 4.49pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #555
I used to fish the river Rea, for years I think I cut my teeth on this old river, when I was a youngster it was strictly private but the farmers used to let us go. There was some nice fish in this small river,i had great sport with the chub,and caught them to over four pounds,I used to get a loaf from the bakery,I would chuck a few pieces of bread in they would go mad for it, the line would straighten and I was in it was great fishing I also caught some lovely roach on the float,trotting down with maggots they were mostly around half a pound but great sport the biggest I caught was two pounds, the river also held some wonderful eels, I would go down at night and ledger a bunch of big lob worms,I would cast it into a bit of slack water under the far bank, the rod tIp would tap tap then over it would go god we had some good eels over three pounds,in those days they would be eaten and I always took a couple home with me.
photo secretpool1-2.jpg
Bag of chub and roach from all those years ago from the river Rea

There was also a few trout,they had been in there for years I looked at a record book that a friend had kept and the fish he had caught from the river,George.was now in his late seventies I was only sixteen he told me stories about those years long gone,and how the river was baliffed,by the many keepers,the biggest trout george had caught was four pounds a beautiful brown trout,he also told me about the salmon,that came up the river to spawn in fact he had caught them up to ten pounds,I said to him did you have permission to fish the river god no he replied my brother and I poached it did you ever get caught I asked not likely if we had we would of been taken to court and given a severe sentence maybe prison poaching when I was young was a big offence and was not tolerated by the landowners I thanked him for the information no problem pete one thing george how did the salmon get over the two weirs that were on the lower part of the river,they came up in the floods well george i have caught one it was only around eight pounds it gave me a good fight on the rod I was using, what did you do with it he said with a wink what do you think I replied I took it home it was eaten.

Thinking back they were wonderful days there were water voles,all along the river king fishers,and little dippers,there was an abundance of wildlife I saw no otters,there was the fox,of course I found the king fishers,nest, in a hole under the bridge and climbed to it, but the rope parted company and I fell in the river, over the years I walked that river for miles and never saw a soul I would tickle the trout,higher up the river they were a deep golden colour and covered in spots they only went to around half a pound but lovely to eat those years have long gone. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #555 12 Dec 2013 at 10.59am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #554
When I was a young lad this time of year was fantastic although we had little money we always had great Christmases people would get together and share things you might have a bit of butter going spare they would swop for some potatoes it was a magical time for us youngsters old sam the keeper would drop us a brace of pheasants some times a big cockeral or maybe a big old goose, I would laugh at my mother feathering a goose she would be covered in feathers they were great days us lads would be away up the fields with a big sack and cut the holly and mistletoe and take it to woods the grocers who gave us a few coppers for our trouble the farmers, always kept a blind eye to our little forays we would go up to the fir wood and see the estate manager and scrounge a Christmas tree or two there was so many cut and stacked ready for collection they would go by train to the cities.

Before myxomatosis I would be up the field with a neighbour of ours a mr davis, I would take my big hob ferret with me he lived in my shirt when we were poaching we would catch a few and would divide them out between the neighbours this one xmas a swan got caught in the overhead power cables which was killed instantly it dropped to the ground some neighbours called merricks, plucked him and he was eaten for xmas dinner, nothing was ever wasted we made quite a lot of money carol singing, I can remember going up to the big hall and singing them a carol we were invited in we stood under this huge tree in the hall we were given mince pie, and asked to sing another carol for the family the squire gave us five pounds between us, bloody hell we thought were rich we divided it between the four of us, my schoolmistress miss owen, asked if I could get her a brace of pheasants no problem I had them by nightfall she gave me a couple of bob I kept all money I made towards buying fishing tackle and maybe a few sweets.
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The ferret



one Christmas I was up at sams give this to yer mam lad he said what is it sam venison I really did not know what it was he explained that it was deer from one of the estates sam was a lovely man who I will never forget as long as I live, he taught me all I know about nature and poaching, as I have said before he was not past doing a bit himself I can still see my mothers face when I gave her this big joint of venison we had it for xmas day it was wonderful lovely and tender sometimes I would go fishing to stokesay pool, but I never caught much in the winter but I loved every minute I did catch a pike of around three pounds this one xmas eve the owner wanted to kill it for eating but I let it go they would eat anything in those days. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #554 7 Dec 2013 at 7.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #553
I went down the woods today with my syndicate I stood under the bows of the old oak trees they are now bare of leaves awaiting the winter snows I managed to walk over to the silver birch trees and stood and thought of all those years ago, it is the same wood I poached, I looked over at the stretch of water that ran down the side of the the wood. The old ivy tree is still there where the big dog fox used to climb and hide in the ivy. it brings back happy memories. You could smell the rotting vegetation the leaves are lying underneath the trees another winter now approaches. I went down to the badger set I just hope they will not get shot they have used this set for generations and although I shoot I love every hair on their bodies there are no farmers in the region with cattle so I just hope they leave this set alone it has around forty holes and is a huge set.
photo 53e86a63-611e-4653-adf5-e36f39b30b44.jpg

My beloved badger
Last Wednesday I took me binoculars, down with me and watched the wood from a short distance while sitting in my car I wondered what was upsetting the pigeon, and duck, a few ducks,
took off from our pool, then I saw the culprit a beautiful dog fox, he looked a picture of health with his winter coat then the small vixen, appeared from out of the undergrowth I suppose they have now mated she has been around for a number of years so she is quite old. She has avoided being shot or hunted she truly is a lucky vixen she must be around 6 years old so that is a good age
for a fox, they either get snared shot or hunted not many make it through the first year of their life I must admit I love the old gentleman of the woods and it would be a shame if the were not there I don't mind seeing one on our shoot.

We only shot around six hours as we are mostly old pensioner and most feel tired after a bit of walking some are crippled like myself and can't walk to far over 500 duck came off our small pool mostly teal I was sitting on my shooting stick by the time they flew over me they were sky high you would be wasting your time even shooting at them but it was nice to see the birds, I also saw a lot of wood cock, there were quite a few shot I spent my time with tony pulling out the pen feather, for the gentlemen that had shot them all in all it was a lovely day out and I feel much better by being there. My poor mate graham is still very poorly and on top of his cancer, he had a bad cold he has his operation on Tuesday so I hope his cold gets better he has to be at Sutton coldfield hospital for 7 30 in the morning so I shall leave here about 5 30 am I am sure this operation will cure him the specialist said it would I don't know what I would do without him we have fished and shot together for at least fifty years.
well that's it for now more latter.
photo 3cfd8728-6e76-4b81-b071-e91d6d33f01f_zpsefcf2bdf.jpg

One of tonys dogs
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   Old Thread  #553 1 Dec 2013 at 11.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #552
I started to fish the little pool but I was always on my guard and watching to see if the keepers came. Most days I had seen the owner of the pool riding his big stallion around the fields but he came no where near the small pool i caught some nice fish I would watch the duck, circling over head before they came in to feed on the potatoes, the keepers had put in around the shallow side of the lake. I was around sixteen at the time it was in the late fifties I watched a couple of shoots they had on the pool, there was around sixteen guns made up of gentlemen, and their ladies, they shot a good many ducks mostly mallard. I stood behind the big hedge in the old oak wood I might just get the chance of a couple of mallard, if any came down where I was hidden, it was a bit chancy as there were a number of keepers, present I could see old bell, amongst them and old Gerry Haiz, and his under keepers they had dogs, picking the ducks, up I managed a couple and I was away I had seen enough for now I was determined to have a go at a latter date.

I had a chat with a friend of mine a chap called Harris, he was game to have a go it was now the middle of December and any surplus game, would be sold I had a few orders for Christmas, for pheasants, and duck, so one afternoon saw johnny and myself hidden in the reeds waiting for the duck to arrive in those days there was no sporting shots, we were there for one thing ducks, we would shoot them on the water and wade out and fetch the dead ones we had just shot around sixteen, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a dog, god john run its Gerry and his dog, I don't think he had seen us until we ran stop he shouted or ill shoot, we had just got over the fence into the wood when there was Bang Bang he shot over our heads looking back could I see an old tractor with two other men coming our way dump the ducks, john hide them over the railway line we both went until we came to the old shooting range that was used in the war by dads army, we manage to squeeze down behind the sandbags, and there we lay I did have a look towards the main road and saw the police landrover stationery by the gate, I could see the sgt, and a constable, we stayed there for at least two hours when we left it was dark. John went back and collected the duck i'll have a couple for my parents if that's ok pete take what you want, we poached to live in those days. I went over the fields to our house and hung the ducks, in the shed, peter the sgt been here looking for you said my mother, I told him you were out down town, you're going to get caught one day dad just laughed but we never did this is how we lived. next week we would be after the holly and mistletoe and a few pheasants i'll tell you more later

photo a312ce30-643e-4dcf-a8dc-3db94f7bd8cb.jpg
the poached pheasent
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   Old Thread  #552 25 Nov 2013 at 11.14am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #551
What a couple of weeks we have had no fishing I did get down to my syndicate shoot I have not seen so many ducks for many years mallard and teal there must have been at least four hundred came off our small pool but my mind was not on my shooting , all I could think about was my poor mate graham he has cancer. I took him to see a specialist at Sutton Coldfield last week well my grandson drove my car he has to have a operation within two weeks its a very rare form of cancer but it is very curable so he should be ok he will only be in three days at the most but we will all miss him very much I have fished with graham for fifty years and can't think of fishing with anyone else.
photo 30246ad8-1659-4546-a427-30808dc9e7cd.jpg
Tony and his dogs he helps me run the shoot and another member rodger

In the mean time I have had a few pictures of fish that my bailiff friend has sent to me he knows I take a keen interest in the vermin control on our river all the shots are of barbell most show signs of attack and most have had parts of their tails bitten off. But they survived in all my long life i have never seen so many otters they seem to be everywhere the difference is years ago they were very shy animals but today they are semi tame and are not frightened of humans. Something really wants doing but there would be a human out cry if they were touched after speaking to a good many of the general public when I have been fishing most have been on the side of the otter. And they honestly think he is a lovely cuddly animal, and that is also taught in schools, you have only to look at tarka the otter or ring of bright water two films that have been shown in schools, I have loved nature all my life and will admit the otter, is a most beautiful animal, when I was young you never saw many and then they had the hounds, that controlled the creature not a very nice way to die the river ran red with the animals blood, the problem is there are to many people that think they know it all, and are blinkered to any damage the otter causes I don't think an answer will be seen in my lifetime but we will have to wait and see I am sorry about me ranting on as it has all been said before. I will put a few of these photos up so all can see hopefully I will get back to my stories soon I was going to tell you all how I got on poaching the duck on the small lake I mentioned in my last thread but that can wait for today. more to come latter

photo a2fd2c0b-2346-4d10-aaa1-c17d26483494.jpg

photo 4de7a283-b7a8-4ca7-bfc6-b48a923c9fa4.jpg

photo d9a9a600-7aae-43dc-ad3f-3a6401084aad.jpg
photo c86a623e-b9f5-4026-9910-d9598bc01f38.jpg

photo 56b5e4a8-feda-4446-8d96-e7ce00f0ce61.jpg

Shows the damage to their tails I have a few more photos but that will do for now
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   Old Thread  #551 7 Nov 2013 at 11.42am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #544
Well before I fished Berrington I fished another lake that has now disappeared it was part of a big estate and strictly private just like most lakes were in those days. So the only way was to poach it, if you got caught you certainly would end in court. My tackle then was a bit crude old cane rods plus the tank aerials but they got me by, I knew the small lake held one or two good fish mainly big Rudd and a few nice perch I had asked owner permission but I was always refused he would shout dunner let me catch on my farm or I will shoot y even his workers were frightened of him he was a miserable old bugger. I remember two land girls who worked for him say he made them cry, but I was not frit of him I was determined to have a go my young mates said I would get caught but I took no notice.
I watched the water for a couple of weeks to see if any one came near I did see the keeper come with a chap with horse and cart they started to empty the contents in the pool I found out latter they were rotten potatoes apparently he used them to get the duck feeding and they certainly did they came in there hundreds the potatoes stank a bit but I soon got used to it I would fish the lake in the morning as that was the quietest time. I float fished using bread paste and a few maggots that I got from the fishing shop they would let us youngster have six pennies worth they always put them in a brown paper bag I would transfer them into a box when I got home.

The first time I fished the lake I made swim in the reeds that grew along the side of the lake I can remember casting out i was shaking with excitement I sat quietly and watched the float it suddenly wobbled then disappeared under the surface I struck into something solid it certainly put a fair bend in the old tank aerial rod, it took me some time to get it to the side i had no landing net in those days so it was matter of picking it up and laying on the grass to unhook this monster well it was to me I was only a young un. I could not believe my eyes I was sure it was a carp as I has seen a picture in a book it was about twelve inches long I would look it up when I got home I was really exited the next fish was a Rudd it was a most beautiful fish I caught another three before it was time to go.
photo fishing004.jpg
like the one I had years ago


I left it another week before I went back I was quite excited I had looked the fish up in my book it was indeed a common carp, I set my rods up and moved into the same swim the first fish was a rudd with lovely bronze flanks a red fins it must of weighted over a pound I had just cast again when I see two men coming down the field towards me I could see they were policemen, how do they know I am here I had been very carful not to leave any signs. I could also see the old codger from the farm he was on horse back they were a good field from where I was hidden, which gave me time to get myself together I was away up the field then into a small wood I did hear shouting but I never looked back I crossed the next field and hid under a railway bridge, they were not to far behind as I could hear them shouting I made my way across the railway and hid in a wood called the Berries I climbed the nearest oak tree after hiding my tackle under some old broom bushes. I stayed up that tree for some time they followed me into the wood but lost me although I could see them after about an hour they packed up looking for me and went back the way they had come god that was a bit to close for comfort I managed to get home by crossing the fields. I would go again but give it a rest for a few weeks I might even have some of those ducks with my old air rifle they were mallard and would make a good meal for family and friends ill tell you more how I got on a bit latter. more to come
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   Old Thread  #550 3 Nov 2013 at 10.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #549
Thanks Brian and martin very much appreciated
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   Old Thread  #549 3 Nov 2013 at 9.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #548
still a pleasure reading your thread pete. hope you are well.
second that
keep it going Pete
M
Brian_Woolsey
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   Old Thread  #548 3 Nov 2013 at 2.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #546
a bit shook up? i bet thats an understatement!!

at the time, we were scared ****less!!
it was only afterwards that we could joke about it.

still a pleasure reading your thread pete. hope you are well.
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   Old Thread  #547 3 Nov 2013 at 11.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #545
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   Old Thread  #546 3 Nov 2013 at 11.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #545
Brian I can imagine it and how you felt, we were a bit shook up seeing this big white missile with a red tip it was absolutely huge as it past the boat you could of cast over it that's how close it was to the boat if it had hit we would not been here to tell the tale although he did have life jackets and such it was bit
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   Old Thread  #545 3 Nov 2013 at 11.02am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #543
this one day when in the distance we saw what I could only describe as a big white missile coming rapidly towards us it was a bit late to move it missed us by ft bloody hell

oh pete that made me chuckle reading that!
my brother & I used to fish an army firing range, anyway one day we ignored the red flags because the weather was spot on,
laying on the shingle in the dark whilst tracer fire flew over our heads in the dark was a bloody scary experience i can tell you.
almost 2 hours we lay there, scared to lift our heads up & hoping they didn't hit our rod tips!!!

we did bag a few codling though!!
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   Old Thread  #544 3 Nov 2013 at 10.41am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #543
I told you all about the top pool at berrington anyone caught fishing there would be in real trouble as sir peter Allcroft fed his ducks on the water, I had a good relationship with sir peter and graham and I regularly rowed his wife and children around the pool at berrington. I asked him about the possibility of fishing the top pool his answer was always no until this one day he relented but keep away in the winter, and when I start to feed the duck, yes sir said i. It was a bit of a job to get to the side of the water as it was very badly overgrown but we did manage to make a swim we started fishing with the float and caught mostly small roach, we did catch one or two tench, to around four pounds they fought well on light tackle but the perch, were big I don't think we had one under two pounds and we caught them up to three pounds, the problem was the pike, the place was full of jacks this one day we caught over twenty one on spinner it was really good fun we did catch one at ten pounds. But it was the big pool that we had some surprises we fished with a sliding float with maggot as bait the roach, were beautiful we caught them to over two pounds we also caught bream, to eight pounds plus perch, to three pounds we had to be careful with the perch, they seemed to get the bends if we brought them up to the surface to quickly.
photo b330d96d-b222-478f-80c2-c294a1553ff7.jpg
Rods out at berrington absolutely years ago pig pong balls for indicators

All the years I fished Berrington I never once saw a carp, then I was told by members of the syndicate that several carp had been hooked and lost when fishing for the Bream. I know my friend Bernard weaver caught one at thirty three pounds I said to him where had they come from no one seemed to know they mysteriously arrived overnight I certainly did not complain although I did worry about disease, some of the members wanted them out but that was a no no because of the great depth of the pool. I had got have a go I remember struggling down to the pool this one lovely morning bernards, brother Charlie, was fishing and pushed my barrow too the swim that I fanced. I was certainly struggling with my arthritis, but that was not going to give up I remember fishing two rods one to the Lily bed and one beside the reed bed, boilies were the bait the right hand rod was away within minutes I was really shaking as I played the fish away from the bed of lilies god did this fish fight I got it to the net it was a lovely marked mirror, it weight in at twenty three pounds, not long after I had another of twenty pounds I ended up with two carp, and twelve tench, not one under five pounds it was a great mornings fishing. more to come latter
photo Image41.jpg

I think this is one from berrington
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   Old Thread  #543 29 Oct 2013 at 10.39am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #542
When graham and I were younger we liked a bit of sea fishing I ran a club and we went with the Endeavor group, at Aberystwyth we went out approx twenty miles Vic was the captain and the owner of the three boats, he ran, he certainly knew his fishing. I loved fishing for the porbeagle sharks, and the tope, we caught shark, to over two hundred pounds I peronaly caught tope, to forty five pounds that fish got me into the British tope club we had some wonderful days with vic I think I told you about one such day we were fishing the targets that the air force and navy used for practice. vic would radio the authorities and tell them we were fishing in the area and would get the all clear. we were fishing, away this one day when in the distance we saw what I could only describe as a big white missile coming rapidly towards us it was a bit late to move it missed us by ft bloody hell it was huge if it had hit us we would of had a big hole through the boat it was about six ft above the sea vic was straight on the phone playing hell with the authorities we listened to the swearing and such he was told no one had let them know we were fishing on the range, poor old vic had forgot to tell them never mind we had to move out of the area I suppose a miss was good as a mile.
photo Scan1.jpg
a young me with a good tope
This one day we were fishing when this gentleman collapsed with a heart attack we tried to get him back but it was to late he had gone so vic got on the radio to base and got the helicopter to fetch the body after that no one felt like fishing it spoilt the day. We could not get to port until the tide came in so we carried on we caught fish but no one had their mind on the fishing infact I was glad when I got home this happened twice over the years very unpleasant. We fished with another skipper from anglesey we were out with him one day when we were nearly turned over by a big oil tanker god it was huge as it passed us. There was some language between our skipper and the captain it turned out he was Russian he seem to not care a toss. I loved to fish the wrecks off Anglesey we caught some good fish including cod conger and of course dog fish they were good days we fished a least once a month maybe more.
photo Scan2.jpg
Another tope
Graham and I carried on fishing for the bream at the time we were fishing berrington, we made some impressive catches from this small water we had perch to three pounds bream to over nine and some beautiful roach we had the water to ourselves for a few years, until I was asked to if we would like the water to run a syndicate I leaped at the chance I had a few well known anglers in the syndicate one was Dennis Kelly, known for his big bream exploits it was on this water that I fished with Jack Hylton and Bill quinlan I have told you about that in my first part of my stories . there was another small lake above Berrington pool that was strictly private I will tell you more about that latter.
photo Image37.jpg

A Bream from berrington years ago
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   Old Thread  #542 23 Oct 2013 at 10.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #541
I can well remember the hay making when I was a youngster we as boys we would roll and fight in it. The sun seemed to shine every day, in the holidays from school, we would be either swimming, in the river or birds nesting, or fishing, we had a camp beside the river in some rhododendron bushes it was well hidden from prying eyes we would catch the trout, and grill them over a fire made in a empty oil drum. We would call at mr prices farm and find some chicken eggs then boil them in the river water in a old tin. They were wonderful days our parents trusted us and we would be out all day walking the woods birds nesting or climbing the trees to the rooks nests we all carried a catapult we would have great fun shooting at old tins and such. I became quite a good shot I used to hang about with a lad called Jackie bounds he was not a bad shot until the one day he shot at a pigeon and missed and broke a bedroom window god we did run I can see this big chap chasing us now we used to call him dummy as he could not speak but he could run and he caught us and took both us to the police station we had our catapults confiscated but over the years I got to know this man very well and really got on with him.

We soon made another catapult it was part of growing up a rag arsed young lad with the catapult in full view sticking out of his back pocket we did shoot one or two of mr prices chickens he had hundreds free range god they were tough old birds, mum would boil them before roasting they were not much better I did not shoot any more talk about old boilers it put me off chicken and I have never liked it since. We learned to shoot the rabbits, before maxomatosis we would all gather when they cut the corn, the field would be full of rabbits we all waited until they came to the last bit of standing corn the rabbits, would bolt for safety us lads would chase them and knock them on the head, after they had cut the last bit of corn, there would be a pile of rabbits, at times over a hundred you would be given a couple by the farmer and the rest would be sold at market I would hide a couple and fetch them latter in those early years we lived on rabbit.

I fished with a lad called Ray Evans we fished a small pool at stokesay castle, the farmer would let us young lads go
we would float fish it I used a porcupine quill and used bread paste, or bread flake, as bait. The pool was covered in weed so you fished in the holes, between the weeds we caught rudd big fish you could not get you hands around them. We did not know the significance about the fish we were catching as we were only young lads some of those fish were over three pounds maybe four. It was not until years latter that we realized the potential in this very old pool.
It was soon snapped up by a gentleman called valentine he wrote in angling times about the pool and the fish in it but he did not last long I really wondered if it was the publicity but it became vacant and graham and I started to fish the pool with permission from the owner. I will tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #541 16 Oct 2013 at 5.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #536
I really am pissed off we can't go fishing my mate is still not well and I was at the orthopaedic hospital yesterday to see a specialist about my ankle, it is worn out and they won't operate. So I have got to be fitted with some sort of boot that will help me walk, that's enough of that so lets get on with my stories about days long gone. Come with me into the hills of Shropshire and walk the paths of my ancestors, and catch the trout, from the hilltop streams, or catch the humble rabbit, or poach the wild pheasants, that have strayed from the estate down in the valley.
Or come with graham and I on a September night, and watch the ducks, come and feed off the grains of wheat left in the stubble field. The farmer had left some bales to make a hide we would snuggle up with the dog, between us, The bales kept the cold wind away, you could hear the wind whine and whistle as it went through the tree tops in the wood behind us. There was a small pool behind the wood the duck would come in their hundreds they would circle around before they came in to land , I watched them coming in the distance. As they circled over our heads up popped graham he took a right and left then it was my turn I managed one then the geese, gave away their presence we could see them in the distance skein after skein made its way towards us Canada, and greylag, I sent the dog to fetch those ducks, that had been shot and waited for the geese.

What a night we managed twelve geese, and ten duck, all mallard, graham got the landrover as we loaded the birds. We watched a fox traversing down the distance hedge row after a free meal no doubt We had to visit the farmer on the way home to drop him a couple of birds, he always asked us in and we usually sat before a roaring fire with a class full of malt whisky, in our hand we have gone from there many time worse for wear , they were wonderful days I would tickle the trout in the hilltop stream as it tumbled down to the distant valley, they were beautiful spotted brownies, none were over half a pound but lovely eating I would catch four or five then make my down to the valley and home. I loved the freedom of the hills, there was so much to see the buzzard, or the sparrow hawk, the fox,. the occasional grouse, what more could one ask but now I cannot walk those hills and I only have my memories from a time long ago. more latter
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   Old Thread  #540 13 Oct 2013 at 9.03pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #539
Thanks greg appreciate your remarks
gregrot
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   Old Thread  #539 10 Oct 2013 at 10.05pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #538
Good to see your still going Pete

Keep it up mate
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #538 10 Oct 2013 at 9.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #537
Hi no I never fished fenemere a friend had pinky at forty pounds I was asked once about a membership but that was years ago
charlatan
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   Old Thread  #537 9 Oct 2013 at 0.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #536
hi pete just wondering did you ever get to fish fennymere the home of pinky and perky what a water that once was an old fishing mate of mine from way back has told me it is know a syndicate and he is one of its members lucky fella i realise its not the water it was but what history thats one i wouldnt of minded guesting oh yes
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   Old Thread  #536 8 Oct 2013 at 10.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #535
We have not been fishing as my mate graham has not been to well since his operation, so for now it is a no no I can't go by myself as my legs are quite bad at times and I do fall down. like I did last week I fell on concrete what a mess bruised from my hip to the knee.
photo cef55a84-f3a9-4869-9bb8-328bf91aae80.jpg
one of the woods I poached and watched the wild life
I can't even go down my beloved woods, I spent most of my young life in the woods there is so much so much to see I can just sit and listen to the different birds or sit and watch the badger set I have been very lucky to have been able to see the wildlife its been a privilege to be allowed in some of the woods by the owners or gamekeepers a few years ago it would not of happened as I upset a few with my poaching, but that was years ago no need to poach these days as you can buy a pheasant or to quite cheaply from the market.

I now reminisce about those days that have long gone, when I was young I would be out fishing or down the woods getting the family a meal It was very hard after the war the wages, were not that much but one thing everyone did was to help each other as I mentioned earlier in my stories you could leave your back door open some time we came back from shopping to find a freshly baked loaf, had been left or maybe some homemade butter, We all helped one another. Before the myxomatosis came we lived on rabbit, I loved rabbit pie, we had that most sundays for our dinner. I soon learned how to get a rabbit or two I would be up early I knew where to go the keepers, would have set their rabbit snares I would take a few rabbits before he was around reset the snare and be away, i would bring six or seven back home I would gut and skin the rabbits then share them out with the neighbors sometimes they would give me sixpence god I thought I was rich it is surprising what you could buy with a sixpence.
photo ea319703-9e02-48bd-bb3c-9576c7b9ea50.jpg
The hedge rows covered in gorse in summer
They were lovely days we would walk miles in the summer, as boys we all had a katty in our pockets we would shoot a few rabbits that cutched, in the big nettle patches, in early summer we would be away birds nesting there was more variety of birds in those days sadly missing today. Farming methods have not done our wild life any good. When I was a youngster you would see loads of Hares in the fields I have watched their mating ritual it realy made me laugh the males would fall out over the females it looked just like a boxing match, in our area today you are lucky to see one they seem to have vanished I have been on a few hare drives and have seen over fifty shot on one stand the estates made quite a bit of revenue the Hares would be sent by Train to the big cities or game dealers. A bit more latter

photo 44e806bf-b25f-4b79-a30a-9c9ac7230ea3.jpg

The hedgerows we would birds nest in the spring
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #535 1 Oct 2013 at 11.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #534
November and October are my favourite time of the year I love the woods when all the leaves change colour winter is approaching fast I can stand in the wooded vale, and just listen to the birds and other wildlife fungus grows under the trees and some grow on the trees, there's been plenty of berries, to feed the birds, and some animals, it won't be long before the little dormouse,, will curl up in her nest and sleep the winter through. It does not matter where you look you will see the nut shells below the trees where the squirrel and others have had their fill you can smell the decay in the wood as leaves rot away .
photo d0436ee2-ed89-4c7f-a781-a5e514308c3e.jpg
The fungus clings to the tree
Next month you will hear the yap of the dog fox as he looks for a mate I have listened to them from my house, you can hear their call on a calm night. They will couple within the next few weeks the cubs. will be born march or april, I have seen them in February. but that's when we had mild winters, as we walk across the fields and the evening closes in you will see old brock huddled up in the fields eating the many worms,he finds. The rabbit, runs for the hedge we have disturbed him feeding on the succulent grass it won't be long before the keeper and his lad will be here with his nets and ferrets, unless the poacher, had been around and caught them first.
photo badgerpa_2368029b.jpg

old brock would eat the worms

I have been out on a Novembers night, away I would go with my gun, wrapped in an old sack, with bag on my back I knew the keepers, would be in the pub, so it was a time to poach the pheasants, down the woods, It was an easy job I took a friend with me a lad called john ledington, he was a fair shot himself, we had shot the duck from the honey meadow, many times until one night we were discovered by the keeper. We were never caught but he found the ducks, where I had hidden them so we never ventured there again for a few weeks. No it was down the woods tonight john would shine the light I would do the shooting, we would move from the feed ride deeper into the wood. The trees were loaded with roosting birds we would be away before the keeper had gone to bed we used the sack that covered my gun to carry the birds. we made our way to my home and hung the pheasants along the beam how many john I have counted twenty. it was one in the morning when john made his way home with brace of birds, we would go again but for now we had enough, they would be shared with our neighbours and freinds those left would be sold. a little more latter
photo 8436ea74-4ee2-44c9-bbde-4debda78fea6.jpg
The keeper will be out with his ferrets
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #534 25 Sept 2013 at 11.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #531
I met a chap in our local pub who owned a lovely lake, not very far from my home he gave us permission to fish the lake, he told me there was some good carp, in the water. It was before the bolt rig was invented. The lake was covered in weed there was few holes you could fish, through. We had a look and decided to have a go I had a word with dick walker, about the best way to fish the water, and what bait may work we started to fish the lake, using bread flake, bread paste, flavored with honey, and the humble maggot, cat, food made into paste mixed with bread, we started to catch some lovely chub, that had been stocked into the lake god, they were big seven pounds was about the biggest we caught. I can well remember graham catching seven chub, in one session not one was under six pounds I think the biggest was seven pounds.
photo 169e4777-318b-4974-ba3a-15e3dfae5a95.jpg

one of the first carp I caught there

Graham could no longer come fishing because of his work load. I had a friend that worked with me his name was George Kimberly, he was a nice chap so I took him along, i hooked my first carp in his company on floating crust he snagged me in the weed bed, I tried to extract him from the weeds it was hopeless so the next best thing was to wade to the weed bed. It was around four feet deep but you could not get you legs through the thick weed, I am afraid we lost him. We tried all day to catch another but failed we did manage to catch a few Tench, but not very big I think we will pull some of this weed, out I said to George, he was all for it we arranged to meet the following Saturday, we arrived armed with a rake head and some rope, we managed to clear quite a nice swim, we will give it a go tomorrow George, and we did and managed to catch our first carp, on floating crust he was seventeen pounds we were over the moon we never had another that day and packed up late in the evening.
photo d0e43ccc-38a2-4a9c-8494-ff3b6a61ba39.jpg

We were only young size did not matter

The only bite alarms I had were the ones dick walker, gave me. George had none and used a doe bobbin on his line between reel and but ring I did have my Mitchell 300 I would put them on the back wind, god i rapped my knuckles a few times but it was worth it we started to catch a few nice fish we were both young but we soon learned we found the average depth was around five ft, I think fishing that lake was the happiest time of my life it did not matter what size fish we caught we loved every minute fishing there. We never saw a soul only the gamekeeper who would come and have a chat the place was heaving with pheasants, and I never touched one. I will continue latter.
photo 339b76b3-2572-4c6a-a362-0aa14a13dbdf.jpg
Another from years ago
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #533 23 Sept 2013 at 10.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #532
Thanks I really appreciate your remarks
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   Old Thread  #532 23 Sept 2013 at 7.57pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #531
superb reading great articles by petethecrip proper fishin keep em coming fella couple of lads i know fished ellsmere for the bream early seventies had some really big fish out for that era to they were days
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   Old Thread  #531 22 Sept 2013 at 12.45pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #529
I am hoping we will be out after the barbell this next week I will have to see how my mate gets on after his operation.

I was reminiscing yesterday with a good friend about the lake I poached all those years ago. As I have said myself and graham had the syndicate on the Lake for many years Bernard, our other mate was also member as well infact it was Bernard and my self that caught the first carp, out of the water, I had seen what looked like carp feeding in the lily beds so I decided to feed a clear spot not far from the bed of lilies, we had already built some swims out of pallets so it was bern and myself who fished this swim for the first time although there was room for graham he unfortunately had to work on the saturday morning so could not make it I suppose it was around two in the morning when the carp, started to show in our swim and it looked if they were on our bait it was not long before Berns indicator shot up to the but ring, he lifted the rod and he was in i can still remember landing that fish, and the excitement it caused as we peered into the big landing net we could not believe our eyes it was a beautifully marked mirror, it weighed in at Twenty seven pound plus we just sat there we had proved there were carp in the lake, it was the only one that night but there was more to follow.
photo 7d40f6fb-9f1d-4a4f-803c-3188b4976648.jpg
The first common I caught from the lake on the white pop up this was years ago

The next sessions was done by Graham, and Bernard in the same swim I was away on holiday and unfortunately the both blanked but graham, was nearly eaten alive by mozzies, and ended up in Bernards kitchen having calamine lotion rubbed all over his back and arms I don't think I had ever seen such a mess and that was a week later, and it put graham, off fishing the lake for a week or two. The next session was further up the lake I baited with hemp and maize three times a week a little bit often not huge quantities. Bern, set up in the swim next to me, I fished one rod just two feet out dropping it in the margin I used a white chocolate homemade pop up and fed a handful of hemp, around the hook bait the other hook bait was maize. I suppose it was about two thirty when the rod with my pop up on was away it took about ten minutes to subdue the fish I shouted for Bern but he was fast asleep so I weighed it at twenty two pounds plus it was a lovely looking common I did not want to sack it so I took a photo and returned it to the water.
photo 55895b57-563b-465a-bde3-b6b41f22e2aa.jpg
The first mirror I had from the lake you can tell it was years ago by the photo

Bern blanked that night but the following week we both caught he had a nice common, twenty plus I had a big mirror, that was also twenty three plus god we were doing well I did wonder how long it would be before others found out where we were fishing and what we were catching. I can remember the first thirty I had we never publicized any that we caught, but it soon got around the grapevine that we were catching some good fish and it was not long before the offers came to fish the water we could not compete but I was bailiff and could still fish the lake I will tell you more about the lake latter, more to come
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   Old Thread  #530 21 Sept 2013 at 9.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #529
I feel I must mention our friend the bailiff Rodger he is a fantastic angler and catches some huge specimens the latest big fish are worth a mention I have known rodg for a number of years most of his fish come from short evening sessions he is a very knowledgeable angler I have mentioned him before in my stories so here is his latest big Barbel
photo 5bd10ff6-0b93-4d76-a23e-76ff80a9b206.jpg

A wonderfull fish caught by Rodger

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Another biggie two of his biggest fish this year

He really deserves these fish as he realy suffers with his illness and never complains well done rodg keep them coming

More stories to come latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #529 18 Sept 2013 at 10.02am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #523
We will have to leave the barbel for the time being, as my mate has an operation, today he will soon get over it and maybe next week we will continue our fishing, with all this rain it should flush the river, improving our chance to catch one of the biggies, I know they are there as I have peronaly caught one which weighed twelve and a quarter pounds I had three doubles that morning so it is a matter of time before we put one on the bank. what we like about the swim its not far to walk and we park the car on the road above the swim and graham hands the rods and such down to me we are up and fishing within ten minutes.
photo 2f19c045-a06c-4d2b-9153-f3a37c9dee17.jpg
Another big barbell caught at night

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A lovely barbell caught at night

When I was a young man there were no barbel in the river only roach chub bream and pike and of course dace when dace fishing the pike, would scythe through the shoals, at times we would put a live bait out under a big pike, bung it would not be there for long before the float was towed across the surface before vanishing beneath the water the fish would be on and i would play him to the side they were mostly around ten to fifteen pounds, and were great fun to catch, another way was to use dead baits and ledger them I have had a fair bit of success using that method there was some big pike, caught up to thirty odd pounds but I was never lucky enough to catch one that size. When I did a bit of poaching I have had big pike strike while I was roach, fishing and have ,lost a few big pike, So I would take another rod with me and used it to fish a live bait, you would hook one and they would tail walk across the surface, leaving a trail of silver spray. I would land it then put it back you were always on edge incase
the game keeper, caught me it was not nice fishing it was many years later when I eventually got permission to fish the lake, graham and I were over the moon and had some fantastic weekends fishing for the pike we used dead baits and would catch at least ten pike, in a morning they were beautifully marked fish the biggest would be around twenty pounds but we lost a lot bigger fish.
photo 4d137db4-c18f-4c34-b6d8-4b7ee56c2ac8.jpg
A nice coloured pike
Thinking back that was in the middle sixties I was eventually offered the lease and formed a syndicate which graham, and myself ran for a number of years it was fantastic fishing and I caught fish I did not know existed in the lake and that was Tench, I caught them to nine pounds plus the roach, fishing was something else graham and myself caught eight in one evening all over the magical two pounds this was in the sixties we did not own a good camera we did not have the money to buy one our scales, were the spring balance type they seemed quite accurate i know friends that fish the same lake it does not seem to fish like it did the tench, seemed to have vanished there are plenty of bream and I believe a roach was caught over three pounds the pike do get caught but not like the biggies we managed to catch all those years ago well that's another story. more later
Brian_Woolsey
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   Old Thread  #528 17 Sept 2013 at 5.25pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #527
with the rain we're getting, it should get that flush through pretty soon!!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #527 17 Sept 2013 at 5.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #524
Hi Brian yes same swim its realy hard at the moment it could do with a good flush I haven't landed one of the biggies as yet but I will before long thanks brian appreciated .
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   Old Thread  #524 17 Sept 2013 at 4.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #523
nice fish pete, well done.

same swim as before??
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #523 17 Sept 2013 at 4.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #522
We have been barbel fishing once again what a day it absolutely poured with rain it was very hard fishing we came home early as graham has to go into hospital in the morning for a small operation I did manage to winckle one out not big but it gave me some satisfaction as no one else caught and there was a few fishing today. more stories latter

photo 1de6c860-9d81-4c0e-b679-48e0d23b03bc.jpg
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #522 16 Sept 2013 at 12.32pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #519
It has been busy week end graham and myself went barbel fishing on Friday we never expected much as the river was to low it wants a bit of fresh water. After sitting there for a number of hours we were just deciding what to do ie go home or stay when the top of my rod hooped over, I just managed to grab the rod before it was dragged in I had taken my eyes of it momentarily the fish took off down stream I managed to get it back towards the net, but it was having none of it. The fish took line from my reel I tightened the clutch as far as I dared and it still took line it was making for the weir that was upstream from where I was standing. I said to graham this is a good fish I did wonder if I had hooked a salmon as the bait was halibut pellets a friend of ours caught one that weighed eighteen pounds on the same bait the fish, stayed very deep and never showed once I did manage to get him towards the net and thought we had won the day but it was not to be he took off into the middle of the river the line went slack and he was gone behind me was an audience I think they were more disappointed than myself looking at the line after it was a clean break not at the hook but further up the hook link well that's fishing.
photo 069ba768-cada-4940-9bc5-171c67bf5965.jpg

A good barbel from the weir

Saturday we went to the game fair it was not a bad day I took my mobility scooter, I spent a few quid I bought a new landing net for my barbel ,fishing and a new coat and a few odds and ends, a good day was had by all and it managed to stay dry but unfortunately graham was not to well he goes into hospital Wednesday for a small operation I will take him and fetch him back I realy think he did to much walking as he is seventy seven and it took its toll, but he now feels a lot better so weather permitting we will be away fishing tomorrow, it was nice to meet a few friends at the show that we had not seen for a number of years we all did a bit of reminiscing about the past we all fished and shot together a number of years ago so it was nice to share a few stories some good and some not

I had some wonderful times with these friends but that was many years ago I was young and the world was my oyster nothing worried me I would be away fishing most weekends that was with graham we fished for the big Bream that inhabited the big meres at ellesmere Shropshire as I have said before in part one of my stories we caught some truly big bream for that era that led to our friendship with Dick walker who really inspired my fishing. well that's it for now more latter.

photo recentlychanged2.jpg
A big bream from ellesmere
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   Old Thread  #521 12 Sept 2013 at 9.31pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #519
Thanks Rob shame you wont be there thanks for writing to keith ken has also had a word with him we will catch up some time
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   Old Thread  #520 12 Sept 2013 at 8.02pm  0  Login    Register
good to speak to you today pete, keep up the good work
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   Old Thread  #519 10 Sept 2013 at 6.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #518
Well we have been after the barbel once again its been very hard with the river so low, but I did manage one don't look at my mouth its caused by smoking a pipe for forty five years they thought I had suffered a stroke I have had numerous tests but thank god all negative i'll write more stories latter so here is the photo.

photo 0e899ad4-bc2e-48ee-8491-11f7a20e7636.jpg

Barbel caught today been very hard river very low

photo 300012cc-5c8b-4e2a-b1fe-86cd2094c63c.jpg

The swim only using one rod I mostly use two
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #518 7 Sept 2013 at 11.02am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #517
Autumn is nearly on us once again I suppose i was around twelve years old when I met my old friend Sam, he was a gamekeeper who lived in a cottage deep in the woods with his dear old wife. They were both so kind to me over the period I knew them it was quite by chance I met old Sam, i was up the woods trying to get a pheasant or two he was watching every move I made he was hidden behind a big tree, the first thing I heard was his voice you like a bit of shooting, do you young man, it was to late to run he had me, not my pheasants, I hope he had a big grin on his face no sir I answered. He had a very kindly face but you could see that life had been hard for him he had worked as a keeper most of his life.

I shall not say much about Sam as I have already told you about him in part one of my stories one thing I can say he taught me so much about life, and nature. He taught me about the birds. and the animals that roam our countryside, I have never been afraid of the dark. Sam would say theres nowt to hurt you in those woods and fields only another human, and he was right I have always felt comfortable when in the woods, by myself it was a regular thing to be out at night poaching the pheasants, or catching the brown trout, I never saw any one worse than myself I did see the keepers. If I had been discovered and then the chase was on I was young and could run, I was not a bad climer, and hid up a few trees ,i was never caught, I can well remember one night I was after the trout, from the river which ran through the woods, and fields, belonging to the estate, when I heard the dogs in the distance as they came nearer I knew it was old Bell, the keeper, and his helpers I had caught a few trout and put them in the bag on my back and I was away rod in hand I waded through the water, to the other side them made for the grounds that surrounded the blind school. I could hear a bit of shouting and looking back across the river I saw a flashing blue light it was the police land rover, I thought now were to, I ran through the grounds which belonged to the hall over the wall, then over the road and ended up in a big garden, with a number of greenhouses, over the garden I went and dived head first into a big greenhouse, it had not been used for years, and was quite overgrown inside, so I got down and crawled through what felt like old raspberry bushes and there I stayed.
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bells river all over grown today

As my eyes became used to the darkness I could see another door at the other end. So if i was discovered I could be away through that door I heard the landrover, door being shut and I bit of talking I just lay there I could not see who it was but they were searching the grounds I thought oh bugger I have had it, then this big old lab, nearly walked over me god was I scared there must of been at least six looking for me I thought this dog will surely give me away but he did not after about half an hour they moved away. I was out the other side found my bike I had hid up the fields and I was away I dared not cycle on the road so went across the field arriving home at 3 30am I was scratched all over and had made a bit of a hole in my trousers but I was home I put the trout in the shed and went to bed we were awoken at six thirty with a knock on the door it was the police wheres peter, said the sgt in bed said my mother and away he went he knew it was me but could not prove it mother used to get frightened I would get caught I would say I can run faster than them. well a bit more latter

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Bells wood looking across the feilds
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #517 4 Sept 2013 at 11.13am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #516
What a most beautiful morning it's now September I hope it carries on for a bit longer. I can remember when I was a lad fishing a small lake not far from my home we would cycle there our rods, would be tied to the cross bar of our bikes, the lake held some carp but not huge although I did manage a ten pounder that was around 1954, I can remember all these strange men in their big hats coming to have a look at my prize, and giving me advice on how to hold it and have it photographed, I did not have a camera but I needn't of worried along they came with their box cameras, I really felt like a star a gentleman called peter finch, had taken me under his wing he was a dedicated carp man and told me it was the biggest carp, to come out of the lake, it rolled off my back like water to me it was a fish, any fish, was a good one for a youngen like me.

I absolutely loved that lake and spent most of my summer holidays fishing, there I can remember night fishing two young lads huddled together under the stars, anticipating a bite and we did catch fish, we had no landing net then so its was into the water which was not deep, and pick the fish up with our hands, most only grew to around five pounds but they were fish, and we caught them night fishing, it was a wonderful feeling after returning the fish we would still be shaking with excitement, the owner off the lake would come down and see us in the morning he never once charged us and would bring us big bottles of homemade ginger beer.

I learned how to catch the carp, with bread crust, casting it out into the weed beds, there would be a big swirl and the crust would vanish up with the rod and I would be in. It took some doing to extract them from the weeds at times we had an audience watching us, my mate was a lad called Ray Evans it was nothing to catch half a dozen fish using bread flake, or crust. We both had our fair share of carp with floating crust, we also found we could catch them using a big float and a big bunch of worms they were positive bites that would tow the float along the top of the water before vanishing under the surface it was wonderful fishing and we were lucky to even be there the farmer trusted us both we loved this old man and his family and fished the lake for many years.
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Bunches of little red worms caught the carp
There was one other lake that held carp, it belonged to a man who was high sheriff of Shropshire, the locals said You will not get permission I went up to the big hall and banged this big knocker on the door, eventually someone came it was one of the maids, can I see sir you best come in, he seemed a nice old man how can I help you youngman I was wondering if I can fish your lake sir, he thought for a bit you're that lad who comes beating with old Sam the keeper yes sir I answered, I don't see why not but not in the shooting, season thank you sir I was shaking with excitement over the months I got to know him realy well I caught some very nice fish from his water and did they fight they were true wildies.. well a bit more latter

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wildies like these held by graham and Bernard
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More wildies from years ago
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   Old Thread  #516 31 Aug 2013 at 10.08am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #515
As I sit here writing on this sunny day, I think back when graham and I were young and poached a lake well more of a pool really it had an old boat house at the one end but it was a route march to get there it was some time in the sixties I know we had A35 vans and had plenty of room in the back for our Tackle.

THIS pool was in south Shropshire, I had only fished there once that was in the late fifties, I fished it with a lad called jones. I would cycle to his dad's farm which was at a place called Branden hill Clungunford, although I had not been to the pool for years, I could still remember the way or so I thought I can still remember us parking the car on the road side and walking across the fields, loaded with our tackle, to the big wood. over the fence we got and were in ferns, over our heads. Which way do we go said graham straight on said I after a good hour we still could not find the pool it reminded me of another pool nearly the same which I mentioned in part one of my stories It was also deep in the woods, and took some finding we just had to sit down what with the ferns, and the midges, we were well and truly lost.

After a breather we decided to carry on god it was hot the sweat ran down my back like a river, we eventually found the pool it was a beautiful place it had an island and boat house,at the one end there was a dam the water trickled through a big pipe, and then ran down a stream into another smaller pool we could not believe our eyes wallowing in this small pool no more than two feet deep were four carp, and they were a fair size, those were the ones we could see they must of got in through the pipe, from the top pool, when there was to much water coming into the lake from the stream that flowed into it. It never took us long out went a piece of bread crust on a size four hook they were not interested and would not even take free offerings.

So we decided to fish the top lake we float fished bread flake tipped with maggot we just could not go wrong it was a Rudd, a cast with fish between a pound and two pounds. I wonder who owns the pool said Graham I had no idea what if someone comes said Graham, we will hide in the ferns but to be honest it looked if no one had been there for years we could hear dogs, barking from deep in the woods but we never took much notice it was not until we heard someone calling his dogs, that we realized whoever it may be was coming our way we grabbed our tackle, and hid in the ferns we could just about see the pool if we stood up and we could see there were two men who looked like Gamekeepers, they had buckets and carried guns, and had four springer spaniels, with them we will feed the big ride Bert, said the one man, they crossed the dam and vanished into the woods, the other side and were gone it was late afternoon by this time and we decided to give it best one thing that was a bit off putting was the number of snakes, we saw in and around the water, I myself saw at least seven and Graham saw a few they were mostly grass snakes but there must be adders, as it was ideal ground for breeding. We would be back again next week as we came to the field we could see the car, in the distance onto the road we got it did not take us long to load the car with our tackle I noticed something stuck on our windscreen, it was a note please report to the police station, as soon as possible bloody hell what police station, there was only two Craven arms, or Ludlow, what are you going to do pete nothing and I never heard any more. I think maybe it was a farmer, next time we hid the car up a lane we fished it loads of times and caught some impressive Rudd, but not once did we catch a carp, I often wonder if the pool is still there it was a most beautiful place deep within the woods an idyllic place to dream and spend your time.. Well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #515 29 Aug 2013 at 8.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #513
hi jacko hope your well yes i'm still here not passed away as yet nice to hear from you not been up to the lake as yet


Thanks nick very much appreciated
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   Old Thread  #514 29 Aug 2013 at 3.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #513
great story keep it up
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   Old Thread  #513 29 Aug 2013 at 0.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #2
not been on for a bit m8 I see your still ok
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   Old Thread  #512 26 Aug 2013 at 11.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #510
We are going barbel, fishing again later this week to many will be out over the holiday weekend so we will give it a miss for the next few days.
Thinking back to when I was a youngster I started my fishing, at a very young age I think I was about three years old I soon learned I lost my father in the war. My mother married again my stepfather, was a brilliant man who encouraged me to carry on fishing, in those days you could not go fishing, where you liked as most rivers, and lakes, were strictly private, so there was only one way to fish, and that was to poach the lakes, and rivers.

It was a chancy thing to do as most waters were under the care of water bailiffs, and Gamekeepers, you were always on edge fishing the waters, I poached the big estates, and got away with it. There was one such lake, not far from my home I don't think it had ever been fished, so one autumn day saw me away on my bike, on arriving I hid my bike then got over the wall that surrounded the estate, the lake was around twenty acres where do I start I was only a young slip of a lad.

I had took plenty of bait bread, was my favourite plus a few red worms, that I got from the farmers dung heap, I did manage to get a few maggots, from mr Tays abattoir but collecting them made you stink a bit which did not go down well with my parents.

I started to float fish this water it was situated in front of the big hall, belonging to a member of parliament, I will not mention names as not to embarrass his family he has long gone but his family still own the estate, I started to catch Rudd, they were lovely deep bodied fish, they were not small and averaged over two pounds in weight I was using worm this one day I watched as the float, vanished I struck and away it went it felt quite heavy I had no landing net, in those days so you can imagine my surprised when I dragged a lovely trout to the side god the owner must have stocked the water with trout, I shook with excitement what a beautiful looking fish. This fish was not going back to cut a long story short I had another six on worm I was about to cast out again when I heard a shout he is over there keeper he,s bloody well catching my trout bring him back to the house i'll get the police.

God he must of spotted me from the big house, I was away through the undergrowth, I fell over a couple of times I would not be able to get to the wall, it was to far away there was a big old horse chestnut tree, so I hid my tackle, and up I climbed it had still got plenty of leaves, on i lay across one of the top most branches by now there was two other chaps, looking for me as well. I just hoped they would not find my bike then the police arrived I recognized the one he was a constable, from our village, the sgt I did not know I think he came from Ludlow, well they never once looked up in the trees, I was shaking a bit god i think I am going to get caught everything goes through your mind I was only thirteen, but I need not worry as they moved away when the owner arrived, we can't find him sir said the keeper, bloody poachers, the owner said they wan't shooting what do you think sgt we will get him sir, and then they were away I stayed where I was for another hour before I moved.

I had seven trout, in my bag I would have to be very careful on the road going home I decided to go through the woods instead I would have to push my bike but it was safer, although it would take longer I eventually arrived home a bit worse for wear and very tired the biggest trout, was over four pounds in weight my family were well pleased plenty to share out with our neighbours. I thought that was that until I arrived at school ,on Monday we were in assembly when the headmaster said the police wanted to give us a talk, bloody hell it was the sgt that had been looking for me, he gave us a talk on poaching especially fish and if we knew any one doing it report them to the police station, he had no prove who it was but did know it was a youngster. well that was that I did fish the lake again and never had anymore trouble. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #511 26 Aug 2013 at 11.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #510
We are going barbel, fishing again later this week to many will be out over the holiday weekend so we will give it a miss for the next few days.
Thinking back to when I was a youngster I started my fishing, at a very young age I think I was about three years old I soon learned I lost my father in the war. My mother married again my stepfather, was a brilliant man who encouraged me to carry on fishing, in those days you could not go fishing, where you liked as most rivers, and lakes, were strictly private, so there was only one way to fish, and that was to poach the lakes, and rivers, on those big estates.

It was a chancy thing to do as most waters were under the care of water bailiffs, and Gamekeepers, you were always on edge fishing the waters, I poached the big estates, and got away with it. There was one such lake, not far from my home I don't think it had ever been fished, so one autumn day saw me away on my bike, on arriving I hid my bike then got over the wall that surrounded the estate, the lake was around twenty acres where do I start I was only a young slip of a lad.

I had took plenty of bait bread, was my favourite plus a few red worms, that I got from the farmers dung heap, I did manage to get a few maggots, from mr Tays abattoir but collecting them made you stink a bit which did not go down well with my parents.

I started to float fish this water it was situated in front of the big hall, belonging to a member of parliament, I will not mention names as not to embarrass his family he has long gone but his family still own the estate, I started to catch Rudd, they were lovely deep bodied fish, they were not small and averaged over two pounds in weight I was using worm this one day I watched as the float, vanished I struck and away it went it felt quite heavy I had no landing net, in those days so you can imagine my surprised when I dragged a lovely trout to the side god the owner must have stocked the water with trout, I shook with excitement what a beautiful looking fish. This fish was not going back to cut a long story short I had another six on worm I was about to cast out again when I heard a shout he is over there keeper he,s bloody well catching my trout bring him back to the house i'll get the police.

God he must of spotted me from the big house, I was away through the undergrowth, I was away I fell over a couple of time I would not be able to get to the wall, it was to far away there was a big old horse chestnut tree, so I hid my tackle, and up I climbed it had still got plenty of leaves, on i lay across one of the top most branches by now there was two other chaps, looking for me as well. I just hoped they would not find my bike then the police arrived I recognized the one he was a constable, from our village, the sgt I did not know I think he came from Ludlow, well they never once looked up in the trees, I was shaking a bit god i think I am going to get caught everything goes through your mind I was only thirteen, but I need not worry as they moved away when the owner arrived, we can't find him sir said the keeper, bloody poachers, the owner said they wan't shooting what do you think sgt we will get him sir, and then they were away I stayed where I was for another hour before I moved.

I had seven trout, in my bag I would have to be very careful on the road going home I decided to go through the woods I would have to push my bike but it was safer, although it would take longer I eventually arrived home a bit worse for wear and very tired the biggest trout, was over four pounds in weight my family were well pleased plenty to share out with our neighbours. I thought that was that until I arrived at school ,on Monday we were in assembly when the headmaster said the police wanted to give us a talk, bloody hell it was the sgt that had been looking for me, he gave us a talk on poaching especially fish and if we knew any one doing it report them to the police station, he had no prove who it was but did know it was a youngster. well that was that I did fish the lake again and never had anymore trouble. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #510 23 Aug 2013 at 10.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #509
As I said graham and myself went Barbel fishing on the Severn yesterday we did not know what to expect as everyone we talk to says its not fishing that well although our bailiff friend Roger has done quite well since the season started.
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The stretch we fished
We did not get onto the water until 9 30 am and there was no other anglers fishing the stretch which is quite unusual a few years ago it would've been packed so it looks if what anglers say may be true and another thing we never saw a bailiff all day this was a prime stretch to fish for the barbel nevertheless we would not be put off.
We set up on the stretch of water where I had the big catch years ago which was thirty five fish but those days of big bags is over. Rather than fish two rods we chose one each it did not take graham long to hook into a fish it was not huge but very welcome I hour later he was in a gain but this was no small fish it started to swim upstream against the current putting a good bend in his rod after what seemed a long time he eventually got it near the net but it was away again this was a good fish we never even caught sight of it. The fished stayed down deep you could tell it was big the way it fought, once again he brought it to the net and the hook link parted company all I could say was bloody hell graham I am sorry mate over the last fifty years of friendship I had said that many times.
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Graham with his first fish

I could not catch so I changed to a three ft hook link of fluorocarbon this made the difference although I waited some time. I was feeding the ducks when my rod tip slammed around causing a good bend in the top of the rod I had no need to strike and within minutes I had a nice fish in the net it was not a biggie but very welcome Graham was catching on big halibut and aniseed pellets so i was due for a change the next cast saw me into a much bigger fish which in the current gave

a good account of itself we were just below the weir so the current always runs a bit fast. I usually use a big three oz feeder stuffed with small halibut pellets and fish meal which once again proved successful for both of us.
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My first Barbel

My next fish was a big old chub not really big but a nice fish all the same we fished on until tea time without another bite we are both getting on a bit so called it a day i suppose we should of stayed and fished the evening but we were both tired and were both pleased we had caught well I have some photos so I will now put them up cant wait to have ago next week it will be to busy this weekend as its bank holiday. well a bit more latter
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The biggest barbel of the day a very nice fish

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The last fish of the day the chub
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   Old Thread  #509 21 Aug 2013 at 11.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #508
Going for the barbell tomorrow lets hope we catch a couple the river has been up and its running a dirty colour just how I like it. When I left school I became a butcher boy I really hated it the wages were only two pounds ten shilling a week. I could make more poaching the local lakes and woods, my boss was really a bit of a bugger his name was Mr Roberts if I did anything wrong he would give me a punch I thought to myself carry on old cock you will see a different side to me if you keep on using me as a punch bag.
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Me with a big Barbell

I was in the shop this one day and a lady came in who knew me hi Pete she said can you get me a brace of pheasants, well the old bugger, hears what she said after she went he said you can't sell game here especially poached game. I explained I had no intention of selling it in the shop I would take the pheasants to her house if you don't stop poaching, i'll tell the police he said well that was that I told him what to do with the job you can't do that he said but I did and never looked back. It did not take me long to get another job that was really well paid the year was 1958 I was earning sixteen pounds per week and only sixteen, i worked with lots of Irish navies they were great men and treated me very well the foreman got to know I did a bit of poaching, and word soon spread I had that many orders that I found it a bit hard to cope, the only thing I did not like most wanted them dressed and ready for the oven, well I mentioned it to Mr Donnelly the foreman bring them to work he said you can dress them in the shed and that is what I did I really had a good relationship with them all I still see some of the men, they are a lot older than myself and now live in Shrewsbury they were great days.
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Another barbell caught in the dark
I found I could not poach just one estate, as I would get caught my orders reached over twenty some weeks so I started to go abroad what I mean I visited other shoots in my area, one was old bells shoot at Condover he was a good keeper and never missed much I was warned about him from the locals on our village but it never stopped me. I would be out with my trusted air gun I would leave home before dark hide my bike and then walk the rest of the way across the fields, the one wood was mostly fir the others oak in season they put thousands of Pheasents, down the one pen was huge it took nearly a whole wood this one pen held over seven thousand birds the problem was the keepers, were out at night watching their birds, it was big business for the estates and the syndicates paid huge sums of money for the privilege to shoot.

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Bell cottage hidden in the woods he has long gone

I was chased on a few occasions but I knew the woods, and the lay of the land I got wet a few time fording the river, I fell off the waterfall, a couple of times trying to get to the other side but they were grand days I loved it and if chased it was part of the game it certainly put my adrenaline up I have hid up trees, even lay in the water, I had the dogs walk over me this once I was hidden in a ditch covered over with undergrowth the dogs walked over me and never even smelt a thing, I really thought I would be caught I could hear the keepers and police talking my name was mentioned I did not know what to do laugh or cry but I got away i sat on a stile beside the railway and really had a laugh about it all, The Sgt did visit my house the very next day but good old mum said I was in bed. well theres a bit more. more to come latter.
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One of old bells woods I used to poach
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   Old Thread  #508 16 Aug 2013 at 11.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #507
I was standing beneath the overhanging hedge I could see clearly across the woodland floor it was a fox, shoot i could hear the hounds, in the distance these foxes, had caused considerable damage to the local farmers the wood bottom was mostly fern and brambles then I saw him in the distance he was beautiful in his rustic coat he stopped and sniffed the air, he knew he was being hunted this was his territory I was one of twenty guns.
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Looking back to the woods where the fox came forward

I watched as he made his way forward he criss crossed the woodland path, he would stop and look around then continue forward to where I stood. I made no sound I waited patiently I knew where he was heading I knew this fox he was magnificent animal, he was big the white of his throat, stood out it was like a lions mane. I watched as he moved closer not a noise did he make before I knew it we faced each other there was no more than a meter between us he looked at me with those beautiful eyes I put my gun, to my shoulder I could not pull the trigger, I knew him well we had crossed paths so many times. I said aloud i'll meet with you another day , I could hear the hounds coming closer I watched as he passed me by he went through the water to my left stopped looked back and he was gone he will live for another day.
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The big wood where the foxes ran beside the water to hide their scent

As I faced the wood in front I could see the hounds, a shot rang out deep within the wood, the hounds still came forward they were heading my way and were on the scent of my old friend the dog fox, no he would be well away by now they had picked up his scent, but could not get a line on him, as he had ran throught the water course, that was beside the big hedge. The huntsman arrived have you seen him pete yes says I, where did he go way over there I said I could not shoot he was to far away . Then away they went down through the wood it was not long before the dogs were in full cry they were onto another fox, five more minutes past me by then the sound rang out bang, bang, and then another bang, then silence I made my way forward to the guns, and dogs, have you got any I shouted no said the nearest gun they both got away the undergrowth, was to thick where did they go I asked with a grin on my face under the fence and down the field the old chap over there had a go and missed, never mind there is next week can we follow on down the field the huntsman asked they were very lucky they had got their dogs back no said I the farmer, is very anti and would call the police and that was that for today. This is a bit more about a day in my life. more latter.
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   Old Thread  #507 15 Aug 2013 at 10.19am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #506
As I walked across the fields the sharp wind stung my face it was October, and I was going to do my rounds, I was bailiff, and looked after the woods and the lakes, in the distance I could hear dogs barking, as I got nearer to the woods I could also smell someone smoking a pipe, I got over the barbed wire fence that surrounded this part of the wood I got into the undergrowth that grew around the side of the lake and made way forward to where I could hear the dogs barking .

As I approached I could see four men the dogs, were terriers, they were literally going mad to get into the hole, the men were digging, I could see they were after the badgers, it was quite away to fetch any help from the owners, and my phone, would not work I could get a signal, bloody hell I said to myself fours to many to approach. I had my gun with me i'll try and frighten them I put two cartridges in the chambers bang bang over their heads bringing down a shower of twigs, the one man fell down in his haste to get away they were shouting to one another bring the nets and tongs they managed to get their dogs, over the fence, I gave them another just for luck bang well I nearly fell down laughing if you could of seen the way they went down the field they were loaded with spades dogs bags I looked at the badger, set they had not succeeded to kill any I made my way to the owners house and managed to call the police they were here within minutes including the helicopter, which way did they go I was asked towards the A49 I said it was quite away across the fields to the main road so they may just catch them.
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The badger

But it was not to be they had gone we had no colour of their car or make so it was hopeless I was bloody mad they had got away, I had known these badgers for years infact Graham, Bernard and I used to see them worming when we were out at night shooting the rabbits. I can't stand cruelty I was quite upset most of the next week but three weeks later we got good news they had caught them we had not heard but they had arrested them the same day I saw them. Apparently they were followed to a house in stoke they must have had them on record I was told their equipment, was confiscated and they appeared in court I think two of the men got prison the other two a fine and community service from that day on we have never had any more trouble I kept a close eye on the set but it was never disturbed again. well a bit more latter

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The woods I caught the men in
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   Old Thread  #506 10 Aug 2013 at 11.03am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #505
Yesterday I went to a dear friends funeral he was a member of my syndicate for a number of years, he only went into hospital for an operation to put a stent, in and never came out he was only sixty five, and had just retired it really got me thinking how fragile our bodies,are I try and live my life to the full and enjoy every day my friend had everything to live for a wonderful family his fishing and shooting,life is so short I really feel for his family but time will heal .

I myself has had a wonderful life and many of my generation called me a jack the lad I was I would roam the woods,the fields,any where I could get a free meal I was given an air gun one xmas it really changed my life it was nothing like today's air guns but I became quite a good shot using it. My friend the keeper whose name was Sam, put a new spring in the gun, he used it to shoot the rooks, which he ate in a big pie, god it was a powerful Sam told me to be careful as it was now very powerful I could shoot a hole through a big tin bucket that gun went everywhere I went even thought I was only about ten years old it was the early fifties and things were very hard it was only about five years since the war finished. the keepers that came home after the war had a lot to contend with clearing the vermin,and building new pens,they put hundreds of pheasants, down for the gentry to shoot, they were daft birds, the woods and field were full of them so it was only a matter of going up the fields hiding in a ditch it was not long before I had shot one or two birds for the table they were always appreciated by my parents and our neighbours in those days we helped one another which is sadly lacking today.

When I was fourteen we moved back to my village where I was born its name was Bayston hill, this is were a lot of my poaching was done I went to school in condover,it was surrounded with rivers and woods some I got to know very well there were a number of keepers, one was old Frank bell,he was old school and knew his job he looked after the river as well as his pheasants the small river was stocked with trout it was for the wealthy friends of the landowners I watched them fly fish and some were very good. I used the humble worm,or spin with a minnow, mounted on a flight it was so easy I only fished at night it was nothing to catch twenty beautifully spotted brownies I never took all only the bigger fish, those around a pound I well remember my mother doing them for breakfast she was so frightened I would get caught but I never did I had the keepers and police,chase me on a few occasions and i always got away I knew the area well as it was the place of my birth I will tell you more later about old Frank bell,and his under keepers. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #505 5 Aug 2013 at 11.26am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #504
Raining again but we really need it the ground is so hard it will take a bit to soak in. It should do the fishing some good, graham and I are going to have a try for the barbell, next week we have been fishing for the carp, we have caught a few but no size and it has been far to hot, Thursday really got to me and graham I felt sick and giddy from the extreme heat I was a bit wobbly on my pins as well we should have really put our umbrellas, up. And should have known better at our age I ended up having a cold shower when I got home which made me feel alot better then I started to shiver which went on for a couple of days I think we were not to far from having sunstroke.

I have been trying to remember when I last did a bit of poaching I know graham was with me we had been out with the rifle rabbiting this one hedge that ran throught the property consisted of big hawthorn trees I shone the light up into the hedge what a surprise we got I counted at least twenty Pheasents, that had gone up to roost. It was all to much and we had six of them I suppose that must have been in the sixties we did not like the farmer the other side of the hedge, it was the boundary between the two farms he was an awkward old cuss who reared a few birds for his own shoot he ran a syndicate the members were mostly farmer friends he was always asking us to clear his rabbits he was a big church man and had his own bench in the church with his name on it, because we cleared his rabbits, he also thought we should go to church and thank god, for all we had no way and we told him so after that he was never the same man but as I have said we had a few of his birds we had no trouble getting rid of them and with the rabbits we made quite a bit of money.

There was many ways to make a bit of money in those days Christmas, was 0ne such time we would cut the holy, and sell it to the local shop, the occasional Christmas tree, went missing from the woods, that had been planted with fir. The forestry commission, would cut them down in there hundreds and send them all over the country to Birmingham, London, and all the major cities, it was big business we had a few when they cut them down but you would really have to watch yourselves as they kept an eye open and watched the trees, night and day right up until Christmas, the ones we took we had orders for and sold them to the locals, another way was to shoot the Pheasents, that would mean going out at night. We had no trouble getting rid of the birds, as most of the locals, would buy them it was hard going in those days and this was how we made our pocket money. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #504 1 Aug 2013 at 10.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #502
It was so hot today we came back early from fishing we could not stand the heat we did catch but nothing big we keep trying as we have seen one or two big fish in the lake, I had a moorhen, and her chicks, to keep me company most of the day I took one or two photo she has done well to rear six chicks, one thing that has delighted me was to see a water vole, it looks if the owner has one or two of these lovely little animals he was quite chuffed when I told him I do hope he has no trouble with mink, in the future as they will kill them they are becoming quite scarce in our countryside when I was a youngster they were quite common but the arrival of the mink was their demise.
photo b70144c0-8081-48ee-9ba4-904ba47dfb36.jpg
The young moor hens
I was talking to my mate graham about the wildlife, when we were young there was an abundance of birds and animals, that we don't see so much today I personally put that down to farming methods that has forced a lot of our wildlife to disappear. One bird I did see today was a curlew, we don't see so many in our county now the hay field have disappeared that the bird, favoured for its nest, when I was young I would watch the bird land in the hay field and find its nest it had four eggs, beautifully marked to blend in with the surrounding ground you could easily walk over the nest if you were not careful. They were lovely days I would also lie down at the side of a plowed field and watch the peewit commonly known as the lapwing it would land on the plow then run to its nest I could find at least three nest in a field we did eat them in the forties and fifties my mother would pickle them in those days but it is another bird that I has nearly vanished from our county.



I loved birds nesting when I was a young boy I was quite a good climber I could shin up most trees I used to collect the eggs until I met Sam the gamekeeper he taught me to look but not take write down where the nest was and how many eggs or chicks the nest held. It was funny really as Sam had a huge collection from the days of his youth and his job helped but as he got older he got more into conservation although he was a gamekeeper he had a soft touch when it came to wildlife, I always remember a badger, getting caught in a snare he took some wire cutters held him down with a pikle it had really cut into his flesh so he got the animal into a sack and took it home for his wife to look after and she did and it survived a few weeks latter Sam took me along to release it back into the wild it was Sam who learned me so much about wild life and to do a bit of poaching oh yes he would poach the trout and grayling. well a bit more latter
photo 338a6dcc-e561-42f8-9592-949dc7c63692.jpg
Picking the food for the chicks
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #503 30 Jul 2013 at 8.26pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #502 29 Jul 2013 at 10.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #500
When I lived at craven arms that was in the late forties and early fifties all the lakes, and streams, were private the only way you could fish was to poach and I did my fair share of that there was a farmer whose name was price, he had a stretch of the Onny he kept it for his own use, I would watch him fly fish, he was very good and always caught a few I poached it many times using little red worms from prices, farmyard he would have blown a fuse if he thought I was using them to catch his trout.

He was a nice old boy he would say to yours truly go and collect the eggs, if you have the time, he had hundreds of chickens all free range to be honest I don't think he knew how many he had he would give me a bucket to put the eggs, in they would lay there eggs, any where in the woods, under the rhododendron bushes, in the haystack, it really kept me busy it would take all Saturday morning i would fill the bucket to the top he would always give me a dozen and some crisps for helping out I always kept an extra dozen for family and friends what he didn't see never hurt this was in late forties, I was only around eight years old we had to survive the best way we could as it was just after the war.

A neighbour gave me a big hob ferret, I carried him everywhere I went even school,with him he slept curled up in my shirt I was in a miss juckes, class she blurted out whatever smells I got into rather a lot of trouble with that ferret of course it was me I took the ferret, out of my shirt miss juckes, gave a big shriek and shouted take that thing home which I did I was sent to see the headmaster whose name was kennedy he could see the funny side and let me off with a few strict words my mother was always saying take that ferret, out of your shirt it makes you smell but I did not I always carried him there to my mother's disgust, he caught us a good many rabbits, over the years until myxomatosis reared it ugly head that really hit us badly we lived on rabbit, some of the estates also suffered they made a lot of revenue from the humble rabbit.

With the rabbits, dead due to the disease, I started to catch the pheasant, there were hundreds put down for shooting they were quite easy to catch but you had to watch the game keepers, I learned fast I had a few with my catapult but I also did well lying in the undergrowth using a fishing line a hook and sultanas, they would take them greedily it was easy to catch half a dozen and it was always appreciated by my parents and neighbors mum worried that I might get caught I told her not to worry I can run faster than them I never did get caught but I had a few near misses over the years. well more latter
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   Old Thread  #501 27 Jul 2013 at 5.22pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #500 26 Jul 2013 at 10.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #499
If i was asked what do I miss most I would answer not being able to walk my beloved hill country its been a big part of my life I loved to be out on a windy night when the moon was full and I could watch the shadows from the clouds dance across the fields or the call of the fox from the distant woods or watch a family of badgers worming in the valleys, or to poach the trout from the babbling stream this is what I miss most.

one such stream was full of brown trout the owner would never let anyone near he gave no one permission in fact he was grumpy old bugger but I did not heed his warning he had signs nailed on trees poachers will be prosecuted, sod his signs I said to my friend Dougie, I will have some of those fish, and I did I would creep into the woods , the stream ran through the woods, all I took was a spinning rod, I mounted minnows,I had caught that morning on a flight, into the water I went it was only up to my knees I would cast to the far bank let it swing around in the current the rod tip would hoop over and I was into a fish they were lovely trout beautiful bronze flanks and covered in spots
they were lovely for eating they were only about half a pound the biggest a pound but we needed them to eat as our life was quite hard wages were not that good. Dougie would not believe I had fished that water he knew the owner who he said was a bit of a nasty man if he caught you would be in court, or even get a hiding, his got to catch me first I said with a smile and a wink you coming with me next time I go Dougie you must be joking he said ill go most place but not there the mans off his head not only that he has those big Alsatians, if they grab you they will do some damage yes but they have to catch me first.

I was there one night when I heard barking in the distance I never took much notice until they came closer oh it was him the mad hatter and his dogs, I was already in the water so I moved across the stream and kept to the far bank still in the water, it was not that deep there was a bridge downstream that's where I was heading I could hear the dogs they were quite near it was dark the far side where I was and there was no scent, I stayed under some overhanging branches I heard the owner call his dogs, back. Good job the water was warm I made my way forward half swimming half walking it was a bit awkward with my rod still in my hand but I made the bridge and lay on the ledge above the water I could hear talking I wondered who was with him whoever it was said no ones here tonight sir, I pushed my head up craning my neck to see who it was but it was to dark, I had got sixteen trout in my bag that was also wet through, they stayed taking for over one hour then I heard Cyril, ring me at the station if you get any trouble, thanks sgt I was away to my bike and up the field I went getting home around two thirty in the morning I laid the fish out on a big plate my family would certainly enjoy them and some would go to our neighbors and friends. more latter
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   Old Thread  #499 22 Jul 2013 at 8.49pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #498
Well I am back from holiday god has it been hot, just like when I was a small boy the hedgerows have been ablaze with flowers, all sorts the foxgloves, have been absolutely stunning I can well remember walking the lanes of Shropshire when I was a lad the hedge rows would be alive with wildlife, and covered in flowers, the fields were not sprayed and the meadows, were also full of flowers,, I would lie down in the tall grass and listen to the grasshoppers, chirping away and watch the skylark, high up in the blue sky.

I would also listen for the mew of the buzzard, or the call of the curlew, they were wonderful days I played truant from school on more than one occasion I would go fishing, all day or birds, nesting I loved the countryside I learned how to set a snare for the rabbits, I learned that from the rabbit, catcher they were the days of my youth that will never return. My schoolmistress was a miss Thomas she called me out of class this one day I thought what have I done now, peter, she said I hear you catch a few rabbits, and the odd pheasant, what could I say other than yes miss I nearly fell over when she said can you get me a couple of rabbits, and maybe a brace of pheasants, when in season yes miss I said in a trembling voice. I walked away with a big grin my face and to be honest I did take her a few I would take them to her bungalow and she always gave me a couple of bob which was an awful lot of money I could buy fishing hooks, sweets, or a comic, or two the eagle, was one such comic the dandy, was another they were wonderful days.

I loved to walk the river side I would take my rod, with me may was wonderful month I would watch the big hatch of mayflies, the river would be covered in spent flies I would use the smallest hook I could get I would stick a hook through a dead may fly, and float it down the side of the river god they would take it greedily causing a shower of silver spray they were beautiful fish, with their golden flanks covered in spots, they only weighed about a pound a good size for eating any moor hens eggs, found would be taken home to eat , we would also see the water vole, they were not rare like today but were a common sight i would also see the otter, in those days they were a shy animal and kept out of your way they were hunted by the otter hounds and were kept to a manageable level as I have said before the river ran red with the blood of this animal. I loved all the wildlife and could not stand and watch this brutality but looking back it was a necessity to control this predator from taking the trout and grayling this river held. well a little more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #498 19 Jul 2013 at 7.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #497
Thanks paul and William really appreciate your remarks just got back from holidays more stories to come
mitchell300
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   Old Thread  #497 18 Jul 2013 at 11.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #496
great story that pete
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #496 16 Jul 2013 at 8.22pm  0  Login    Register
Great stuff.
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   Old Thread  #495 12 Jul 2013 at 4.35am  0  Login    Register
Message Suppressed by Forum Moderator.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #494 10 Jul 2013 at 10.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #493
Thanks pete appreciated
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   Old Thread  #493 10 Jul 2013 at 11.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #492
Lovely story there Pete. Makes you wonder if we really need our ipads and games consoles! How lifestyles have chenged eh!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #492 10 Jul 2013 at 11.00am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #490
These wonderfull days of summer really remind me of my childhood as young lads and living in the countryside we would be out from early morning, until late evening, our parents knew we were safe I spent a lot of my time in the big woods, that surrounded my home. I would be away birds, nesting or just watching the wildlife, I loved bird watching the woods, lanes,and fields, were full of the different species of birds, more than we see today a lot of our bird, life is vanishing mainly due to farming methods, there habitat, has gone one bird that we are not seeing any more is the curlew, when I was a youngster I would lie in the hay fields and watch where they landed the nest never took much finding there were lots of these bird around. Where I used to see eight or nine we now see two the bullfinch, is another they were quite common we don't see any in our area they have long gone its a real shame as they were a beautiful bird.

I loved those woods and I would be away all day I always carried a catapult I was brought up with one in my pocket and became quite a good shot with it. I made my own amo out of lead which I collected from the railway sidings it was used on the pigeon, crates they let go thousands of these birds every week they came by train from all over the country mostly on a Saturdays. So I collected the lead seals and melted them down making some lead chunks for my catapult I got quite good I would shoot the rabbits that couched in the big nettle beds or in the hedgerows although I was young I could still get in serious trouble if I got caught as the rabbits, were owned by the big farms and estates they made quite a lot of revenue from of the rabbits, they would be sent by train to the big cities and sold to the game dealers I think they got about sixpence apiece for them but this all stopped in nineteen fifty two when myxomatosis arrived killing most but not all how some survived I cannot say but a few did in small pockets around the country we relied on the rabbit for our dinners we even had it at school, so it was a disaster.

I turned my attention to the pheasant they were stupid birds and were so easy to catch where I lived there were thousands all I needed was a length of fishing line a hook a few sultanas and you were sure of a few they loved sultanas and currants I could catch half a dozen within half an hour they were really appreciated back home and became our Sunday dinner we always shared with our neighbors and friends we never locked our back doors and we would arrive home to find and someone had left some potatoes, and maybe, some onions, or carrots, that's how we got by in those years they were hard food was still rationed cheese butter tea but we got by with help from our neighbours we shared and helped one another sadly lacking today. I poached the brown trout in the rivers and streams a change in diet I could catch up to twenty every time I went out so we never starved I would have to watch out for the river bailiffs, and keepers, we had at least three bailiffs, they were in charge of different sections of the rivers I never got caught I would watch what time they did there rounds. I even supplied a few to miss Thomas our school teacher but that's another story. well a little bit more latter.

photo a1502956-f755-4058-b0d9-60e446c08816.jpg
the pheasents stupid birds so easy to catch
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #491 8 Jul 2013 at 8.31am  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #490 5 Jul 2013 at 5.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #488
God it was hot fishing, yesterday I got burned but the day before we got rather wet packing up. We have caught one or two but no real big fish but plenty from ten to fifteen pounds god do they fight on light tackle there are a number of biggies in the water I have seen a few myself. The owner has been really good to us both and allows myself and graham to take the car down to the lake which helps a lot no lugging tackle around to our swim we are going to carry on fishing, there to see what we come up with. The wildlife is amazing which also keeps us occupied , I really have never seen so many dragonflies in my life yesterday I saw a complete black one with a big black spots on both wings, I did try to get a photo but it proved impossible I have loved wild life and have never seen a black dragonfly before maybe others have but this was my first time it was certainly a beautiful sight.

On the lake are a pair of Canada geese they have reared six young ones, they have done really well to rear them all they are very near flying and are trying to take of from the water but as yet they have not managed it god the male, is so protective of his brood, he even attacked my car when we past them on the way home. They had been grazing on the grass around the lake he tried to peck the tyres on my car we both found it quite amusing . well we have really enjoyed fishing this lake but would really like to try a few days after the barbell but the reports have not been good around Shrewsbury it has been awful although Rodger my friend the bailiff did very well last week fishing a short session from four pm until nine he caught fifteen barbell one roach and a chub biggest barbell ten pound eight oz a good fish he went back the next evening same swim and blanked funny really but that's how it is fishing there one day gone the next.
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A big barbell caught by me six years ago
When i was a youngster the rivers were full of fish from Dace, to salmon, there was no barbell, then the dominant fish were roach, Dace, and chub, I loved to fish for the roach you always had a chance of catching a two pounder most were around half pound to around a pound we would ledger with bread paste, we would catch good bags but those days have sadly gone to many predators the smaller fish, don't stand a chance with goose sanders, they take everything in their path we also have the mink and cormorants the fish really don't stand a chance so catching large bags like we did is only a memory, Really sad I can't see it improving if we don't have some sort of control before long the rivers will be void of small fish. The big bags of dace, have vanished so have the big shoals of minnows, and roach, all gone we don't have the big runs of salmon, like we used to a lot of the anglers I know have packed in your lucky to catch one fish, a season most anglers catch nowt when I was young you could catch two or three salmon, per session but those days are over I think the older anglers like myself have seen the good times I hope they will return, but I doubt it will not be in my lifetime, but it remains to be seen I sometimes think man is destroying himself I really hope not but looking at the wildlife when I was youngster the woods and fields were full of different species of birds not any more a lot have vanished I blame a lot on farming methods but not all I sometime think man is destroying him self. I really hope not as the future of all wild life is in our hands . A little more latter

. A little more latter.
photo 31d3574c-316a-43e5-a982-aa0a234b4f5f.jpg
A nice chub
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #489 1 Jul 2013 at 4.20pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #488 29 Jun 2013 at 8.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #487
I lived in the woods and fields when I was young my parents knew where I would be I loved the wildlife. Fishing and shooting was my life but it was a necessity in the late fifties for our food most of the rabbits, had died out through Myxomatosis, so it was other game that kept us in food my first real gun was a webley, four ten there was no finesse or skill in my shooting, in those days I shot so we could survive I learned early on in life how to poach the pheasant, duck, and trout, I would wait for the ducks, to come into the flight pool I would lie in the reed beds and when the duck, came within range I would shoot them on the water I have shot two birds, with one shot the water was a bit cold in October but in I got and fetched the birds, or pulled them in with a long stick, it was not only duck, the one pool was no more than acre it held some wonderful trout, the keeper would come down to the pool every evening to feed his ducks, after he would be away to the pub I would watch from a distance he would ride his old bike to the three fishes public house, and would not go back home until chucking out time which in those days was ten thirty or by the discretion of the landlord could go on until midnight, by this time the keeper, would be well and truly drunk, he would ride his bike back through the woods falling off a few times before he got to his cottage.
photo DSC00187-1.jpg
The woods I poached
This was the time I poached the trout, I would set night lines with a big bunch of worms cover the line over with soil and peg it down the old keeper, was not interested he was to busy snoring in his bed, I was I usually set around ten lines I would be back before first light there would be eight or nine trout, caught I would then reset the lines and away home I would go. It was to easy I should have known it would come to a sudden end I went this one night to have a look at the lines, I had reset that morning. I had caught around five trout, when I noticed a car lights coming up the road towards the pool I nearly left it to late to get away it was no car but the police landrover ,it was the Sgt and two police constables, then I heard a shout it was the keepers stay where you are, if he thought I would he was severly mistaken I hid my bag and the trout, and away I went god they had dogs I was over the fence into the field there was a drainage ditch further down the field full of water, I was in up to my knees I ran down the ditch and came out by the quarry up I climbed into the nearest tree it was an old oak covered in ivy I lay across the highest branch and covered myself up I stayed there for at least two hours the dogs lost my scent when I went into the water I did hear them shouting in the distance but I was safe before I got home I retrieved my bag and fish, on arriving home my mother said the police had called and wanted to know where I was in bed she said good job he never looked they had got my parents out of bed, mother used to get scared I would get caught don't worry mum I would say I can run faster than them and I could but I also knew the lay off the land which helped greatly it was now 3am and time for bed I had many incidents with the keepers they knew it was me but could not prove it and I can tell you all they never did well theres a bit more about my life as a poacher and its all true. a bit more latter
photo b6384aad-23a6-4228-83d9-59359d4cd770.jpg
More water I poached or the brown trout
photo cef55a84-f3a9-4869-9bb8-328bf91aae80.jpg
More woods that I poached
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #487 25 Jun 2013 at 11.03am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #485
I am going fishing tomorrow and Thursday so I will carry on with my stories the weather seems to have picked up so its out with the rods I can not wait I have fished with graham for over fifty years its been a fantastic friendship and I hope it continues for a few more years. We have both fished most of the lakes and rivers in our area and its not always been legal one such lake is not far from my home its a beautiful place with a few nice Tench, and eels, its set in beautiful gardens, the lawns reach down to the lake side we would hide the car and walk across the fields to the water we did not take a chair but would sit in the sun house that was built beside the lake we could open the doors and just sit there it was wonderful and all the times we fished it we never got caught once. It was alive with wildlife, we used the sun loungers to fish from and we caught some beautiful eels, a friend of mine caught one weighing seven pounds the place was alive with them the water was covered in lilies, pinks and whites some one in the past had spent a lot of time looking after the place we also caught some very nice Tench, not huge they averaged around for pounds but did they fight before leaving we would put everything back as it should be and close the doors not once were we discovered.

Long before I met graham I poached another lake not many people knew it existed only a few friends and they would never take the chance because it was to close to the farmhouse but I fished it at night it was a mixed fishery and I started to catch trout, big ones three pounds plus there were rainbows, and browns, the owner was a grumpy old bugger he must of stocked them he was known as a bit of nasty kind of a chap and if he caught you on his land
would not hesitate to give you a slap and fetch the police,and you would be put in court not many people liked him and kept away I was fishing on the lake this one night when I heard this tractor, coming up the field towards me it was him how on earth he knew I was there I don't know but it was closely followed by a land rover,
you could see the light flashing blue just behind me was a wood so over the fence I got I hid the rod and up the nearest tree, I went I could hear them talking it was the sgt from my village with another pc apparently they were not after me but someone had seen some men with dogs, on his land he said they were lamping funny really I had seen nothing it could've been old jack the gypsy, and his friends they were out most night catching the Hares, I had been with him a few times when I went down to his camp he always had a few hanging behind the caravan.

I heard the farmer say sorry I called you out no problem replied the sgt and away they went I was back on the lake in minutes I caught some nice Rudd, and Tench, with a few trout, thrown in which I kept I looked at my watch it was two thirty in the morning I must make for home before first light as I walked past the quarry I stopped I could hear talking as I got a bit closer I could see it was the sgt and constable, they were waiting to see if any one appeared across the adjacent field so over the hedge I got and crossed the railway line and into the lane that led to our village I got home around three thirty what a night I had five nice trout, were in my bag the one was about four pounds so my parents would be pleased well that's another story about my life it would be around 1959 and theres more stories to follow. more a little latter
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #486 23 Jun 2013 at 3.40pm  0  Login    Register
Keep them coming mate, that ferret reminded me of a few good mornings, i haven't smelt one for years now.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #485 21 Jun 2013 at 11.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #483
I loved to walk in the high country over the bogs and ditches with my trusty old gun in my hands we shot for food and we would walk miles in search for a rabbit or two they were black rabbits, that's all we saw in this ruff hill country . It was hard going we had a trusty terrier that would find them and drive them out for us to shoot the land was covered in broom and gorse we would retire at dinner time and went to the minors arms any rabbits we had shot we would sell to the land lord I would sit in front of a roaring fire with a pint and a pork pie they were lovely days we poached the streams the woods belonging to the lord I will mention no names as he was a member of parliament as his son is now I would shoot the duck, on the pools that bordered the estate the woods were keepered they also shot the grouse, from buts on the hill tops I would watch from afar they would shoot quite a few. We walked the mountain tops in search of a grouse, or two but did not have any success.
photo DSC00155.jpg
The hills and bogs we used to walk and poach

The pheasants were obliging and shot a few when our dog, flushed them out of the broom and gorse Dougie my friend was quite a good shot but he worried me his gun stock was held together with wire he would say dust thou worry about my old gun it be good for a few years yet bloody hell he could certainly use it he worried me he shot this lamb, lets get it home Pete I said you will get us put away no I have had them before how many only about ten over the years god he was a real poacher, he got his grandad to fetch it latter that night he took me to see his father he was a road man and lived in one of the road houses, it was on wheels so it was moved to where he was working he had a bed and one chair but it was very comfortable with the coke fire burning in the big stove in the corner he had a few rabbits, hanging out side he did a bit of poaching him self he kept the ferrets, in a cadge in the same room he was a hard man and lived a ruff life, but got by with the money from his job and the bit of poaching it was sad really they found him one morning on the moor he had been to the pub and had a heart attack but he died in the country side he loved so much

photo DSC00152.jpg
looking back to my beloved hill country the minors arms in the distance


We got by but it was hard when the snow came it hindered us quite a bit but we took our chances and poached the keepers coverts we did not take many birds, just enough to survive on the same estate was a small lake it was stocked with rainbow trout, for the owners and his friends pleasure we both would set a few night lines it was a bit dodgy as the lake was in front of the hall but we would cast a line out with worms on the hook then cover the line with soil and peg it down we would set half a dozen come back in the evening just as it was going dark we would catch half a dozen, recast and cover with soil, then we would be away we had to live they gave us a change to our diet but we were treading on dangerous ground it was heavily keeper but they were great days if some one said would you do it again my answer would be yes but you don't get another bite of the cherry but I have my memories there are not many of us left now but I loved every minute of it. more a bit latter

photo DSC001961.jpg
Another from hill country


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the dog flushed the rabbits from the beautiful gorse





photo DSC00142.jpg

Dougie dad kept the ferrets in the road side hut were he slept

photo DSC00163.jpg
WHERE I LIVED
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #484 21 Jun 2013 at 4.14pm  0  Login    Register
Watching the wildlife has always been a big part of my fishing.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #483 20 Jun 2013 at 9.35am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #482
What a morning absolutely pouring with rain I was off fishing once again looks if I will have to unload the car and put the tackle back in the house, its not that I don't like wet weather but I don't like getting wet setting up so we will go and have a look at another water that we are both thinking of fishing. I always remember one night graham and I went fishing I suppose it was in the late sixties . we never bothered much about rain but this was something much different and I could have been killed we set up on a local Mere it was not to bad a warm humid night when it started to thunder the lightning was absolutely spectacular we were under our umbrellas they were not very good in those days heavy and cumbersome and not entirely water proof I have peronaly I have never
seen rain ,or lightning,like it with every flash you could see the other side of the mere I got up out of my chair to talk to graham when there was an almighty crash the tree behind where I was fishing was hit and it crashed down onto my bed chair god was I lucky it smashed the chair to smithereens it certainly would have killed or injured me badly there was only one thing for it to pack our rods and head for home It never stopped raining all night I was never so glad to see home we both said never again.
photo Image1.jpg
Home to shrewsbury
When I was youngster I would be out in all weather one lake I poached was full of eels there was no shortage in those days I would be away before dark all I took was one rod and a tin full of lob worms I would put a big bunch of these big riddlers ,on the hook out I would cast it was not long before my silver paper indicator shot up as the eel took line from the spool on the reel you never knew what size you would catch it could be anything from two to four pounds this would be in the early sixties they were wonderful to eat I used to get orders from the locals but I soon stopped this and put them back they were wonderful days although you didn't have much money I loved my fishing and the countryside I would watch the foxes, and all wild animals the little door mouse used to amaze me I would pick it up it would be curled up in its nest it never stirred from its sleep they seem quite rare today they were lovely days no one bothered me I was a jack the lad I never liked taking any one with me as I was responsible for myself and not others I loved the freedom and walked the country side and poached the lakes and the keepers coverts I was not a thief I poached so we could live I loved the chase and I got a thrill from it. well a more latter
photo recentchanges.jpg
The eel
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #482 19 Jun 2013 at 10.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #479
what a wonderful day yesterday I even got sun burnt on a serous note Graham and I went to fish a new lake one we had not fished before. I suppose we are really lucky as grahams son in law has got a tackle shop on site and the owner told us we could take our car down to the water a great help as we are both a bit long in the tooth old age never comes without its problems my first cast produced a small mirror then graham had a long common we never caught any over ten pounds but they are certainly in the water I think the carp, had there minds on other things and had started to spawn it was follow the leader we saw some really good fish I tried on a floater to no avail graham suffered a bad back most of the day so we packed early but we will be back it is a most beautiful place peaceful and very quiet there were a few others fishing the place but all blanked we were the only ones to catch .
photo 5c0dec67-f125-4b89-89c8-1b26a04b1780.jpg
the beautiful lake
As I sat there I reminisced about the past god when I was young I could walk great distances and run, most of the lakes I fished were poached you could not get permission for love or money one such lake was in the middle of a big wood right behind the keepers cottage it was surrounded by a big reed bed I caught some wonderful bream from the water not huge but in the six to seven pound mark I also caught some big eels, on ledgered worm they averaged three to five pounds in those days eels were eaten I loved them covered in batter and fried but I put most back the keeper would come down to the water to feed his ducks, there were hundreds on the lake I hid in the reed beds he never saw me once but it was a bit dodgy his dogs would bark all day which put me off a bit but I continued and never once got caught.

photo da10685b-6ee4-4ae6-9aa0-8d5280423a7e.jpg\
Another of the lake
When they started to shoot the water for its ducks I would hide and watch the proceeding there were around sixteen guns they shot hundreds any that came down by me I would collect and put them into my bag the locals said you will be caught, they would come no where near the place there were signs on the trees you will be shot on sight if caught in these woods, I must admit I had a few shots over my head to frighten me the keepers were old school hard men who would stand no messing. Back to the ducks some times I got to greedy and found I could not carry them all home so I would hide some and fetch them latter there was so many shot a few would not be missed we always shared them out with friends and neighbors no one refused a free meal in those days. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #481 18 Jun 2013 at 8.26pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #480
Thanks ken appreciated
KenTownley
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KenTownley
   Old Thread  #480 18 Jun 2013 at 8.06am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #479
Have a good day, Pete. Catch a biggie. We are privileged to have you on here with your wealth of countryman's knowledge, experience and tales.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #479 18 Jun 2013 at 8.00am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #478
Thanks William more stories latter gone fishing
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #478 12 Jun 2013 at 9.37pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #477 12 Jun 2013 at 8.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #474
I loved the quietness of the night I could just stand in a wood and listen to the creatures of the night when I poached the pheasants, I was never frightened by the dark old SAM the keeper always said to me there's nowt out there that will hurt he only another human, and he was right I learned at a very young age to distinguish the different animal and bird, calls the fox, the owl, the badger, when by your self and a vixen, screams it will freeze your blood I have seen grown men shudder when hearing that call but it never really scared me old SAM taught me well as I have said before in part one of my stories SAM to me was a wonderful man he taught me all I have learned about nature, I have tried to pass it all on to my grandson and to grahams grandson we I are a dying breed no one really poaches these days there's no need you can buy game and fish from the big supermarkets things have really altered.
In the late forties and early fifties it was hard money, was hard to come by and what you earned was a pittance but we got by with a bit of help I started my poaching taking one or two rabbits, out of the keepers snares, well actually more than one or two I learned to reset the snare, I would be around before the keeper or rabbit, catcher did his rounds I would carry them back home, then I would skin and gut them which I had learned at old Sam house you will get caught he would say in broad Shropshire dialect but I never did I never touched old sam's pheasant or rabbits as he had been so good to me and my family.

Then it was the trout, I poached the rivers that surrounded my home my mother would worry that I would be caught dunna worry mum I would say I would Bring home as many as twenty trout at times and would catch them to order we always shared with our neighbors, I turned my hand to the pheasants, in the war years the estates got run down but after the owners employed new keepers if the old ones never returned they caught all the vermin they could and really stocked the estates with thousands of birds I loved to watch the posh nobs shooting i would hide in the under growth there was hundreds of birds shot it was no trouble picking a few birds, for my self they would not miss them I would pop them into my bag when I had got enough I would be away seven or eight birds were quite heavy for a youngster I would laugh when i heard one of the guns shout bird down over there keeper must be a runner sir as the dogs could ,not find the birds, no I had already picked them old SAM would say ya will get caught you wanna listen lad will you yer bone headed it goes through one and out the other he would say in broad Shropshire dialect I would laugh but I loved every bone in his body how many did yer get he would say five or six dunna you take mine he would answer with a big grin on his face and I never did. a bit more latter
ralph69
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ralph69
   Old Thread  #476 10 Jun 2013 at 10.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #474
bloody hell pete , didnt realise you was a gangster aswell
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #475 10 Jun 2013 at 1.48pm  0  Login    Register
Good job you were only giving them a fright, would not like to hear what you would of done if you were trying to catch them, leg shots maybe to slow them down i'm glad i didn't poach around your area, i mainly wandered onto private river stretches, got a bit spooky sometimes, but not in your league, it's like a trip down memory lane, i never netted or nothing too extreme just a bit of flyfishing where i shouldn't of been, and was just for the sport, i did sometimes take one or two for my dad, as he said i was too soft returning them for someone else to enjoy, he didn't believe in returning trout, he wasn't to keen on using the small ones for pike baits, he said a couple of them make a meal, i always said he was a caveman. Keep them coming mate.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #474 10 Jun 2013 at 10.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #469
I have had a wonderful life I have done most things I loved nature I have fished and shot and would not of changed it for the world the trout,pools I poached all those years ago were in a valley with fir trees both sides of the pools,latter in my life I was asked by a local businessman, if I could stop the poachers taking his fish I had a look as I already knew the lay of the land it was not an easy place to catch the culprits, the syndicate where really fed up with individuals taking the fish.

So one saturday night I received a phone call telling me they were there on arriving half of there syndicate had turned up to many have you been down the lane I asked no said the gentleman who wanted the poaching stopped I could see they were there they where using lights,and it really showed on a dark night, I popped down the lane adjacent to the fishery and had a look I could see at least five fishing on two of the pools,they must have a car hidden some where do you want them frightened or caught ill leave it to you he said I had a friend with me his name was Ron what you going to do Pete said Ron,in my car I had a six shot Beretta automatic I filled it with shells and made my way across the field I arrived at the side of the fir trees that surrounded the pools up went the gun bang bang bang bang bang god what a noise it made it really echo in the valley all I heard was shouting the lights went out instantly and they were away I put another two in and gave it some more bloody hell the noise they made in there haste to get away I fell about laughing I put the gun away and took the syndicate leader down the pool for a look around the far end of the lake was a barbed wire fence one of the poachers had got stuck and had ripped his trousers badly in his haste to get away leaving part of his trouser leg on the fence he had dropped his rod as well.

We also found a net they had also been trying to net the pools they had left a couple of trout,behind I don't think they will come back I said to Walter who owned the pools he also ran the syndicate,I wonder how many fish they have had over the weeks Pete not many Walter they were not very professional using lights like that they are opportunists I said can you have a look next week Pete,I did and never saw any one else fishing the place so it was job well done I did the same to another similar pool which was in the first part of my stories if you cant catch them frighten them it certainly works . well a bit more latter
ralph69
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ralph69
   Old Thread  #473 8 Jun 2013 at 10.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #472
its quality isnt it , he was a right rascal .
keep it up pete
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #472 8 Jun 2013 at 9.18pm  0  Login    Register
Love it.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #471 7 Jun 2013 at 9.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #470
They certainly did many years after I was asked by a local businessman to try and catch the poachers funny really on the same pools, I did shift them but in there haste one of the offenders left part of his trouser on the barb wire fence also dropping his rod in his haste to get away.
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #470 5 Jun 2013 at 6.41pm  0  Login    Register
I bet them trout tasted even better once you found out who run the place, also make it a bit more exciting when fishing the place.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #469 5 Jun 2013 at 12.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #464
I really feel sad with the killing of Badgers, i think there are better methods than shooting when I was a youngster you never saw that many but since protecting them they have really thrived but that does not give the government the rights to annihilate this beautiful animal, there own scientists say they are going down the wrong road and it would be better to find a cure in my own opinion they will move to other areas that have escaped the disease.
I have mentioned before how I love hill country its a place of beauty,and piece, when up in those hills at night its a spectacular sight I would just sit there and look up at the stars but I was not here for the stars I was there to poach the rainbow,and brown trout,from a lovely water three lakes the water would cascade from the top pool into the second then into the third it was a wonderful sight and so easy to fish it was situated in a big fir wood there were no houses only the occasional farm it was so quite you could hear a pin drop but it held some wonderful fish, I would use maggots or worm for bait just flick it out under the far bank sit back and wait I would hold the rod in my hand and feel for bites but I need not as when the bite came it was a violent take they would hook there selves I caught rainbows,to five pounds plus and browns,to three pounds I never took all I caught only a few who owned the pools I did not know but they must have been stocked maybe from some farm for his own pleasure or for his friends I fished it for years and never saw a soul so I was bit shocked this one night I had been there for about an hour when I heard talking god it was one in the morning who could it be I soon found out I hid the rod,and reel,in the under growth and up the nearest tree I went.

It wasn't long before I found out it was the police four of them and the local farmer and his son as I listened I heard the old farmer say check that gateway across them fields see if they have a car hidden there they were shining there torches up the bank and into the trees,i just lay across the big branch and never made a sound how did they know I was there or was it some one else they were after.
I heard the farmer say to the Sgt Albert I apologize for getting you up here at this unearthly hour no trouble said the Sgt we need to stop this poaching ill get some of the syndicate to check it more often did I hear right I nearly started to laugh I had been poaching a police syndicate for weeks I waited for them to go before I climbed down I collected my bag and rods, I had got half a dozen fish, it did not take me long to get my bike I had hidden in the ditch and I was away home another near escape I fished those pools many times after but that's another story. more latter.
billybaltic
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billybaltic
   Old Thread  #468 4 Jun 2013 at 9.08pm  0  Login    Register
Sounded like a crazy day,
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #467 4 Jun 2013 at 7.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #466
I think your in the wrong section Kyc 2008
kyc2008
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   Old Thread  #466 4 Jun 2013 at 10.04am  0  Login    Register
Message Suppressed by Forum Moderator.
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #465 1 Jun 2013 at 9.32pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #464 29 May 2013 at 11.07am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #463
There was another lake about eight miles from my home it was stuffed with fish, or that's what they told me i never took much notice when the old men talked about the water, until I went for a look it was quite big I saw one or two fish showing on the surface, i did not know the area very well SO I had a good look around I walked the woods and fields surrounding the lake and saw one or two places I could hide if necessary I had tried to get permission it was useless the owner only shouted at me if yer don't get off my property ill shoot you with a ball of your own muck what a charming man that really revved me up I was determined I would fish his lake

So a week latter saw me on my bike with the rod tied to the cross bar it took me a while to get there but I eventually arrived on hiding my bike I made for a big clump of rhododendron bushes I managed to get to the water edge it was clear of bushes for about three feet so if disturbed I would be able to vanish into the rhododendrons I really hoped that would not happen. I set up and out I cast I was using bread flake, for bait. Putting a piece of doe on the line between reel and butt ring for my indicator, I switched on my bike torch it glowed a nice red I strapped it to a bank stick it showed up my bobbin, well as I watched the doe bobbin, flew up and hit the rod butt I picked the rod up and struck I felt the resistance from a good fish, few minutes latter I had it on the bank it was a slab of bronze what a beauty I had no scales or camera as in those days we had no money to buy such things but it was a bream, my first big one I shook with excitement I slipped it back and cast out once more I had hardly sat down on my bag when the indicator shot up once more I was in once again god this was some sort of fishing it was identical to the first fish, followed by five more I was on a high I had forgot about the lake being private in my excitement, until I heard some talking I could smell pipe smoke was it the keepers, or some one like me poaching.
photo recentlychanged2.jpg
A big bream from years ago
I moved back to the bushes I broke my rod down and listened I heard the one say john there not around to night I heard the bark of a dog it sounded like an Alsatian the only way to get to me was through the bushes by now I was shaking with fear I did not like those big dogs but I need not worried they moved on I decided enough was enough
I was packing the rod up when I heard a shout it was further around the lake they were chasing some one I crawled under the bush I lay there until it quietened down I heard them pass me on there way back the shouting I had heard
was poachers and it sounded like they had caught two, I think the police were there as well i made my way to my bike, and was glad to be on my way home it was four thirty by the time I got to my bed those big bream had really wet my appetite it would not be long before I was back. well a bit more latter
photo Image37.jpg

Another from years ago
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #463 27 May 2013 at 11.40am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #462
Thanks paddy very much appreciated
carppad
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carppad
   Old Thread  #462 27 May 2013 at 5.52am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #459
Hi Pete,
you really were a little bugger !! i got into some scrapes when i was younger with poaching and scrumping.
Your escapades bring back some happy memories mate. keep the stories coming Pete.
Cheers,
Paddy.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #461 23 May 2013 at 8.13pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #460
Thanks appreciated
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #460 23 May 2013 at 4.20pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #459 23 May 2013 at 10.05am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #457
They used to say on our village you will get caught one day but I never did I fished Acton burnell when I was around twelve years old I would hide in the under growth if I heard any one about I would go with a lad called Robert wilocks we would cycle there and hide our bikes, we caught very little in those days a few roach it was a big shooting estate and it had two keepers one was Bert owlet, the other Peter Jackson, they were both old school keepers and very good at there job it was when I got to fifteen years old that I really fished it hard I would fish it at night and be away before any keepers were around I managed to catch some lovely Tench, and roach,
Image4 photo Image4.jpg
Couple of Tench from acton years ago

I eventually got to know the owner who gave me permission to fish both lakes, he gave me a card saying I could fish but not on shooting days I never once poached his pheasants although I had the opportunity you don't bite the hand that feeds you the owner took me under his wing and would come and talk with me when I was on the lakes. not so far away a few miles from Acton was another lake reputed to hold carp, I really tried to get permission but I was refused I was determined to fish this old lake it was in the grounds of a big black and white Tudor hall, it also had a keeper, not a very nice chap the lake was behind the hall so I had to be very careful I would go in the evening just before dark I ledgered using maggot and bread flake as bait I really caught some very nice carp, not huge around about five pounds the place was over run with Pheasants, I made my mind up I would have some of these I knocked around with a lad called billy he wanted to come with me he was a handy chap with his fists so I relented I never usually took any one I would only be responsible for myself and not others.
secretpool3 photo secretpool3.jpg
A carp from Acton years ago

Over the few weeks I fished the lake I got to know the lay of the land where to hide if chased I took my trusted gun and billy, held the lamp we would go fishing first then hide the rods then have a few pheasants, and such I suppose it had to come one dark night we had shot a few when we heard a shout it was the keeper, and the police, they must of realized some one was having the birds, away and were waiting follow me billy we ran across the big lawn behind the big house I hid my gun with rods under some rhododendron bushes over the field we went and up this big fir tree it was huge with plenty of cover. We watched as a Land Rover came up the field I could see the blue light it was the Sgt from our village with another constable, who I knew very well it was not long before they were joined by the keeper, and his under keeper, we have lost them he shouted I am going to check the road said the Sgt they wont be far away billy and i never got out of that tree for about two hours it eventually quietened down we picked up the gun and rods. We had half a dozen pheasants in the bag and made our way to our bikes we dare not use the roads so we made our way back over the fields most of the time pushing our bikes we arrived back home at three thirty in the morning are you coming again billy his reply was no way its to dangerous when i awoke in the morning mother said the police have been here i told them you were still in bed it was not the last time i fished that lake,. but that's another story. more latter
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #458 21 May 2013 at 9.29am  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #457 17 May 2013 at 4.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #454
In those days I had continues hassle from the keepers and the police they knew I poached but never caught me I fished most lakes, with out permission the one lake, I poached was on quite a big estate I will not mention any names for I do not want to embarrass any one as some of the owners are still alive. I had caught some wonderful Tench from the water there was at least six keepers with one head keeper there were pheasants, where ever you looked I was really tempted to have a few birds, away but friends said keep away you will get caught.

It was all to much for me I was determined to have ago so one dark and windy night saw myself hiding my bike, beside the river severn in some thick under growth I forded the river and entered the estate it was around midnight I stopped and listened all was quite except for a dog, at the head keepers cottage, I skirted around the big hall and entered the woods my bike torch was strapped to the barrel of my rifle it was bodge job but it got me by I had used it many times before with success.

I could see the lights from the hall, in the distance up went the torch and gun, I could see the birds, roosting up above I squeezed the trigger and down he came a big cock bird, into the bag it went closely followed by another I moved further into the woods, I was averaging two from a tree they would not be missed, or so I thought I had shot around eight plumb birds, when I heard a shout we have got you stay where you are or we will let the dogs go no way how did they know I was there god did I run and dived into the big reed beds surrounding the lake and there I lay I could hardly breath I was so frightened I had poached the lake before but never the pheasants, I could still hear the dogs, and the keepers, shouting I thought they were moving away from where I was hiding I decided to make a run for it bag on my back gun in hand and way I went if I could make it to the river I would be okay I could still hear the dogs, I am sure they were on my scent past the hall I went and in to the river I plunged it was not that deep I managed to get across I hid my self in the under growth by my bike god I could do with a smoke but I knew it was curtains if I did

As I listened I heard the keepers shout from the other side tom his gone down beside the river into the far wood and away they went god was i pleased. I got my bike up the fields I walked before I got onto the main road I put my back to a tree and just sat there I was well away from the estate so i lit my pipe, I could not go home on the main road as I may get stopped by the police, it was around six miles from home and decided I would cross the fields it would take a bit longer but I knew i would be safe I arrived home at three am in the morning I hung the birds and the bag in the shed I really was clad to be home. The next days evening paper said poachers caught on such and such estate I will mention no names but I really wonder if they were after me or was it just coincidence that the dogs, were on my scent that I will never know I poached it many times after and I must say I was chased on a few occasions but always manged to get away. I will tell you more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #456 14 May 2013 at 10.10pm  0  Login    Register
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Thanks again William it makes it all worth while
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   Old Thread  #455 14 May 2013 at 7.04pm  0  Login    Register
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #454 14 May 2013 at 11.58am  0  Login    Register
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As I walked across the field towards the river the wind roared it was a full moon and it cast shadows as the clouds scuttled across the sky, I reached the wicket gate that leads into the wood i disturbed a hare i watched as it ran across the field for a few seconds it startled me but I soon forgot and followed the path that led to the river, I was safe inside the wood I sat for a few minutes with my back to a big beech tree and just listened the wind roared in the tree tops I heard the bark of the keepers dogs in the distance old bell the keeper would be away to his bed I listened no breaking of twigs only the wind to keep me company tonight. I looked at my watch it was twelve thirty I slipped down the bank standing on firm gravel I cast the minnow and slowly wound it back the rod hooped over and I was in the first of many trout tonight I played the fish, to the side it was around the pound mark and beautiful with his spotted flanks the fish, was dispensed with and put into the bag no putting the fish back to night times were hard and they were needed at home for us and our neighbours.

I took a drink out of the bottle it was cold tea and it quenched my thirst, I sat for a minute listening to the sounds of the night a vixen, gave a sharp yap she was deep in the wood maybe calling her cubs, I heard the screech of the owl, in the tree tops. I cast the Minnow,out into the stream and I was soon in another for the bag it was only a pound but they were nice eating fish, my rod was a built cane spinning rod made by Hardy it handled these fish superbly and if chased it was not long to hide under the brambles it also made good worming rod I had about ten fish in the bag, As I made my way to the first water fall I knew there was a chance of a bigger fish spinning below the sill of the falls, I had not got long to wait the rod really bent into this fish, after a time I landed a lovely cock fish of two pounds, I managed another couple of fish when I heard a shout in the distance and the crying of dogs how do they know I am here, they could not or were they clutching at straws, I had plenty of time and ran across the top of the falls to the far side which belonged to the blind school I pushed my rod under a big chicken house that stood in the grounds and climbed the nearest big fir and that's where I stayed the wind ripped through the tree that I was hiding in causing it to sway to and fro.

As I watched I saw them coming through the wood I could smell pipe smoke, the police Sgt and a constable was there as well it was old landers who I heard say we have lost him tonight frank, are you going to check his home said old bell ,no point said the sgt how do you know he was here frank, he was seen crossing the field by my under keeper he gave you a ring at my house so old bell had got a phone that's how he gets in touch with the police so quickly. I found it quite hard to hear all the conversation because of the wind god I wish they would go it was three am in the morning and I needed my bed as they walked on down the river I climbed down and picked up my rod and made my way to the church where I had hid my bike I had caught thirteen fish I broke my rod down and tied it to the cross bar I could not cycle back on the road as the police were probably waiting so I made my way across the fields arriving home I put my bike over the style into our back garden putting my rod and bag into the shed I laid the fish out on a big meat dish they would be shared out tomorrow, the very next day we had a call from the sgt where is he beryl I could hear him from my bedroom ,still in bed she said but I was up as soon as he had gone you will get caught one day my mother said she did worry a bit but you know what I never did. more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #453 12 May 2013 at 10.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #452
Thanks William
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   Old Thread  #452 12 May 2013 at 8.32pm  0  Login    Register
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #451 11 May 2013 at 9.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #446
To my mothers disgust I always carried a ferret in my shirt I would take every opportunity to catch a couple for food as in those days times were hard in the early fifties before myxomatosis there were literally hundreds of rabbits it was nothing to go up the fields and catch two or three they were really sort after in those days it was the only meat we had. We had it in a pie roasted or a stew it kept us going. You really had to keep your eyes open as you were trespassing some of the estates had full time rabbit catchers the money made was pumped back into the estate the rabbits would be sent to Birmingham or London I used to see hundreds sent by train to these locations.

Well I was a bit of a jack the lad I learned at a very young age how to get a pheasant, or two I would watch the big shoots in the area I would hide and watch the gentlemen and ladies shoot, they would shoot hundreds any that came down in the under growth were I was hidden would be in my bag I used an old sack to carry the birds until I was given a post office bag I carried everything in that bag nets for rabbiting, fishing, tackle when in use. lets get back to the shoot I would laugh to myself when the gun shouted to the keeper bird, down he would not find it I had already had it some of my mates would say you are going to get caught one of these days luckily I never did but i had a few near misses one such estate was not far from my home I should have known better I went down in to the woods in broad daylight found the feed ride I caught the birds, quite easily with a fishing hook, tied to some line with a big sultana or current on the hook, suppose I got to greedy I had caught about six birds when I heard the keeper shout and he was not by himself god did I run have you tried running with a bag on your back full of birds, I climbed an old ivy tree and hid the bag amongst the ivy leaves then I was away there were open field surrounding the wood that I would have to cross. I was half way across the field when I heard stop or ill shoot and he did the pellets flew over my head I just made it to cover god I was frightened I lay there shaking come on out they were shouting more pellets ricochet off the trees above were I lay.
photo recently changed-1.jpg

The feed ride

I really thought this was it I managed to crawl out and flew across the ditch that surrounded the wood there was an obsolete firing range not to far were I was I made it to there and dived under some old sand bags and covered myself completely I could just see out i watched as a blue and white police land rover, crossed the field funny they never came to look at the firing range I stayed there for four hours I collected my birds latter I made my way home changed I knew we would get a visit from the sgt, we did about an hour latter where have you been today young man here I said I could not help smiling he could not prove any thing but it was a bit near for comfort I made sure that would not happen again but of course it did which I will tell you about latter.
photo canstock0734465.png

The beautiful cock bird
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #450 9 May 2013 at 5.14pm  0  Login    Register
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Thanks ken its been bl terrible could not walk to the car in two feet and ankles then wrist ill pop a bit more on latter pete
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #449 9 May 2013 at 2.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #448
More of please, Pete...Gout...Urgh. Not nice.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #448 8 May 2013 at 5.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #447
Thanks so much William I am glad you like my stories it makes it all worth while pete
billybaltic
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   Old Thread  #447 8 May 2013 at 5.16pm  0  Login    Register
I really enjoy your write ups pete, keep them coming, always gives me a smile and a good think of when i was a teenager, makes me want to get out in the countryside, but you can't walk your dogs in some places without people thinking your hunting, but love to still hear about it all, keep at it and good luck.
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   Old Thread  #446 8 May 2013 at 10.27am  0  Login    Register
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What a week end i had woke up Saturday morning with pains in feet ankles and wrists it turns out I had got severe gout I am just getting over it now I could not even change gear in the car, lovely weather and that's how it turned out for me so I never really went far well to be truthful I could not walk or get my shoes on as you get older every thing seems to drop apart I am 71 years old on the twenty sixth of this month and have really had a good life so I should not moan.

When I was a nipper I would be out from dawn till dusk fishing dominated my life and not all legal not far from where I lived there was a trout pool the owners had stocked for there own use and for friends it was full of rainbows with a few browns times were hard I would be about fifteen at the time I watched that pool for weeks it was looked after by the keepers the one keeper was not past having a few trout himself I decided the way forward was night lines I would use a rod to cast out cut the line which had already been baited with a couple of juicy lob worms cut the line and Tye it to a peg and bury it I would put out anything between eight or nine lines they would be set in the dark I would be back at first light I caught loads but I became to confident and venturing out one morning they were waiting for me they had discovered my lines not only keepers, but there was a police, presence I had just got the one line in when I was startled by a shout stay where you are you cannot get away I see the police car in the lane leading to the pool, I ran up through the wood I could hear the dogs, in the distance and the occasional shout.

I got out onto the field and saw the blue land rover in the distance it was the old Sgt I jumped a ditch looking back they were gaining on me there was a little brook a field away in I went up to my neck in water there was a tunnel that went under the road in I went and that were I stayed Io could hear them talking in the distance god I was cold I was soaked to the skin I could hear the whine of the dogs I just hoped they did not enter the tunnel I decided to follow the tunnel and get out onto the field the far side I crept out and ran up the hedge row and onto the main road I managed to get home I had a wash and went to bed it was not long before there was a knock on the door it was the Sgt is he in beryl in bed said mum and he has been there all night that's one night in my long life. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #445 2 May 2013 at 5.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #444
Thanks Ralph glad you still like them
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   Old Thread  #444 2 May 2013 at 0.29am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #443
been playing catch up tonight pete , cracking write ups mate . keep it up
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   Old Thread  #443 30 Apr 2013 at 11.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #442
The wild cherry,trees behind my house are covered in flower my old plum tree was the same but the frost killed the lot. THE buds on the trees are starting to unfold,blue bells,are out so spring is here at last but we still have that cold breeze graham and I went up to see the fishery that we have been given permission to fish,we saw a few come out they average around twelve pounds.
I am told he owner is putting a few really big carp in the water in the near future I am certainly looking forward to that he has had otters on the complex but there not there any more they have moved on he is going to fence all around the two lakes when talking to him a couple of weeks ago he had put an electric fence up which has helped matters I noticed we had a Canada goose sitting on eggs on one of the islands that is in the middle of the lake so I truly think the little furry animals have gone as they would have had the goose and eggs away.

I really cant wait to have a go at the carp, we were shown a nice photo of a carp,caught last week it was well into double figures so maybe next week graham and I will be having a go on this pretty lake,I will be quite happy being there whether I catch or not the owner has given us permission to park the car next to the lake so there will be no walking we are both in our seventies our minds are willing but our bodies are not it will be the first time we have fished this lake so it will be quite interesting roll on next week. God there are some sort of otters around I was told they are going to release more otters on the river Rea and build more Holt's it was told me by a man that's in the know I was a bit annoyed and told him so. If they do the river will be dead it presently stocked with trout and grayling and a few nice chub and roach it looks to me they are still releasing the otter in some areas.

When I was young I walked the river Rea I was about seventeen and had just acquired my first twelve bore shot gun the ministry of agriculture and fisheries would give you free cartridge if you shot any cormorants or wood pigeon I can remember being sent mine they were coloured white funny really they asked you to shoot the vermin in those days but not today its all changed to many do gooders that don't understand the counry side. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #442 24 Apr 2013 at 5.49pm  0  Login    Register
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Its eighteen in Shropshire today has spring arrived at last. I took look at the forecast its going to be -2 again by the week end what ever is wrong I have never seen such weather in all my seventy years when I was young spring was a wonderful time of year the hedge rows, and woods, were full of nesting birds, the bottom of the woodland floor was a sea of yellow and blue with the primroses, and the blue bells, most of the farmers sheep, had now got lambs, and old foxy, and his lady friend had cubs, another year had started nature was so wonderful from the first of may you would see the nettles, and the road side flowers, covered in butterflies, the red admiral, and the tortoise shell, the large white, and small white, the common blue the lovely peacock, and many more where have they gone oh for the days of my youth when I could walk woodland and the lanes and see the hedgerows full of flowers, and the nesting birds you would find the robins nest tucked under the grassy bank beside the wood you would come across the rookery where old Sam shot the young for his pie, these were the days of my youth now a distant memory things have changed since then. we shared with our neighbors and friends left our back doors open and never got done we had very little for a thief to take but what we did have was respect and love for our fellow man we ate what we could afford we lived on rabbits and pheasants which were in abundance in those far off days.
photo recentlychanged1.jpg
one of the lakes I poached

I walked the rivers with rod on hand and poached the beautiful trout, I fished the estate lakes for Rudd, and roach, and if lucky catch the Tench, we also caught the carp, but most lakes did not hold carp only two to my knowledge I have told you about those lakes earlier in my stories, I would find the ducks, nest in the willows we would take a few home with us we did not take all they were lovely for breakfast we also ate the peewits, eggs they were nice but small but they helped us survive when the potatoes were ready in the fields we would be away buckets in hand and dig a root or two they were beautiful boiled and served covered in home made butter the farmer never missed a few he knew how hard life was most men in those days only earned eight pound a week if lucky farm labourers got less than that. well a bit more latter

photo secretpool3-1.jpg

A Tench from years ago I had some hair then
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   Old Thread  #441 16 Apr 2013 at 11.26am  0  Login    Register
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The weather seems to be improving, its funny really when I was younger the weather made no difference to me I would be off fishing in the cold even the snow but as you get older you cant stand the colder weather its like night fishing we don't go any more and to be honest I have caught just as much in the day light. One of the best times to go is in the evening fishing until midnight especially on the river I have had some spectacular bags of barbell. the biggest I had came in the morning when the river was very high and coloured it took a bit of weight to hold bottom and I caught most down the side of the river that particular day I caught thirty two Barbel-in five hours it was fast and furious fishing.
photo DSC000251.jpg
A nice barbel from the severn

In the fifties i did lots of night fishing but that is when I poached the rivers for the trout, I loved to be out on a warm sultry night just myself and a rod, as I have said before a lot of the rivers were stocked after the war for the big estates, I had no trouble catching a few I loved to free line a nice red worm, and feel for the bite, I could catch twenty fish in a few hours. Times were hard after the war years the wages were very low and to get a decent wage you worked all hours so a few nice trout, were welcomed they were shared out between my parents and neighbours poaching became like a drug I could not leave it alone I liked the excitement and the rush of adrenaline if you were discovered and chased I loved it all you were always listening for any noise the snap of a twig, the bark of the dog, noise would travel at night when all was quite you would soon know if the bailiffs, or keepers, were around and you would be away at a run hiding your rod on the way I fell in the river a few times but I got away they were wonderful days no pressure like today no keep up with the joneses most people I knew led a modest life style and not much money.
photo secretpool-1.jpg
A big barbell in the dark

There were two keepers that I had one or two encounters with old frank bell was one and the other was Gerry Hayes, both long gone but really good keepers plus there was the under keepers they were the old school frank died a few years ago but he is remembered for his excellent gun dog training he was well known throughout the counties of England but he was a hard man and came down on poaching very hard, and a few went to court over the years he would come down the field in full cry urging his dogs to find me on most occasions he had the police with him I would run the side of the river through the water and up a big old fir tree and there I stayed until it had quietened down I was lucky I never did get caught once by those old keepers but I had a few near escapes. well a bit more latter.
photo DSC00181.jpg
The woods behind Gerry the keepers house
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   Old Thread  #440 11 Apr 2013 at 12.33pm  0  Login    Register
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I have been putting new line on my reels so after forking out the money I will certainly be going fishing when the weather improves I shall start with the carp but will also be having a go at the Barbel, I love fishing on the river you do not know what you will catch i have had chub to over six pounds and barbell to twelve and a quarter not bad for the river Severn, I regularly caught over twenty Barbel, in an evening fishing until midnight most weighing between six and nine pounds it was exiting fishing, but owing to my walking problem I cant get to the swim I caught them in. I well remember leaving my friends daughter in charge of my rods the cattle were thrashing the cars some one had left the gate open to the car park what a mess. I managed to get the cattle out after they had thrashed a couple of cars on returning to the river the young lady was up to her knees in water rod held high with a good bend then he showed he threw him self up and back in with a splash it was a moonlight night the moon reflected off his flanks it was a big salmon, maybe twenty pound or so he had taken a halibut pellet I just managed to get to the lady when all went slack we had lost him I don't know who shook most me or her.
recentlychanged5 photo recentlychanged5.jpg

Nice Barbel

The one night I fished I lost a tremendous fish, I could not stop him in the fast water he went through the weed beds like a rocket eventually snagging him self, my two friend waded out with a net there lay a big carp, on his side they tried to get him in the net with the aid of a torch but it was not to be away he went I could not stop him he eventually shed the hook after taking yards of line in the fast water, talking to Andy after losing the carp he said it was well over twenty pounds but that's fishing some you win and some you loose it was wonderful fishing I tried fishing all night but never had much success I found between five pm and midnight you got the best results as well as the Barbel, we caught a good many Chub, mostly around four or five pounds they were nice deep bodied fish, with the odd one over six pounds.
photo recentlychanged2-4.jpg

Another nice fish

In those days I used to fish two rods ledgering with halibut pellet or maggot but found the latter caught the smaller fish, when I was younger you could catch big bags of roach and dace but they have now vanished it was great trotting a maggot down the river the float would dip and you were in another a nice dace, around half a pound they were easy to catch but as I said before to many predators today the big shoals have gone I know the answer but I dare not say as it may put the general public backs up they love to see the ducks, and one ducks, like another to them the merganser, has caused terrible damage here in in Shrewsbury and has decimated the roach and dace. well a bit more latter.

photo PA200067.jpg
A nice chub
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   Old Thread  #439 6 Apr 2013 at 11.21am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #436
And so it starts for those that don't know I love nature and I am dreading the coming Badger, cull in my own opinion it will not work I think they want 800 badgers, culled in the first six weeks, plus a further 1600, in the proceeding months it will not stop the disease only make it worse I have seen it before you kill and clear a place of its animals, then more will move in I have seen it happen with foxes, and magpies, Badgers live as a family I have watched Badgers, most of my life and can honestly say they are lovable creatures they have really thrived since they were protected . At one time interbreeding worried me but that has not happened they have tried ta cull before mass gassing in the counties of Devon, and Somerset, it did nothing to help there is no actual proof badger are spreading the disease I favour inoculation that the Badger, society are carrying out in Shropshire, it will take a bit to do but its worth a try I really feel for the farmers losing there cattle to this terrible disease it must be heart breaking but I think the way forward is inoculation the one big set not far from my home has been there for generations I used to love going down on a summers night to see them out feeding in the meadows they would be out worming we should not interfere with nature it is very fragile the Badgers should be left for future generations to enjoy this is only my thoughts others may not agree with what I say every one has there own opinion but I don't think killing this beautiful animal is the way forward.

Well the sun is shining but it is still very cold in that easterly breeze. graham and I will not be fishing until it warms up a bit we are going after the carp. And we are also going to have a go at the Barbel, when the season starts in June, it will do graham good to get out fishing again as he had a terrible few months last year but he is slowly getting there I usually get down the woods this time of year and also walk the hedge rows looking for any signs of fox cubs, the vixen will have them tucked up under some hedge but alas I can not walk like I used to so I shall have to give it a miss for the time being. well a bit more latter

photo badgerpa_2368029b.jpg

A beautiful animal the Badger
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   Old Thread  #438 4 Apr 2013 at 11.03am  0  Login    Register
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KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #437 2 Apr 2013 at 5.26pm  0  Login    Register
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #436 1 Apr 2013 at 8.04pm  0  Login    Register
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It supposed to be the first day of spring I have never known its so cold in April, the birds have been caught out some have already got nests especially the black birds the one nest in our garden has four eggs and she is now sitting I really hope they survive in this cold wind, I have also got a hedge sparrow or dunnock, as its known sitting on eggs I just hope she hatches them graham and myself have been to see a couple of carp lakes the owner has told us to take my car to the edge of the water that will suit both as as my health is not that good and I cannot walk far and owing to grahams age he cant do as he used to the lakes hold a few nice carp ,so we will def be having a go he has fenced the one lake off as he did have a visit from those furry things but has had no problems since.

When I was a young chap I loved this time of year we would be off birds, nesting I used to collect the eggs, but after meeting old SAM the game keeper I stopped as he told me to look and don't take I would write it in a small book about the nest, type of bird, and the number of eggs, or chicks, we always took a few duck eggs if found but they were for eating and very nice they were for breakfast they were wonder full days the sun seemed to shine from April on our parents did not worry they knew we were safe it was one long summer if not birds nesting, we would be fishing I cut my teeth fishing the river onny and soon learned to catch the beautiful brown trout and the grayling that it held I had some wonderful times watching the wild life on the river in my younger days it was a privilege to see a otter I used lie in the under growth and watch them playing, but the hunt would be around four or five times a year and would soon sort them out.

I would watch the king fisher and the water voles they were shy little animals but there was no shortage not like today the mink has seen to that its a real tragedy not to see them in any numbers today, I some times think man is destroying himself its time we all learned I have seen some big changes over the years mostly from the farming community pulling out hedges to make room for the bigger machinery not only hedges but small woods as well we have lost a lot of wild life through this sort of farming. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #435 26 Mar 2013 at 11.07am  0  Login    Register
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Snow and more snow its been a ft deep in my garden up in hill country its been really bad with drifts over fifteen ft I really feel for the farmers its now lambing time and they have been digging the sheep, out of big drifts some lambs, have been born under the snow and have not survived but its nothing new nineteen sixty three was a terrible year just the same I can well remember digging the sheep, out and the farmer taking them back to the farm I myself never got from the house where we lived for ten weeks the main road was blocked solid and the frosts that followed were terrible it froze the rivers, solid a lot of the wild life, perished as they could not get the food they needed it killed large flocks of pigeon, it was nothing to find birds, frozen to the ground and some were still alive i would pick them up and warm them up by the fire they soon came around and I would release them back into the wilds it was so bad that the rabbits, would dig them selves out then eat bark from the trees.

I walked the small rivers when I could get it killed a lot of the king fishers as they could not get to there food the humble minnow, some of the rivers had frozen to a depth of seven or more inches I even saw a car on the river Severn that was in the middle February there was no fishing for some time I would take my gun and walk through the snow just to get a couple of pheasants, from the nearest estate the keepers had kept them well fed. I would be frozen by the time I got back to the house but it was well worth the effort we never starved no matter how hard the weather was I can remember a few trees falling over the sap was frozen solid we would be away with our axes and cross cuts cutting it up into logs they soon dried out in the shed and helped to keep the fire going which burned night and day no central heating then only coal and wood but we survived most of the food was brought to the small shop by helicopter bread was home made.

I eventually got back to work in mid march in those days I worked in the building trade I was banks man to a JCB digger we were putting trenches in so we could lay pipes for the sewers the frost was still in the ground it had penetrated to at least two feet it was really hard going and believe me it was still very cold but by April things had changed we were back to normal but it is a winter I have never forgot it started boxing day so it was with us for nearly four months I did get paid some from the social security seven shillings and sixpence a week I nearly told them what they could do with there money but I had a wife and young son to keep so it was accepted and I never got that until April which was back dated thinking back how we survived I really don't know as we had no money the food was on the tick from the shop until we got payed it was really hard but with the few pheasants and ducks I shot we got by. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #434 20 Mar 2013 at 11.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #433
I would go down to the river Rea and drop in the minnow trap by morning i would have sufficient bait for the day i would use the minnow to catch perch, on one lake i would use a sliding float into 18 ft of water about a yard from the bank you did not have long wait the float would slide away we have caught perch, to three pound plus that was in the late sixties god where has the time gone it was nothing to catch half a dozen in a day it was wonderful fishing. In the fifties i would use the minnow mounted in a flight to catch the trout it was deadly spinning with that method and on the right day you could catch one a cast and mostly the bigger fish.

I have used minnow to catch the chub, trotting it down the river with a big Avon type float, and have had some good results catching them to four pounds plus, i have never seen anyone using minnow, around here for years shame really as i had some good days using them. I have also used the minnow, free lining for the trout when i poached bells brook at condover. The take was positive pulling the rod top around i used to feel for a bite using worm but no need with the minnow, it would hook its self i have caught the trout, to over one pound twelve oz on minnow, but i have caught more trout, on worm, especially at night it was nothing to catch twenty fish the river was full of them as most farmers and estates stocked the rivers for the syndicates, that rented that stretch of water, the river was looked after by two baliffs, and you would see them walking the river twice a day looking for any signs of poaching, i never fished in the day time early morning or evenings was the time you never saw a living soul only you and your rod.

They were great days i tried the minnow on the estate lakes with some success, i caught the roach mostly using worm the farmer would to let me fork into the dung heap on his farm i could fill a box in no time they were not big worms and the roach, would take them greedily for the rudd, i used bread flake, i did catch them on worm but found using bread or maggot, i got the best results. Most lakes and pools were stocked with fish but in the early fifties the lakes were used for duck shooting no way could you get permision to fish so i would poach them they were great days i was still learning but did have some sucsses. A bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #433 17 Mar 2013 at 11.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #432
From an early age i have always loved the woods i would stay all day just watching the wild life my favorite was old foxy, the gentlemen of the woods i would watch as the keepers and friends walked the woods through to the standing guns, who were there to shoot old foxy, but he was crafty they say Foxes, don't like water i have seen them use the lake to there own advantage they would swim,around the lake keeping tight to the reed beds, there was one dog that would clime the ivy tree and hide in the foliage he did this on numerous occasions and they never did shoot,him. I have watched many times as he was driven out of thick cover brambles and into the shallows you could hear the dogs howling they were on his scent. He would swim the lake leaving no scent. i have watched as the dogs came towards the style but old foxy would be under and away long before the huntsman arrived with the dogs have you seen him sir no said i. I would watch as they continued across the fields but there would be no kill today old foxy had long gone.

I feel very privileged to have been there and watched as that old dog mated up with one of the smallest vixens i had ever seen i only ever saw him once bring a rabbit,to the earth. I really thought the cubs would not survive but she did an excellent job rearing five healthy cubs she was so small she looked like a young cub,her self she was around our woods for at least three years she then vanished and we have never seen her since they do not have a very long life but that old dog survived for a good many years we found him dead one morning lying inside the wood that he had loved so much he had been shot on looking in his mouth he had lost most of his teeth they were rotten his lovely coat and brush had got silver hairs he was old and would not of survived another year but that is nature
i really missed that old gentleman but another has took his place maybe its one of his sons i have only seen him from a distance so we shall see he looks quite big and he seems in good nick. more latter.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #432 13 Mar 2013 at 10.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #431
I suppose i was around fifteen when i started to fish for the eels, on the river severn, i would be out on the lawns at night looking for lob worms, god i certainly caught a few eels, from the river in those days i am told they do not get caught in quantity like we caught years ago. It was nothing to catch twenty or more in a night so things have changed i would take a few home for eating then return the others i caught they were not that big around two pounds maybe three pounds but good fun to fish for i even had the occasional salmon, when fishing lob worm if landed it would be in my bag and away home i would go the only transport i had in those days was my bike, it took me every where it all changed when i met a lad called terry anslow, he had a motor scooter we went every where fishing we would spin the river rea catching small jack pike, or ledger for the big chub when i say big only about three to four pounds but they were huge to us youngsters. We also fished behind the old mortuary on the river Severn we would fish for the roach we really caught some good bags but the best was fishing for the pike with live bait god we did catch a few the biggest was around fourteen pounds but we caught up to eight in a morning that's not bad going. They have now vanished why to many predators taking the small silver fish, where i could catch a good net of dace, your now lucky to catch one.

They were wonderful days the rivers and lakes were teaming with wild life and fish, i have had a passion for wild life since i was a young child. When i see whats happening to day it nearly makes me cry the birds, of the country side are vanishing birds we took for granted are no longer seen the curlew, is one such birds the bittern, although i saw one about twelve months ago the English partridge, or the grey as its called they have vanished in some parts of the country side this is down to farming methods we have one covey on our shoot and no one is allowed to shoot at them you do not see the reed warbler, like we used to even the linnet, has started to vanish whats happened to the meadow pipit, another gone missing i could keep on man is destroying him self the hedges, have been pulled out on a good many farms to make it easier for the big machinery the combine, but its making a big dust bowl as the hedges helped drain the water away they are no longer there and the wild life they harberd has also gone when will we ever learn well rant over, a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #431 7 Mar 2013 at 12.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #430
I have been reading the otter thread with some interest otter Holt's are not a new thing they existed in the early fifties its up to the landowner whether he wants one on is land its not illegal to make one. Foxes have been living in man made earths for generations i could take you to four in a eight mile radius from my home i know of one Holt on the river Rea i cannot walk there to see if its being used because of my health. That Holt has been there since the early seventies , funny at the same time Graham and i were fishing berrington pool for the Bream this one morning as we watched a big dog otter appeared right in front of us he stayed for a couple of days then he was gone he was a big animal i should think he was traveling through looking for a female to mate with.

photo recentlychanged-4.jpg
Otter hunt years ago

The problem we have now is the amount of a otters, although the environment agency supports the release of the otter, they are not actually releasing them. Its down to other organizations some are legal some not. the problem we have is there are now far to many for the available food in the rivers, so they move to lakes and pools that were not around when i was a youngsters it make easy hunting when full of fat carp. When i was a youngster they were kept in check with the otter hounds not a pleasant sight but they did the job. The ones i saw were very shy and seemed to hunt the rivers not the small pools and lakes some have now got liver fluke which can make them very weak it makes them more susceptible to other diseases and injuries.



I was around ten years old and would use my bike to get to most lakes i would hide it in the under growth one such lake was in clun a few miles from my house it was owned by squire rock at the time it was used for duck shooting i can remember knocking his door and asking his permission to fish the lake he went bright red and this was his words if i catch you on my property ill shoot you with a ball of your own muck he then slammed the door in my face what he did not know i already fished the lake it was full of tench the biggest i caught was only around two pounds it was really good fishing there was also some good pike in the lake i would spin a small minnow mounted on a flight they were to easy i caught quite a few over the coming months i think 10 pound was the biggest it was a huge fish for myself and my mates i never ever got caught fishing that lake it was so quiet. The only ones i saw were the keepers when they came down to feed the ducks. Well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #430 6 Mar 2013 at 10.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #429
An old gypsy taught me how to tickle the trout old jack really could catch them he knew the country side back to front he would take me up in hill country the little streams were Cristal clear and full of trout not big but two or three made a good meal i would be up to my knees in water slide yer hand under the bank when you find him slip your hand under his belly then move from side to side he should roll over on his side then as quick as lighting close your hand and in one movement throw him onto the bank he cursed when i did not manage it but i persevered and became quite good at the art of tickling the trout.



I liked the true Romany, he loved to roam the country lanes and villages he always had a dog or two, i went out in the day with him on more than one occasion he was a bugger to catch a few hares, carry these hares lad he would say i soon started to say no as they were to heavy to carry it was nothing to see six or seven hanging by the caravans he would sell a few. i did not like hare it had very strong aroma when cooking the meat when tasted had the same aroma it was far to strong . It was jack that taught me to catch the pheasant, with a fishing line, bait was a sultana or current they were so easy to catch we would lie down in the under growth chuck a few currents on a clear patch the birds would go mad it was like baiting up when fishing we usualy ended up with about ten birds




I can always remember him coming to our house hello misses he would say do ya mind the youngster coming out with me poaching she made him a cup of tea he was a nice old chap and could tell a story or two he had a number of horses from greys to piebalds he would let me ride around on this one horse he was so quite and i never fell of once, i don't know how many he had but he would break them in and sell them on i don't think there was a shortage of money ,i never once saw him go to the pub he never waisted his cash like others in those days.
more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #429 3 Mar 2013 at 10.55am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #428
The earliest recollection i have was fishing with my grandad i was only three years old i lost my father in the war and lived with my grand parents my grand father died in 1947 at the age of fifty two i was broken hearted my mother had to work so i spent most days with my grand mother but she liked a drink and would give me a clout with her walking stick my mother packed up work to look after me i can remember the farmers picking the women up on a tractor and trailer to go potato picking they were hard days i used to go with her it was back breaking job they would be paid every night and you could take home two buckets of potatoes.

At the time my mother had taken a land girl, in her name was joan she payed for her board and lodge, she would bring these big cart horses home with her and Tie it to a big mangle in the garden they frightened me but they were docile animals, i can remember riding to shrewsbury on its back when Joan took him to the black smith for new shoes, although they were hard days we had a good time we would pick the mushrooms, the black berries, any thing to keep us in food a lot of the fruit, was bottled and kept in the cupboard for eating at a latter date we had to fetch the water daily from a communal conduit you would insert a key turn it on and the water would flow we used about four buckets a day if it froze you would light a fire, to thaw it out i soon started going fishing again i was seven years old and would fish the river Rea, i really had no idea how to proceed but with a bit of practice i would catch a minnow or two i persevered and caught a few roach i was hooked on fishing and that's all i though about night and day.

Mother met a man his name was Albert, they married and he really changed my ;life he was lovely step father, he was signal man with the railway he took a interest in every thing i did and encouraged me to carry on fishing i suppose i was eight years old when we moved to craven arms, in south Shropshire,and lived at five newington terrace this is where my fishing really took off i learned to float fish and fished for the brown trout that the river onny held, There was that many estates with lakes but you could not get permission so i poached most in the early years i used mainly bread or worm until I got some maggots from tays the butchers they killed the animals and sold the meat i would go down and sort throught the skins that had been thrown out side for the rag and bone man god did i stink but it was worth the effort and really made a difference. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #428 1 Mar 2013 at 11.11am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #427
After we had no rabbits i started to go poaching for the pheasants in the forties and fifties the big estates put thousand down for the gentry to shoot i would go and watch when they were shooting i would hide and watch the gentlemen and ladies shoot they would all be dressed in tweed, It was quite easy to get a pheasant or two i would watch where they came down and then pick a few up before the keepers came with there dogs i would laugh to myself when one of the gentleman shouted keeper i have birds down over there but i had already picked it up it was safely in my bag. I was satisfied with six or seven i would get into the wood and make my way home it was really hard in the early fifties and the birds were always welcome we would share them out with our neighbours as every one helped one another you could leave your back door open we had no burglars its a bit different today.

But they were good years for us youngsters, we would be out all day birds, nesting or camping in the woods funny really i always felt safe in the woods we would light a fire and eat baked potatoes or we boiled moorhens eggs they were wonderful days. I would clime the trees to the kestrels nest i never took one egg i just liked to see them in the nest some time there would be chicks i would hold them in my hand and think how wonderful nature was but if the keeper, found the nest he would shoot at the nest killing all that was within he would shoot anything that threatened his birds including badgers and buzzards .

I loved the river and i would poach it for the trout, i had one or two near escapes i was fishing this one day i looked to my right i saw the bailiffs, coming up the feild i could not run as they would see me so i hid in the under growth by the side of the river bank i held my breath as the passed me by. They would patrol the river twice a day looking for poachers the river was full of trout, and grayling, they were easy to catch with worm or a small spinner and i had no trouble getting rid of them they were always appreciated by our friends and neighbours. I was told about a small pool at place called Branden hill i eventually found the pool it was in the middle of a big wood i did manage to fish it with a friend we caught some spectacular Rudd, but it was a bit dodgy you could see that it was keepered it also held some good perch, i don't think the pool had ever been fished i think it was used for duck shooting we were lucky and never got caught and had some enjoyable day fishing the pool. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #427 26 Feb 2013 at 4.32pm  0  Login    Register
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I Can always remember when myxomatosis first hit us in all honesty i could of cried we as youths would go up the field the rabbits would be there in there hundreds their heads were swollen with sores all over we used to put them out of there misery it was a terrible sight and all caused by a flea the disease had been put down indiscreetly in fact it was pox i don't think all the farmers liked it as it put quite a few out of work a lot of the big estates employed a chap to catch the rabbits and made quite a lot of revenue out of them its hard to think any survived but they did in small pockets around the country side it affected most families as they relied on the rabbit for meat

The rabbit made a steady come back over the years but where i live the Rabbit have had liver fluke and that has killed quite a few but no doubt they will be back in numbers before long.

There was no more ferreting some were kept for ratting but most were got rid of it was a big shame i kept mine until he died of old age when a youngster he would curl up in my shirt it made me stink a bit my mum used to say get a wash your not coming in house smelling like that but i still had my fishing the trout in the rivers or the many lakes that i poached i still loved to go to the small lake that held the carp the owner loved to see us as youngsters and never charged us any money. I spent hours fishing that lake, i soon learnt and caught fish not big most were from three pounds to five so it was with suprise that my float slid away and i hooked a bigger fish by the time i got it on the bank i was shaking with exitment i can remember a man called peter finch who became a good freind, it was weighed on peters, scales and was ten pounds exactly. I think every one came to have a look i was told it was a good fish for those years i watched it swim away after that i wanted bigger but the lakes i fished did not hold the bigger specimens so it was back to the small lake i learned to catch the carp on floating crust i watched as they sucked it in i hit some and lost others but i never caught any thing close to ten pounds again but i was happy with the fish i caught and to this day they remain in my memory. A bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #426 26 Feb 2013 at 4.27pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #425
I Can always remember when myxomatosis first hit us in all honesty i could of cried we as youths would go up the field the rabbits would be there in there hundreds their heads were swollen with sores all over we used to put them out of there misery it was a terrible sight and all caused by a flea the disease had been put down indiscreetly in fact it was pox i don't think all the farmers liked it as it put quite a few out of work a lot of the big estates employed a chap to catch the rabbits and made quite a lot of revenue out of them its hard to think any survived but they did in small pockets around the country side it affected most families as they relied on the rabbit for meat

The rabbit made a steady come back over the years but when i live the Rabbit have had liver fluke and that has killed quite a few but no doubt they will be back in numbers before long.

There was no more ferreting some were kept for ratting but most were got rid of it was a big shame i kept mine until he died of old age when a youngster he would curl up in my shirt it made me stink a bit my mum used to say get a wash your not coming in house smelling like that but i still had my fishing the trout in the rivers or the many lakes that i poached i still loved to go to the small lake that held the carp the owner loved to see us as youngsters and never charged us once i spent hours fishing that lake, i soon learnt and caught fish not big most were from three pounds to five so it was with suprise that my float slid away and i hooked a bigger fish by the time i got it on the bank i was shacking with exitment i can remember a man called peter finch who i became a good freind, it was weighed on peters, scales and was ten pounds exactly. I think every one came to have a look i was told it was a good fish for those years i watched it swim away after that i wanted bigger but the lakes i fished did not hold the bigger specimens so it was back to the small lake i learned to catch the carp on floating crust i watched as they sucked it in i hit some and lost others but i never caught any thing close to ten pounds but i was happy with the fish i caught and to this day they remain in my memory
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #425 22 Feb 2013 at 12.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #424
The woods were full of wild life when i was young we would walk miles we would sit and listen to the noises of the woods you would hear the sharp yap as the vixen, called her cubs the wood pecker, as he hammered away trying to get him self a grub or two then the mew of the buzzard, as it sored above the woods. They were so full of wild life we would find the snares set for the rabbits on the edge of the woods the keeper would be around to check them before long he would not miss the odd one or two that we stashed in our bags we would make our way out of the woods and follow the river onny as it flowed across the meadows you would see the rise of the trout has he took a fly in a spray of silver water. The river was full of trout stocked by the many estates for the syndicates who fished this wonderful water we would watch the water voles that scampered along the river bank, they would disappear with a plop in the deep water they were very shy animals but were in abundance in my youth sadly not today.

I would lie behind the under growth beside the river hardly breathing as watched the otters, play they were large animals they would take the odd trout then sit on the boulder to eat there prey i really wondered how long they would last as the otter hounds, would be around i did not like to see that as the river ran red with the blood of this majestic animal, but the the trout, and grayling, had to be protected for the estates, and the syndicates, that fished this idyllic water. What a beautiful fish the trout was with his coloured spots he was easy to catch with a worm or spinner but the river was patrolled twice a day by bailiffs early morning was the time while they were still tucked in bed. I liked a rainy morning with a touch of colour in the water i would trundle a worm under the bank you would feel the pull of the line between your fingers as he took the worm it was nothing to catch twenty trout, in those conditions they would be shared out between our family and neighbors and were always welcome.

Back to the woods spring was my favorite time the woodland floor would be a sea of blue from the blue bells , i would sit down what a beautiful aroma they gave off. The one wood was full off daffodils we would collect bunches and sell them around the town, we made a few coppers for fishing hooks and such i loved to clime up into the farmers barn you would find the barn owl, and her chicks, what a noise they made if they thought they were being threatened i would hold one in my hands he looked just like a ball of fluff he would really squawk and spit until i put him down they were plenfull when i was young but sadly missing today in any numbers. I did not like climing to the tawny owls nest as at times they would attack which happened to a freind he was very lucky he never lost an eye. You would hardly see a badger but they were there i did find one set, but in those days the keepers, kept the numbers down old sam my freind the keeper never killed one well not while i knew him but he was the exeption.
Well bit more latter
qashqai
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   Old Thread  #424 21 Feb 2013 at 5.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #418
Nice countryside story Pete.
We have badgers coming through our garden,although I live in an urban area.
Unfortunately,they do dig up some of the lawns,but the badgers were probably here before the houses were built.
Keep writing Pete,we all love it !
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #423 20 Feb 2013 at 4.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #420
I used to like the simple things in life when i was young i would love to lie in the hay fields on a warm sunny day the field would be full of wild flowers, it had a smell of its own i would watch the sky larks height up in the sky and listen to there song then we had the curlews, there was never a dull moment at night we had the nightingale what a wonderful song she had, The country side was full of birds i would clime the rocks to the jackdaws nest infact i took a youngster and reared him my self he would come every where i went even to school he would be there when i came out of school at four o'clock and land on my head or shoulder he even came fishing with me he would soon warn you if any one was around,

They were idyllic days we never had a care in the world we would be out from morning until dusk i would clime the tree to the buzzards nest and look into the nest and marvel at the the chicks it held we found the sparrow hawks, nest the kestrel, to i never once took there eggs, i watched the gold finches, on the thistle head it was all part of my life to wander the hills and vales and watch the the brown hare, or the grouse. I loved to be out on a summers evening and lie beside the pool with my rod poking through the gap in the old willow tree hoping to catch the carp, that lived in this lovely little pool they did not grow big three or four pounds but to us youngsters they were huge we would catch them on floating crust we had no landing nets and we would lift them out with our hands getting our feet wet at the same time that never bothered us we would take our socks of to dry hanging them in the old Willow tree.

We would wander the woods and lanes with our catapult most young lads had one tucked in there pocket and shoot the rabbit that had hid in the nettle patch there was so many rabbits, in the late forties and early fifties we lived on them they kept us in meat they were wonderful days we would swim in the river watch the sand martins make there nests in the river bank you would see the blue streak of a kingfisher, as he passed you by i found his nest under the over hung bank we had the run of the country side then we had the dipper i used to watch him find his food under the fast water by the old weir what a wonderful little bird he was we would spoon the eggs from a moor hens nest with a long stick and a spoon tied to the end we would boil the eggs in an old tin with water from the river then eat them with our sandwiches what more could we ask the days of our youth seems like only yesterday but alas those days have gone never to return. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #422 20 Feb 2013 at 3.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #421
Thanks ken glad you like my stories
Pescador
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   Old Thread  #421 19 Feb 2013 at 10.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #420
Great story Pete, and one I can relate to as a youngster.
You are right, the days did seem longer and the weather better during those times.
Little or no cars about when walking through the country lanes, with all the widlife about and the smell of the wild flowers.

Great memories!!

Keep up the good work mate!!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #420 19 Feb 2013 at 10.46am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #419
I used to love walking the lanes when i was a youngster i am sure our summers were better than today i would walk miles birds nesting. The banks down the lanes would be full of flowers the smell of the honey suckle was quite overpowering the wild life was every where you looked a lot was down to the war as there was no gamekeeper's for a few years so the wild life flourished. I never took the eggs, out of the nests, we found i would mark them down in a book Sam taught me to do that i used to collect but SAM always said look and leave them where they are i could not understand his reasoning as he had a big collection him self when i asked him he said they were collected when he was young i don't collect any more .

The days seemed a lot longer in those days i would be away all day fishing all i took with me was half a loaf of bread and some maggots i spent hours fishing stokesay pool, it was full of Rudd i would float fish between the weed beds they were huge to us young lads you could not get your hands around them and there colour was beautiful. Occasionally we would hook a pike, but we lost most i can remember landing one it was seven pounds the farmer weighted it on his antiquated scales, he would of killed it but i stopped him i suppose he would of ate it. But i gently put it back and watched as it swam away we would fish till nearly dark our parents knew we were quite safe they were really heady days i met another lad when i was fishing his name was john we became quite friendly over the coming months would i like to come ferreting, he asked i certainly would we arranged to meet the following morning he headed straight to the farm and into the granary he said we are ferreting rats, god it really was something to remember the old farmer came with his gun a double barreled four ten tie yer trousers legs with some string he said stops um running up your trouser leg. To be honest i had never seen any thing like it he released eight ferrets between the bags of grain nothing happened for a while then we heard the squeals from the rats as the ferrets drove them out i have never seen so many the farmer gave me a stick they would run down the side of the roof not many got away as john had his terriers as well what the dogs did not get the farmer shot we ended up with over a hundred rats what a day i had. The farmer gave us a few bob for helping and it was not the last time i went to that farm ferreting they were great days ones that i sadly miss . unfortunately john died with kidney failure at a young age but life has to go on but i still have my memories of those days long ago.
Well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #419 16 Feb 2013 at 11.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #418
I suppose i was around fourteen years old when Io first met the old mole catcher, god he was a scruffy old man he smoked a pipe and chewed tobacco it would run all down his chin but he was also very knowledgeable and loved the country side. He lived in one of those road side huts i went to see him a few times he lived in wattling street the old roman road come in young man, there was a big coke stove in the middle of the hut a bed and a couple of chairs i must admit it was warm and cosy he showed me all these mole skins pinned out on a big board can i have a go if thou wish he said he gave me a couple of traps when thou catches some ill give e some more it was quite hard understanding him as he spoke in a broad Shropshire's language.

I was quite happy my old friend SAM, the keeper had shown how to set the traps, i went up to our local bike and tackle shop, he sold all sorts including mole traps i bought another three and i was away i used a stick to find the run open it up slip the trap in gently put some turf around the trap hey presto i would go fishing in the onny and at the same time check the traps, the first time i checked i had caught four, not bad i put them in my bag old SAM showed me how to skin them. I would take them to the old mole catcher he would send them to a specialist who bought all kind of skins, the old man would give me a few coppers it was enough to buy a few hooks and maybe a float or two.

I spent hours on the river onny fishing they were great days i suppose i taught myself how to fish on that river. I caught brown trout and Grayling i loved the river it was well known in those days for its Trout, and Grayling.
But there was another fish in the river that i loved to catch and that was the perch they were not big the biggest around two pounds but if i float a dead minnow under the sill of the weir the float would dip and i was in god did they fight the locals would eat them if they had half the chance they would come down to watch while walking the dog, can i have that young man i will have it for my tea. They were to pretty to kill and i always put them back. The problem fishing the weir was you could not see if the bailiffs were around i had to fish down this steep bank so i had to clime up the bank to have a look around the bailiffs, patrolled the river at least twice a day and if you got caught you would be in court , lucky i never did get caught but i had a few near misses i was chased on a few occasions the bailiffs even came to the school to warn us all what would happen if we did get caught . a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #418 12 Feb 2013 at 11.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #414
I have always combine my fishing with nature i loved bird watching on one occasion while walking the hills i found a pair of Goshawks, the female is the same size as a Buzzard, the male is a lot smaller and looks just like a giant sparrow hawk, I watched them for weeks you can tell a Goshawk, by its tail it is more rounded the males tail is also barred. They nested in a big plantation up in the hills at the time there were plenty of rabbits, and pheasants, on the menu i was worried that they may get shot by some one who had pheasants in the area but they survived. i think i was extremely lucky to watch these birds as they are quite rare at the time there was only around three to four hundred breeding pairs in the UK she actually reared four youngsters you would hear them calling if they were alarmed gek- gek-gek i never got to near the nest as she would defend her nest and young fiercely and would attack any potential predators including humans she did well and reared four chicks i was hoping she would return the following year but alas she vanished in fact i never saw her again her true breeding ground was in wales, and southern Scotland, so perhaps they moved back into the big forests of wales.

I Really have lived a fascinating life i was looking back in my diary i have written much about old foxy, bringing up her cubs, what they eat over the years i have not seen that many pheasants, taken to the earth, it has been mostly rabbits, and the occasional chicken from the local farm even hedgehogs i have watched them toss the hedgehog around just like a ball these are a totally different fox, to there cousins in the city they keep away from humans in fact they are not very good parents if the cubs, are threatened the vixen would be away i have watched her looking back from afar as soon as the threat passed she would be back i have found them fascinating creatures they have been part of my life for so many years i call the male the gentlemen of the woods.

Badgers, have been another Passion when i was fishing they would come down to the side of the lake you would hear them shuffling about behind the bivvy finding the occasional worm, from the decaying leaves. Graham, and Bern, and myself, would be out at night from September shooting the many rabbits,the local farmers, with our rifles, we have come across the Badgers, many times they would be hudled up finding worms, in the medows as long as we did not go that close they took no notice i think they had got used to us and knew we were no threat it was nothing to shoot forty rabbits, a in two or three hours if we did the farmer a favour and he had some fishing he would give us permision to have a go. well a little more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #417 11 Feb 2013 at 8.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #416
thanks Paul a magnificent bird glad your still out there taking superb photos a wonderfull hobby
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   Old Thread  #416 11 Feb 2013 at 7.06pm  0  Login    Register
Just for you Pete - I love this thread

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Pescador
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   Old Thread  #415 10 Feb 2013 at 10.31pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #414
As you say, the red kite is a magnificent creature, and I hope they catch the moron that shot it.

As for the fox attacking the child, again I ask the same as you, what the hell is the fox doing in the house.
Surely, with the weather being cold you would expect all the outside doors to be closed, unless the family have been encouraging the animal to come into the house. Very foolish if they have!!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #414 10 Feb 2013 at 11.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #413
Reading the head lines in the local paper last night made me very angry, it was about a red kite, which was shot. I can not understand why a mindless idiot would do such a thing it really gets my back up it was an act of cruelty they are the most beautiful birds with a wing span of 5.5 ft it also had an injury to its eye which was caused by hitting a electric fence after being shot the red kite was given the the highest degree of legal protection under the wildlife and country side act, In the year 2010 there were seventeen known red kites nests in Shropshire the latest report says there are now 100 individual birds in the county, People that take or injure or kill a red kite face a fine of around 5,000 pounds and/ or a six months prison sentence.

The said bird is now making a recovery it is now at a shropshire specialist wild life centre i really hope it survives i have shot most of my life and would never shoot such a magnificent bird.
i suspect it was shot by some ill informed moron to to protect his birds ie pheasants it is time this sort of thing stopped i really hope they catch the individual and he gets what he deserves.

I see another fox, has bitten some poor child's, finger off, what i would like to know why a fox, was in the house and why the doors were open to the elements in the weather we have had the fox, is an opportunist and will take what it can get i don't know if the child was crying, and the fox, associated the noise to a injured animal, but it should not happen had they been letting the fox, into the house to feed. I have never seen a fox, attack a human and i have had a lot of dealings with old foxy, over the years i have friends that have had a fox, as a pet the one used to go with its owner to the pub most nights and really enjoyed a drink, the land lord always but a bowl under the seat full of mild beer that would soon vanish but a fox is a wild animal and even if it is a pet, it never forgets its hunting instinct this one was no different he got into my freinds chicken pen and killed the lot. well a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #413 7 Feb 2013 at 10.27am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #411
I have just been out in the garden god its cold, i am sure as you get older you feel it more, when i was young i never gave it a second thought, I would be out in all weather and it never did us any harm, when i lived at home, i was expected to get the fire wood we had big sleepers from the railway, it was my job to saw them up and chop the sticks ready to start the fire but it rarely went out especially in the winter, it was the only heating, we had. Some times we had a fire going in the bedroom grate, but that was only if we had some one ill, they were hard days when the river onny was in flood, i would stand on the bridge at Newington, and any branches, that came down in the flood, we collected.
We would use a grappling hook to pull them to the side they were loaded on to an old truck, made from a pram, we would take the wood, home stack it until it dried out it was hard work but kept us in wood for the fire, it was not all work we would go looking for the chickens eggs, at the farm for old Mr price, we would fill an old wicker basket, his chickens, roamed where they liked we would always keep a dozen back for our selves thinking back i suppose they were free range, i don't think he lost many to vermin, i would see him about with his gun i know he shot the carrion crows as i would go and have a look in the wood they would all be strung out on a branch i know they took the eggs, if they had half the chance so did the magpie.

If i went fishing up the river, i would always have a walk through the woods, i would find all sorts hanging from the keepers gibbet, it would really upset me there was hawks, badgers, foxes, weasels, even owls, thank god that does not happen today. I was up the woods one day and i found a pole, trap it had a very big buzzard, in it i climbed the pole and released the bird, god i got a few scratches on my hands, i took it home and we nursed it back to health it never did have a healthy leg, but it got by my parents said it was time to release it back into the wild, which we did but it kept coming back to the house, eventually it got the message, and we never saw it again.

Even with all the trapping, and shooting, the woods were full of wild life there seemed more than today i used to watch the curlew, she was crafty i would lie in the hay field and watch her land when she settled on her nest, i would be away at a run i usually found the nest she would have eggs, i never took them i never see the curlew now well not like i did then they were every where. The peewit was another mind you i would collect there eggs and my mother would pickle them i loved them we would also eat the moorhens, eggs, nothing was wasted in those days . Well a bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #412 7 Feb 2013 at 10.27am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #411
I have just been out in the garden god its cold, i am sure as you get older you feel it more, when i was young i never gave it a second thought, I would be out in all weather and it never did us any harm, when i lived at home, i was expected to get the fire wood we had big sleepers from the railway, it was my job to saw them up and chop the sticks ready to start the fire but it rarely went out especially in the winter, it was the only heating, we had. Some times we had a fire going in the bedroom grate, but that was only if we had some one ill, they were hard days when the river onny was in flood, i would stand on the bridge at Newington, and any branches, that came down in the flood, we collected.
We would use a grappling hook to pull them to the side they were loaded on to an old truck, made from a pram, we would take the wood, home stack it until it dried out it was hard work but kept us in wood for the fire, it was not all work we would go looking for the chickens eggs, at the farm for old Mr price, we would fill an old wicker basket, his chickens, roamed where they liked we would always keep a dozen back for our selves thinking back i suppose they were free range, i don't think he lost many to vermin, i would see him about with his gun i know he shot the carrion crows as i would go and have a look in the wood they would all be strung out on a branch i know they took the eggs, if they had half the chance so did the magpie.

If i went fishing up the river, i would always have a walk through the woods, i would find all sorts hanging from the keepers gibbet, it would really upset me there was hawks, badgers, foxes, weasels, even owls, thank god that does not happen today. I was up the woods one day and i found a pole, trap it had a very big buzzard, in it i climbed the pole and released the bird, god i got a few scratches on my hands, i took it home and we nursed it back to health it never did have a healthy leg, but it got by my parents said it was time to release it back into the wild, which we did but it kept coming back to the house, eventually it got the message, and we never saw it again.

Even with all the trapping, and shooting, the woods were full of wild life there seemed more than today i used to watch the curlew, she was crafty i would lie in the hay field and watch her land when she settled on her nest, i would be away at a run i usually found the nest she would have eggs, i never took them i never see the curlew now well not like i did then they were every where. The peewit was another mind you i would collect there eggs and my mother would pickle them i loved them we would also eat the moorhens eggs nothing was wasted . Well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #411 3 Feb 2013 at 11.18am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #410
I may fish lordys again latter this year that estate lake brings back some happy memories i have not been off late owing to me walking it is a wonderful old lake i have spend hours watching the wild life i also have a few bad memories i was asked to form a syndicate all money collected was given to charity looking back i had twelve members there was no night fishing only days but that made little difference it was wonderful fishing until this one day i was told by a member that others were stealing the fish and stocking another lake, a water i knew very well, it really hurt to think that some one you trusted was taking the fish, in fact two weeks latter i caught them red handed i expelled them from the syndicate but it made little difference the damage had been done. I went to see lordy he was very upset and two days latter he netted the lake taking out most of the carp and they were sold to be honest it was not worth fishing for a number of years he did not want any syndicate on the water again i could still fish the place but he had left only the small fish even the large chub had been netted some were over seven pounds.

Thinking back i never fished the place again for a good many years i bumped into lordy this one day and i discussed the fishing it had not been fished since it was netted can i still go i said yes when ever you want he replied i want your car registration number for the keepers so they will know its you to be honest i went to have a look around the lake the very next day i could not believe my eyes the bank side was very over grown there was big trees god they had grown since i was last there i asked if i could cut a couple of swims yes no probs was the answer i had the lake to myself i could take a friend at the time my friend graham was busy working and never had that much time off, so i arranged to take some one i worked with the lake was full of weed we persevered and fished through the holes in the weed and we got runs the fish were there again and big we lost a number to hook pulls but landed a few they were mostly around twenty pounds but we saw a lot bigger this one day the owner came to see me he was going to have the weed killed he said it was safe two days latter along came this firm and sprayed the weed within a month it had all gone he had left sections not touched i was worried about the fish it never harmed them one bit i could not catch for at least a couple of weeks they were soon back on the feed and we caught some crackers biggest around twenty five pounds but i was happy to be back fishing this old estate lake. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #410 29 Jan 2013 at 2.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #406
Well the snows gone now for the floods i have never seen weather like we are having in my life time the water cannot penetrate the ground it just cant take any more i have seen places flooded that i haven't seen before our woods have even got standing water in them its very peaty so it cant get away its just flooding the woods our little syndicate have lost a number of days owing to flooding and snow which has also effected a number of syndicates locally some are big shoots that rely on the money its been a disaster, i wonder how the farmers are coping as they cannot get the big machinery on the ground and some farmers have left last years potatoes in the ground as it has been to wet to get them in so they just rot away. The woods i mentioned are the same woods i poached years ago but then they were looked after by the owners and the gamekeepers not like today its just not the same place there is no comparison from then and now, if the old keepers could see it now they would have a fit there was big rides cut through the brambles and under growth then they were strawed they would feed the rides for the hundreds of pheasants they had let go. I can see myself now i would wait until the shooting season then i would be away with my fishing line hooks and half a jar of sultanas i would lie in the brambles or the dying ferns and catch the pheasants i suppose it was fishing for birds they were easy to catch i used a silk line as it did not tangle like nylon half a dozen birds and i would be away you had to keep an eye out for the keepers they would be around most days and always carried guns for the vermin as the pheasants were his living they shot most things in those days that they considered would be a threat to the birds .

adjacent to the big woods were the lakes the big one had hundreds of water fowl some were very rare the keepers fed the sides of the lake with boiled barley and potatoes there were hundreds of ducks and geese they shot the big lake every other week i would hide and watch from the distance they shot mallard and geese i would watch them drop from the sky with a splash two keepers had the punt waiting to collect any in the water it was big business the birds would be sold at the market all money went back into the owners bank they never picked them all some were missed or i had already picked a few myself the pheasant and ducks were a necessity in those days it fed our family and neighbors and friends it also gave me a thrill pitting my wits against the keepers they were great days and i did have a few guns fired over me and the keeper shouting come on out we know your there but i always got away with it despite the police and keepers happy days. A bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #409 29 Jan 2013 at 2.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #406
Well the snows gone now for the floods i have never seen weather like we are having in my life time the water cannot penetrate the ground it just cant take any more i have seen places flooded that i haven't seen before our woods have even got standing water in them its very peaty so it cant get away its just flooding the woods our little syndicate have lost a number of days owing to flooding and snow which has also effected a number of syndicates locally some are big shoots that rely on the money its been a disaster, i wonder how the farmers are coping as they cannot get the big machinery on the ground and some farmers have left last years potatoes in the ground as it has been to wet to get them in so they just rot away. The woods i mentioned are the same woods i poached years ago but then they were looked after by the owners and the gamekeepers not like today its just not the same place there is no comparison from then and now, if the old keepers could see it now they would have a fit there was big rides cut through the brambles and under growth then they were strawed they would feed the rides for the hundreds of pheasants they had let go. I can see myself now i would wait until the shooting season then i would be away with my fishing line hooks and half a jar of sultanas i would lie in the brambles or the dying ferns and catch the pheasants i suppose it was fishing for birds they were easy to catch i used a silk line as it did not tangle like nylon half a dozen birds and i would be away you had to keep an eye out for the keepers they would be around most days and always carried guns for the vermin as the pheasants were his living they shot most things in those days that they considered would be a threat to the birds .

adjacent to the big woods were the lakes the big one had hundreds of water fowl some were very rare the keepers fed the sides of the lake with boiled barley and potatoes there were hundreds of ducks and geese they shot the big lake every other week i would hide and watch from the distance they shot mallard and geese i would watch them drop from the sky with a splash two keepers had the punt waiting to collect any in the water it was big business the birds would be sold at the market all money went back into the owners bank they never picked them all some were missed or i had already picked a few myself the pheasant and ducks were a necessity in those days it fed our family and neighbors and friends it also gave me a thrill pitting my wits against the keepers they were great days and i did have a few guns fired over me and the keeper shouting come on out we know your there but i always got away with it despite the police and keepers happy days. A bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #408 26 Jan 2013 at 9.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #407
Thanks Ralph glad you enjoy them it makes it all worth while
ralph69
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   Old Thread  #407 25 Jan 2013 at 9.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #406
my first read after a days graft this thread , keep it up pete
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   Old Thread  #406 23 Jan 2013 at 11.27am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #405
I was not working for at least ten weeks we had to survive i would be away with another chap called Dougie he had been brought up in hill country and knew the lay of the land, we would be up the small tracks struggling over snow drifts but the one thing on our minds was pheasants he had a small black terrier he would be under the hedge rows and snow he shifted a few pheasants we would shoot a few then move on the only trouble with a gun it could be heard miles away i would say to Dougie the keepers will be after us if we are not careful he would answer in broad Shropshire they wanna catch us i knows the area to well and to be honest he did the old gun he used was not the best it had seen better days the action was loose i said that gun of yours has got a bit of a headache when he shot you would see sparks and loads of smoke god knows what cartridge he was using they were white in colour when i asked him he said they were used in the war i could not get any more out of him he offered me a few i declined the kind offer but he could shoot the old gun and it was rare for him to miss there was a piece of tin wrapped around the stock and made secure by screws ah he said that the stock split i repaired it with an old fruit tin giving me a smile and a wink, dust thee think we should go for a pint at the miners arms he said what about the guns and pheasants the landlord wanna worry his used to um we may even to be able to sell a brace to him i nos him well he said in broad Shropshire.

There was about six more at the pub drinking and playing tippet does e wont ago Pete, i declined a lot of money passed hands as i watched but it was nice to be in front of the roaring fire he had a big piece of oak lying on the stone floor he would push it further in the fire as it burnt he does not use logs here only big branches i can see that i said. He only had candles or oil lights for when it went dark, he would bring the beer in a big jug then pour it into your glass it was a cosy place but i was not unhappy when we left we will go over the moors to the valley should shoot a few long tailed uns, down there wont the snow be to deep on the moors, i said . Na he said we will go to the the farm if it gets to deep my grandad is bailiff on there but we should get through all right we did but it took some time the light was going as we entered the wood we managed another four between us we had ten brace they were a bit heavy to carry but i hung my share around my shoulders with a piece of binder twine we made our way home throught the snow it had started to freeze again the fire was a welcome sight and the birds would keep us fed for the next few days. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #405 20 Jan 2013 at 2.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #401
From memory it started to thaw but it was short lived it started to snow once again and it came with a vengeance the wind blew and it piled the snow in drifts 10 to fifteen ft deep further away from our home there was rumors that there were drifts twenty ft deep i can remember digging the sheep out of the snow they had come down from the top ,of the hills and lay behind the hedgerows i was only around 21 years old i had never experienced snow and cold like this the main thing was to keep warm our Boots had dubbing rubbed all over to keep the damp and water out as i have said we used brown paper under our clothes to keep the heat in and spats on our legs from the boots up we would dig into drifts five ft deep to get the animals out it was really hard work but you helped one another in those days it amazed me how the sheep survived but they did they were warm as toast when buried when we had found most they were taken down to the farm and put in the barn with plenty of straw but after the snow came the cold east winds and did it freeze it froze the diesel in the lorries, the milk in the churns froze solid, i would be sent to get the doctor, for a prescription, it was around five miles from our house i would walk on top of the snow most of the way it was really hard and i struggled through the drifts but it was my job to see our family were safe and well you never thought about it you just got on with the job but when i arrived back i would be tired and hungry but i still had jobs to do like fetching the water from the well it never froze as it was very deep usually i would bring about five buckets back that would keep us going for the night my young brother in law would help then it was feed the chickens and clear the snow our work never ended there was always wood to chop to fire up the boiler for the weekly wash which usually was done on a Monday it was oil lights until the electricity came which it did and made a big difference to us in this weather.

I really think my in laws thought it was a miracle to have lighting after so many years using oil lights it was a big improvement but things got worse the boughs of the trees snapped of with the weight of the snow and ice we lived actually on the side of a mountain it was a beautiful place in summer but in winter it was dreadful it became quite hairy we were running out of coal there was no way we could get more so we decided that one or two trees had to go we would walk with snow over our knees eventually we would arrive at the tree we wanted we used a big cross cut me one end and the brother in law the other, after sawing half way the tree would just snap of the frost had frozen the pith solid but it kept us in fuel after thawing out in the shed, it gave us a bit of heat mixed with the coal with a bit of supplementary food we managed my mother inlaw would bake the bread with flower she had put by, you could not get any bread from the shop. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #404 20 Jan 2013 at 1.51pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #402
Thank you both for your kind remarks i will carry on with this thread about 1963 its really snowing here so i have a bit of time on my hands thanks again i am glad your enjoying my stories it makes it all worth while. best wishes pete
vinniecole
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   Old Thread  #403 20 Jan 2013 at 1.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #401
Just found this thread by accidently clicking on it. loved reading your stories pete, sounds like you have led quite a life! Reading your comment of how your mate said he can no longer do the walks he loved to do reminds me of my granddad. He used to always go fishing with me and my brother when we were boys and walking through the countryside explaining to us the trees, birdlife and animals, now after his 3rd stroke he can barely go outside - sucks getting old, but at least you still have your memories and are able to share with others. Its amazing hearing stories of the past, as its hard to imagine what people like you and my granddad went through
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   Old Thread  #402 19 Jan 2013 at 1.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #401
Hi Pete,
I remember my dad telling me about wearing brown paper under his trousers too !! thought he was mad at the time !! personally i have worn ladies tights under my uniform when i did my stint in the falklands !! there were a godsend let me tell you !
Another great read Pete.
Cheers,
Paddy.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #401 19 Jan 2013 at 12.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #400
Snow again i think the worst i have seen was 1963 although 1947 was bad in 1963 it started snowing boxing day god did it snow i lived in hill country and there were drifts over ten feet not only that the frost penetrate the ground to around 18 inches it was very cold we did not have that much to eat so i would be off poaching hoping to get a pheasant or two it was really hard going it lasted for ten weeks and most of the time i never worked so there was no money coming in you could walk over a five bar gate it was that frozen the local shop was running out of food so they flew it in by helicopter in the end i did manage to get a job of sorts cash in the hand i went as a drivers mate at the local creamery helping get through to the farms for the milk it was not a good job but it brought a few pounds in and kept us going until the frost and snow final vanished that was in late march it killed a lot of the wild life i would find birds frozen to the ground i would gently free them and take them home until they showed signs of recovery the rabbit population had now started to recovered from the myxomatosis and there was quite a few in numbers poor things there was nothing to eat so they chewed and eat the bark from the trees or young shoots they were to emancipated to eat the pheasant was not to bad they were fed by the keepers but you had to be careful in case you left tracks informing the keepers some one had been around.

i still had my old rifle so i would lie in the ditch that was full of frozen snow, god it was cold i was lying behind a big hedge, that kept most of the wind and cold out, it was over looking the woods when the pheasents came in range i would have them i never went at night it was to dangerous if you slipped you could break your leg there were also a few open shafts that had been used for mining if i got two brace that was enough it kept us going for a few days but it was a hard slog walking through the snow the nearest big shoot was over six miles away but we managed there was no fishing the rivers had frozen solid i even saw a car being driven down the river fools if it had given way that would of been there last but it was over seven inches thick all the lakes were frozen solid, we could not get a car on the road from where we lived the roads were hedge hight with snow that had frozen solid the council were trying to dig us out it was the first time i saw the big snow blowers in time they made there way through but only enough to drive a car the problem was by night time with the winds we were having it blew it all back blocking the road, once again it was literally a losing battle but the council struggled on god it was cold i really felt sorry for the workers we would wear brown paper under our trousers to help keep the heat in it did work you were often in snow up to your knees.
well a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #400 17 Jan 2013 at 2.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #399
Talking to a friend the other day he said Pete why have you not got a dog any more well i said my health is not that good and i have to train him, it got me thinking a bit i have had a few funny dogs in the past one was a big old labrador he was a dog and a half his name was blaze he came from a local police officer, and was only six months old i could leave him sitting and walk away come back in ten minutes he would still be sitting there, but he really was a dog from hell, i could not stop him running in as soon as he saw a rabbit he was away a friend who was a professional trainer said he would soon cure him i went to see how he was doing he tied a thin piece of rope around he waist then then the other end around the dogs neck he threw this stuffed rabbit as far as he could at the same time said sit, did he sit, no way he went up the field like a bat out of hell he came to the end of the rope instead of stopping the dog he pulled the trainer over and literally dragged him a couple of yards picked up the rabbit and came back wagging his tail i am afraid i could not help but laugh there lay old Vic the trainer covered in mud sorry he said i cant do anything with him his bone headed no brains.

But i loved him and he was good with the family so i persevered graham and i would go out with him shooting we never came back with an empty bag he was a big old dog but he would force himself under the undergrowth rabbits would bolt and we shot them it was a waste of time taking him on a pheasant shoot it was very embarrassing if walking in beet he would want to pick every bird shot and would make other dogs, drop any they had picked it really was not on i can remember one day we were walking this field when an Hare bolted from cover i saw a gun shoot at the Hare i said you have hit that my lab blaze was away the last i saw of him was jumping a fence two fields away we stood on the river bridge for over half an hour in the distance we saw him making his way back by the time he got to me he looked tired out he stood in front of me his tail wagging and the hare firmly in his mouth what could i do but call him a good boy in all the years i owned him i never cured him from running in i stopped taking him on organized shoots but for ruff shooting you would not get a better dog he died at the age of sixteen and is buried in the garden he so loved.

One off my other dogs and the last i had was a wonderful dog i was asked to sell him on a number of occasions he was a springer his name was SAM a friend who was a gun smith from north wales asked if i would like him how much nothing was the reply i have to many bitches i cant cope with a dog as well apparently he came from a local school teacher who had lost his wife and never had time to train him so he was given to my friend the gun smith, well i really don't no if he trained me or i trained him he would walk around with an egg in his mouth and never break the shell i asked if he had the pedigree he said he would ask the teacher at twelve months i had him picking up my friend came a long and could not believe how steady he was he gave me a wink and said here and passed the paper work over to me i should of kept him he said on looking latter it said his parents were champion field trial winners. The only weakness he had was squirrels he hated them when he was eight months old i would walk him down the hedge rows not far far from my house he would bolt the rabbits and i would stop him with the whistle on this one occasion i saw the dust rising from this gate way and some squealing he had caught a squirrel and it must of bit him i called him back just in time to see the tail disappearing down his throat i could hear the bones crunching i thought that would spoil him and make him hard mouthed but it did not, i used to be bailiff for this trout fishery and he kept coming back with fish we asked all the anglers if they had lost any trout no was the answer then one day i saw him standing in the water up to his belly with on paw lifted he would dart his head under the water there was a splash and out he would come with a fish in his mouth he caught them to over four pounds he really was wonderful dog, he would stand in the water at another fishery he would wait until a swan mussel moved he would catch it and bring it back to me he could not understand why i put it back. I lost him at nine years old to weil's disease even thought he had Been inoculated against the disease i still have his ashes it was a cruel way to die the vets said they could cure him no way after six months of treatment he died i would never let that happen again i would have had him put to sleep i still shed a tear today as friends say he was one in a million he was but he was also a freind . well a bit more latter,
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #399 14 Jan 2013 at 8.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #397
Here comes tweedledee and tweedledum they would say on the arrival of graham and myself its a nick name that has stood for years we went every where together shooting fishing to the pub you two are joined at the hip some would say i suppose we were we had been mates for fifty years our families went on holiday together we have had some good times and some not, but one thing we did have was a love of fishing and the country side although things have changed in the last few months owing to Graham losing his wife but we will be out doing it again this year with a bit of luck the only thing that's in our way is age and health he was around at my house yesterday he said i am annoyed Pete i cant walk like i used to you wont i said you are now seventy six and i am seventy one in may, but I said Graham we have seen it all and have done it. We have met the best and fished with the best of our generation not many can say that even if we cant do what we used to we have our memories.

One thing we will never do again is walk the hill country which was the one love of our lives the times we have stood together and shot the ducks on the big stubble fields height up in the hills we have seen the snow driving in our faces and the bite of the wind on our face seen old foxy make his way across the snow filled field hunting some poor unsuspecting rabbit in the woods, we have been up there when there was a full moon and the winds were roaring causing shadows to drift across the hills and fields a sight that should not be missed we used to feel so alone up there just myself and graham waiting for the the first flight of ducks to come to the small pool but we are glad to have been there to feel the magic of it all. i suppose we have been lucky to have the respect of the farmers we both could more or less go where we wanted we were known all over Shropshire and parts of wales its not like that today shooting and fishing are hard to get. Not like when we both were young and we gained the respect of the land owner we did favours for them we got rid of the vermin rats and foxes if causing trouble kept the rabbit population down it got us our fishing and shooting we paid nothing in those far off days not like today.

We gained the respect of the owner of Acton Burnell long before Rob hales had it we had the two lakes to our selves for many years you would not see another soul only the occasional visit from the game keeper he trusted us i am glad it was not a few years before but i can honestly say i have never taken a pheasant from there then there was Bomere no one fished there it was strictly private Mr Davies who owned it never let anyone near the water but we gained his respect and i can honestly say we were the only ones fishing there for many years we would go out on the punt and fish for the roach using sliding floats it was wonderful the locals could not believe we had permission
and when he died we were offered the water which we did and formed a syndicate then there was the syndicate called Berry croft which graham and i ran on Berrington the same lake that we fished with Dennis Kelly who was a member and Jack Hilton and Bill quinlan they fished with us for a weeks session jack and Bill were fishing Redmire at the time we both have had a wonderful life we never had much money or gear but we made the best of what we
had, and we caught some good fish we have also been members of a few shooting organizations so we really cannot complain. well a bit more latter.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #398 14 Jan 2013 at 8.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #397
Here comes tweedledee and tweedledum they would say on the arrival of graham and myself its a nick name that has stood for years we went every where together shooting fishing to the pub you two are joined at the hip some would say i suppose we were we had been mates for fifty years our families went on holiday together we have had some good times and some not, but one thing we did have was a love of fishing and the country side although things have changed in the last few months owing to Graham losing his wife but we will be out doing it again this year with a bit of luck the only thing that's in our way is age and health he was around at my house yesterday he said i am annoyed Pete i cant walk like i used to you wont i said you are now seventy six and i am seventy one in may, but I said Graham we have seen it all and have done it. We have met the best and fished with the best of our generation not many can say that even if we cant do what we used to we have our memories.

One thing we will never do again is walk the hill country which was the one love of our lives the times we have stood together and shot the ducks on the big stubble fields height up in the hills we have seen the snow driving in our faces and the bite of the wind on our face seen the old foxy make his way across the snow filled field hunting some poor unsuspecting rabbit in the woods, we have been up there when there was a full moon and the winds were roaring causing shadows to drift across the hills and fields a sight that should not be missed we used to feel so alone up there just myself and graham waiting for the the first flight of ducks to come to the small pool but we are glad to have been there to feel the magic of it all. i suppose we have been lucky to have the respect of the farmers we both could more or less go where we wanted we were known all over Shropshire and parts of wales its not like that today shooting and fishing are hard to get. Not like when we both were young and we gained the respect of the land owner we did favours for them we got rid of the vermin rats and foxes if causing trouble kept the rabbit population down it got us our fishing and shooting we paid nothing in those far off days not like today.

We gained the respect of the owner of Acton Burnell long before Rob hales had it we had the two lakes to our selves for many years you would not see another soul only the occasional visit from the game keeper he trusted us i am glad it was not a few years before but i can honestly say i have never taken a pheasant from there then there was Bomere no one fished there it was strictly private Mr Davies who owned it never let anyone near the water but we gained his respect and i can honestly say we were the only ones fishing there for many years we would go out on the punt and fish for the roach using sliding floats it was wonderful the locals could not believe we had permission
and when he died we were offered the water which we did and formed a syndicate then there was the syndicate called Berry croft which graham and i ran on Berrington the same lake that we fished with Dennis Kelly who was a member and Jack Hilton and Bill quinlan they fished with us for a weeks session jack and Bill were fishing Redmire at the time we both have had a wonderful life we never had much money or gear but we made the best of what we
had, and we caught some good fish we have also been members of a few shooting organizations so we really cannot complain. well a bit more latter.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #397 11 Jan 2013 at 12.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #395
There was one other place i went to that skeff knows i will not say the name but it is now national trust i fished there around fifty five years ago i tried to get permission but was told polity by the owner to bugger off charming this did not put me off and i would fish the river tern day and night i was there one night and herd a lot of dogs barking on having a closer look it was deer poachers it is beyond me why they are so cruel they rip these beautiful animals to bits with there dogs there was no way i was staying before long the police and keepers would be on the scene so i quickly slipped away on my bike in the local newspaper it said poachers had been to the park but they had got away leaving one or two deer severely injured and had to be put down another time i was there i saw a deer with an arrow sticking out of her shoulder it was not a cross bow bolt but a big fletched arrow i packed up and went to the hall on knocking the big door they were none to pleased to see me but after explaining what i had seen they thanked me i have shot fished all my life but i cannot abide cruelty but going on the fishing was great i caught chub roach even bream and perch in those days there was no barbel in those days i would go in the evening and fish till midnight it was a most beautiful place i love watching the deer in the park and i spent many happy hours doing just that.


I was there on e night fishing very happily when i heard a shot and a lot of shouting it was poachers and the police and keepers were after them in my haste to get away i fell in it was freezing but i managed to pull myself up the bank by the time i got home i was literally steaming but that did not stop me i wanted to have a look at some of the woods and went in the day light i found two big release pens there was a number of feeders and pheasant every where i looked i did not fancy poaching the woods at night so a few day latter saw me hiding behind this big old tree i used some fishing line and a hook with a big sultana as bait i did not wait long i caught this big old cock the bugger scratched my hand drawing blood with his spurs thinking back i caught around six then i was away i was never found and left no mess or prints to give me away it was a wonderful place as i say it is now run by the trust in those days i cannot think who owed it the only thing i can say they were not very friendly. I would watch on shoot days i think they were on a thursday and saturday i managed to pick a few they had missed to pick up but loved watching the gents and ladies shoot and would go mostly on a thursday that was over fifty years ago where has all the time gone well a bit more later.
Skeff
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   Old Thread  #396 8 Jan 2013 at 3.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #395
Pete - I'm glad you enjoyed my book as much as I enjoy reading these recollections..... Hope to meet up sometime this year when I'm next in your part of the world. Kind regards. Skeff
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #395 8 Jan 2013 at 2.56pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #394
After reading skeffs new book that was kindly sent me he brought back a few happy memories he had actually fished a couple of places that i to had fished only the difference was he legally fished i poached in those days you would not get permission to fish any of the estates, they were reserved for shooting the one estate, he fished was well known in my youth, in fact i caught my first really big salmon from that same estate it weighted in at twenty five pounds going back to those years the river never held barbel, it was chub, and roach, that was the main quarry and of course the dace, pike, and salmon, in season but what they did have was plenty of pheasants on the one estate he mentioned there was a lake infact it is still there god i poached that a few times catching tench to nearly six pounds i would ride my bike the seven miles from our house rods tied to the cross bar bag on my back these were halcyon days the lakes were stuffed with fish i expect i was the only one that had fished there it was beautiful and peaceful and idyllic but it was keepered and then there was the under keepers i would sit by the lake side hidden by the reed beds i would cast out usually a big old worm the only bit of rod that may be seen was the tip i ledgered with a piece of silver paper folded on the line i was there one night when i heard a lot of shouting and dogs barking i pulled my rod in they were not after me for sure but i was not taking any chances and forded the river behind the hall the shouting stopped. I Had noticed the pheasants they were every where i was determined to have a go some of my mates had said it was to dangerous i would be caught but i never did although i was chased on a number of occasions.

I can remember the first time i poached the place for the pheasants, i took a friend who was a gypsy, he picked the birds up when i had shot them i think we had shot about thirteen when we heard a dog barking it was further away in the woods some one was definitely around was it the keepers or another poacher we soon found out come on out or we will shoot, there was more than one and they did shoot over our heads we were running blindly in the dark we stopped a listened and got our bearings we were not far from the main road we climbed over the fence onto the road then into an old dry ditch and there we stayed for the next hour or so in the paper the next evening it said poacher caught from the same estate was it us they were after that we will never know but i returned there many times to shoot and fish and never did i get caught once, thanks mark for the wonderfull memories. A little bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #394 6 Jan 2013 at 11.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #393
In those far off days i always carried a ferret it lived in my shirt when i was up the fields, or woods, it was a big old hob i had some great days catching a few rabbits his name was George i think we went every where together he would curl up under my shirt some time he would just sit on my shoulder although he was a pet he got us our dinner on so many occasions and in those days it was hard so it was appreciated by my parents, and our friends, i always carried a few nets and would only ferret a small bury getting a couple out then i would move on and try another if i ended up with six i was quite happy in those days the keepers would put the snares down there was so many rabbits, they would catch hundreds i would walk the hedge rows and the side of the woods i would carefully take the rabbit, and reset the snare he would not miss them, he would do his rounds most mornings to take the rabbits caught and reset the snare the rabbits were big business on most estates they would be sent to Birmingham or London the money going back into the estate when i was young a lot of the estates employed a man to catch the rabbits when the myxomatosis showed its ugly head it put a good many out of work that was 1952 or there abouts i would walk the fields there were hundreds of rabbits, just sitting there they never moved there heads, swollen like big foot balls we would hit them on the head with sticks to put them out of there misery in the late forties early fifties we relied on rabbit for our dinner but it was not only us that missed the humble rabbit a lot of the wild life suffered the buzzard the fox and many more owls carrion crow but they survived by changing there diet.

I stared to fish for the brown trout we did not suffer i caught hundreds i had to keep an eye out for the bailiffs and keepers they were about most days so i would go early in a morning before they were around i usually came back with at least twelve i would use little red worms or spin for them the river, was stocked for the estates who then let the fishing to some of the fly fishing syndicate it was great fishing Mrs Thomas my school mistress asked if i could catch her a couple which i did i used to catch a couple of rabbits for her before they had that terrible disease. well that's it for now more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #393 4 Jan 2013 at 10.54am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #390
I got to know the Shropshire gypsies quite well when i was young they moved around the county selling lace carpets pegs they would call at the house saying hello misses here's a little posy, of heather for luck do you want any pegs they were true romanais, i can still remember the beautiful horses they would let me ride some but only around the encampment there was no saddle it was all bear backed i often thought i might fall off but i never did i used to watch them make there pegs usually a bit of hazel bound together a the top with metal strips cut from an old tin it did not take them long to make a few. They would sit around the camp fire with a clay pipe in there mouths even some of the women smoked a pipe they were great days they would always have a few sweets, for me the caravans were beautiful painted and looked really comfortable a lot of the locals were a bit scared of them i was not and learned a lot about the country side old jack and his brothers would be off over the fields with there dogs catching the rabbits or hares they would arrive back with four or five of the latter they never starved nearly every time i went to see them a big black saucepan would be hanging over the fire and its contents smelled really good but that was long ago it was in the late forties they are not there today most now live in houses its a real shame they were part of our heritage and the country side.

We always had the English gentleman around the tramp i met quite a few in my younger days they would knock the door asking if we could fill there billy can up with tea they liked this way of life and the farmers would turn a blind eye letting them sleep in the barn it was a very hard life i know the one tramp had money but he preferred to live the way he did my mother would always give them a cooked dinner and fill his can with tea bless you deary he would say you might not see him again for twelve months but he would call if he was back in the area he knew were he could get a free meal.
The other gentlemen we saw was the knife grinder he would arrive on his bike his pedals turn the grinding stone he would sharpen scissors knives i forget what he charged pennies the whole street would come carrying there knives even axes to resharpen then he would be away to the next village or town he was another that slept ruff but he made a few shillings to keep him in beer and food. Well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #392 2 Jan 2013 at 5.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #391
Thanks ken i am really honored thanks all the members that voted for me
KenTownley
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KenTownley
   Old Thread  #391 2 Jan 2013 at 4.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #390
Glad to see that you have been made an Honorary Member, Pete...Well deserved, mate...
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #390 1 Jan 2013 at 11.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #385
What a great morning the sun is shinning at last for how long we can only guess in the past when younger i have fished on a new years day and have always caught a few roach and chub but those were Helicon days the local rivers and lakes were stuffed with fish but that is not so now the Severn for instance has really suffered the fish don't seem to be there in the numbers they were in my younger days, you could trot a float down and catch dace and bleak one after the other or ledger for the roach i always used bread paste with a bit of honey mixed in it was fantastic fishing but no more i put it down to predators like the merganser cormorants i have seen the mergansers all in a row across the river hunting i counted thirty, they were taking the small fish how long can that go on for without making a difference in the stock i am sure the decline in is due to all the predators including mink and otters.

i can remember one instance on new years day i had a friend who was a gypsy he was the salt of the earth he lived off the land he liked a bit of poaching would i like to tag along he said i certainly would said i we arranged to meet at nine in the morning at the caravans, old jack gets out of the van in his hands was a twelve bore shot gun i looked at this in horror it was held together with wire it was a hammer gun he had never had a licence in his life even though they were seven and sixpence from the post office what does i want one of those for he would say with a smile on his face, it was great partridge country we started to walk the fields we really stuck out like a sore thumb run if we see any one he said. I will never forget the one incident we crept down the side of this one hedge row a we looked over the hedge there was a great big covey on the ground up came old jacks gun surly he was not going to shoot them before they got up but he was bang bang talk about a smoking gun i've got em Pete he shouted lets pick them up after counting them he had shot twelve birds from that covey you don't let them get up jack, Na he said in broad Shropshire dialect i shoots em when sees them he said he was great company and he really knew the country side have ago with my gun he said i reclined the offer it did not look to safe he had wire holding the stock together i don't think the barrels had ever been cleaned but jack used that old gun for many years he also used to catch the hares with his dogs he would sell them to the dealers that was fifty two years ago, one day he did not come home and on searching they found him lying beside a hedge with his trusted gun in his hands his son told me after i am sure dad had a smile on his face that would not surprise me one bit said i. more latter
qashqai
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   Old Thread  #389 31 Dec 2012 at 5.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #388
Happy New Year Pete
Love reading your stories
MattH85
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MattH85
   Old Thread  #388 31 Dec 2012 at 3.52pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #387
happy new year Pete,
Thanks and keep up the good work
KenTownley
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KenTownley
   Old Thread  #387 31 Dec 2012 at 3.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #386
Many thanks, Pete, for all your fabulous contributions to the forum. Keep 'em coming in 2013.

Happy New Year to you, mate. Have a great one.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #386 31 Dec 2012 at 2.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #385
To all the readers of my thread i wish you all a happy new year god bless pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #385 28 Dec 2012 at 11.22am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #384
I have never seen the woods so saturated in some cases they are flooded with two ft of water it will certainly take some time for the woods to recover i heard a vixen calling the other night she will not have any cubs, yet but in a another couple of months she will have. I have not looked at any of the hedge rows as yet my health and weather is holding me back but she will have now found a rabbit hole and made it a lot bigger to have her cubs in she will lie up in the same earth until they are born i have one earth just down the field from my house she has had her cubs there every year not the same vixen, this earth has been used for generations it was there when i was young and is still in use.

I see the RSPCA have just prosecuted a hunt for catching a fox some one said they should have called the dogs off what a laugh when on the scent they are unstoppable until they have caught there prey this hunting bill can not be enforced for a start the police have not got the man power to chase dogs and people on horses we can only sit back and watch the proceeding i am not a big supporter of the hunt but they certainly helped the farmers to control old foxy over the years. They are a lovely animals infact my favorite i have watched them for years some are beautiful especially in there winter coat i have seen a black fox and have seen white cubs i have wandered over the years if they survived i never saw them again after the vixen, moved them where they went is anybody's guess but they would stick out like a sore thumb in the wild but that was many years ago i think shooting is the best method to control the fox.

I have loved the woods and its nature all my life if i was not fishing i could be found under the trees or out in the fields i loved to watch the badgers they can become quite tame over a period of time when i was a very young man i would be out poaching it was a necessity in those days most people were poor and needed the pheasant and rabbit for food when most of the rabbits died after catching myxomatosis which was around 1952 it caused real hard ship for the country man not only human, but our feathered friends as well the buzzards and the tawny owl and the many predators suffered The stoat and weasel the latter nearly died out as its main diet was the humble rabbit but they did survive by changing there diet to mice rats and birds. The buzzard turned his attention to pheasant he was persecuted by the old game keepers they would be shot or poisoned thank god that has stopped. A bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #384 21 Dec 2012 at 10.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #383
It was on these wet and windy nights especially this time of year i would be out in the woods i could always make a bob or two poaching the pheasants this was years ago we never had much money so going out on a really dark and windy night was part of my early life it was exciting trying to outwit the many keepers they were good men that knew there jobs, i was lucky and never got caught but i had some near escapes i loved the woods and the chase it was a on going battle especially with old bell and his under keepers then there was old Sgt landers a good copper who helped old bell and Jerry, he chased me on a number of occasions it was really funny latter in life i worked for the home office and we used to visit outlying police stations it was at one of these stations i was introduced to the superintendent he shook hands and said don't i know you i had to look away and smile to my self it was the sgt that chased me all those years ago Mr landers he asked where i lived i just said shrewsbury my mate, that was with me asked what was so funny i told him the story about my poaching days and the hard ships we faced and how the now super chased me in his blue land rover.

In the late fifties this same Sgt reared pheasant in his back garden for the local shoot and always kept a few hens, and cocks, to breed with i said to a friend i was going to have a few away you will never get away with it its the local police station i know well on this one dark and windy night saw me crawl through the hedge i think if i can remember rightly i had about seven or eight of his birds they were easy to shoot with the air rifle and torch i also had a few more at a latter date with the currents on a fishing hook god the alarm went up they were asking every one on the village if they had been offered any they even called at my house asking where i had been the night before i really should not of done it he was raving mad but i got away with it once again i had no trouble getting rid of birds in those days and i think i supplied most of our neighbors with the birds although i am now seventy there are older residents on our village still alive that can remember those days god you were a jack the lad they say but they were good years although hard we all got on together you could leave your back door open and never get burgled not something you could do today. a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #383 16 Dec 2012 at 12.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #382
Well its nearly Christmas time again when i was a young lad Christmas was so different than to today a lot of people i knew never had a Xmas tree they could not afford one some used a bough from a holly tree it looked quite nice with a few decorations they would put small candles on it its a wonder we never had a fire, but to us young lads it was an exciting time we would be up the fields to cut the sprigs of holly we made a few bob selling it to the grocer's shop we would have to watch out for the farmer as he usually cut the holly himself we would also take a good saw or axe and cut the top from a fir tree we as a family always had a tree i was lucky as i had got SAM the keeper he always dropped a brace of pheasants for us one christmas he even bought me a pair of brown boots i cant think what they cost him as money was very tight in those days.

At the time i had a paper round a bike was supplied a great big thing like a butcher bike with a big old basket on the front no lights i would cycle five miles ten in all there and back to deliver to the out lying farms you would come back christmas eve with the basket stuffed with nuts apples sweets even a big old cockerel they had killed on the farm i even had pockets stuffed with money a few sixpences pennies and such it all added up i had a bird from this one farm every years take it for yer mum the farmer would say it varied from geese duck or cockerel it was greatly received by my family i would walk up to sam's the cottage in the woods it was such a beautiful place no electricity only candles or oil lights you could smell the baking done sam's wife she made all her own bread and even made the butter she was a wonderful cook i have sat by the roaring fire eating big slabs of new bread covered with home made butter and jam they were lovely people who i really loved, before i went home sam's old wife would shout out give the lad some of those eggs from the farm i would take them home my parents would be over the moon.

I had no trouble catching a rabbit or two before maxomatosis took hold we lived of them it was rabbit pie roast rabbit or stew we never starved we would eat what we caught christmas eve was a magical time for all us youngster we would go out singing carols and we shared the takings we would have nuts sweets and money some residents would ask us in we would sing for them in front of a roaring fire, after it was hot mince pies and a drink of ginger beer they were wonderful times we would hang our stockings on the end of the bed in the morning we would wake to our presents we always had an orange and a few nuts in the toe of the stocking and if lucky a chocolate father christmas i have wonderful memories from those times long ago though poor we always had an Xmas it has changed such a lot today to commercialized we were happy with the simlple things but today it costs an arm and a leg you never see the carol singers today shame really as it was so much part ot our chrismas long ago so i will wish you all a very happy xmas and new year. more latter
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   Old Thread  #382 11 Dec 2012 at 10.19am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #381
Graham and myself always fished the rivers when the cold weather came we have fished the Rea for the roach and chub and its been so cold the line froze in the rod rings but it never put us off we caught some lovely roach trotting down the side of the river i suppose the year was around 1969 we used mainly maggot or bread flake another bait that was quite successful was tares they were like a little round pea the roach absolutely murdered them we never caught huge roach fishing the Rea most were around half to three quarters of a pound in weight but to us it was fast and furious fishing we also caught dace and beautiful chub the biggest i caught from the Rea was four and a half pounds.

Those days are long gone the roach seems to have vanished and the dace you can still catch the odd one or two but not the bags that we caught all those years ago i have had some great days fishing for the chub i would use Danish blue mixed with bread making it into a paste i would walk the banks casting into nice looking eddies i have caught as many as sixteen chub in a morning they were great days, in the summer all i have taken with me was a loaf of bread and my rod and landing net i had great sport fishing floating bread i would catch chub after chub they were mostly around 2 lb 8oz that little river held some good fish there was also some good eels in the water and if fishing lob worm especially in the evening and into the dark you would certainly catch i never caught anything over three pounds but they gave me good sport.

I have mentioned before about the to salmon i caught from the river how they got past the water falls down river i shall never know but one or two did i was only young when i caught the first one maybe fifteen i was fishing free lined lob worm i felt the line go taunt with my finger i thought i had snagged bottom then it was away it tore down stream i can remember thinking what ever have i got on i stumbled through the nettles and brambles until eventually i had him under control i was only using five pound Bs line and i did not want to loose the fish whatever it was when he eventually rolled on his side i could see this wonderful bar of silver my net was not big enough so in the water i went i managed to lift him onto the bank i stared in wonder it was salmon and it certainly was not going back it had lice on its body so it was fresh run fish, i was not going to hang around i put it my bag and was away home my parents weighted it in the shed it was only eight pounds it was not waisted we has salmon for the next couple of days it was not the last i caught from that river but that's another story.

I have not fished that river Rea for a few years owing to my health but friends do they tell me its really good fishing especially the grayling they tell me they have caught them to 1Ib 8oz its also now stocked with brown trout the chub are still there with the occasional roach i cut my teeth on this river when my grandad took me with him the year was 1946 i have seen some changes since then some good others not i have seen the river polluted with silage it killed every fish but it is now back to what it was i hope it stays that way for many more years. more latter.
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   Old Thread  #381 5 Dec 2012 at 10.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #378
As i huddled down beside the small lake it started to snow it was Christmas eve i looked around and watched the duck they were coming to roost and to eat the barley the keeper; has put out for feed i was there for one thing a duck or two for Xmas i suppose i was around sixteen at the time the keeper would now be at the local, pub in they came up with the gun and the first one fell behind me i picked it up a well fed mallard, the next hit the water by my feet two was enough i also wanted a brace of pheasants, but that would take me deeper in the woods where the feed rides were they would soon be going up to roost i was far enough away from the keepers cottage but the dogs may still give me away, i sat with my back to the oak tree and waited i had only got the shot gun with me so i needed to be quick it was still light i would get the birds in the bag and away i made my way to the far hedge row and took two birds high up at roost that would be enough for tonight it would keep the family well fed over the holiday period.

I had just moved onto the foot path when i heard the sound of the keepers motor cycle blast he was not at the pub was he looking for me i heard a shout from behind me and the sound of dogs they were on to me and with it snowing my tracks would stand out like a sore thumb, i started to run i got into the shallow water of the small pool and ran down towards the farm i crossed the farm yard and went between the cattle that had been brought in out of the weather and for milking i made for the hay loft and up i went i could see the path going into the woods it was not long before and Gerry the keeper appeared on his old motor bike, he was not alone he had the sgt from our village and one pc with him and two under keepers i watched as they spoke to the farmer had he seen any one come throught his yard no one he said. I did hear the shots i thought it was you no it is bloody poachers i was dying to laugh the sgt got into the landrover ill take a look up by the quarry he must of gone that way within the hour they drifted away they were looking deeper in the wood as i climed down i could hear the church bells ringing in christmas it was magical as i walked across the feilds to the railway line i stopped and listened i am sure i could hear christmas carols being sung at the church, it was now snowing hard and it stung my face, i made my way towards the main road across i went and up the feilds and throught the fence into our back garden i hung the birds in the shed, the warmth hit me and the smell of baking filled the house as i lay back in the chair i was soon asleep we would not go hungry this i christmas . This is a true tale from long ago. more latter
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   Old Thread  #378 26 Nov 2012 at 1.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #377
What terrible weather we are having i really feel sorry for the people in Devon Cornwall why does it happen around Xmas, there Christmas, must be in ruins i can remember when i was young the big snows we used to have but we as kids loved every moment we would walk to school snow up to the top of your wellingtons when we got to school we would huddled around a coke stove in the middle of the class room drying our coats and at times our socks we never really thought much about our elders and how it effected them but in those days it did no milk was delivered and we had to walk to the shops to fetch a paper and much needed things but i loved every minute of it i can remember waking up one christmas morning and beside the bed was a new rod built cane by Hardy's and a Mitchell, reel a 300 spool with the first decent line i owned i can see it now can i go fishing dad bit cold out there for fishing but that did not stop me i was determined i was going to have a go snow or no snow.

It was on with my duffel coat and wellies and away i went i was going to fish stocksay pool it was about four miles from my home there was no cars or lorries and the snow lay thick on the A49 i walked up the middle of the road at times the snow was nearly over my wellies but on i went i eventually arrived at the pool it was ice free but i was Nealy frozen to death but out went the float and a large piece of bread flake it had barely settled when the float shot under i had no net in those days so i played it to the bank it was beautiful fish and his colour stood out in fact it was Rudd the farmer came down he said that's a good fish youngun i can still remember that morning as if it was yesterday there was i fishing and you could hear the carols being sung in the church it was a magical day the farmer's name was marsh away he went and came back with a set of antiquated scales i had left the fish in a old bag in the water it was weighed in at three pounds what a fish when young you don't realize the significance of such a big and beautiful fish.

I did have another not so big but that was the last the snow had set in again it was time for home by the time i got back the snow was to the top of my wellingtons that is just one day in my young life but it has been a wonderful life we did not have that much money but we always had a christmas this was around 1950 not long after the war things were very hard the schools were strict if you did wrong you got punished IE cane you certainly never did wrong again you were to frightened i can remember myself getting three on each hand for playing truant well i was fishing i could not leave it alone but i soon learned my lesson looking back i don't think it did me any harm only two swollen hands it also learned me have respect for my teachers and elders which in some places today is sadly lacking
well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #377 20 Nov 2012 at 12.13pm  0  Login    Register
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although fishing has been a great hobby and i have made many friends one of my greatest passions has been nature i love the country side and all that's in it i have had as much pleasure watching a vixen with her young cubs or climbing a tree to the buzzards nest and then holding the young chicks in my hand i would stare in wonder at these beautiful birds why they are persecuted by some i do not know yes they will take pheasant chicks but it should be up to the individual to stop him getting into the pen one bird i was always a bit wary of was the tawny owl i had a friend that had a very bad experience he was lucky he never lost an eye she had him in the face with her talons we were both up the tree we both ended up in the brambles lucky it was not to far to fall she had chicks and peter wanted one for a pet he did manage to get one but his grandad made him take it back.

I have spent hours lying in a hay field watching the curlews until i saw were she landed i would be away and with luck have found the nest i loved there call on a summers day or to watch the pee wits on the farmers field there nests took some finding but we did, in those far off days mum would pickle the eggs as lads we would look in the tops of the willow trees there we would find the mallards nest she would lay a number of eggs we would take a few home we would have them boiled as well as the moor hens for break fast nothing was waisted in our younger days. i would watch the sand martins for hours going in and out of the river bank and find the dippers nest i would really enjoy watching this little bird she would walk under water in the fast shallows looking for her food and the kingfishers nest in the hole under the old bridge.

Hunting was a very big event on most estates fox hunting and hare hunting they got quite a following
one thing i did not enjoy was the otter hounds the river would run red from the blood of this animal to me it was barbaric but looking back they were kept in check how things have now altered not to many years ago i was standing by a fence beside the river i had my gun with me when i heard the sound of the hunting horn i could hear the hounds in full cry and looking across the field i could see two foxes running towards me the hounds were some way back so i hid myself in the long grass and watched as a vixen and dog came under the fence were i had been standing i jumped up if you could of seen the reaction they stood looking at me for a fraction of a minute then away they went i stood by the gate as the hounds arrived i had disturbed the scent the dogs cast here then there and it took them a bit to find a line again the hunts man arrived who i knew have you seen him Pete no sir i said he gave me a bit of a look
i knew were the one old fox would go up an old ivy tree and there he would stay untill he was safe. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #376 19 Nov 2012 at 11.22am  0  Login    Register
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I Am really suffering with a chest infection i have not felt like doing much only lie in bed but i will get by one way or another i did slip down the woods on saturday to make sure my friends were all right on the first day of our shoot i stayed until dinner time but i was really fighting for my breath i saw a few wood cock which are always nice to see and watched a big old dog fox coming out of the wood he was certainly in good nick the guns and dogs must of disturbed his slumber i don't think i got out of the car all morning and was glad when i got home.

iT'S now November and some of the trees have still got leaves on but with the frost we have had and the wind they will soon be down it was this time of year that i would poach the pheasants i was only a youngster but loved to be out at night i have walked the many rides in the dead of night only me and my trusted air gun i would trap a torch to the old gun barrel and shoot them at roost .
i never took more than three out of one tree then move on to another i usually shot about six and i was away i have been chased a few times and had a gun fired over my head the keepers got away with a lot more than they would today but they were the salt of the earth all good men that knew there job.

I suppose i have been very lucky in life not to have been caught i have fished the many trout streams and lakes and never ever been seen i can remember one night it was on one big estate old frank bell was keeper i had been worming the river and had caught a few when i hear the dogs barking in the distance i thought some one had disturbed them at the house but no they were coming nearer they were onto me why i had not seen any one i looked across the field but could not see a thing but they were there i was away down stream i forded the river hiding my rod and fish and splashed down the side of the water then under the bridge there was a big shelve of concrete i climbed up and just lay there i pulled my old coat up and over me and there i stayed for a good hour.
I heard them talking the police had joined the search i know the one was the Sgt from our village with another PC the dogs even came under the bridge but i was high up i never moved a muscle its that bugger from the village said old Bell i nearly started to laugh but knew better we will call at the house tomorrow said the Sgt i don't think we will see him tonight he is well on his way home by now thats what they thought i waited an hour for them to go picked the fish and rod up and started to fish again i think if i remember right i caught twelve fish i got to my bike but i had one more thing to do before i went home i always tied a couple of trout to old bells gate i would have loved to see his face in the morning but it was my way of saying thanks for your hospitality indeed the sgt did call at our house but he could not prove a thing. a little bit latter
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   Old Thread  #375 13 Nov 2012 at 2.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #374
The one lake i fished was private and is still private to this very day no one was allowed on the estate only the gamekeepers and the gardeners none of my friends would fish it they were to frightened of the head keeper but i just had to have a go i would bike the few miles to this old lake hide the bike in the undergrowth then creep through the reed bed until i could see the water and make a bit of space to poke my rod through i would float fish bait was a bit limited to bread, or maggot, i had collected from the local slaughterhouse, i caught mainly Rudd but did have a few nice tench. This one day i went i was in for a surprise i got to my swim and had just cast out when i see all these table and chairs being brought out of the hall they were all laid out with table cloths and such then all these ladies and gents appeared and took there places around the table there was at least twenty then the food was brought by the waiters god they were posh i could her them talk from where i was hidden i had to stay what seemed hours to me i could not move i did manage to get my rod, in i waited until they dispersed then i was on my bike and away it was a lovely old lake and i was determined to give it another go i told old SAM the keeper where i had been dunner thou go there youngster he would say in broad Shropshire dialect Thu whilst get caught yes SAM i replied yer wooden headed he would say yer wunner take any notice of me whatever i says.

I would walk away laughing to my self how i loved this old man and his wife i suppose i should of listened but i could not keep away the one time i went i really got a shock they came down to shoot the duck and beat the undergrowth around the lake i really thought i was going to get caught so i i dumped the rod under some big big bushes then i was up one of the big old fir trees and there i stayed until the keepers and beaters moved away from my hiding place there must be at least sixteen guns accompanied by there wives all dressed in there tweed jackets and long skirts i marked one or two birds that had not been picked up it was not that long before i had a brace of pheasant and a couple of mallard duck i stuffed them into the old mail bag i had been given i carried all my tackle and sandwiches plus my bottle of home made ginger beer i grabbed the rod and was away to collect my bike i did this many times. The one time i went i got to greedy and picked up to many ducks and could not carry them all so i had to leave some and come back latter on for the rest they were certainly appreciated by our neighbors and my family the river onny ran past the estate and was stocked for sir and his many friends god i had a few trout from there mostly spinning with a small Devon minnow it was nothing to arrive back home with ten or twelve nice brown trout they were soon shared out between friends it was late forties early fifties so times were still quite hard . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #374 7 Nov 2012 at 11.38am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #373
Not far from my home was another lake that was full of carp us young lads would cycle the six miles to fish the lake. The owner was a nice old chap and never charged us a penny to fish his water i can still remember the first time i fished a night i was in the company of another friend whose name was Raymond we had no idea how to fish the place at night i can remember us both sitting on a old sack watching our indicator which was a piece of silver paper folded across the line in those days i fished with two rods both had been made from tank aerials by some freind of my fathers the reels were star backs the old wooden ones line was silk a bit crude but that was all we had at our disposal i know that platal came on the market around the same time but we never had any for the first couple of years it was not until i got my hardy rod and Mitchell reel loaded with nylon line that thing really started to improve.

I think it was around 1952 that i had a copy of Mr crabtree goes fishing which really helped us there is a story in this old book about peter going carp fishing using a method that dick walker used fishing a crust as bait the reel was a multiplier, i can honestly say that method caught us carp above any other method we tried, we were only ten years old at the time we had watched the carp moving in the weed bed at the far end of the lake we chucked out a few pieces of crust and watched as they slowly disappear below the surface with a loud slurp we managed to acquire some big hooks as the size eight we were using were to small we would push the large hook through the big piece of crust dunk it in the water coil the line behind us then give it the big chuck most time it flew out other times we lost the crust but we managed and caught fish it was an exiting way to fish we had no landing net and played them to the side of the lake which was only inches deep then scoop them onto the bank i can remember catching the first one we had a smile on our faces the old farmer fetched a pair of scales from the house thinking back they were a bit antiquated and rusty we watched as he weighed the fish four pounds that will do i said ill have him for my tea said the farmer he smiled i am only kidding we returned it to its home in the weed bed and watched as it swam away we were both exited and over the next few months caught many more from this old lake using floating crust. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #373 2 Nov 2012 at 11.33am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #372
I have been really lucky in life i would love to have another bite of the cherry but that's not an option, and i am really thankful for what i have had . I have made lots of friends over the years mainly through fishing and shooting there are not many lakes and rivers in Shropshire that i have not fished, when i was a young we only had our bikes but they got us fishing i have cycled miles to fish a lake or river and not all legally as in my younger days most estate lakes and rivers were private so we poached them our tackle was not that good the first good rod i had was made by Hardy it was a combination rod i had it for Christmas also a Mitchell 300 god knows where the money came from as i was only around ten years old and my mother and father did not have that much money, as things were very hard in those days. That rod was used for catching trout and carp Rudd as i said it was an all rounder and the Mitchell loaded with palatal line was a dream to use after using silk on a wooden star back i came from a very loving family and i can remember waking up one christmas morning and beside my bed was a Diana air rifle now that really altered my life i got quite accurate using it and i would go up the fields and lie waiting for some poor unsuspecting pheasant to pop his head out of the wood, i would shoot a couple then i would be away they were well received at home the old lady would worry that i may get caught i told her not to worry but i did get caught by a most wonderful man who remained my friend through my young life his name of course was SAM who i have already told you about in part one of my stories i learned so much from him i will always be grateful that i met old SAM and his wife they both treated me like a son SAM took me every where even poaching a few trout he taught me to cast a fly i was not that good and the tackle was a bit crude but we got by.

I lived by the river onny it was full of trout and grayling it was looked after by bailiffs all our neighbors said i would get caught it did happen once it was not really my fault but that another story i was chased on a few occasions but i always managed to get away i was young and fit and could run a bit faster than the bailiff, there was one island on the river it was covered in wild garlic i would get onto the island by climbing over a fallen tree i would fish from this island no one ever suspected that some one would poach the river from there i would stink of garlic and when i got home i was made to wash myself and then change my cloths it really did stink. Just below the island was Halford falls i caught all sorts from those falls chub trout and some beautiful perch i never weighted them as i had no scales but most were around a pound and a half they were a beautiful coloured fish it was the only place i ever caught them they were mostly all caught spinning with small minnow mounted on a flight if i had of taken them home they would have been eaten perch were a baked or fried people would eat most fish in those days, but the fish i took home were trout and would be shared with our neighbors who were always grateful . A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #372 30 Oct 2012 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #371
The frost clung to the ground making it sparkle like a frozen lake as we looked behind you could see where we had left our prints we were making for the big lake to try our luck at the pike that inhabited the depths of this old water. The film gone to earth was partly made on this water they called it the sarn we were dreading it had frozen over but we need not of worried we had no permission to fish this lake we poached it as we had done since our childhood we were only fifteen and the both of us knew this water and the woods that surrounded it we kept our eye on the keepers cottage that stood like a fortress at the end off the lake there was no sign of life we cast our rods the spinner hit the water with a splash the rod was nearly ripped from my hand as the pike grabbed the old kidney spoon he stayed deep but we soon had him in the net he only weighted in at twelve pounds my old friend Gerald want take him home but i would not kill such a beautiful fish my grandad would love him to eat said gerald but it was to late i had returned it to his home and i watched as it swam away into the depths of the lake.

Photobucket
another nice pike
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The pike lay in the net

We caught another three before we were discovered as i looked over the big water i noticed a landrover stop on the track that went to the keepers cottage it was the sgt from the local police station he was a freind of the keeper it must be a shoot day we both ran into the thick cover of the wood getting over the fence into the feild as i looked back i could see the lanrover in the distance we crossed the railway line and made our way to a wood called the berries we climed up the steep incline and looked back at the woods and fields below we could see the landrover parked beside the railway line three keepers and the sgt stood looking our way it looked if they had given up the chase we watched as they made back towards the woods and lake it would not be long before we heard the sound of gun shots it was indeed a shoot day they were shooting the partridge we stayed and watched as the guns were lined out behind the thick hawthorn hedge it was a good hour before we saw the beaters in the distance we watched as covey after covey flew over the guns i wondered how many they had shot, as we watched we could see the dogs and keepers picking up there must have been at least sixteen guns we watched as a tractor with bales came and picked the guns up to take them to the next stand we had had enought for today and made our way home there would be other days to fish the old lake . a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #371 24 Oct 2012 at 10.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #370
Horrible weather and its forecast very cold on Friday a couple of the members from this forum have been on Redmire this week skeff and Rob d from somerset i wonder how they are fairing i do hope they catch. The times i have sat with dick in his office and he has told me the story word for word how he caught Clarissa i would sit there fascinated i have been to redmire years ago but have never fished it sitting it out in this weather would not suit me one bit i have packed night fishing up my poor old bones will not stand it i really used to enjoy being out at night it was piece and quite my friend graham and myself have caught some truly big fish night fishing but in those days i mean the late sixties it was very hard we had trouble staying awake after watching a doe bobbin a few hours your eyes would start to close and it was not that comfortable lying on a garden sun lounger i have fell through a few times they weren't that strong but we managed and really enjoyed our fishing.

My fishing altered a bit when dick gave me the Heron bite indicator i did manage to get some sleep i caught some very big Bream using them god how time flies that was over forty two years ago not many had the herons then i used them at Acton Burnell and caught some beautiful tench we were really lucky the owner issued us with tickets and told us we could fish it when we wanted you never saw any one on the water we had it all to our selves the Keepers would check us out and have a chat when they came down to feed the birds i never once poached those woods but years before i knew graham, i did poach the two lakes the top pool and the bottom pool and caught some very nice roach in the company of a friend Robert willocks but we were always on edge in case we got caught, when it became syndicate we would still fish the lakes it did not go down to well with the syndicate they would come down and ask us to go i always said go up to see Mr smyth he would over rule them he was a nice old boy and would come down for a chat.
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Bern with a carp twenty seven pounds
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ME WITH ANOTHER



It was in the late seventies early eighties that we started to catch the Carp my friend Bernard was in the syndicate and he really caught some big fish there were fish over thirty pounds then, the biggest Bern had was thirty three pounds but she was rather spawn bound but there was bigger in there we had seen two commons that looked well over thirty pounds but we never connected with them other than carp there was some truly nice tench in the water it was nothing to catch them to seven pounds they were a deep golden colour i loved to catch them i don't think i had one smaller than five pounds it also held some beautiful roach and some of the syndicate would float fish for them at night and catch them to around two pounds but i was more interested in the carp my poor old mate graham never managed one but he caught some very big tench night fishing. well a bit more latter

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Rods out at burnell 1982
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   Old Thread  #370 17 Oct 2012 at 9.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #369
My mate graham Bern and myself have fished and shot together for years we met Bern about 1969 we met him when we were two struggling anglers trying to catch the bream on a local water he always fished in the company of his father Aubrey and his brother charlie they were fishing the the water to catch the EELS, and were very successful i know for a fact Bern caught them to six pounds, we were fishing nights for the bream and roach we would bait up with maggots and bread crumbs which i got from the local bakery we usually baited a little bit often stepping it up on the night we fished usually a Friday or Saturday night we would fish two rods each indicators was a piece of doe pinched on the line between but ring and reel we used little night lights in a jam jar hung on a rod rest it gave us ample light to see the bobbins we caught hundreds of bream using this method in the late sixties, we also caught some very good roach from the same water graham and myself got quite a reputation in the sixties and seventies catching big fish.

Another water not to far from a shrewsbury held some truly lovely bream and Rudd it was called heart break pool we both were determined to catch those bream but the locals told us we had no chance we managed to get permission from the estate owners, we tried different swims but the lake was so deep going down to twenty feet fishing from the bank we managed to catch some really good perch they would get the bends if we were not careful playing them. We also caught some tremendous Rudd to three pounds but the bream always eluded us i managed to acquire some sausage rusk white and pink i managed to get some maize from my brother in law who was manager of a local mill we would boil it up and mix it with rusk and bread crumbs we would let it stand for a few days in the bucket until it really stunk we started to bait up three times a week the first night we fished we really hammered the big bream we had them to nearly nine pounds we were truly over the moon if we told anyone they would not believe us at the same time we had started to fish the big meres at ellesmere in the company of Dennis Kelly from stoke he was well known for his big bream exploits he was also chairman for stoke anglers it was around the same time that we met dick walker who really encouraged us to fish he wanted me to write a few articles for angling times but i had to refuse i just had not got the time i had a young family and i needed to work i remained a friend of dicks untill his untimely death from cancer after his death i felt quite lost as i used to go and see him regular at his factory or i would ring him most weeks it was really sad but we carried on catching the big bream i won one or two holidays with the news of the world and angling times for catching big fish. well a bit more latter

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a young me i had just won a holiday
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me on front page of angling times with another big Bream
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #369 16 Oct 2012 at 11.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #366
I went to have a look at my small shoot last week god was the ground wet nothing has come off the trees as yet the leaves are turning but still on the trees i sat in the car and watched the distant fields i spotted a fox moving up the one hedge row i pulled the binoculars out it was a small vixen she looked in good nick i wandered if she was the dominant female was she looking for a mate it wont be long before she mates the cubs should be born in march but i have seen young cubs in february now that is very early looking back towards the hills you could see the woods of acton burnell they are only five miles away then to the left bells wood that certainly brought back memories god old bell was a good keeper although i poached his woods i had respect for the man it did not seem so long ago that i fished the stream in those days it was really looked after the owner of the estate stocked the stream for his rich friends to fly fish it was a lovely little stream that meandered its way through the fields and woods it had a number of water falls that was the place to cast a worm it would not be in the water long you would see the tip of the rod fly around they were nice fish the biggest was around a pound but good for eating i loved this small stream i loved to be there in the dark while the keeper was in his bed i fished it for miles the one farmers name was Mr cartwright he would stand no messing and part of bells shoot joined his land.
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the woods on bells shoot
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our small shoot the feed ride in my beloved woods where i have spent so much time

i would also fish a stretch that belonged to the blind school in those days it was controlled by old bell he chased me one night and i tried to cross the falls but i slipped and fell in it was about three ft deep i made it to the far bank i headed towards condover hall there was some big old box trees they used to cut them in different shapes of animals the one tree you could crawl under it was so thick and warm under this tree i would stay there until things went quite, then i would make my way home i was wet through but i had still caught a few trout before being discovered old bell knew i poached his land and reported me to the police on a few occasions i would have a visit from the local police man and Sgt Mr landers wanting to know where i was the night before it was like a game i loved it i was very lucky and never once got caught over the years i had a few of his pheasants if i fished the stream i always left my calling card i would hang a couple of trout on old bells gate it was my way of saying thank you for the fish i would have really liked to see his face i bet it was a picture the shoot must of been one of the biggest in Shropshire it was well known for it partridge shooting i would watch from a far as the ladies and gentlemen arrived they would really be dressed up in there brown brogue boots and tweed jackets. the ladies would also be dressed up in there finery god they certainly were posh and talked just like they had a plum in there mouth. well thats it for now more latter
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The blind school where i hid in the box trees
rob-d
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   Old Thread  #368 15 Oct 2012 at 8.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #366
hi pete im glad you enjoyed the book it really is something good.it was a shame that we couldnt give it too you face to face at the game fair but nevermind . it would be nice to see some of your writing in print as this would also be something special. keep up the good work my friend its countrymans gold.
rob
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   Old Thread  #367 15 Oct 2012 at 4.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #365
Thanks again for this, Pete. As ever I am looking forward to the next episode.
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   Old Thread  #366 15 Oct 2012 at 4.31pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #365
In the last few days i have received a copy of skeffs new book a fool and his Eel , the book is wonderful it takes me back to when i was a youth the photos and art work are something else, absolutely beautiful, in fact i have a job putting it down he covers most if not all species of fish, and his beloved carp fishing at his lake and many other waters including Redmire where he has fished on many occasions i should of met mark and rob at the west midland game fair but our phones went down and we could not meet up a shame really as i would have loved to meet him, they were going to give me the book then but it was not to be i have since received it by mail from rob and mark any one that wants a truly great book get in touch with skeff it is a wonderful read thanks again mark and rob truly a great book pete
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   Old Thread  #365 12 Oct 2012 at 5.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #363
The water sparkled as i walked the banks of this little stream it would be early sixties and had just got married, at the time i was working for a building, firm, my boss owned part of this old stream its source was up in hill country it tumbled down from the hills the brown trout loved this water with its many pools i had watched these trout many times i crept down to the bank looked through the glistening water they were there i saw at least five i watched one dart out from under the bank catching a small minnow, it was not that deep so off came shoes and socks i rolled my trousers it was up to my knees i had done this many times before in fact a local gypsy taught me years before how to tickle the trout i spent i spent some happy hours with old jack not just fishing he also taught me a lot about the country side, i slipped my hand under the tree rooted bank feeling under that bank i felt the fish i slipped my hand under neath his stomach and gently tickled his belly with my hand he rolled over on his side i closed my hand and out of the water he came landing on the bank above the fish were not big but good enough to eat i caught five in all but they would be appreciated by my inlaws who we lived with over the next few months i caught many from that stream they were all about 12 oz and lovely to eat.

God i loved this countryside with its hills and dales and small streams i would walk with my gun for many miles and never see a soul there was the odd grouse and the many pheasants put down for the owners pleasure i will say no names as he was a member of parliament he owned vast stretches of hill country and lots of wooded valleys mostly hard wood with a few conifers plantations the fields and hedge rows would be full of pheasants in season he put thousands down for his rich friends i would always have a couple with my trusted gun but it made to much noise so i brought my old rifle, back with me when i visited my parents, i would lie in the bracken and shoot any that came to near in those days there was a number of keepers working for sir the head keepers name was a Mr Jones, he was a hard man and stood no messing if he caught any poachers they would def be in big trouble he was one of the old school you would end up in court besides having a hiding, in those days you could get a good price for a brace of birds and they were worth poaching.

Just in front of the hall was a big lake i never saw any one fishing it but did see fish moving i asked one of the farm labourers if i would be able to fish the lake and would it be worth asking sir for permission he laughed saying you wont get nowt from him he would skin yer alive if he caught e he said in broad Shropshire dialect it never stopped me i float fished the lake many times and would hide in the big reed beds, i caught Rudd, they were all arround
a pound in weight, but what i did catch on small red worms was trout big old rainbows he must of stocked it for himself and his friends but i never saw any one fishing there until one day i watched from a distance as three men fished from a punt they were fly fishing god i had caught fish to over three pounds fishing with worms, i also used to spin with little Devon minnows, but it was getting a bit to dangerous to carry on the keepers also had duck on the lake and started to feed it twice a day i did not want to be caught so i, kept away for a few weeks but i did poach some of his mallard a bit latter but that's another story . more a little latter
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   Old Thread  #364 3 Oct 2012 at 11.02am  0  Login    Register
Message Suppressed by Forum Moderator.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #363 2 Oct 2012 at 11.32am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #362
I loved the woods and spent a lot of my younger life walking them in those days they where looked after by the owners and gamekeepers there were signs all over the woods trespassers will be prosecuted or shot on sight there are still a few of the signs kicking around to day a bit worse for ware and weather beaten they were there for a purpose and would frighten most of the locals to death they would not stray from the public foot path they were fiercely guarded by the keepers, and under keepers, it certainly did not frighten me i walked where i wanted and took his pheasants it was a necessary when i was young to help feed the family and friends as in the early fifties no one earned much money and could not afford meat and such we even had a few of farmer prices chickens but i was not to keen they were tough told boilers not for me but our mum made soup from what was left over it was delicious.

I also loved to fish the old estate lakes but they were all private some of the waters had never seen a rod and line they had never been fished and most lakes were used for shooting the mallard duck there was huge rafts of these ducks on most lakes i used to hide and watch the gents and ladies shoot them it was a different world then and not long after the war. In the war years a lot of estates went to wreck and ruin most of the keepers got called up to do there bit for the country those that did return came back to find the woods and fields full of vermin and it took years of hard work to return it to its former glory god some of these gentlemen and ladies were very posh and as i have said before talked just like they had a plum in there mouths i watched so many times i would hide in the under growth and watch from afar if any ducks crashed down where i was hidden i would have them away before the keepers and dogs came to pick them up they were always welcome at home .


I had an old Diana air rifle old SAM the keeper altered the spring in the gun it made it more powerful he used it for rook shooting when the rooks had youngsters he would bring a bag full back his wife would make him rook pie covered with lovely golden pastry he offered me some many times but it nearly made me sick yer don't know what yer missing lad he would say in broad shropshire dialect but i did i could not stand the black buggers, and never partook in his offer i had that airgun for many years and shot many pheasants with it at night with a torch strapped to the rifle they were easy to shoot the trees would be full of them i always waited until the keeper retired to the local pub you knew he would be there until closing time i have watched old Gerry ride his motor cycle back home from the pub he fell off a few times he was that drunk but he was a good keeper and knew his job one thing i could not stand was the poisoned eggs i found on the rides in the woods, i would take them away and bury them he injected cyanide into the egg then left them any birds carrion and such even foxes died instantly and if other predators eat there carcass then they died also, thank god that does not go on today the last time i came across it was about twenty years ago but since then, nothing it was a cruel way to get rid of the vermin but all that matterd in those days were the pheasants and duck reared for the gentry. well a bit more latter sorry i have not written my stories as regular as i did but i have been helping my mate graham get over his sad loss thanks pete
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   Old Thread  #362 24 Sept 2012 at 11.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #361
well the Badger cull has started or about to i love these lovely animals and i am against any form of cull they have the vaccine to use on badgers caught and are using it in different parts of the country side why could they not develop it for cattle funny really you never see sheep with this disease and a lot of badgers in hill country mix quite freely with the sheep even the government advisors have said a cull is not the answer surly members of the forum from Devon and somerset can remember the gassing that was used a few years ago for the same reason it made no difference the cattle, still have the disease i am the first to admit there are far to many of these animals when i was young you only saw the occasional badger but today they have really thrived there is not many counties without old Brock.

Raining again it has really poured down all night in my seventy years i have never seen such a wet year they will be putting up flood warnings once again mind you it has got a rain a bit to flood us as we live on a hill i have fished many times when young in weather like we are having, i would certainly fish the river onny and trundle a worm down the side of the river if it was a dirty colour from the water running off the fields the fish would go mad i would catch one a cast i knew the bailiffs would not be around walking the banks especially in this sort of weather so i would take my time i have even caught when the river was bank hight it was stocked with grayling as well but i must admit a did better with maggot the fish was known as the lady of the river i really did not like taking them home and would return most but not all they are a relation to the salmon family a very pretty fish.

I would catch fish to order some one would say can you get me a trout or two i would be away it would not take long to catch a few after the war years most people were not to well off so the trout were really appreciated by most of the residents in the railway terraces it was not just fishing i acquired a ferret and before myxomatosis was around i would be up the fields ferreting the hedge rows i had a few nets i had been given and i would pop the ferret in and wait in silence you could hear the rumbling as the rabbit tried to escape under ground he would fly into the awaiting net it was nothing to catch half a dozen but you were always on edge looking to make sure the keeper was not around i could get sixpence a rabbit if i took them to the butchers shop i spent most of my time up the fields or in the woods or poaching the river. well an bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #361 18 Sept 2012 at 10.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #360
well once again the game fair is over it was certainly a good day out we bumped into rob d who is on our forum it was very nice to see him we arranged to meet him latter in the day but it was not to be the phones went down we could not get a signal so i never really had a chance for a natter i don't know if it was the beef Burger i ate but i have had a bad stomach since but it was a very nice day for all concerned i took my little scooter and was quite pleased it lasted approx five hours before the battery finally gave up but we managed to get back to the car graham and Rodger went back to the show for a couple of hours and i stayed in the car there was no way i could walk that far, i did manage to watch a bit of fly casting plus they had old nudy there he was spectacular with the pole and managed to catch a few fish but i was not sorry to get back home.

Talking to my mate he said his son in law fished the Severn Saturday and managed to catch a few dace and chub nice to see the dace showing up again when i was young you could catch good bags but of late they seem to have vanished with the roach we have put it down to to many predators especially the merganser they fish in packs and have really decimated some parts of the river most of these birds migrate from further north but most breeding birds are resident it is a member of group known as the saw bills the damage they do is eminence i have watched a group, of these bird stretched across the river diving all together nothing gets past them and any small fish they catch are eaten i can remember not to long ago the youngsters would be down the river in there school holidays with net and jam jar catching the minnows there was large shoals of these little fish but they are now vanishing at a alarming rate and are now hard to find.

But it is not just the mergansers, but we have the otter, and cormorants, they to are doing lots of damage to our fisheries i was down at our local lake and counted approx thirty five cormorants, perched up on an old tree height above the water they must be having a great time as the lake is full of roach all sizes and have been caught to three pounds in weight, i my self with graham have caught eight in an evening all over two pound but that was way back in the seventies but they are still in the water and it is a shame to see these beautiful fish decimated by cormorant's. well that's it for now not feeling to good so a little bit more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #360 11 Sept 2012 at 11.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #359
Its the west midland game fair once again time really does fly i hope to go as i have a small mobility scooter and with a bit of luck i shall be able to get around i know one or two from the forum are going and, i am hoping to meet up with them its the last of the big shows this year, i have always enjoyed going there's so much to see and do there's plenty of fishing stalls and demonstrations then we have the falconry i really enjoy watching these birds fly you can spend a small fortune but i have all i need so it will be myself and graham and his grandson tom i particularly like looking at gun row i think we are going Saturday as long as we have no rain it will be a great day out where i can meet many friends from the past and present.

Graham and i went out to look at a couple of lakes we have not fished i must say they they are in some beautiful wood land we can drive right up to the one lake we did see a few fish taking some bread from the top others were just cruising around i was told by one individual that some of the fish are quite large i did see some that were lower twenty's we will have to see that's if i can get my mate to come, at the moment he does not seem interested i am not really surprised with all his gone through but time will heal at least he is coming on Saturday i have lived in Shropshire all my life i thought i knew most of the lakes but i certainly did not know these two it looks if they are man made maybe for the estate for shooting but they are now owned by one individual who really looks after the place .

Most of the lakes around my area i have fished mostly poached when i was younger i have had a great time fishing these lakes and in those days we never really thought about carp, we would catch roach Rudd pike tench and bream as long as we caught we were happy i have seen anglers using a big nut and bolt for a ledger when i was young there was not the money around to buy such things so most made do using what they could get there hands on most of the rods were cane in those days, i was lucky i had tank aerials made into rods i did most of my fishing using them as i have said before line was not that good and when i first started i used a silk line but we caught , bait was either worm bread maggots if you could get hold of them i collected mine from a local abattoir i would go home stinking but they certainly worked on one lake we we used par boiled potatoes but that was for the carp and we caught them not big but they looked huge to us youngsters the largest was only about three pounds but it was wonderfull fishing. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #359 7 Sept 2012 at 11.05am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #358
Septembers here once again big skeins of geese pass over head as i sit in my car watching they are a mixture of Canada and graylag i can still feel the excitement myself and graham has had over the years huddled together in some ditch waiting for the first goose, to arrive they would come to the old quarry pool to rest like they had done for generations some times it was so cold it would nearly freeze your breath the dog would shake with excitement at the sound of there approach, they would fly quite low over the hedge we would only shoot what we wanted and let the rest come in to the old pool we would take a couple to the farmer and the rest would be given to friends it was not unusual to shoot at least twelve birds the Canada's, are now classed as vermin there are far to many and can do a lot of damage to the farmers arable crops and winter wheat at one time it was not unusual to see large skeins of geese for or five hundred but that has reduced dramatically over the last few years.

We also liked to get out pike fishing we would take the boat and troll for them we have had some wonderful days in October and November but alas those days are now over as i have sold the boat owing to my health but there was nothing nicer than being on a large lake on a frosty morning we will be trying to catch a winter barbel or two as long as i can get the car by the side of the river we will be having a go. I am not one to catch carp in the winter and neither is graham as you get older you appreciate being in a warm house especially at night when we were younger we did give it a go and nearly froze to death we did not have the equipment that the anglers have today we have never done very well in the winter months fishing the lakes in Shropshire, and did a lot of our fishing on the rivers after the chub, and roach.
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A PIKE FROM A SHROPSHIRE MERE
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ANOTHER FROM THE SAME MERE
It wont be long until we are out after the pheasant and partridge i think my syndicate are planning a evening after the duck and perhaps the geese, i shall go along with graham i usually sit on my shooting stick as long as i don't walk to far i will be alright i have twelve guns in our syndicate we have some great times over the years we are now mostly old fogies. we don't shoot as many as we did when we were younger our reflexes and eyes are not what they used to be but its great to meet up once a week for a chat as we have been friends for many years. well thats all for now more a little bit latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #358 4 Sept 2012 at 9.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #357
Thanks ken its been a very sad time for us all once again thanks from the bottom of my heart pete
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #357 4 Sept 2012 at 3.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #354
So sad to hear about Grahams wife, Pete. I feel as if I almost know both you and Graham from your stories, even though we have never met. Your's sounds like a wonderful and almost unique friendship and my thoughts are with Graham and yourself.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #356 30 Aug 2012 at 1.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #355
Graham and i have been invited to fish a lake i don't even know where the lake is we were told i can park my car by the side of the water, i asked the question is there any carp in the water yes we were told they were stocked years ago no one seems to catch them the biggest he saw out was twenty six pounds this has really wet my appetite so we will hopefully be having a go in the next couple of weeks i want to get graham out after his sad loss i think a bit of fishing will take his mind of other things so i will certainly be letting you all know how we get on i am told it is only half an hour drive from my house i am really stumped, its one lake i do not know graham has had a look and he said its beautiful with islands in the middle i cant wait.

The fish have probably never seen a bolie so we shall try different baits including worm, i have only fished a couple of days this year owing to ongoing health problems plus graham has had his own problems so it will be nice to be beside the water once again. Its not all about fishing but our wild life to, i have really missed it as much as fishing they both go hand in hand i will be able to try out my new motor a fiat qubo which i collect on Monday with the seats down there is loads of room for our tackle i loved my 4x4 but with the price of fuel i decided to sell it has only done thirty thousand miles but it was costing a fair bit of money to run it every month so its now time for a change.

I am sure as you get older the months seem to fly by here we are nearly in September get into October and and November the leaves will be showing different shades it is one time of the year i really love the woods will be a picture of vibrant colour, i have walked the woods many time in the autumn some time legal some times not in october i have watched the pheasents rise hight over the tree tops and have listened to the distant sound of guns they are standing in the valley, the birds soar over head to hight and fast to shoot the ocasonal bird will will fall in a ball of feathers far behind the guns but most were missed to fly another day if not found they would be left untill latter in the day unless old foxy found it first.

It is the time of year graham and myself have stood in the big stuble feild in hill country to shoot the malard duck we would wait hudled by the small pool the ducks came to rest on this small water after feeding on the stuble they would arrive in there hundreds we would take only what we needed and no more we would leave the remaning duck to come into rest as they had for generations as we drove across the hill the rabbits would run for cover four or five at a time went under the fence into the wood it would not be long before we were up on that hill with our rifles to sort them out this is how we got our fishing and shooting no money ever passed hands we did the farmers a favour and they returned it by letting us fish some old forgotten lake or shoot there land but that was years ago i could not walk to do that any more but i have my memories that cant be taken away. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #355 22 Aug 2012 at 11.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #354
I was nineteen years old when i first met graham we both had young families his wife and my wife really hit it off and they both ended up working together it has been many years since we first met approx fifty, graham at the time worked for sankeys of wellington as a paint sprayer and was very keen on fishing we soon got together and fished anywhere we could mainly the river. Graham managed to get us permission to fish a lake just out side wellington it was covered in old tree stumps but as we watched we saw fish moving i can always remember sitting there beside that old lake we float fished using maggots and small red worms we soon learned what the fish were as we got smashed every time we had a fish on, we could see they were carp they would leave a big bow wave as they tore off to the sanctuary of the tree stumps. Our tackle was not that good we were using only three pounds BS line, we were also using the first fiber glass rods we had seen we bought them quite cheaply from a local fishing shop i think he had them made for the shop they were twelve ft long we float fished and ledgered with the same rod i still had the old tank aerials but they were getting on a bit i also had the built cane combination rod made by Hardy but i prefer the fiber glass rod i think i still have the butt section in the attic the next time we visited the lake we used six pounds BS line and we managed to land a few i think the biggest was only five pound but did they go the lake was quite shallow the deepest part was only around three ft deep they would head straight for the tree stumps when hooked the lake was covered by dead trees which made it very hard to fish but we persevered and caught.

We were certainly on a Hight we were catching a few chub from the river as well not huge but to around four pounds WE managed to get permission to fish a lake nearer to home the owner was a women she explained to us what was in the lake apparently it was full of tench and held a few big carp with a scattering of big perch she had never let any one fish it before and said she may let it out for day tickets, at a latter stage but we could fish it for nothing the first time we fished the lake we were there at first light and float fished it was around eight ft deep we used bread flake tipped with maggot we caught some beautiful tench not one under four pounds and what a lovely lake it was. The lady came down for a chat and to see how were we getting on she could see we had fish in the keep nets in fact we had caught just under ninety pounds we were over the moon can we come again yes she said just let me know when you come by coming to the farm house, it was one of the best lakes i ever fished we had piece and quite and the wild life was wonderful it was covered in geese and duck they also had a few swans on the lake which at times became a nuisance but they had more rights to be on the lake than us and we managed to fish around them it was a wonderfull lake and we became good freinds with the ownerer ill tell you more latter about some of the catches we had while fishing there. well thats it for now more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #354 19 Aug 2012 at 10.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #353
I really have not thought that much about writing my stories this week i have been heart broken two friends have passed away the one shot with me the other was grahams wife we all went every where together on holidays and days out he is devastated so is my wife and myself but things must go on one thing i must say life is so fragile here one minute gone the next like a leaf on the wind may they both rest in piece.

I will catch up with my stories latter pete
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   Old Thread  #353 15 Aug 2012 at 11.03am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #352
i loved to fish the big meres at Ellesmere in Shropshire i fished mostly for the big bream but they also held some very big tench graham and i spent a lot of our younger days fishing these big waters they were not very easy and a lot of work was put in before you even fished the place. One Fish i never really got to grips with on the meres was the eel there was some huge specimens caught mainly by the British Anguilla club i would see them on most occasions when we were fishing i have seen them catch eels, to six pounds not a bad fish, but there was a lot bigger in the waters i suspect they still fish some of the meres i have said many times before i spent a good many weeks fishing colemere mainly for the big bream we actually broke the record i think it was 1971, but we also loved to float fish for the roach we caught some beautiful roach on bread flake and maggot. Early morning was the time for these fish we used big sliding floats that you could see at distance the biggest went about two pounds in weight the rest were from a pound upwards but good fishing , we also fished crows mere even the big mere in the town, newton mere, white mere, in fact all of the meres newton, produced some very nice tench we spent hours in the winter catching the roach we had some good bags and real happy days catching this fish.

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One big Bream from colmere
White mere, was another water that had held some huge Bream and two friends of mine actually smashed the British record when fishing there my friend Dennis Kelly of the big bream fame caught a fish of over thirteen pounds i think that was in the late sixties he never claimed the record and put it back another friend called john caught the other which went to fourteen pounds and he never claimed the record if they had we would not have fished on the water again as there were not many swims, There was also the yacht club on white mere and they had most of the say so we tried not to upset them i think they still have the yacht club on there today, it was around then i first met the great man Dick walker he was a big inspiration to me and my fishing i cannot say enough about the big man who helped me in many ways and encouraged me, to carry on fishing as i have said before he wanted me to write for angling times but i had a young family and really did not have the time i am sure he would have been proud of me if he saw my stories today.

well a bit more latter
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Another big bream front page angling times
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   Old Thread  #352 11 Aug 2012 at 12.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #349
Well another thread suppressed never mind he was probably being rude not that it bothers me much as all i have told you is true i have led a wonderful life and would live it all again if i had the chance but that is not an option i am not fishing much because of my problems they are really holding me back but as long as i can smile i am ok.

i will now tell you all a story about one lake i used to fish i suppose i was about sixteen at the time i was told by my mates don't go fishing or rabbiting on that estate you will be caught i am saying no names as i don't want to embarrass the owners oh yes its still in the family i have not graced the banks of that old lake for many years its still used for pheasant shooting and the lake is syndicate it now holds one or to big carp, i was determined to have a go and one night in late June i was away on my bike i had been down and had already had a look at the surrounding land so i had a fair idea were to fish.

I was told to watch out for the dogs especially at night they were a mixture of labs and Alsatians the keepers used to patrol the woods and land as it was a big pheasant shoot, so i knew what a chance i was taking but i knew from another friend who worked on the estate that the lake held some very big tench the year was approx 1957 so there were no alarms. I only fished with one rod using some new rod rests i had bought, a piece of doe pinched on my line served as my indicator I manged to hide my bike and used the red lamp to show up my doe bobbin i found a nice place to fish in the big reed bed it was quite dry and i was out of sight i made a small opening for my rod to poke through i was using bread flake tipped with maggots in those days for two shillings you could fill your bait box to the rim they were not that expensive my very first cast produced a tench it was as black as night i have never seen tench that dark before i had no keep net so back it went and within minutes another graced my net i really was on edge and when i smelled tobacco smoke it made me worse and then i heard a shout come on out we know you are there i lay down in the reeds i could hardly breath with fright i heard them move further into the woods i heard a gun shot and dogs barking god they were not after me but some one else i stayed there for another hour and carried on fishing i manged at least ten tench they were very easy to catch probably because no one had fished it before but i was still on edge and decided to make for my bike and call it a night i manage to get back to my bike i was just about to get onto the main road i saw a black police car the constables were talking to at least five keepers or maybe estate workers i stayed for another hour before they moved away one thing i did find out the trees were full of big plump pheasants must be some of last years stock lovely i would definitely have a few of those. when October comes around . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #351 10 Aug 2012 at 6.34pm  0  Login    Register
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #349 6 Aug 2012 at 12.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #348
For many years i was bailiff for shrewsbury and district anglers i really had my work cut out the number of people that fished with no permit, was quite high, we also had poaching the chinese were the worst they would take all fish, back to there shop then prepare and eat them the one morning i disturbed them there was at least twelve men amd women they ran when they saw me coming and on the bank was a pike, dead he weighed in at twenty five pounds they slipped up when they fished one fishery belonging to some one i know he chased them to there shop and gave them a warning i would have loved to been a fly on the wall and listened to him he was quite a character and very hard lets say we had no more trouble with poaching.

My main problem was getting anglers i caught to part with there money to pay for there permit which i carried and issued on the bank you would not believe how awkward some could be saying i have brought no money with me others would say i am local i am not paying i never have payed, i would explain that the fishing belonged to Shropshire federation and to fish they needed a permit costing six pounds some could become quite violent so i would warn them then fetch the police but most i met were very good and bought a ticket most of the time we operated in the hours of darkness and i would use my vehicle to travel along the river bank it was nothing to collect 80 pounds which was paid to the federation so much of what we collected was for our petrol and costs but i would not except the money and donated it to the young Shropshire anglers for there once a year match to help pay for prizes i must admit i loved every minute and made many friends over the years.

They do say it takes one to catch one that maybe very true i must have been very lucky as i never got caught and i did take some chances shooting, and fishing, most of my poaching was done in the hours of darkness as i have told you all i got chased a few times but always eluded them one thing that did help was knowing the lay of the land you were poaching it gave me quite a buzz if i was chased i have climbed a few trees, when i was young to get away, and have listened to the keepers and police talking down below at times i have been dying to laugh but dare not make a noise my mother was frightened i would be caught and would tell me so but times were hard and the trout and pheasant supplemented our diet which was very welcome. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #348 2 Aug 2012 at 12.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #347
My friends and myself fished a small lake in Shropshire only one other fished it and that was old charlie Patterson i have told you about the gentleman in an earlier thread we really got the fishing through charlie, although we did know the farmer quite well as we cleared the foxes, that were doing a lot of damage around his farm so he gave his permission there was quite a number of carp in the water, they were very hard to catch as no one had fished for them in the past we fished this small lake many times but i must admit not one carp did we catch. We caught loads of tench beautiful golden colour but as i said the carp never graced our net the lake was so full of natural food and they had never seen sweet corn or maize so we admitted defeat i had really not got the time to fish it on a regular basis.

We were getting more and more calls from local farmers to help clear the foxes on there land at one time it was every weekend Saturday's and Sundays and as the days lengthened in the evenings to. The problem for me was i really loved this old character, but when it came to it we helped out as they could and did terrible damage especially in spring the hill farmers really suffered especially at lambing time and that's, where we came in we would walk miles looking for signs of fox activity IE earths and such where they were laying up resting we would surround big areas of gorse and send the dogs in old foxy would bolt out and bang and that would be that we have shot four dogs out of one patch of gorse and they say they are territorial no way it was a fast and clean way of disposing of the animal after lambing time they were left alone i think most farmers like to see the occasional fox on his land ,the country side would be a sad place without him helping the farmers out gave us more fishing most not all had a lake or small pool on his property one farmer gave graham and myself permission the fish his stretch of a trout stream my god it was full of beautiful brown trout as long as we took some for the farmer we could fish it when we wanted we would free line it with red worms it was a fish a cast some we put back as they were to small but it was great sport its fishing we would not of got if we had not helped that farmer out . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #347 28 Jul 2012 at 10.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #346
I loved the one old lake its only a few miles from my home i have certainly spent some time fishing there i would go in the early years with my good mate Bernard and Graham we would fish for the bream, and eels, we also caught some really big roach, from the water it also held a few big carp but in those years not many fished for them we accidentally hooked one or two when bream fishing but they would soon break you i hooked two one night while eel fishing we had Dennis Kelly, along with us believe it or not i lost the two fish they felt really big but they got into a big weed bed and that was that. It really made us think a little bit more about the carp we did have a go for them but had no luck and with fishing at Ellesmere i did not have the time the year was around nineteen seventy one and we did not have very good tackle comparing it with today.

So we did not think any more about carp until i took the lease on Bomere we had seen one or two big fish showing i suppose it was then we showed some interest towards the carp it was in early eighties i had watched these big fish showing and decided to have a go Graham could not join us owing to his work commitments he was manager of a big quarry so it was Bern and myself i baited up for around two weeks we knew the depth of the water and where the fish had been showing i had high hopes of catching with all the bait that had gone we both fished the same swim which is now known as bailiffs it was a lovely warm night the only trouble was the mozzies they would eat you alive i suppose it was around one in the morning when two fish showed over our bait half an hour latter Bern's indicator shot up and stayed there he was in and it looked like a good fish i got him in the net we parted the net and looked at a most beautiful mirror and on weighing him he was twenty seven pounds twelve oz the first one out of this twenty five acre water i congratulated Bern on his excellent fish and took a few photos he was returned no worse for whare .
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The common from Bomere
IT was about three weeks latter when i caught it was a lovely mirror without going to look in my diary i think it was around twenty three pounds i was a happy chappy and when i caught another the same night i was on cloud nine it only weighted twenty pounds but it was lovely common i had no one there to take the photos we did not have self take cameras but i did manage a shot of the common bern was supposed to have come but he did not turn up i was now quite confident
i was going to catch a few more i baited three time a week using hemp and fished maze over the top of the hemp we caught quite a few more over the months but the twenty seven was the biggest for that year. ill tell you more latter
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A big tench from baliffs swim
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   Old Thread  #346 24 Jul 2012 at 2.13pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #345
Watching telly on Sunday night it showed country file in the Shropshire hills it brought back many happy memories i have actually stood were the presenter, was unfortunately it was raining its beautiful country, and one i really miss when i was younger i would walk miles they also showed the river clun god i poached that a few times when i was younger it was full of brown trout i would cycle from craven arms rod strapped to the cross bar tackle in a bag my back. The river was full of trout i would hide my bike in the undergrowth then over the fence and spin or worm i would literally catch loads the river had been stocked by the gentry who owned the big estates it was looked after by one or two bailiffs and you had to watch out for the keepers depending where you were fishing i had few near escapes i put it down to be able to run faster than them its one of the few small rivers that you can see the fresh water Pearl mussel, i discovered a little lake not far from this river there were signs all around the lake private water keep out trespassers will be shot on sight i would take no notice and fished it for the Rudd and pike i would spin for the pike with big old spoons i think they were called kidney spoons the biggest pike i caught was around ten pounds i would not kill them and always put them back it was not long since the war, and most people would eat pike it made a good meal. I had noticed the lake had a lot of mallard duck but never gave them a second thought until i was disturbed this one day there was i stuck on this lake surrounded by shooters and keepers it was to late to run and i made my way forward into a big reed bed good job it was dry, i could hear the keepers, calling the dogs, i could hear the guns being fired and the sound of ducks hitting the water i managed to grab two that had fallen in the reeds you could hear the the lord of the estate saying good show keeper in a very posh voice, how many down about thirty your lord ship, i thought minus two i had in my bag i waited until it quietened down before leaving the lake then i was on my bike and away home.
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The pike
I Was very lucky i never got caught well i suppose i nearly did i was up the woods one day with my trusted air gun when i hear, a voice saying e likes a bit of shooting do e boy i could not see any one but he spoke in a real broad Shropshire language then he stepped from behind a tree taking my birds are e no sir then a big grin came on his face he was the local keeper but i have already mentioned SAM in my part one of my stories i learned so much from him over the years he took me under his wing he showed me how to catch the eels and the trout using a fly rod he certainly liked a bit of poaching him, self i said to him one day we might get caught who by he said i am the keeper here lad , then he said if one of them water bailiffs comes we run like hell and hide in the woods i had to laugh but he was a wonderful old man and loved him like a father. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #345 22 Jul 2012 at 11.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #344
The wind blew stinging our faces i pulled my coat around me there was a a slight frost and it glistened on the fields the clouds made pretty patterns as they scuttled across the sky an old dog fox gave a sharp bark some where in the woods behind us we were waiting for the duck to arrive it was now November and the mallard had gained a lots of weight they were fat from feeding on the big stubble fields they has fed on these fields since September but now they had been plowed in by the farmer but they would come to this little pool to rest just as there ancestors had for generations we sat in the ditch behind a big hawthorn hedge my dog SAM, settled down beside graham, and myself, he was ever alert and was shaking with excitement god was it cold we would give it another hour but with this moon the may flight all night as we looked over the hedge into the distant fields we saw him old foxy, making his way towards the woods he gave a sharp bark and was answered from somewhere deep in the woods it would be the vixen, i wondered if they were mating , i looked at my watch it said 9-30 then from over the fields we heard them call they were on there way.

They would drop onto the water like arrows we only had one chance and shot them head on i pulled through the first bird and missed graham had a left and right SAM was gone, he was soon back with a big fat bird i had the next one he came crashing down into the undergrowth behind us SAM soon brought him to hand we had already shot three nice birds but i wanted four for the farmer who had given us permission to shoot his land we ended the night with thirteen birds it was enough and we left as more birds came in too this little pool we would be back at some stage but for now we left them come in to rest on this small water, we trudged across the field to the farm i am sure it felt colder than it was my feet felt like blocks of ice and i was not sorry to reach the farm house we knocked the door and it was opened by this ruff faced farmer caused by many years working on the land i heard e shooting how many did e shoot he said broad Shropshire drawl thirteen said i he was pleased with his birds and asked us in for a drink but we refused and made our way to the car and home. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #344 18 Jul 2012 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #343
I will not be doing much fishing this year owing to health problems so its a good job i have got the forum to get me through if i never fish again i can quite honestly say its been a wonderful life and i have met and made many friends along the way. I have loved the countryside and all that's in it, i have fished shot and walked the beautiful hills of Shropshire, and wales, i have poached the woods for the pheasants and shot the humble rabbit i have done so much and i have had a great time along the way if things work out i shall be fishing again but for now i will read and write on the forum .

I just don't know where my life has gone it only seems like yesterday that i poached the pheasant and fished the many streams and river for the the brown trout but that has been years ago. Thing were very different then the war had not long finished and things were very hard the wages for an adult was a pittance compared to what you can earn today there were very few out of work i was only a young UN when i first poached the trout that was on the river onny i had no one to show me what to do so i learned my self and before long i was catching bringing home a dozen trout things were so hard everything was shared with our neighbors who were always grateful, i am afraid i did not like school very much and played truant, just to be beside the river or walking some distant wood i learned just as much from nature watching the birds and foxes but it came to a abrupt end when i was caught i had three lashes of the stick on the two hands it was done by the headmaster his name was Mr Kennedy never again i did not play truant again i learned my lesson but they really were good days to a young chap we had the run of the country side our doors were never locked not as there was much to take our neighbors would walk in without an invite maybe bring you some home made bread and big slabs of butter everything was shared a bit different than today.

I fished for the Rudd on one lake not far from my home i caught huge fish i did not know the significance of these fish they were over three pound and there were bigger in the small lake, it was not until years latter when i met graham and we both fished the lake did i truly realizes how important these fish were they were truly huge specimens
but they came to a sad end some one opened the sluice gate and let the water out a lot of Rudd were picked up in buckets and put in the river onny but a lot were lost it was to late, i believe there are now fish back in the lake but i doubt they will ever grow to that size again. well a little more latter.
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   Old Thread  #343 16 Jul 2012 at 11.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #342
Over The years i have had some very good friends who have gone out of there way to help me to get to the water i was rather crippled and could not push a barrow with my tackle on it i was waiting for operations to straighten my leg and for two new knee joints plus hip joints so without these good friends i would never have been able to fish mike was one such friends and graham and many more although mike does not fish any more we had some great times fishing for the carp,and barbel,together. we would fish for the barbel,at least two or even three times ,a week and we have had some great sessions we mostly fished on the monk moor stretch parking our cars in the park then walking over the field the river it was only about five hundred yards away but i really struggled once i got set up i was ok we caught some wonderful fish from this stretch, it was nothing to catch twenty barbel,in a few hours we always fished from five pm until one in the morning then pack for home.A young lad came with us mikes son jack and young Andy who lived on my village they were both good anglers and could hold their own against most others.i can remember one, night they were both fishing above and had been catching one or two to around eight pounds i still laugh about this episode to this day as i say i was further down the river with mike and we were having a good session when i heard a shout from the youngsters jack came running down the field Pete dad he was shouting god whats up now mike, said,there's a monster, on the bank the other side right opposite our swim he is looking at us over the fence says jack he ducked down and is coming towards you he was seriously frightened so i wound in my rods and went for a look Andy was still in the swim whats up Andy blood.. monster he said where over there by this time i was falling about laughing he is big Pete his got big shinning eyes he must be over six ft height we shot some boiles at him with the catapult and he moved out of sight he looked as if he was going your way carry on fishing and take no notice i said no way said jack what if he crosses the river they would not stop and came down to us i told mike what had happened he started laughing i knew what they had seen it was a donkey sanctuary i tried to explain but the two young lads would have none of it can we go home dad he said i was still laughing so we ended up going home next morning i went back for a look it was indeed the donkeys there was five in all i took some photos to show jack and Andy but it made little difference they were convinced they had seen a monster. well a bit more latter
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Another nice fish
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My mate graham with a nice fish
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #342 11 Jul 2012 at 12.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #341
I said i would tell you about the barbel fishing on the Severn it is a form of fishing i love there is nothing nicer than hooking a big old fish in the darkness i always fish with two rods at night and i have on occasionally had two on at once and have had to hand the one rod to my mate i think the best i have ever did was 35 fish in one morning which included three doubles one twelve pounds four oz one eleven pounds plus and one a ten pound four oz the rest were between eight and nine pounds that was around six years ago they were all caught on halibut pellet, it was a wonderful mornings fishing the excitement of it all will remain with me forever In the last few years barbel fishing has altered you don't seem to get those large bags of fish like we used to its not so easy any more ,i think maybe otters and other predators have not helped we seem to put in more time trying to catch why well for a start the barbel are not a native of our rivers i can remember watching them spawning on the gravel runs the water would be black with barbel there was never a shortage of young coming through but not any more with the arrival of the goosander and the merganser and the cormorants they have practically wiped out the younger fish we have watched the goosanders fishing i have seen as many as thirty birds all in a row across the river diving and hunting any small fish stand no chance these birds have altered the ecology of our rivers its a big shame but things have started to change and the match anglers are starting to get better bags of fish on the lower Severn But all is not lost if you are prepared to put the time in you will catch the larger specimens i have a friend who i have mentioned before his name is Rodger and he is a bailiff for the Shropshire federation he has done very well and i catches constantly why you may say its because he experiments and uses different methods he still uses pellet on occasions, but i think most of his big fish have fallen to big pieces of luncheon meat fished on a hair using a big hooks, or even cheese paste, he has been very successful using big bunches of maggot straight on the hook with no hair he has caught numerous doubles throughout the winter by altering his bait he also fishes the river bank when the water is in flood bank height using four oz leads to hold bottom i think the biggest fish has been eleven pounds plus a very nice fish he emailed me this week telling me he has caught another two over ten pound all i can say is well done m8 you deserve them. well that's it for now more latter.
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A big barbel

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Another big one
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   Old Thread  #341 7 Jul 2012 at 3.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #340
Well i have been away for a week on holiday if you can call it that it rained for 100 hours one stop and did it thunder, the lightning, was quite frighting, when i came to come home yesterday all the main roads were flooded if i didn't have my 4-4 i certainly wouldn't have got home, at times the water was up to the top of the front wheels but she chugged through no problem at one point the water was rushing over the top of a bridge not under it and flooding all the houses all the cars were parked up and would not try to get across a chap asked me whether i was going to give it a go, i watched as a lorry managed to get over and it didn't seem that deep so i gave it my all and got across i looked in my mirror and saw they were all following me great but i was glad-to get home a trip that usually takes me two hours took five hours and was quite frightening at times
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The water teaming down the mountain side in wales
The bird life has crossed my mind how on earth do they manage in terrible weather like we have had where do they get the insects and such to feed there young i watched a pair of blue tits that were feeding there young in a hole in a dry stone wall it was not far from my caravan we watched as they were in and out feeding the youngsters where they got that food from i could not guess as it was raining quite hard but i did manage to see she was feeding caterpillars ,so she must have been getting them from the farmers garden, he was growing cabbages they came back and forwards all day very frequently from the direction of the big garden always with two or three caterpillars in her or his beak this went on from first light until dark how they keep that up as they are so small, they certainly must use lots of energy . As far as fishing i never got out to give it ago what with the high wind and rain i was talking to one old chap he must have been in his eighties he had fished that part of the coast for years he had given it a go most days and had managed a few mackerel but he said it was very hard and most anglers were struggling to catch the amount of sea weed coming in with the tide you would be pulling loads in no it was not for me some of the chaps on our site own boats they had not been out for some time due to the weather they also run one or two diving clubs from the caravan site my son is a member and owns a diving boat but they have not been able to dive for some time as its been to ruff and to much sediment in the water making it impossible to see . i will write a bit more latter on the barbel fishing on the river Severn my mate Rodger the bailiff has been doing very well catching some big double figure fish. more to come
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   Old Thread  #340 1 Jul 2012 at 11.27am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #339
Have you ever stood in a wood or big forest and listened to the wild life i used to love it i would stand for hours listening to the Tawney, owl or the shriek of the barn owl, as he hunts the distant field he glides like a white ghost feeding on small mammals voles or field mice but he will eat bigger prey rats and birds such as thrushes black birds and finches he is a most beautiful bird he is one of he special protected species at one time he was quite common especially when i was a youngster but the use of pesticides really reduced population the farmers are now leaving bits of land growing grass especially by the side of water courses field edges and such encouraging the barn owl to hunt and breed not just the owl but other species like the grey partridge which has certainly gone down hill we have one big covey on our land which are never shot at we are encouraging them to breed at one time there was only four birds there are at least thirty now so they are maniging quite well.

Over the years i have been very keen on the woods and its wild life i have watched a young osprey many time hunting on the big lake we quite often we get one resting as he flies up to wales or speyside but they now also breed in the lake district, i have watched them take roach and such may i dare say they will take carp, as well i have loved nature, fishing is part of the scene its not all fishing its what you see when you are there a friend of mine while fishing for carp had a steady run struck and landed a big terrapin he weighed in at over four pounds in weight we mentioned it to the owner he said they had vanished out of a big pool in his garden approx eight years ago So it did quite well to survive our bad weather in the winter, he asked what we had done with it we told him we had got it in a big net so he had it back he said four in all had disappeared from the pool well it was a boys school maybe they had something to do with them vanishing infact three weeks latter another was caught the weight was five pound plus none have been caught since so i wonder if they are still in the water

The wood are so full of wild life we have the badgers old foxy what can i say about that great gentleman in his beautiful rustic coat i have loved him so much over the years the country side would be a sad place without him he can be a be a bit of a devil at times taking the farmers stock but that mostly happens when the vixen has cubs when she has a number of mouths to feed it is part of nature but they can a do become a nuisance when the lambing starts in hill country they can and do kill young lambs then the farmer wants them dealing with. well thats it for now bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #339 25 Jun 2012 at 5.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #338
The wind ripped through the reed fringed lake we stood and listened but all we could hear were the distance sound of geese who were resting on this old mere, the rain started it stung our faces the only shelter we had was our umbrellas i had cast out the rods baited with bread flake tipped with maggot it was a double swim so myself and graham were fishing together we lay down on the old garden bed chairs the wind howled as we pulled our umbrellas down and covered our selves with a blanket to keep the warmth in. It started to thunder and the lightning streaked across the dark sky it was so bad that at times you could see the geese on the water the far side of the mere i was dry that was the most important thing i lit my pipe and watched the rain hitting the water what a night to be out as i watched the bread bobbin that was pinched on the line for my indicator, up popped a small head and took the indicator from my line it was a small water vole i clipped another piece on my line the same thing happened again with in seconds, he was certainly enjoying his free meal and keeping us entertained at the same time he took it another twice before giving up i watched as he scuttled away into the undergrowth maybe to his nest below ground.
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How we fished years ago ping pong ball for indercators a old type alarm

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One of the old lakes we fished years ago

As i watched the indicators i saw grahams rise then hit his butt ring he was on it instantly he played the fish with caution not wanting to loose it on the many snags in this swim i slipped the net under the fish and lifted it out as we looked into the net the fish looked quite big it was a nice bream and on weighting him he went eight pounds exactly not a bad start considering the weather,we carried on regards of the rain and the next fish was mine not huge but just over seven pounds we had fished this old mere many times it was very hard fishing and to the locals it was named heart break pool, it took us some time to get to grips with this water but we did and were now catching consistently the next fish that came was a big Rudd on grahams rod after unhooking him he weighed in at three pounds a very good fish he went into the big keep net with the other two bream we were now getting a fish a cast we would both would have one on at the same time, i think the biggest for the night was nine pounds plus thinking back the year was about 1972 these were good fish for that era when morning broke and we lifted the the keep net we had over one hundred and fifty pounds between us most fish were between seven and nine pounds plus not a bad night, infact next day i rang Dennis Kelly to tell him our news he said angling times were quite keep to do a article on the place but that would have to wait until i secured the lease this is the story of a night many years ago its how we coped and struggled to catch we never had any fancy tackle most we made our selves but we enjoyed our fishing as much then as we do today. well a little bit more latter pete
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   Old Thread  #338 20 Jun 2012 at 10.27am  0  Login    Register
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Some of the best times i have had was fishing with my two close mates Bern and Graham we have fished all over the place even crossing the border into wales, we have certainly had a few laughs Bern is also a member of my shooting syndicate although he has not been well over the last few years he still manages to come. we have also done our fair share of rabbiting together using ferrets no nets all rabbits, were shot as they bolted for cover i can honestly call Bern a very good mate and i have been very lucky to have met him i suppose graham and Bern have been my constant companions over the years.

It was Bern that came with me when i watched foxes in fact he is very good with nature we have spent hours together photographing the young cubs, in the winter you would see the three of us going pigeon shooting he was no mean shot and an excellent angler not only carp but other fish as well we fished Acton Burnell together and Bern caught the first thirty to be landed from that water a big old mirror carp, i have spent quite a number of nights together fishing for eels, he certainly caught a few of those i think he had them over six pounds he will correct me if i am wrong as he has been reading my thread and thanked me for including him in my stories, we spent many nights fishing betton at shrewsbury which is now a syndicate this is the mere where we met Bern for the first time he was fishing in the company of his father aubrey, and he brother charlie, they had put in many hours fishing betton his father was a very good angler and taught his two sons well, in those days the mere was full of Bream, not huge but they made good fishing it was not unusual to catch a hundred pounds in a night we had no bed chairs as such only the old garden loungers they were not that comfortable i fell through one or two over the years the material would rip and you would end up on the ground but we managed.
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A nice tench from bomere

I took the Lease on at bomere and aubury and bern and charlie joined us in the syndicate, i fact i know Bern had the first big carp out of bomere as i was with him i had spotted the carp feeding a few weeks before and started to bait up for them the first night we fished together in what we called the bailiffs swim he caught a twenty seven pound mirror it was a lovely specimen i did have a photo some where, that really put that water on the map it soon got out and every one wanted to fish the place it was not long before another syndicate had the water a number of the members i already knew one such man was Ellis Brazier and Alex Perrine they became quite well known over the years writing and fishing for angling magazines, they were both excellent anglers in fact i photographed the first thirty Ellis caught from bomere i was asked by the owners if i would become the bailiff and that is what i did it was not a very easy job at times but i had free fishing it cost me nothing and know one but myself Graham and Bern could fish baliffs it was our swim , althought i could fish anywhere on the lake, you could aproach to the lake many ways and i caught my fair share of poachers, most never relized the place was now private it caused a bit of anger from some of the locals as some had fished it for a number of years and now they could not i could understand there feelings but that is how things were in those days. Well off to the docs now a bit more latter

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One of the first carp i caught from bomere
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   Old Thread  #337 16 Jun 2012 at 2.05pm  0  Login    Register
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As we walked down The bank the wind ripped through the tree tops making them sway from side to side i really wondered how we would get on fishing this old lake in this sort of weather, we had a look around then fetched the cars unloaded the gear then took the cars back up to the car park, we soon had the bivvies up and made our selves comfortable it started to rain, quite heavy the wind blew you could hear the occasional creek from the trees that towered above us we got the rods out i looked at my watch it said ten pm so we retired to our bivvies and into our bags we got. My friend was in the swim next to me and he was a bit worried about the trees that surrounded the swims, what a night i was just falling asleep when i was awakened by a splintering crash, it sounded quite far away i had a look out side but could see nothing my friend must be asleep so it was back into the bag i was awakened in the early hours my alarm was going mental when i got out of the bivvy, the tip of the rod was pulled into an ark all i did was pick the rod up no need to strike he was on i played him to the side he came in covered in weed the water felt quite warm , I unhooked him and shouted to my friend to do the honours photos done we put him back not huge fish only fifteen pounds, but from this lake it was a feather in my hat as no one had caught for some time it was a very hard water once again it was back to our bags i was awakened by a rumble of thunder it was right over head then a blinding flash of lightning it showed the inside of my bivvy up talk about being frightened my friend mike flew out of his bivvy what was that Pete lighting mate it hit something behind us in the wood did you hear it coming down i must admit i did not Christ should we pack up he said not until day break lets see what its like then we agreed so it was into the bag once again.
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One of the carp from the old pool

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one of the eels from this old lake

I fell asleep to the sound of the wind and thunder i was awakened by mike with a big plate of eggs and bacon what a night he said have you been out side no i said have a look when i did i was met by a sight of devastation there were branches down and two trees behind us the one tree had been hit by lighting it was streaked black from it burning the wind had now dropped so we decided to stay and fish one more night it was still raining but not so hard there was some unbelievable perch in this old lake my friend was going to try for these using bunches of red worm on lighter rods i put one extra rod out three for carp and one for perch my friend was soon in by evening, he had caught some beautiful specimens most over two pounds next it was the eels, i don't know how many we actually caught but it was into double figures the biggest around five pounds i did manage another carp but it was only small but at least it was a carp from a very hard water we packed up next day we were both were pleased to get home after all the rain and wind but we would be back to fish this old lake some other day. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #336 11 Jun 2012 at 1.45pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #335
I managed to get down the river Rea, the other day i can not walk any distance so i took my 4x4 down it was nice to see places i fished all those years ago but alas most are now over grown,, i saw some nice big chub so they are still in the little river i hear the river had been stocked with salmon , Parr very interesting i wonder how many will return to spawn in the upper reaches of this old river, it is nothing new there was a few salmon going up the river when i was a very young lad i caught two myself and i was not even fishing for them i was fishing for the chub which i had caught to over four pounds in weight. Did i put the salmon back no way i was up the road smartish they were not big around eight or nine pounds but in those days we all struggled to survive so the fish were an addition to our diet i can remember my mother cooking them even our next door neighbour had a portion that must of been about 1956 or near as dammit. I was Really pleased to see a pair of king fishers, i wondered if they had got there nest under the old river bridge, there was a hole going into the brick work and you could see them going in an out to catch minnows, to feed there chicks, in fact years before when i was a youngster i fell trying to clime a rope, to reach the nest and broke my arm infact the rope broke and down i went onto the rocks below.
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The old river bridge looking down stream
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Another shot looking upstream the king fishers had there nest under this old bridge

Not to far from the river just over the fields was a small lake i don't think its there today as it has dried up i used to poach the place it was mainly used as a duck shoot i would catch carp not big around four or five pounds i had to watch no one caught me but i got away with it and fished the place for a few weeks, the best session i had was to catch ten carp they were all in good nick but all around the same size. This one Saturday i left my rods at home i was determined to see how many duck the syndicate would shoot, the syndicate was made up of mostly farmers they were a bit more down to earth than some of the posh people i had seen on other shoots the lake was covered in mallard, in fact hundreds they would stand the guns around the side of the lake out of sight then drive the duck over the waiting guns some of these farmers could shoot and i saw some excellent right and lefts taken if i remember right, from my vantage point up a big oak tree there was over one hundred shot they did not pick them all i had four big fat birds before the keepers could pick them i would stay up that tree until they moved on to the next stand which would be for the pheasants i never went any further with the shoot, there was not much cover for me to hide they would shoot the the kale and beet fields i believe they had some good days shooting in excess of two hundred birds infact not long after i was asked if i would like to beat for this syndicate we got paid at the end of the day i cant remember how much, you also came home with a brace of pheasents and a couple of mallard which was not that bad. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #335 7 Jun 2012 at 10.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #334
Is it going to stop raining the birds will really struggle to feed there young in this weather the robins in my garden have reared one lot of chicks now they are starting again i watched from my car as three magpies fought over a female in my garden yesterday i had the drivers door open and they nearly ended up in the car talk about scrape i was a bit cheesed of as i had not got my camera in the car, a pair of gold finches have nested in the pine tree beautiful little birds i have also spotted a pair of gold crest wrens i am sure my foxes have returned although i have not seen them the grass has been rolled flat from play a good sign they are around when this weather abates a bit i will put a night camera out and see what it picks up.

My fishing partner graham does not like fishing in this sort of weather i don't mind at all as i have caught lots of fish, in the rain and wind mind you he is seventy six and as you get older it certainly effects your bodies you have pains all over so we now have to choose our days god thinking back we fished in all weather when we were young i am, afraid now the mind is willing but the bodies not. When i poached the pheasants, and fished the trout, streams i would go in all weather nothing nicer than trundling a red worm, down a stream on a wet and windy night i liked a bit of colour in the water i would catch one after the other usually the keepers and bailiffs would not be out on a night like that they would be in there warm bed, but there has been times when they have been out and waiting. On arriving at the river i would stop and listen if i could smell tobacco i would not chance fishing that part of the stream old Mr Bell the keeper, was a crafty old bugger and was really a very good keeper, and he never missed much he chased me on a number of occasions he always called, the police Sgt from my village who would turn up with two other constables, he chased me this one day i had been fishing at Bomere there must have been at lest ten of them i thought i would be caught they tried to head me off with there land rover i only had one option open to me i dived into a ditch, good job it was dry i then covered my self up and i could not believe what happened next they stopped by the old railway bridge right where i was hiding i listened to them discussing me i heard Sgt landers say he would check my home latter in the day and to top it all two big springer , actually stood on top of me while i was lying in then ditch i was dying to laugh but i dare not. Eventually i heard bell say to old Gerry we will have to get back to the shoot or sir will not be happy and away they all went i gave them a good half hour before i got out of the ditch i made for home before we had a visit form old Sgt landers, they were good days i loved to be out at night doing a bit of poaching i loved the chase it was me against the keepers and police i would get a big rush of adrenaline i suppose i was lucky i never ever got caught it was away of life and a necessity so our family and neighbours could live. well a little more latter
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Me truly a few years back out looking for foxes

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The old stream where bell was keeper it was looked after in those days not any more
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   Old Thread  #334 4 Jun 2012 at 12.26pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #333
When i was sixteen i got my first gun licence, i had only got a webley four ten i walked miles with that gun under my arm i am afraid i did more poaching even in the day time, any thing was fair game partridge, pheasants, rabbits, you name it i shot it most of the land was used for shooting and was strictly private but it made no difference i would be away with a lad called John ledington we would literally walk miles the other mate was a man called dick blent god he could shoot but he was not that fussy how he shot , he would see a covey of partridge, and if he had the chance he would shoot them on the ground i saw him do this one day and he had sixteen from a big covey not very sporting but things were different in those days we shot for food as things were still very hard, i was talking to dick one day he said i know a good pool we can fish Pete so i made arrangement to meet up and have a go it was lovely place not big only about two acres it was just on the border of a big wood i was float fishing and used worm my first bite produced a three pound trout then another Dick did not know it was a trout, pool, we had managed to catch another five when there was a shout get off my property this is a private lake, bloody hell we ran into the joining wood i really did not think we stood a chance he had keepers with him and the police have you ever tried running with a bag and a rod its impossible through a big wood, i broke the rod down and stuffed it into this big hole which looked like badger set and hid my bag up a big old fir tree, i could hear the police blowing there whistle in the distance. We came out of the wood onto the field there was a farm, we both made for the big hay stack both of us climbed up and hid under the hay i did not know this area to well but dick had been here before we could hear shouting and the whistle blowing i was itching like mad caused from running through nettles and the thick under growth. We stayed there lying very still we could hear them getting closer eventually they stood below were we were hidden talking to the farmer have you seen anyone john nobody was his reply they must have made for the railway line said the keeper.

After saying good by to the farmer they moved away to look else where we were very startled to hear the farmer say you can come down now god he knew we were hiding in his hay stack we crawled out and came face to face with this farmer who had a big grin across his face i seen e getting up there, i wont tell on e he said in broad Shropshire's i don't like that owd keeper he thinks he owns every thing, whats e been getting up to he said poaching his pool it be full of them trout he said yes we have hidden some in our bag and left them in the wood i would leave them where they be until it quietens down a bit after talking for some time he says to me your beryls lad, yes i said how do you know that i knew your grandad very well he said and your mother we were big friends years ago i suppose we were only five or six miles from home but i was not to familiar with the surrounding land we said our good byes come and see me again youngan i will sir, and remind me to your mum he shouted, i will we picked our trout and rods up and eventualy got home it was not the last time i fished that pool i caught some terrific perch from there over the years plus a few of the trout. more latter
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   Old Thread  #333 1 Jun 2012 at 1.39pm  0  Login    Register
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The wind was bitter as i made my way to the big wood i knew the keeper would be asleep at this unearthly hour i was out after a few pheasants, i , hid my bike under the river bridge and made my way to the big wood as i came to the fence that surrounded the wood i stopped listened a vixen screamed deep within the wood what a blood curdling scream she made it was answered by a sharp bark she would be in season and the dog was not to far away there would be cubs again some time in february. The keepers cottage stood at the end of this big wood he certainly would not be pleased to have a fox, in his coverts i made my way forward to the main feed ride all was quite i shone the torch up into the trees picked out a big cock pheasent, and squeezed the trigger down he came in a ball of feathers i repeat it until i had ten birds i would move on to the far wood i came out of the wood onto the field the moon, had come out the clouds raced across the sky making dancing shadows on the fields not a good night to be out but needs must. I kept to the side of the big field making sure i would not be seen i came to the fence and over i got i made my way to the big birch and sat with my back to this old tree i had done this many times before i knew these woods well i froze as three deer, passed me by they never even saw me sitting there i ate my sandwiches and drank from the bottle it was cold tea, i could hear no noise i caught the scent of pipe smoke, it drifted on the wind who was about at this time it was one in the morning i wondered if old Bell was about he was a willy old bugger and never missed much why was he not in bed, i got up and walked further into the wood i shot two more birds and put them in my bag the next thing i heard was bang bang and pellets rained down on me from above come on out of there your surrounded he shouted it was old Bell and the police, i made my way to the river bank it was not to deep into the water i got and hid under the branches and undergrowth ,on the far bank i had scrambled out of the water and there i lay i covered my self up the best way i could i could hear the keepers talking on the far side the one voice i knew really well it was old Sgt landers, do you know who it was frank no bob but he has had a few birds i wondered if it was that little bugger from bayston hill again i had a job not to laugh i hope they don't find my bike it was on my mind i stayed where i was for another hour the keepers moved on down stream they would find nowt going that way.
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The river i crossed to get away
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PART OF BELLS WOODS
I eventually made my way through the grounds of the condover hall it was a blind school i crossed the waterfall and made my way to the bridge where i had hid my bike i arrived Rather out of breath i could not use the main road to get home so it was the fields i made my way to Joneses farm and climbed the fence onto the railway line walked the side of the track over the fence into the field known as the foxes it was on the border of my village i passed the pub and made my way up the big field known as the stocking it would take me to the back garden of my house i was sweating but relieved to reach to reach home i counted the birds twelve well worth the effort i hung them in the shed we had a visitor next morning it was the police where was i last night in bed said i, he exepted what i said i turned to go into the house with a big grin on my face this was not the first or the last time he called here but he never proved a thing well thats another tale from my life long ago. more latter
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looking across the plough to Bells wood
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   Old Thread  #332 28 May 2012 at 4.14pm  0  Login    Register
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My life has been one big merry go round fishing, shooting, poaching, i have done it all and i have no regrets i have poached the hedge rows for the hubble rabbit, i have used the long nets and have poached the lakes, and rivers, there are not many of us left to tell the tale, most have now all gone even the keepers from my poaching days are now all dead none left to tell there tale. As i walk the woods and stand by the big old oak i listen i can still hear the old cock bird call from somewhere deep inside the wood i watch the buzzard high above circling on the terminal i can just see him from where i stand through the canopy of the old oak trees, i have stood under this tree many times how old it is i can only guess it does not seem to have changed since my poaching days i listen but no keepers dog can i hear they have long gone the kennels, where they were pulled down the keepers cottage now modern flats, i get a lump in my throat and nearly shed a tear when i think of how things were its all gone the keepers slumber in the old church yard maybe there ghosts still haunt the wooded rides and del
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The woods i poached
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the wood behind the keepers cottage now felled

As i stand i remember things past how i waged a war against these old keepers and poached there pheasants and there ducks many a tale can i tell how i i moved silently on a winters night through those very woods where i now stand i have hidden in the ferns and watched old foxy on his travels the keepers were on his tail i could hear the beaters far away driving this old wood on and on they would come but old foxy he was not daft i watched as he stopped sniffed the air he passed me by and never knew i was there, they would not shoot him today he would get away i knew where this fox would go as i had watched him on other days he would make for the old lake and in the water go they would soon loose his scent he would make for the old ivy tree and up he would go and hide under the canopy of ivy leaves he had done this so many times before i had even watched him clime that tree, i would not tell as i should not be there.

I would poach the lakes under the keepers nose i would spin for the pike i could see his cottage from where i fished no one ever walked around the lake most locals were to afraid . The wood was full of flowers in spring the blue bells and the primrose a beautiful place to be but from october on the woods were full of pheasants for the gentry to shoot there were thousands the keeper would never miss as few or so i thought most night he would be at the local pub no one would take his pheasants, but i had a few over the years they kept us in meat and made a few bob for the back pocket i knew those woods back to front and where to hide if needs be. Old gerry chased me a few times and even fired his gun over my head i was a bit frightened i must admit i dived for cover under the old shooting range and there i stayed until all was quite he had even got sgt landers out to try and find me but they failed, i hid my gun, and birds, and fetched them latter on they were great days so full of fun but now i have only my memories of those days long ago. more a little latter
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   Old Thread  #331 25 May 2012 at 10.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #330
God where has the time gone i have reached a mile stone in my life tomorrow i am seventy my mind is willing but my body tells me different but i am still trying to go fishing and enjoy myself looking in the corner of my garden it looks if my old vixen may have returned the grass has been rolled flat and i am now wondering if she has brought her cubs up from the fields i will have to set my night camera up and maybe get a few shots she comes most years i don't know how old the vixen is or whether it is the same one if it is she must be really getting on in age.

I used to enjoy night fishing in this hot weather god we have caught some sort of eels when its been warm and muggy in those days we had no bedchairs, or a bivy, we had the old sun loungers, they did the job but could be a bit uncomfortable we did manage to acquire umbrellas, but that is all we had to protect us from the weather but we enjoyed our fishing, when i first left school all i had to take me fishing was my bike i would cycle every where i would strap my rods to the cross bar and my bag on my back i would cycle to Acton burnell it was about six miles from my house i would be tired out by the time i got there i was lucky the keeper had got me permission to fish there but he never said anything about night fishing but i would go i never saw another soul, i would use maggot and bread flake for bait i would tuck myself in between the under growth and only used one rod three pounds line mitchell real and size twelve hook and a small arsley bomb i would cast out put my rod in two forked sticks a piece of silver paper or a piece of doe pinched on the line between reel and butt ring i used my bike torch to shine with red reflector it gave enough light to see my indicators i had managed to buy an old landing net, up the bobbin would go i would strike there was nothing nicer than feeling that fish on the other end it was usually a big tench but i caught some wonderful roach, at my young age i did not think much about size but thinking back they must have been around two pounds or more i caught some really good bags of tench from that water the estate had two keepers and they were helped out by others if needed it was covered in pheasants ,they had some really big shooting days in season, i can honestly say i never poached one bird from there as both keepers had been very good to me but just down the road from acton burnell was another lake set in the grounds of a splendid back and white manor house this lake was full of carp i was determined to fish it i was told if i got caught i would be taken to court as it was stricktly private i was told the keeper was a nasty old bugger, who would stand no messing the people from the house would come down and feed the carp most days. I would watch from afar usualy up a tree i had a few good nights on that water and poached a few pheasents as well . I will tell you more latter

Image4
Tench from acton in the seventies
secretpool3
Carp from acton burnell years ago
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   Old Thread  #330 21 May 2012 at 10.20pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #329
untitled-6

Two more little darlings
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   Old Thread  #329 21 May 2012 at 7.15pm  0  Login    Register
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untitled-5

Two more lovable little cubs at freds home
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   Old Thread  #328 21 May 2012 at 7.08pm  0  Login    Register
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untitled-4

Freds little cubs there in real good nick
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   Old Thread  #327 20 May 2012 at 1.05pm  0  Login    Register
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A couple of years ago we got permission to fish a farm pool its about eight miles from my home we were told it held some really large carp i asked the farmer how large he then fetched a photo from the house i could not believe my eyes this fish must have been around forty pounds he said he had found it dead but there was a few more in the water its not that big only about i acre the deepest section around ten feet and a big island, in the middle i asked him how many fished, the place not many look at the book in the shed it was left for anglers to sign and leave there money in the box, i thought a very trusting gentleman i asked him about night fishing no way i don't let anyone on the property after dark so it was day fishing.

We started to bait up with hemp and maize a little bit every time we went i can always remember the first time i fished that lake it was boiling hot i was sitting at the far end of the pool to my right was an old farm trailer half covered in water i saw one or two signs of fish showing around this old trailer i crept down and i was absolutely amazed there was about five bream feeding around the trailer there was not one under ten pounds they may have been even bigger to say i was excited was an understatement, we never caught one fish but we were quite happy in what we had seen the next day saw us on the pool once again. The farmer said that he fed the ducks and geese in a morning and evening with bread and and barley do you shoot i asked the answer was no i just like feeding the wild life but i also feed the carp they take the bread of the top, so a few days latter and no fish to our credit we started shooting dog biscuits out i have never seen anything like it the whole lake erupted with feeding carp they certainly looked big some well over thirty to be fair you could not hook them they left the one you had mounted on your hook well alone, i really wandered if these fish had seen dog biscuits before but the farmer said no most anglers that come here only float fish for the bream we were a bit down where do we go from here we continued to fish the water without results then the one day a friend had a run low and behold it was a carp a common of twenty two pounds we also caught a couple of bream the biggest going just over seven pounds on sweet corn that was it for that year i went to have a look at the pool in winter it was completely frozen over except at one end where the farmer had installed a pump to keep the water clear on talking to him he said he was stopping all fishing he had let the lake to the RSPB what a shame i asked one of there members if we could still fish the pool the answer was no i have heard since that all fish had been removed a really big waste but that's how things go.

I have been reading the fox thread as you all know i have spent a good many years watching them, one of the members on the forum, Fred archer sent me some photos of holes around his garden and his a wooden patio some were made by rats but others were far to big foxes sprang to my mind well low and behold Fred has now another family to feed and look after some beautiful fox cubs they are in wonderful nick i am sure he would not mind putting a photo up for you all to see. i feel sorry when i hear they have taken some ones pet rabbit hamster and such but that's the way they are hunters and predators, at this time of year they can be quite bad as old mrs fox has many more mouths to feed. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #326 14 May 2012 at 12.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #325
i don't think there is a lake i have not fished locally most were poached in my youth as they were strictly private the one lake not far from my house was covered in water lilies i would hide in the wood that surrounded the lake and float fish for the bream they were beautiful golden colour the biggest i caught was only about five pounds but to myself they were big fish it was well keeperd and was part of the bomere and condover shoot none of my mates would venture any where near the place they were to frightened they may get caught by one of the keepers. At the one end of the lake stood a big wind mill. It is no longer there only bits of of concrete left to show where it once stood, what it was used for i really don't know maybe for grinding corn or pumping water around the farm. The lake was covered in ducks they would be shot in season the surrounding woods and fields were covered in pheasants it was part of a shoot that stretched for miles it really took some looking after when i first started fishing the water i was only fourteen years old we had just moved back to the village of my birth Bayston hill.

From our house to the lake was only about five miles if you were on your bike, but if walked across the fields it was only a couple of miles, at the one end of the lake was a wood not big it was full of pheasants in season i would take my air rifle and shoot them out of the trees, when they were at roost, i could even walk to bomere, as it was right behind the little wood maybe half a mile i had plenty to have a go at and on the way back home i would drop by and shoot a couple of brace at Bomere, it was a great life and i got a lot of pleasure being out at night, on the way back we came to the quarry which bordered my village the big hedge surrounding the place was always a good place to shoot a few pheasants you always had a few going up to roost i would always stop for rest and then shoot a few birds it was quite a distance from the main coverts the keepers, would not come this far up the fields. It was nothing to shoot five brace from that hedge row it was mainly hawthorn with a few oak trees here and there i felt quite safe shooting that hedge as it was not far to my home but at times you would get to greedy and shoot to many birds to carry home, so i would hide a few then fetch them latter
the most i ever shot was twenty far to many to carry but i would manage to get them home even if it took two trips i had no trouble getting rid of the birds they would be shared out between family and neighbours, those i had left i would sell to Mr Toms the poultry dealer putting a few quid in my back pocket. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #325 8 May 2012 at 3.56pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #324
I watched the tele programme about foxes, in the cities last night i was really sorry to see so much mange its a terrible disease and i have seen them nearly bald and covered in scratch marks it will spread like wild fire even to domestic animals, luckily in the country side we see very little of this disease and those we do see are shot and buried.

i suppose the foxes living in that environment can find plenty of food that has been thrown out . The amount roaming around in the cities and living in close proximity to one another will soon contact mange its a shame really as they are a most beautiful creature and don't really deserve to die with that aliment. We have suffered with foxes, that have been caught up then let go in the country side, this is very cruel as they cannot survive most will be dead whiten a couple of months. I have been lucky enough to see albino foxes, pure white with pink eyes and i have seen a pure black fox, which also is very rare i have been very privileged and have been allowed to watch and film foxes over the years when i say privileged i knew most of the farmers and they would let me onto their land i have watched them for hours mostly in the day time and i have took a few friends with me that had never seen a fox in the wild in fact i got asked quite regularly if i could take a group to watch i would say two or three not a group, i also took a few with me to watch Badgers, its been part of my life and a part that i have loved. Then we have the other side where foxes, have been doing damage and i mean damage taking the farmers chickens killing every one and maybe taking two or three and hiding one or two for latter. The worse kill i have seen was sixty chickens all dead and the heads bitten off not satisfied with that he came back and killed the farmers geese all twenty dead then two weeks latter he had the peacocks you can understand why the farmers want the foxes dead. It was then left to me and some friends to find where they were and get rid of them but i always felt a touch of sadness as i have said they are a most beautiful creature .

Just a bit of a laugh we had shot a couple of foxes on this pheasant shoot and a chap came over and asked if we would sell him these foxes what ever for i said are you a taxidermist, no i sell them to the Indians, to make curry i kid you not he paid us a fiver each for them and asked if we could get him some more it put me off curry for life over the years we got a lot of our fishing by helping out farmers it was not a job i liked doing but it was a necessity i have told many stories to some about the foxes taking young lambs some have ridiculed me saying foxes do not do such things they only take worms mice and rabbits i wish that were true but i am afraid it is not some of the hill farmers i got to know had suffered quite badly from foxes taking lambs and these hill foxes always seemed a lot bigger than there lowland cousins, and they were all in very good nick, i suppose they did eat the very best it would be quite a day when we shot the hills you could be standing for at least three hours before you heard the beaters and dogs, i really did not mind and would make myself comfortable have a drink from my flask and watch the wild life i know this has got nothing to do with fishing but it has been a major part of my life well that's it for now. more latter
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   Old Thread  #324 3 May 2012 at 12.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #323
Every where you look is green its managed to stop raining for how long i don't know the river Severn has been flooding once again why they cant save the water is any ones guess. i would like to have a look around to see how many fox earths i could find but every where is so wet i have been following the filming of the fox cubs on channel four its only on for about five minutes every night but some excellent footage the vixen is rearing six cubs i was a bit amazed as she did not look in bad nick and she has not been pulled around that much i do wander if she is going to move them as she picked one up and vanished behind the shed the others started to follow we will have to wait for the next episode to see what happens they certainly killed all the rats that has also bred under the same shed.

I do hope this weather clears up so myself and graham can get out fishing again you may say get out in this weather but graham and i want nourishment ,not punishment i must admit now we are older we like to be comfortable so we now leave it for you younger chaps but i have known the time we would brave most conditions hail rain or snow we both have sat down beside the river Rea and trotted a float down with a bunch of maggots on the hook or a big piece of bread flake in fact on a few occasions our line has frozen to the rod but we carried on fishing and caught some beautiful roach none very big only about 8 0z but we would catch a net full we also caught chub to four pounds eight oz it is only a small river but it holds some lovely fish.

In those days i would fish with another pall called terry this was before i met my fishing partner graham he said to me Pete did you know there's some good eels in this river i was a bit took back as i had fished it for years and i had never seen one come out so on the coming Friday night we were away we only fished till about midnight i decided to fish a big eddy under the far bank we were using big lob worms i cast out and put the rod in the rest disengaging the bail arm on the Mitchell reel i only waited minutes and away it went when landed it was only about two pounds we carried on like this all evening catching eel after eel the biggest we had was only three pounds i caught fifteen in all i know terry had around the same amount as me it was certainly good fishing alas three weeks latter they were all dead every fish in the river a terrible sight i walked it for a good mile up stream the water was brown and really stank some farmer higher up had let his slurry escape into the river it killed every thing in the water i must admit i nearly cried i had fished this river for years although i learned a lot fishing the onny, at craven arms it was the Rea i fished first with my grandad this is where i started to fish as a young school boy.

The river is now back to what it was many years ago i think its better now as it is full of brown trout and the lady of the river the grayling although i can not walk the distance down to the river i have a few pals that do fish, it quite regular they have caught grayling to one pound eight oz, nice fish, and trout, to over a pound do you put them back Andy of course i do Pete as he gave me a cheeky wink, it still hold some good roach, and chub, but one thing we have got that we did not see years ago is the otter i do hope they don't wipe this water out up to now they have not so we will wait and see i know its been stocked with salmon Parr so it will be interesting to see how many will make it back they will be able to make it up the river now as the big water falls further down have vanished where to i don't know i think they were removed by the local farmer a few years ago. I did manage a couple of salmon out of the water years ago by accident how they traversed the falls i don't know without looking in my diary upstairs i am not sure what they weighed i think the biggest was around nine pounds so they must have been coming up the river in those days. well that's it a little more latter.
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   Old Thread  #323 30 Apr 2012 at 12.26pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #322
I loved to fish the small pool behind the keepers cottage i would fish this place right under the keepers nose i loved to float fish on this water i used bread flake and maybe maggot, if i could get some it held some quite nice Bream and some beautiful Rudd it was strictly private the biggest release pen on the shoot bordered the pool in season it held thousands of birds the pool i fished would be shot for the mallard duck from September they literally shot hundreds i have been fishing the pool when the keeper came down to feed his ducks i would just hide in the big reed beds that surrounded the pool i would catch bream up to four pounds plus not big but to a young lad like me they were huge the Rudd would go up to two pound plus it was very good fishing although it was strictly private the keepers name was Gerry he had a motor cycle an old BSA and would go to the pub most nights he usually left his house around seven thirty and would return at ten thirty you could set your watch by him although a public foot path ran through the wood he had signs on a few of the trees along the walk way do not stray off the path trespassers will be shot you would never get away with that today.

And believe me he would shoot he shot at me on a few occasions the pellets went over my head but very frightening but looking back it was my own fault i was poaching his birds his wife was a lovely old women and let me stroke the dogs as i walked past the house i became quite friendly with his dogs over the years Jerry knew me quite well i think he thought he was safe leaving the shoot to go to the pub as the big pen was right behind the house at times he would leave Mr Jenkins's in charge he was one of the under keepers he had quite a bad reputation as far as keepers go every one seemed scared of him it never bothered me i went where i wanted i would also spin for the pike on both pools i never caught anything really big the biggest was about ten pounds but it was being out and about but come October i would poach the pheasants things were pretty tight wages were not that good we needed the extra meat from the birds i would share them out between the family and neighbors they were always grateful i sold any left to old Mr Toms the poultry dealer which helped i never made a fortune only a few bob for the back pocket but it helped buy tackle and such the other pool i poached was the honey meadow it was water that had flooded from bomere and was connected by a stream it was always there and never went down it was full of eels and Gerry used to feed the big raft of ducks on the water i was only sixteen and had acquired a webley for ten shot gun my self and a lad called john ledington would shoot them on the water, it was not that deep and we would wade out to fetch them bloody hell it was so cold we made a few bob doing this and also fed our families but in the end we got to greedy and gerry nearly caught us we had hid the guns but he found the birds so we left the pool for some time before we tried again. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #322 27 Apr 2012 at 12.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #321
This is nothing to do with fishing its a tale from long ago thinking back it must be about twenty years ago as you all know i like my Foxes but there are times when this old fellow has to be kept in check and the method i have always favoured was shooting there was no cruelty involved. I had a phone call from a friend could i come up to the village of clun we will meet you at the garage in the village yes Raymond i answered but what for the lads and farmers want you to come up and take part in a big fox, shoot it involves walking many acres of woods which are huge going from the edge of Shropshire into wales i was a bit apprehensive as i said to Raymond i don't know the area that well who's running it you are , i hesitated saying no way i like to know the ground and the farmers who's ground i am on, we arranged to meet at 9-30 on Saturday morning arriving at the garage we were met by what i can only describe as a big gang of gypsies, but they were not most were farmers, and game keepers, they had a pack of dogs well a pack of all sorts poodle sheep dogs labs you name them they were there i thought god what have we got our selves into. I was introduced to this chap who was in charge he looked just like Joe ninety, out of the television series he had a word with us i had brought with me one or two friends they were guns i could trust i must admit i did not know any of the other chaps except Raymond he said they were OK so away went.

The first drive took a good two hours but we ended up with a couple of big dog foxes they always seem bigger in hill country the guns were put out again and i can remember standing over looking this beautiful valley i must of been standing at least a good three hours before i heard the dogs yapping i started to hear the odd bang, i could just about see my mate graham about two hundred yards to my right i saw him lift his gun bang bang then five seconds latter the same in all he had six shots the blew the whistle for the end of drive i walked over to graham he had shot five foxes one vixen the other four were dogs he held the one by the scruff it was the biggest fox i had ever seen one of the keepers weighed him he was twenty seven pounds now that is big. but it was not the biggest i saw from hill country they shot another a few weeks latter which was twenty eight pounds. The next drive was in wales in the big forestry plantation over looking knighton Joe ninety came over and said shoot any pheasants that come over you i thought that's a bit strange we were on a fox shoot not a pheasant shoot i had a word with my friends they were a bit apprehensive as well they left us standing on this land below this big wood it was mainly conifers with a few mountain ash we heard shooting in the distance when a blue land rover pulls up a big chap steps out with another gentleman in broad welsh accent he says what are you doing here shooting says i not on my property your nicked, where are the otheres in woods i answered the police are on the way he said you stay here until they come like hell we would come on lads we are away into the cars we got you could hear the police sirens in the distance not knowing the area we landed up well into wales we even passed two police cars we eventually arrived at a place called bishops castle in Shropshire we knew a our way home from there on getting home i rang Raymond to find out what had happened apparently they arrested joe ninety and one or two others Ray had got away apparently the farmers had been falling out with this keeper for some time he would not allow them on his ground to shoot the foxes so they took it in there own hands i don't think it got to court but it was some time before i went with them again you could easily loose your gun licence for poaching . well that it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #321 25 Apr 2012 at 1.20pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #320
Rain wind and more rain its like winter again its nearly the end of April the weather should be changing by now but they have given out severe weather in may. I can remember watching the peewits in may i would lie down and watched where she landed i would find her nest in a shallow scrape in the plowed field, i would only take two eggs, in one big field if lucky i would find two or three nests, my mother would pickle them in a big jar they were lovely eating another egg that was quite nice was moorhens i have had many boiled for my breakfast but that was years ago in the late forties early fifties wild duck eggs were very nice if you could find them.

WE lived off the land i poached the trout streams of Shropshire i suppose this was how i learned to fish although i did fish the river Rea with my grandad he died in 1947 so i had no one to turn to so i taught myself i think i gained most of my knowledge fishing the trout streams i learned how to trot down a float ledger a worm or spin with a minnow, but there was nothing to beat a free line red worm i found the best conditions for the worm was when the water had a bit of colour in it i would trundle the worm under the far bank and feel for a bite it would be a pluck then away it would go i have caught loads fishing with this method. I found when i poached at night i did quite well with the worm, when i fished the onny in south Shropshire i would float fish, if i could to get a few maggots, from the local abattoir, as i have said before it was a bit of a smelly job to collect them but i caught some beautiful grayling, using maggot. When i was young they called the grayling the lady of the river they were a most beautiful fish to catch.

It was the brown trout i was after most streams and river were stocked with them they were put in by the estate owners for them selves and friends to fish i would watch as they fly fished i loved may you would get the big hatches of may flies that's when the fly fishermen would do very well i have watched as they cast to a fish it would disappear in a splash of silver spray as the fish took the imitation fly it would be landed and knocked on the head i knew that i could do better in the dark hours or early morning fishing the worm they never reached much over a pound in weight but they were lovely eating it was nothing to catch twenty trout i would only keep the big ones and release the smaller fish i never had any trouble getting rid of the fish all our neighbors would eat them so they were shared out between my parents and neighbors times were very hard we lived at an place called newington terrace they were houses owned by the railway as my step father was a signal man, i think i fed most of the people living in the terrace they even knocked our door asking if i could catch a couple of trout for some friends of there's. So i would be away down the river and back within the hour with three nice trout our neighbors would be very grateful and bring around a flitch of bacon or maybe some potatoes we all helped one another in those days. Craven arms is where i learned to poach i even caught rabbits and shot pheasants with my air gun they were stupid birds, to tame so easy to shoot but they helped out in times of real hard ship. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #320 21 Apr 2012 at 3.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #319
As i sit here it has hailed and rained its just like the middle of winter the wind is not that warm, when i was a few years younger this would not have worried me i would of been away probably down the fields or in the woods looking for old foxy there will be cubs around now and some will be outside the earth playing as you all know i have spent many hours watching the vixen and her cubs one thing that really shook me was to see two vixens in one earth and both had cubs twelve in all god were they kept busy bringing food it varied from rabbit, hedge hog, even a big old goose, that must of come from one of the many farms, that surrounded the earth the one even carried a dead lamb, to the cubs but having a look through my binos i could see it had been dead some time it is surprising how long the carcase lasted it was devoured quite quickly the cubs would play tug of war with the body towards the end both vixens, started look quite pulled around and completely out of shape, i cant imagine how many times they had been back and forwards to feed this big litter, but they stopped coming it took a couple of days for the cubs to get the message but the one day i went and they had moved on. Big corn and barley fields surrounded the earth so they had plenty of cover and plenty rabbits, to sustain there hunger how many survived the first twelve months i would hazard a guess and say not many what with shooting and road kills and the hunt that should not hunt what a laugh .

The fishing at this time of year was none existent the rivers were closed until June the 16Th and most of the lakes as they were SSI so we were a bit stuck for fishing i did do a bit of traveling and one lake in north Shropshire was still open but it absolutely got hammered at the week ends so we did our fishing in the week i had just been medically discharged from my job owing to my arthritis so i had plenty of time on my hands we had some quite good days on this lake and because i was disabled i got the fishing a bit cheaper, well it all helps i loved to catch them from the surface i had tied some flies up out of deer hair and when trimmed up they looked just like a big trout pellet well that's what they were used for so out went the dog biscuits closely followed by my pellet i fished the same as i did with biscuit god did they go for it it would float around some times just under the surface bang it would be away people would ask what i was using pellet, i would say i don't think they believed me but it does work give it a try maybe you will be pleasantly surprised i caught fish over twenty pounds using them well that's it for now. more latter
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caught on pellet

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Another on pellet
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   Old Thread  #319 18 Apr 2012 at 12.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #318
God things have changed on the fishing scene over the years. All we had was the garden bed chair they were not the best of things and i had a few break and fold up you would strip the ratchet, god they were terrible things no bite alarms only doe bobbins with a small torch shining on your Bobbins i would use a red reflector if i could get one they worked quite well you could not sleep as you may miss a bite then there was the weather i did manage to acquire an umbrella it was made out of canvas and was a bit on the heavy side we would cover our selves with a piece of canvas maybe a blanket under the canvas you managed to keep reasonably dry this was the way we fished for many years it was not the best of ways but we managed and caught a few fish, we tried winter fishing and nearly got frozen to death we only did that twice never again it took us hours to thaw out but we loved to be out and about it certainly never stopped us catching. Clothes were not much better i managed to get an old army Parker the one with the fur collar it kept me reasonably warm i would put on a warm wool pullover then the Parker if you did two night you needed to sleep in the day some time i had no sleep and went straight to work god by monday night i would be buggered but it never stopped us fishing i suppose you could say we were well and truly hooked. When graham and i started fishing for the big Bream, we caught Bream, fever i think there was a book called just that i cant quite remember who wrote it. We could not leave it alone we lived and breathed Bream how our wives stuck it ill never know we would go home stinking of bream the slime would be every where she would say get out of those clothes and get into the bath god we did stink our landing nets and keep nets were kept out side in the shed we could not bring them any where near the house.
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not a very good picture but oz short of the record

But it was all fun we spent many days looking at new waters finding out the depth where the BREAM patrolled which way the prevailing wind blew cutting out our swims that was the easy bit as we always had a double for graham and myself looking for the weed beds it was a learning curve but it served us well i suppose you could call it water craft they were exiting days as some of the lakes we fished had never seen a line before, we did managed to get a lease on one water it was colmere, it was a wonderful water and in those days held some very big bream and roach there were also a few big eels caught as the British anguilla club fished on the other side of the lake and i know eels to six pounds have come out some of our own members from the three counties specimen group caught them to over five pounds when fishing for the Bream with worm i suppose you could call us the pioneers we caught the big Bream breaking the record three times it was only claimed once because the fish died in the net none of us would claim a record because in those days they had to have the body of the fish to prove beyond doubt you had caught it i am glad things have changed in that respect well thats it for now. more latter
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4oz short of the record
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   Old Thread  #318 16 Apr 2012 at 2.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #317
Just been reading a thread about being disabled, well i have been disabled from the age of 39 years old i worked many years with the crippling disease arthritis but i have managed to fish and shoot i put this down to having good friends that helped me to put up my bivvy and such. The other day i felt very humbled as i watched a chap with one leg get out of his car then to proceed to put his bivvy up it took him some time but in the end he got there he then proceeded to put his pod up and rods then bait and cast it out, i wondered to my self how will he react when he get a bite i soon found out the alarm sounded out he came on his bottom then in a sitting position he picked up the rod then played and netted the fish then with the aid of a walking stick forced himself up to stand on one leg to put the fish back he also had a camera set up on a bank stick i really salute this gentleman for his sheer determination to go fishing it really makes you think how well off we all are even thought some of us are disabled he was a roll model for us all.

I bumped into an old friend the other day he was some one i had not seen for years he could not believe i was still alive he thought i was long gone no i am still here i said do you still fish and shoot Pete yes i do god Pete you got up to some things years ago all that poaching yes i answered where's all this going i thought but he was only reminiscing he was my age and remembered some of the antics i got up to he certainly brought a few memories back his name was john Sutton and i went to school with him i can remember you catching those pheasants in the school gardens with some line and a fish hook attached, you caught five the headmaster caught you and confiscated the birds you had the stick for that in front of the whole school in morning assembly, i did and the old bugger kept the pheasants for him self i had a few more from those gardens over the next few months, they used to wonder all over the fields they were from old bells shoot at times you would see him and his under keepers with the dogs driving them back to the woods but he never came onto the school property so there was always a few birds in the gardens. Do you remember Peter cLee stirring the bees up in the hive with that long stick i certainly do i got stung a few times and not only me there was a big swarm of the things clee was laughing his head off but he ended in tears when he got stung a few times i can remember the nurse putting this blue stuff on his hands and neck to get the swellings down god that's a long time ago i said its nearly fifty six years ago how time flies, i can remember clee putting a garden fork straight through your foot Pete, i can he pinned me to the floor he was truly sorry i had to pull the fork out myself god did it swell it went right through the bone i was rushed to hospital and could not walk for a few days after it was nice seeing john after so many years and he brought back a few memories some good and some not its nice to reminisce. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #317 12 Apr 2012 at 12.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #316
A friend rang me and said he was getting poached what could be done well the lake was quite away from civilization i knew it well as it was in hill country what have you tried Walter not much i am at a loss my syndicate are not that pleased i would not either as the money they parted with for the privilege to fish the lake was quite substantial , so i had a walk around the lake looking for signs of poaching it had a wide path around the side of the water then further up it was mostly oak trees the lake was in a bit of a hollow and it could be approached quite easy and with the woods it gave the poachers good cover i had brought with me an old gaff and dragged that around the side of the water bingo i had fifteen night lines they were all attached to pegs driven into the ground then covered up with soil god they had been poached. Luckily there were only two fish attached to the lines both at round two pounds after showing Walter i arranged to meet him on the friday night at 11 pm he said he would bring along one or two of his syndicate not to many i said.

We met on the road above the lake looking down toward the water you could see the poachers were down there as you could see thier lights reflecting on the trees the method i was going to use i had tried before and it was quite successful they obviously had not looked for their night lines as yet unless they were a different poachers i think they may be worming the lake Walter so i told the syndicate to stay where they were and wait for the police. I made for the gate and over i climbed into the wood above the lake, now for it i removed my beretta automatic from its bag put in five cartridge then bang i let five go bang, bang, bang, i could hear the pellets hitting the trees on the far side of the lake i could hear the poachers shouting in there haste to get away i was on my knees laughing i don't think i have laughed so much ever i just could not keep a straight face i could hear Walter calling Christ Pete how many were down there one or two i don't think they will be coming back god those shots really echoed over the wood and fields said Walter, we made our way towards the water we arrived beside the lake to find they had left one rod behind with the line still in the water. In there haste to get away they had ripped their trousers and left a good strip of cloth hanging on the barbed wire fence and a tub of worms in the field they wont be back Walter did you ring the police yes but they have not come as yet it does not really matter if they come or not the poachers will be miles away by now. Every time i see or think about that lake i start to laugh well Walter had no more trouble with his lake and ran that syndicate for many years. i believe its still a trout fishery who runs it now i do not know this is a story from long ago. more to follow
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #316 10 Apr 2012 at 1.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #315
I was a jack the lad when i was a youngster well i still get called that now we never had much money when i was a young boy so we had to make do, we always had a Christmas, and made do with a wild duck or a brace of pheasants for our Xmas dinner even rabbit i learned to poach at an early age i used a catapult and became quite a good shot in the early fifties the country side abounded with rabbits, and pheasants, there was literally thousand of them so it was no trouble getting your self a meal or two you would see game in most fields and woods. After the war years the country side was over run with vermin and when the game keeper came back to the estate from his days in the army, he had a huge job in front of him mainly to clean the vermin up before they could put any pheasants down but when they did put the birds down the country side was over run with them they were an easy target for poachers and some keepers were kept quite busy trying to catch these hard characters they would usually poach in gangs and could make good money in the cities for there game, but by the time i had reached the age twelve years old you only used to get the local poachers the gangs had finished.
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The pheasent the woods were full
i loved to be out and it was nothing for me to come home with three of four pheasant they were easy to shoot you would see them in the hedge rows they were that tame i could get very close to them, you would hear the thud when you hit your target they were killed instantly , i got chased many times but i was never caught i have climbed a few trees and watched the police and keepers down below you could hear them talking it was a way of life when i met old SAM he took me under his wing i learned such a lot about the wild life and country side he was a very knowledgeable gentleman.

But as i have said before most lakes were private not many held carp the one lake i fished was actually in the garden of the big hall i had heard tales of big carp being in the lake from the gardener but he said no one was allowed to fish there he said the lady from the hall used to feed the carp with bread it was only about two acres the lawns ran around the one side of the lake it was a most beautiful place the hall was black and white i think it was tudor i managed a few evening on that lake fishing from the far side between the big scotch firs i must admit i float fished with bread flake i caught mostly commons but i never had one over five pounds but it was good fishing i watched as the keeper came down to feed his pheasants he had a big pen further down the wood from where i was fishing most of these big land owners had shoots on there land i had seen this keeper before helping frank bell of condover i thing his name was john Brooke's and i had heard he had a bit of a reputation for fighting bare knuckle but its only what the Gardener had told us i had a trip down the wood to have a look the pen was quite big it was full of half grown poults i expect there was at least three thousand birds in the pen it would be easy to poach the place, i knew the fields quite well and the adjoining woods it was only five miles from my home i had a fair idea how i would poach the place but for now that would wait. I still fished the lake i tried worm and caught loads of eels mostly around two pounds just right for eating it was a eel a cast a stream ran through the middle of the lake so that's how they got in the water the Gardner told me that they used to have an eel trap but that was years before. I would take them home to eat also giving our neighbour some they were always very grateful. a bit more latter

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The eel
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   Old Thread  #315 8 Apr 2012 at 11.10am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #314
I loved to fish at ellesmere so much water it was a wonderful place to fish in those days, i was on the committee of the ellesmere club one water i really like was white mere, we fished the road side on the mere a friend of mine broke the bream, record on this water and never claimed it in fact the record went twice from that water why was it not claimed some may ask, well if we had published the two Bream we would have never fished there again i mean you would not have got your pitch again as there were a lot of anglers in those days fishing for the Bream, but i also loved ledgering for the roach i would use 10ft Avon type rods Mitchell reels and 5 Bs line the same set up i used for the Bream there was some cracking roach caught from that water some well over two pound in weight i would love to know if they are still in the mere as it was middle seventies when i fished there.
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There are one or two waters around ellesmere that hold some good carp the one lake is a most beautiful place and we have caught some reasonable carp from there they don't grow huge but i have seen them caught to 29 pounds lovely commons when a friend and i first fished the water you would hardly see anyone else on the lake i have forgot how many twenties we have caught from there i even caught a big tench, the bailiff said there was none in the lake but we proved him wrong . The manager from the complex has a photo of that fish hanging in his office there are also some big catfish in the lake last time i fished there they were fast approaching sixty pounds, Graham had the good fortune to hook one he played it for some time but it snagged him and it was lost but that's fishing looking at my mate after he looked quite exhausted.

There are some good waters in Shropshire but most were private and you were lucky if you got permission i have said before most estates were used for shooting so fishing was out so i did the next best thing i would poached them. Not many of the estate lakes in my younger days held carp, so i fished for the tench eels roach and Rudd the one water near my home was full of big tench and it was heavily keeperd when i say not far from my home i would cycle about six miles to the water, i would be about fourteen years old at the time i actually tried to night fish it but it was a bit scary the usual old wives tales had been spread about maybe from the keepers to put people from trespassing the place, it was supposed to be haunted by some old Nun i must admit i saw nowt only the occasional keeper when he came down to feed his pheasants, and ducks, there were birds, every where you looked but i never poached one why i don't know maybe i did not fancy cycling back home, loaded with birds, i would ledger bread flake tipped with maggot it took me some time before i caught from that lake. This one night the indicator flew up hitting the butt with a clang I picked up the rod and struck the rod bent over in a hoop it took abou 10 minutes to get that fish to the side i had no landing net so i jumped in it was only a foot deep i picked the fish up and stared in wonder i was actualy shaking with exitment it was a common carp not huge by todays standerds but about twelve pounds i never had any scales in those days and no mate with me to verfy the fish , none of my mates would take the chance and fish these lakes they were to frightened of the keepers but i loved it. well a bit more latter

Photobucket tench from this old lake late sixties
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   Old Thread  #314 4 Apr 2012 at 12.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #312
Terrible weather we were covered in snow this morning now heavy rain and the wind is bitter i really hope that our feathered friend will be alright i have a robin with youngsters in my garden i do hope they survive i went to look at a lake the other day it was one i fished when i was a youngster it was strictly private then and i could not believe when i was told it was still private i fished this lake when i was twelve years old it was full of big Rudd and a few nice tench no way could i get permission so like many lakes i poached it. I would cycle to the lake and hide my bike then over the hedge i would clime, the lake was quite big but was surrounded with trees and reeds so i could hide myself away from prying eyes it was keepered and the head keeper was Mr Rodgers he took a dislike to me. He gave me a smack this one day when i was beating for SAM my keeper friend, he warned this keeper, never do that again or you will be answerable to me, i was told that old SAM was a very hard man and he could hold his own against most but to me he was a lovely old chap who taught me many thing to do with the country side .

Well i could not stand old Rodgers he was responsible for the trout on his stretch of the onny and all the lakes on the estate i would slip down and fish for the trout early morning or late at night i could not stand the man i would take home up to twenty trout it was easy fishing i would spin using a minnow set up in a flight the fins on the flight griped either side of the minnows head they were deadly none of the trout were waisted we shared them out with our neighbors who were always grateful. I loved the one lake on the estate it stood in front of the big hall and the big lawn stretched down to the lake the hall side was clear of trees and brambles i thought to my self what a way to live they were immensely rich as i fished i would watch as the ladies of the house playing tennis on the lawn but the estate revolved around shooting there were pheasants every where you looked and the lakes would be covered in rafts of mallard the under keepers would come down to the lake and feed the ducks twice a day. I would float fish i used bread paste with honey mixed in which my mother, made for me god i caught some really big Rudd, on this paste, our neighbour lent me some old spring balance scales i don't know how accurate they were but some of the Rudd i weighted went three pounds but alas my neighbor wanted them back so that was that the tench i caught were mostly around three pounds but they were huge to me none of my mates would come with me they were to frightened as they might get caught.

It was not just the fish, i would certainly have a few of the ducks, there were literally hundreds i had my air rifle that dad, had bought me . my friend SAM, had altered the spring he had used it to shoot the rooks, so i knew it was quite powerful i would lie down and look between the reeds throw out some bread they would swim towards me and the bread and start to feed it was only a matter of taking aim and squeezing the trigger you would here the thud as the pellet hit its target it killed the mallard instantly i did not want get to greedy but being young i shot fourteen birds the first time i went i put them in the bag but i could not carry them they were to heavy how could i ride my bike like that i tied my gun to the cross bar it was rolled up in sacking, i then hid half the birds and took the others home, it was a lesson learned as i had a good five miles to cycle back to fetch the others i would not shoot as many next time i got a bit wet getting the ducks when i shot them so a neighbour gave me some old sewer rods if i screwed the end that looked like a cork screw i could poke the rods through the reeds and pull the dead duck in i used to leave the rods at the pool i would hide them in the hedge row i never ever got caught. My parents were always grateful for the ducks as it was a change to our diet we lived in a terrace called newington i think i fed most who lived there the war had finished about five years before but times were still very hard and wages were not that much. Well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #313 31 Mar 2012 at 1.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #312
the lake in hill country



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the wood were we shot the big dog fox 36 years ago
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   Old Thread  #312 31 Mar 2012 at 12.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #311
Well we went up in hill country to fish once again but it was absolutely freezing there was a very cold breeze on the lake how the weather changes by late afternoon there were bivvies where ever you looked to be frank i only saw a couple come out and they were very small it was a runs water until they netted it i never saw one fish showing but i did take a few photos of the hills towering above the water i will put them up latter mind you the weather has been strange for the time of year the amount of spoding i saw going on i said to graham are they trying to fill the lake in to be honest i could see no call for it but every ones different well we both blanked it was so cold i was glad to get home.

Here is a tale from years ago that might give you all a laugh i know i have a laughed to myself everytime i think of it it was around 1957 i was poaching the big lake at bomere it was fiercely keepered no one would go any where near the locals were to frightened to even walk along the public foot path, there were signs on a few trees saying trespassers will be shot on sight it was keeperd by old Gerry and his under keepers then you had keeper Bell he would be there helping out especially on shoot days the local police sgt landers would also be there as he was a friend of the keepers. On this particular day i had been spinning for the pike i had already caught a couple around five pounds i was using one of those old kidney spoon spinners the ones with the red wool at the hook end coupled with a Mitchell reel and a 10 ft spinning rod i had just cast out when i heard a shout looking over the lake i saw the blue land rover belonging to Sgt landers he must of seen me so it was all go rod reeled in and i was away what i did not realize at the time there was a shoot going on and he was not shouting at me. But i was away up the field i went over the bridge that spanned the ditch then over the style which crossed the railway line, i could hear all this shouting but i never looked back i ended up in a wood that was called the Berries it was quite steep and wild very over grown and full of pheasants it was bordering my village but i had no time to go any further so i dived into cover and literally crawled under some brambles it was like being in a tunnel and that where i stayed i had dumped my rod in the under growth by the railway so i lay there very quite it was then i realized it was a shoot and they may not be after me, i got a bit worried when i heard the sound of shooting i knew they would dog all the under growth out i was right . I never moved a muscle untill i felt somthing wet on my face i was being licked to death by a big springer spaniel well what do you do i tried to get him go away but he would not and he even tried to give me one, bugger off i said i could hear the keeper calling him then they were all around the patch where i lay i thought i have had it now, he continued to lick me all over and was still trying to give me one i heard the sound of a whistle and an angry shout i knew that voice it was old Bell where are you Alfie he shouted and to my relief the dog went the shooting stopped my heart had missed a beat or two i lay there for some time after and could not help laughing to myself it was around 1957 i had just left school it was a bit near for my liking an hour latter i picked my rod up from its hiding place and made my way home i do hope this gives you all a laught it is a true account althought its all in my memory its like it happened yesterday. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #311 29 Mar 2012 at 3.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #310
The book all carp i would like to thank our own ken townley for his kindness editing my stories and a big thank you for Jason rider who included me in his book and i would like to thank the carp forum for letting me write my stories on the forum thank you all very much, the leather version of the book is wonderful i shall realy treasure it. Thanks Jason for the other things you sent ill put them to good use once again thanks Pete
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   Old Thread  #310 28 Mar 2012 at 4.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #308
I stood beside the wood the stars shone brightly up above it was mid November it was a windy night the clouds danced across the sky casting silver shadows on the fields i crossed the wire fence and entered the wood i stood under the old chestnut tree and listened an owl screeched somewhere deep within the woodland i was here for one thing the pheasants, i heard no noise only the occasional bark from old bells dogs whose house stood at the end of the wood i i made my way towards the coverts deep in the woodland my heart missed a beat as a vixen screamed she was not to far away she was calling her mate perhaps they had already mated the cubs would be born in february or march i stood once more and listened all was quite old bell would be well asleep, in his warm bed it was well past mid night i took the gun out of the sack and strapped on the torch with black tape i was by myself tonight the way i liked it i was only responsible for myself i shone the light up into the trees i took aim and down came the big cock, pheasant he hit the ground in a ball of feathers he fluttered and lay still then another hit the ground i picked them up putting them in my bag i moved further into the wood towards the big pen the trees were full of these plumb birds i shone the torch into the trees and took careful aim and squeezed the trigger down he came another cock for my bag then a hen i had shot five birds already i must not get to greedy i moved on through the wood out onto the field i would try the other wood that ran beside the river.

As i walked forward i was looking for signs of trip wires and such i kept to the shadows of the over hanging trees no one would see me as walked along the side of the big wood i climbed the fence disturbing a big Hare, from his slumbers it made me jump i watched as he ran across the adjacent field and disappeared into the darkness he would of made some one a good meal but i was after the pheasants, tonight i sat down and drank from my bottle it was cold tea but it quenched my thirst i sat with my back to the oak tree i am sure i could smell tobacco burning or was it my imagination smoke from a pipe, will carry well on a wind but no i was safe tucked up in this wood i listened to the river as it wound its way over the stones and into the deep pools that held the brown trout but i must be on my way deeper into the wood i trod this was where the biggest pen was i stood beneath the canopy of trees up with my gun and down he came i shot ten in all they could get a bit heavy but i would stop and rest i found my bike i had hidden under the old river bridge i made my way home across the fields it was well past 3 am when i arrived home i hung the birds in the shed i would make a shilling or two from tonight's birds they would feed our family and some of the neighbors the rest i would sell but for now it was sleep this is a tale from years ago i was only sixteen years old and poached for food as the times were very hard it kept us in meat and supplemented our diet this was long ago it was a way of life one i have loved and learned so much not just about poaching but about our wild life and nature. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #309 27 Mar 2012 at 8.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #308
We ll all be back on our bikes and you ll be poaching for the table again if Cameron & Co get their way Pete ... maybe you should start up an academy that d be poetic justice
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   Old Thread  #308 27 Mar 2012 at 3.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #307
We were going fishing today but the garages are running out of petrol locally. We did manage to get to the lake but looking at the water graham felt conditions were not right the weather was very hot not even a breeze we would have fried there are no trees around the lake to give us any cover. So we both returned home after having a word with the anglers already fishing nothing much had come out since Friday. the country side around the lake is most beautiful it is approx six miles from my house the hills tower above the water its really heaven i shall certainly take some photos when i go next time i have walked those hills so many times the local farmers used to have lots of problems this time of year with foxes taking there newly born lambs as you all know i really respect this old fellow with his rustic coat but unfortunately there comes a time when enough is enough and when he starts taking lambs he has to be eliminated, that's where myself and graham charlie came in we would walk those hills maybe for miles untill we found his earth i have on occasions found up to four or five dead lambs at the earth's entrance i did not like to kill the cubs but most were now nearly full grown they certainly would not be in the earth but would be lying out in amongst the gorse bushes. we would leave it until the weekend getting a few farmers together and surrounding the gorse then it would be driven out by walking guns it was over within the hour it would leave me quite sad but it had to be done these hill foxes were a lot bigger than lowland foxes they lived on the very best lambs rabbits hairs the biggest i saw was twenty eight pounds it was huge but bigger ones have have been shot.

we have a pair of red kites they have moved into hill country about six miles from my home, i would have thought they have a nest somewhere very near perhaps in one of the conifer plantations or on the fringes of the marsh land that abound in the hill country i have been quite excited to see them as they were badly persecuted in Britain in the 20th century and nearly driven to extinction by the old game keepers it is now quite common in parts of wales but it looks if they are spreading over the border into Shropshire. Well back to fishing i have never really liked being out in this weather unless there has been a bit of cloud cover and a breeze on the water i can honestly say when its been hot and calm i have caught very little i am afraid i can not fish nights any longer and all my fishing is in daylight hours i shall now leave it until Thurs or Friday when its going to be a bit cooler funny really when i was young it did not matter what the weather was like i still went. I spent a lot of my younger days catching all species and not particular one species like carp all fish were fair game i would be over the moon to catch big rudd or perch or even chub i suppose i have been an all rounder and self taught but like others i have made mistakes and learned from them its been a wonderfull life i was born a shropshire lad some say i have been jack the lad by god i wish i was now nothing would give me more pleasure than crawling on my stomack throught thick under growth to watch the vixen and her cubs or even the badger and her young to take freinds and people with me to watch the fox cubs play. Or even hold a door mouse in my hand as he slumbers his life away then pop him back into his nest so he can sleep the long winter, untill spring awakes the little chap once more. nature is so wonderfull its been my life now i take my car and just sit and watch and think of how it was not so many years ago now i am cripled behond repair but i have my stories to tell you all , as long as i can get my car beside the waters edge i will carry on fishing the best i can. well a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #307 25 Mar 2012 at 2.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
g
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   Old Thread  #306 24 Mar 2012 at 10.49am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #305
Well we had our first days fishing yesterday but best of all i was out and in my beloved hill country it was a wonderful day the sun shone but i must admit there was chilly breeze. It was nice to see the farmer who was really pleased to see me i thought yer was dead he said i ain't seen E for some time well it must be at least four years says i hows the lambing going i asked very good no signs of that disease that has effected some countries and parts of great Britain we really had a good natter Pete the lake is not fishing that well i netted it and sold some of the carp its made room for those left to grow on i think you and graham may struggle and we did until i saw a couple of fish show in the one corner it was a good chuck but i put the bait right on top of where he showed i sat there talking to graham when away it went i was attached to a very lively fish there was a gentleman down with his caravan who was fishing until next week graham was about to net the fish when one of his rods shot of so i was struggling to net my fish, owing to my back so the gent with thee caravan came to my assistance it was a most beautiful mirror of around twelve or thirteen pounds really fat and in sparkling health i never weighed it but put it straight back the gentleman said the fish left in the lake had put on terrific weight over the last few months.

Graham managed to net his fish it was about the same weight and a lovely looking fish if we catch next time ill take a few photos they really do fight better than some of the bigger fish i have caught. Out i cast once again within in minutes the same rod was away again this time it was a common a nice looking fish not huge but who cares i had caught graham lost another three i told him to alter the length of his hair which he did. The fish were caught on A baits plum zing which Jason kindly sent me last year i had a few left i never saw anyone else catch on the lake so i was quite happy they were caught on a running ledger and slack line chatting to the gentleman with the caravan he said the fishing had become quite hard so ill put the ones we caught down to the bait . The gentleman said the biggest fish he had seen caught was just over 28 pounds seeing is to believe we shall see i shall visit again next week as it does become quite busy at week ends well it used to i wonder if it does now after taking a lot of the carp out.

But most of all yesterday was being out and about watching the wild life that you see in hill country i wish to god i could clime those hills again i said to graham remember the times we used to walk those same hills with old charlie Patterson looking for foxes that had took the farmers lambs, that wood on the side of the hill remember we shot a big old dog fox, in there that is a long time a go said graham it was indeed nearly 36 years ago where had our lives gone i still wonder they have flown by but i have enjoyed every moment and have made many friends along the way and i do hope i have a few years left graham is now 76 years old and i am approaching seventy i suppose we are still lucky to be able to fish, and do what we do he has been a good mate we have fished together since the mid sixties so that cant be bad our other mate Bernard wants to come along it would be nice to see us all together again not young like were once but three old gentlemen together . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #305 20 Mar 2012 at 12.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #304
Well we are going on our first trip of the year on Friday i am hoping we catch but it will be nice just being out. How my fishing is going to go this year i don't know as some may know i have suffered with my health of late. I have experienced a lot of pain from my back having had MRI scans and Bone scans i saw the specialist on Saturday and he informed my wife and myself that he could do nothing for me his actual words were your knackered my spine has no disks at all they have been ravaged by arthritis eaten away so i am rather disabled and can only fish if i can get my car to the water side the pain i have experienced over the years mainly sciatica, was caused by my arthritis well its no good moaning i will get on with my life and fish as much as possible but i am afraid night fishing has gone out of the window i still have some happy memories about years gone by and will try and share them with you all although i do feel a bit i have ended up like this as fishing, and country sports, especially nature has been my life i would like to thank you all for reading my threads and i will carry on writing i have so much to tell thank you all Pete

I have fished most of the big lakes in Shropshire some legal and some not one place i did enjoy was fishing the meres at Ellesmere white mere crowsmere and colmere i have a lot of happy memories about these big meres and the first time we saw them. It was quite a daunting task how would we fish the waters and find the big bream that inhabited the meres. I well remember the first time i stood at the side of colmere to me it was a huge water this was in the late sixties where do we start, we the three counties specimen group had acquired the lease for the wooded side of the mere it really was hard work cutting swims and such but i think most of our time was taken up by just watching the water for signs of fish we would be on the water for first light long before we even fished the mere we watched the water for weeks gradually drawing up a picture of where the big bream had been seen where they rolled and patrolled, some kind soul even lent us an old echo, sounder it worked and we a fair idea about the depth of all swims, it was a great help then came the prebaiting that went on for weeks before we even fished graham and my self had a contact at the bakery and collected all the bread crumbs by the sack load with a few loaves it certainly helped out and mixed with sausage rusk it made a very good mix we would ball it up then throw it out into our swim we started baiting up with a little bit often we traveled to ellesmere three times a week to bait up we shared the cost of fuel two nights before we fished we really mass baited the swim and mixed in half a gallon of maggots with the ground bait, i remeber the first night we fished as though it was yesterday we used night lights in a jam jar to show our bobbins up i could not believe it when i had this run playing the fish to the side then into the waiting landing net it was huge well it was for those days and then weighting it went 9 pounds twelve oz my first realy big Bream i was estatic it turned out i was the only one to catch that night out of twelve members to say i was happy was an under stament the fish fell for bread flake tipped with a maggot it made all our effots worth while i will tell you more latter
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   Old Thread  #304 16 Mar 2012 at 3.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #303
i was fishing the small lake and had just cast out when i hear a shout i knew that voice it was bell the keeper i dumped my rod in the undergrowth and ran i was fit and strong in those days and could hold my own against most but what was bell doing here he was away from his own patch i knew this keeper well i had many a game with him over the years. This was gerry's domain unless he was helping out he had three others with him all under keepers i ran the ride and dived over the top of the high ferns and crawled further in they were about four ft height and made good cover my heart pumped as i lay there listening for any sound i heard them running they passed by where i was hidden, they were making for the public foot path hoping i would go that way to get home not me i stayed until i could hear them no more then literally crawled to the other side of the wood i heard a dog bark but it was up at the house they must be helping gerry out the shoot stretched for miles and they mostly worked together on shoot days i was interested what were they doing i realized i had been careless they must have been feeding the ducks and had spotted me casting out.

I crawled out the far side it was only a matter of wading through some shallow water then over the fence into the field but no i wanted to see what they were up to so i made my way towards the big pen in the woods just behind gerry's house and there they were. I hid not making a noise and watched as they brought big crates of birds down to release in the pen they were bringing them from the rearing pens but not all some had arrived on a tractor and trailer i knew the farm hand who was driving it they must of paid for these poults unless they had come from old bells some he had spare. The pen was so large it held around seven thousand birds they would be every where come the shooting season i rubbed my hands together relishing the thought more for me i made a few bob poaching i worked as a butcher boy my wages were only two pounds a week so any extra helped out not only that it helped a good many living on our village as it was the late fifties things were picking up but times were still very hard and most villagers welcomed the odd bird to there diet.

I made my way back towards the small lake i would collect my rod and bag and make my way home the lake was full of Rudd, and Bream. The ground around the lake was very boggy but i knew where to step and where not to i had some brilliant days fishing on this water this lake also produced hundreds of ducks for the guns in the shooting season the keepers would drive them off the water to the waiting guns i have watched from cover many times and had even had one or two ducks away i loved this water but the keepers house was just up the bank from the lake so you had to keep your wits about you but it was worth the effort i have watched him feed his ducks many times before i carried on fishing . one thing that put me off i never felt comfortable fishing into the dark on this water i was never at ease but for now i must leave there were to many keepers and i did not want to be caught so i made my way out onto the field and made my way home but i would be back some other time well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #303 15 Mar 2012 at 10.46am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #302
I have a bit of time on my hands so i will carry on the bosses son had been fishing the lake behind my back he was now in charge of the fishery he said he had been fishing for the eels and had caught them to six pounds i must admit i wondered how many trout, he had hooked and put back i was not to happy about the situation but i went along with it are you going to have a go Pete, having thought about it i decided to give it a go on the following Friday night i contacted my mate Bern, who really was a eel, fanatic and arranged to meet him at the fishery on Friday evening so in the company of the bosses son, Graham, Bern, and myself, we made our way in the land rover to the top end of the lake. There was a sluice gate where we were going to fish and it had been running dirty water into the lake from the pool above which the environment agency used as a stock pool it was owned by the RSPB in fact there was some decent carp in the pool if you remember i had mentioned it in my earlier stories how i poached it years before.

We decided to fish with big bunches of lob worms on one rod and fish dead bait on the other which Bern had caught from the brook earlier today i had a feeling what was going to happen and i was right my first run produced a rainbow trout, around four pounds i watched as BERNS indicator flew up and he was in in fact it was the first eel of the night it weighted a tad over three pounds but it was a start it was returned the next fell to the bosses son going five pounds a lovely fish we lost a big fish which we suspected was a carp, we had seen some huge fish when fly fishing in fact i hooked one and lost it it looked a good thirty as it got tangled around the anchor rope and just lay there but it absolutely flew when we untangled the line from around the rope i am afraid it broke the leader but that's another story. I was not to happy nearly every run produced a trout god if we had been poachers we would have emptied the place enough was enough i called a Halt to the fishing one or two of the trout had died due to us hooking them the bosses son said it will be alright but i would have none of it we pack up your father would not be to happy seeing us catch his trout like this the time was 2 am after a cuppa in the lodge it was time for home they could sell the trout we had caught at the fishery tomorrow.

I was bailiff on the fishery for around six years and i caught some very nice fish the biggest a Rainbow weighing 18 pounds a friend who i fished with called john, even caught some huge perch, with feathered lures which he used for trout fishing the biggest going over five pounds the smallest four he had five perch in the session what beautiful fish it is no longer a trout fishery but owned by a private club i had some wonderfull years on the water and had some happy times but that was long ago . well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #302 14 Mar 2012 at 1.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #301
I sat in the punt with my old dog SAM the sand martins skimmed the water taking the flies that had hatched it was a marvelous sight i stopped the motor and dropped the anchor i was after the rainbow trout or even the big brownies i was lucky i fished this lake for nothing as i was the bailiff. I flicked my fly towards a rising trout and the rod lurched over i could feel the power of this fish as it bored down in the deep water but i soon had him in the net i had been asked to catch a few for the fishery to sell. It was a wonderful day overcast but warm i was actually fishing for a feature for the magazine called trout fishing the photographer was in the punt to my right i could hear the click of his camera as i played a fish i had a friend fishing from the boat his name was Ron who helped me bailiff the lake he was a good fly fisherman and tied some excellent flies every cast was a fish by dinner time i had caught over thirty trout this was good publicity for the fishery Ron had also caught a good number of fish over dinner we were interviewed then out again i ended the day having caught over eighty fish the biggest around three pounds i was tired and ready for home.

I was back at midnight the lake was cloaked in darkness i stood and listened for any sound i scanned the lake with the night sights but i could see nothing i had Ron with me are we going to walk the bank Pete or we going to use the land rover and drive around not yet Ron lets give it an hour or two we will keep watch from the lodge we can make some tea but we never had time there was an almighty bang and flash from the fence that bordered the fishery some one had tried to get over and tripped the wire that i had run across the top of the fence what a noise it made i had left the pellets in the cartridge and had put a car hub cap under the tube that held the cartridge we reached the fence in minutes by using the land rover but the culprit had long gone he had dropped his tin of worms in his haste to get away, we heard a car start up on the road we both chuckled he wont be back for some time says Ron maybe not said i.

The job could be quite dangerous graham and myself had been recommended to the owner who wanted us to bailiff the lake he was quite keen for us to start as soon as posible graham could only do weekends because of pressure of work i had finished work early in life because of health problems mainly arthritis we were not paid but i had the freedom of the lake and free fishing so i asked RON if he wanted a bailiffs job he jumped at the chance it was a bit safer than just one person. we were really kept quite busy for the first few months one or two were taken to court but what was the point most got away lightly with a small fine. One way that did deter them was to let there tyres down, when the game keeper came down with the police he would break the head lights or slash the tyres that certainly stopped most of the poaching i had one or two near fights well i did nut the one he was asked by the police to hand over the rabbits he had poached from our ground surrounding the lake he stuck his face in mine i thought here it comes i was a bit faster than him he dropped like a log the police were not amused we cant do him now not after you doing that so he was sent on his way i never saw him again although he threatened he would see me again some time i apologized to the police they were alright they had a laugh but serously it could be a very dangerous job but it takes one to catch one well that's what they say and i caught my share other than trout being in the lake it also held some very big carp and some huge eels. I will tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #301 12 Mar 2012 at 11.42am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #300
The morning was cold as i picked up graham it was 2 am we were going to meet a friend at the Dovey junction his name was George he knew the Dovey river well he knew her moods the quick sand the deep gullies that snaked across the estuary if you stumbled and fell, in one you would struggle to get out we were there to shoot the duck we made our way out through the deep mud the occasional snipe took to its wing it was only just breaking light we were to meet the bailiffs a bit further out i knew the head bailiff quite well as he had shot with us before on a shoot in Shropshire. It could be good shooting on this estuary but little did we know it nearly became our last we made our way out over the mud flats a building stood out like a ghost it was on a small island the owners had long gone, the walls had started to crumble we met the bailiffs on this island they had got a fire started the wood burned and throwing shadows on the ancient walls i wonder who lived out here no one seemed to know i suppose they had long gone only there ghosts haunted this derelict house, we left the bailiffs on the island and proceeded out towards the estuary we stood on a hight piece of ground that never got flooded by the tide, the duck came in there hundreds but so did the tide i think old George had got it wrong the tide rushed towards us it hailed and rained and the wind roared.

We had our waterproof trousers on and our waxed jackets god was it cold the hail stung our faces the water surrounded us i could see by Georges face, we could be in serous trouble the tide was higher than expected it was huge the piece of ground where we stood got smaller by the minute in fact the water was starting to swallow this small piece of ground up with us on it i hung onto my dog blaze the water rushed by taking empty cans and wood with it and then it stopped thank god George shouted now we wait for the tide to recede i watched as the water receded god we could have drowned it was that close we had shot, nothing the tide, was to big to let the dogs, retrieve they would have been washed away and drowned it was that bad we waited for two hours i could not feel my hands as we made our way towards the island the bailiffs were relieved to see us and said they were about to call for help i sat by the roaring fire we had our sandwiches and drank from our flasks it certainly helped to warm us up a bit i was not sorry to see the car i said to graham on our way home never again but we did and never saw a tide like that again poor old george admited that he had got it wrong i have not told this story before it is not related to any fishing story but it was part of my life i was young and fit then i have not walked on those mud flats for many years i now leave it to the youngsters althought i believe george still goes he must now be well into his seventies.
well theres a bit more for you all. ill tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #300 11 Mar 2012 at 2.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #299
How easy it is to travel to your fishing with the car, when i first started it was walk or on your bike i traveled miles on my old bike rods tied to the cross bar bag or basket on your shoulder infact it was the only way when i was a young chap. Most lakes and pools were private as i have stated before you could not get permission it was unheard of most lakes on the big estates were used for shooting you would see big rafts of ducks and on shoot days they would shoot hundreds of pheasants, and ducks, most of the estates shot twice or even three times a week they had some very rich people in the syndicates, i got caught out a few times i had gone down to the lake to fish well poach only for it to be shoot, day i must admit it could be a bit frightening as you did not want to be caught i liked seeing the gents, and ladies, dressed up to the nines the ladies dressed in long skirts and brogue shoes they were really posh and spoke like they had got a plum in there mouth, there were a few keepers there as well you would get them coming from other estates to help out on shoot days the one lake i fished had lots of rhododendron bushes around the edge of the lake hiding my bike i would clime the stone wall from the road side onto the estate i loved to fish this old water it had tench Rudd and carp i think the carp had been put in years before maybe for eating it was a long and wide lake i had the old tank aerial rods i would only take one and float fish using worm, bread, or maggots, that i had collected from the local abattoir i must admit they were wonderful days and in the autumn and winter i caught some beautiful Rudd.

On shoot days i would hide in the under growth until they had finished shooting or even up a tree they certainly shot some birds the ducks, and pheasants, would come crashing down in a ball of feathers if i was near enough i would have them before the keeper arrived with his dogs, to pick them up there was that many shot they would not miss a few you would hear the gun shouting to the keeper telling him where his birds, had fallen but i had already picked them up this was early fifties, five or six years after the war, my parents and neighbors were always grateful if i brought back a few birds, it was a very easy way to poach but you could get to greedy and pick up to many birds then find you had to many to carry home on your bike, in those days i had an old duffel coat i would tie two or three birds together then hang then around my neck hiding them under my coat the others would go in my bag or basket the ones i could not take i would hang up a tree which i would fetch latter . If the shooting did not last very long i would continue to fish i caught some huge Rudd on bread paste i wonder why they are not in the lake today i did catch the occasional carp which really put up a good scrape but they were long and thin not deep belled they were all common carp, the ones i caught were only about five pounds at the most but to me they were big i caught the tench as well a lovely green colour they were small the biggest only about a pound but they certainly scraped well i fished this lake for many years and never got caught, or chased once i was lucky because i heard stories about two poachers being caught on the estate and being sent to prison funny how things have changed people seem to roam where the want today no such thing as trespass now but in those days if you got caught you would be in serous trouble. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #299 9 Mar 2012 at 1.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #296
Getting away from fishing for a few moments i see an article in one of the national news paper complaining about foxes, in the cities and about them going into peoples houses they have one thing on there mind when doing this its called food they are not there to attack humans, but to scavenge and get them selves food, as you all know i love old charlie, and have studied him for many years they are a most beautiful animal but can cause the farmers a few problems where the damage is severe, like taking lambs or killing large amounts of chickens geese and such he is dealt with found and shot. One of the worst things humans living in cities can do is leave out bags full of rubbish they are inquisitive and will rip the bag open in there search for food. Foxes are not a threat to humans no more than the badger i am afraid its time to live in harmony with these beautiful animals after all they have been here since the ice age and have just as much rights as us to live here. I see a chap from Scotland has shot a huge fox weighing 32 pounds that is a big animal as he was nearly five feet long i have seen one of 28 pounds, and i thought that was big unfortunately this big fox, was caught in the act attacking a lambs when it was shot, i am afraid then it is a necessity to control the animal.

Well back to fishing besides fishing the river Severn, i spent many happy hours fishing my beloved river Rea, it was Rea where i first went fishing i was only a fledgling and went with my grandad the rod was a cane and a bent pin for a hook, plus a jam jar and piece of string putting the bread in the jar and catching minnows this was the start of my obsession with fishing and my love of all wild things. I found i could catch the chub from the surface by feeding big lumps of bread and watching the fish take it greedily from the surface with a big splash it was a lovely way to fish just like we fish for carp today i only found out by accident after throwing what bread i had left at the end of the day into the water the chub were on it instantly so the next time i went i took a big loaf with me and let pieces of bread drift on the current it would vanish in a silver spray, of water as the chub, competed for the food i caught hundreds using this method . I would also trot a maggot down with a float to catch the little roach they never grew that big most were around a pound but i did catch the occasional one bigger i would trundle a worm under the far bank for the trout or chub i always returned the chub, but the trout, went home, if big enough i have said once before how i had this gentle tug when i was fishing worm i struck only to feel a most powerful fish on the other end it shot down stream i had to run to catch the fish up before i could control it. the nettles stung my legs as i ran through the undergrowth, and the brambles, drew blood i was determined to land this fish, and when i did it was a bit of a shock as looked down at this bar of silver lying at the side of the river, my net was not big enought to land him so i lifted him out it was salmon around eight pounds i made sure no one was around before knocking him on the head i put him in my old post office bag and made my way home it was cooked and served with boiled potatoes and peas it was woderfull eating and my parents were well pleased it was not the last salmon i caught from that small river. Ill tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #298 8 Mar 2012 at 11.21am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #297
Once again thanks paddy i very much apprecate your kind words it makes it all worth while
carppad
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   Old Thread  #297 8 Mar 2012 at 4.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #296
Hi Pete,
Another great read ,
it really does take me back to my youth reading these stories. i was lucky enough to have a bailiff ( family friend) teach me the right and wrongs, he used to take me in his big cortina estate over to woodstock ponds in newport, teach me the basics , watercraft, how to set up correctly , play fish, he always kept an eye on me while i was there and would take me back home.
i probably drove him mad with the questions i asked . Close season we would clear the swims , cut the trees back , put down grass seed ,we laid foundations for the new bridge to our new lake ( morgans pool ) made all the bailiffs tea !! spent many happy years on those waters , i got to seventeen and chose the armed forces as my career, and always whilst on leave i would always go over to see Rex and the other bailiffs and they still made me brew their tea !!.
All of them have sadly passed away now but i have never forgot what they did for me. Great times.
Paddy.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #296 5 Mar 2012 at 4.14pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #294
From the age of fifteen i spent a lot of my time fishing the river Severn there were no Barbel then only Roach chub perch pike eels and salmon i did my fair share of salmon fishing i went with an old gentleman call George Taylor he had fished for salmon most of his life he had Morris car so we would be away most of our fishing was done on the upper reaches of the Severn George was also very good with the fly rod and would also catch a few brown trout, on our travels but most of our fishing was done spinning the biggest salmon i caught was twenty five pounds a good fish by any ones standard we also caught our fair share of pike catching them to over twenty pounds mostly caught on wooden Devon minnows we made our own in those days out of wood dowel, when finished they would be painted silver, or gold, i had them hanging all over the house, we also made our own floats, what we could not afford we made i would make them from balsa wood i also used goose, quills corks, from bottles, even drinking straws, i had them hanging all over the house even in my bedroom but they were cheaper than buying ready made ones. If i went spinning for the trout or perch i would be away down the river Rea with a minnow trap i would put some bread in it and leave it over night there would be plenty 0f minnows in the trap by morning i would use a minnow mounted in a flight for trout fishing i had many a night out poaching the local rivers using the humble minnow but as i have said before it was a necessity then i would catch as many as twenty or even more on the right night sharing them out between us and our neighbours the rivers were stocked by the owners of the estates for there own use and for there friends sport.

I also caught many eels from the Severn on dead minnow they were mostly around two to three pounds it was good sport i tried them on the estate lakes but for some reason i did no good i found they would take small roach, or Rudd, but i seemed to catch the bigger eels, on big buches of lob worms. One fish i really liked to catch was the roach, i made all my own bait mostly bread paste flavoured with honey, i even used custard, powder mixed in. The one bait that did excel was bread paste and Danish blue, i would buy two shillings worth from the coop shop on our village good job my parents never saw me make it as times were still very hard, i would be off down to the grey friars bridge in shrewsbury the locals came down and fed the ducks, and swans, with any scraps left over from the week the roach, would shoal under this bridge i would sit on my old fishing creel and rest the rod on the railings beside the bridge i would hold the rod the top would flicker you would strike some times you missed but you learned by your mistakes i caught some beautiful roach, from under that bridge most were around a pound but i did have them a lot bigger.

At the same time you could have a bit of fun catching the pike, i always carried another rod made up for the pike, where you caught roach the pike, would be you would see them strike at your fish as you played it in i would soon put on a live bait with trebles and a big cork float i would cast it out it would look after its self it would bob about then slowly vanish beneath the surface i had them to fifteen plus from under that old bridge the trouble was if the locals were around they would try and cadge it for eating but i would put it back they were a beautiful colour especially in winter, i had some great days trotting for the dace, but those days have gone and so have the fish to many predators mergansers are terrible they hunt in a line across the river i have seen at least thirty doing this then we have the cormorant and now the otter when i was young you never saw these birds you never saw the otter very often as they were kept in check by hunting and game keepers. well thats it for now more latter
qashqai
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   Old Thread  #295 3 Mar 2012 at 2.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #294
Another wonderful read.
I remember when I tagged along with my grandfather in the 1950s on the river Lea he used a rod that was made from a tank ariel.
When I was older about 14 I used to go poaching with my schoolmate Dave to some gravel pits.
The company were still excavating some newer pits nearby but a foreman used to come around occaisionly and used to chase us off.
On one occaision we got caught but were let off with a cuff around the ear.
We still went back as the lake contained a huge head of beautiful Rudd to well over 3lb and every cast was another beautiful Rudd
Happy memories
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #294 3 Mar 2012 at 1.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #291
Most of my early life fishing was done with an old bamboo rod given to me by a neighbour it had seen better days but it got me by it was coupled with a wooden reel loaded with silk line i would catch the minnows on the river Rea and one or two gudgeon i really had no idea how to fish as my father was killed in the war and my grandad died in 1947 so i was on my own but i got over some of the difficulties and started to catch roach and chub in fact i broke the rod landing a chub the top broke off i was absolutely broken hearted mum could not afford the money for another as times were very hard. Not long after she had met a man that she eventually married although he knew nothing about fishing he encouraged me to go and had two rods made for me they were made out of tank aerials why two i don't know but i did most of my fishing using them from trout to carp i still used the wooden reels until one Christmas morning when i awoke to a mitchell reel loaded with nylon line it took a bit of getting used to but it was a god send i also acquired an Ambidex it was given to me by an old gentleman but in my opinion it was never as good as the mitchell but it got me by and caught some good fish using it how my step father afforded the tackle i never found out as wages were not that good in the late forties and early fifties, although he has now passed away i will always be grateful for all he did for me, i soon learned to trot a float and caught trout grayling and the odd chub i also caught one or two beautiful perch as i have said before i spent most of my spare time fishing even playing truant from school ill say no more about that but i was learning all the while i poached nearly every lake i knew in south Shropshire using my bike to travel arround and i caught some really big Rudd not realizing the significance of there size they were big you could not get your had around them it was years latter when graham and i fished for them did we realize how big they were three pounds plus huge specimens.

My fishing really got me in a few scrapes with keeper and river bailiffs as it was quite an offence in those days if you got caught, i was lucky and only got caught once and that was not my fault the lad i took with me his name was Allen Barker would not run and was frozen to the spot with fear i stayed with him and had my tackle seized god i thought i am in trouble now as it was hardy's built cane rod which my father had bought me for Christmas it was a combination rod it was only after his death that we found the receipt it cost him seventy pounds how on earth he afforded that i don't know but he did we had a knock on the door that night it was the police returning my rod with a bit of a telling off don't poach the river again mum and dad said nothing it went in one ear and out the other and i can honestly say i never got caught again i got chased a few time, i hid up trees and swam the river even crawled into a ditch and the keepers dog actualy stood on me and they still did not relize i was there i listened to them talking untill they moved away, well that how i started fishing i learned such a lot not just about catching fish but about the wild life as well even the trees and flowers that grew in the hedgerows. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #293 1 Mar 2012 at 3.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #292
hi peter i am glad you like the stories thanks for the kind words i have not read the book yet but every one tells me its great getting my copy in a couple of weeks thanks again pete
qashqai
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qashqai
   Old Thread  #292 1 Mar 2012 at 3.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #291
Hi Peter
I received my copy of " the only way is carp " and just finished the 1st chapter.
I really enjoyed your stories which brought back many memories for me with my grandfather when he introduced me to fishing in the late 1950s for which I am grateful.
I discovered your thread on here this morning and have been reading ever since.
I must tell you that they are truly wonderful nostalgic stories and make a fasinating read.
Thankyou,and I hope you continue writing
Regards
Peter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #291 1 Mar 2012 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #290
I suppose i was about thirteen when dick started writing for angling times i remember buying the paper from our local news agents it must have been about 1952 or there abouts it was approximately 5am on September the 13Th that Dick caught his record carp which we all know was 44lb what a catch but he said to me many times that it could of been his mate Petes fish as there baits were only yds apart it was wonderful for me to hear the story from the big man himself, can you imagine what this was like for us youngsters he was our hero i also had one of the first copies of Mr crabtree goes fishing which also inspired us youngsters to go out and catch fish. so it was to be two young lads sitting beside a carp lake in south Shropshire ,it belonged to a local farmer Sid Evans i would knock on his door to pay our money come on in young un where is your mate he would say his old table in the front room would be covered in food he would get two glasses and fill them full with home made ginger beer does your mum know where you are we would answer yes he would not except any money from us young lads and always kept an eye on us.

We learned a lot watching other anglers to us some where mysterious chaps who crept around the lake fishing here and there, i never really saw them catch that much we tried night fishing at first we had no luck we used silver paper as our indicator or a piece of doe pinched on the line between reel and butt ring and used a old flash light from our bikes to show our indicators up i forgot where i had the information from but i was told about par boiled potatoes the small ones they worked really well my mother would boil them for us i would take a few up and scatter them around we certainly had runs but could not hit them a freind called peter finch said we needed bigger hooks after getting the bigger hooks we caught a few not big fish by today's standard but to myself and my mate Raymond they were huge we could not weight them as we had no scales some of the other anglers would kindly weight them for us with there sprung salter scales most were between three or four pounds but we did not care they were fish carp and we had caught them.

The best fish came out of the weed beds we would watch the carp moving around pushing the big pieces of crust that we had thrown in they would break it up, we would watch as a big pair of lips would appear and with a slurp the crust would disappear we decided we would have a go at these carp Raymond was not with me but a chap called Chris dodd was, we would put a piece of crust on a big hook dunk the bread in the water then we coiled the line behind us then we gave it the big chuck some times your line would catch in the grass getting in a tangle but we managed most of the time it would fly out into the weed bed we would be full of adrenaline as a fish approached our crust it would knock it around then a big pair of lips would suck the bread in your line would streak through the weeds as you struck some time you connected others you did not but most of the time we caught. The biggest we had from the lake was just ten pounds we did not know the significance of this fish we were told it was a big fish for those years but to us young uns it was huge we had no cameras to record our catch but we did not care we were just happy to sit and watch the wild life as we waited for another run it was just a pleasure to be there. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #290 29 Feb 2012 at 5.25pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #289
Hope you like it pete
tinofmaggots
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tinofmaggots
   Old Thread  #289 29 Feb 2012 at 5.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #285
My copy arrived monday

Got my self a bedside lamp, and have a little read before sleep.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #288 29 Feb 2012 at 11.03am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #287
Thanks paddy very much appreciated
carppad
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   Old Thread  #287 29 Feb 2012 at 10.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #284
Hi Pete,
I have been keeping up with your thread for a while now, and i just want to say there are a great read,so much personal stuff and the passion for your/our beloved sport and friends shines through every time you post.
Thank you very much Pete for taking the time to post these.
Cheers,
Paddy.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #286 28 Feb 2012 at 5.20pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #285
Thanks ken i hope people like it
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #285 28 Feb 2012 at 4.27pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #284
Read more about Pete's life and times with Dick, Graham, George and others in his chapter in Carping Journeys...Terrific read.
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   Old Thread  #284 28 Feb 2012 at 4.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #283
The day Dick told me he had the dreaded big c it made me cry infact i only found out by chance i had tried ringing him a few times but no one answered but this one day a lady answered the phone i was told i could not speak to him as he was ill, then i heard his unmistakable voice in the back ground asking who is it she said peter, ill speak to him he said hello Pete how are you, alright i said what have you been catching i told him we had been doing alright and we were fishing on berrington and bomere i have got cancer Pete he said i was dumb struck no cure i am afraid, i felt the tears welling up in my eyes i am so sorry i said what do you say to some one who has been your boy hood hero some one i had looked up to, and some one who had become a friend. Over the few years that i had known him he was always there to give advice god how i would miss our telephone conversations we said our goodbyes and that was the last time i spoke to Dick not long after he died what annoyed me most was i could not get the time off from work to get to his funeral i worked for the Home office they were going through a busy period and i could not take time off but i have thought about him many times since i never even thought in my wildest dreams that i would meet this big man and the help and kindness he gave me over the years was immense he wanted me to write many years ago i am sure if he had been alive he would have been very proud of my stories.

But life goes on i missed my trips down to his factory very much by this time graham had packed up fishing so i was left on my own we had fished for years together he could not get the time from work to go fishing as he worked a seven day week, And also some of the stuff that had happened to us like soaping swims had got to him it got to me as well but i was not going to pack up. It was a few years before he came back to the fold, i met another chap who worked with me and we started fishing together he name was George Kimberly we fished at lordys quite a lot and caught some wonderful carp i can see him now he would wade out in his underpants if a fish snagged us in the big weed beds he was fearless old bugger but he did it once to often got stuck in the weed bed and nearly drowned there was me panicking on the bank he had vanished from sight all i could see was big bubbles appearing on the surface i swam halfway across the lake before i got to him he came up coughing and gasping for breath leaving the landing net sticking up out of the weeds i got him back to the bank he was a bit white in the face and shaking a bit, but after about an hour he was his usual self i never once saw hime wade out again . little bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #283 25 Feb 2012 at 12.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #282
Most of the big names i met over the early years were really gents one such man was jack Hilton and his mate Bill quinlan we were doing a feature for angling times and jack wanted to fish for the big bream after reading about our big fish catches he was a great man and he told us many stories about the big carp that inhabited Redmire more or less the same as Dick told me he brought his long term mate bill along with him they were both top of there game which you all know was carp fishing, at the time i owned the lease on a pool in Shropshire called Berrington pool it held some lovely Bream we had caught them to double figures i had baited up our swims for a period of two weeks before we fished we thought that it may give them both a better chance of catching a few we decided night fishing would give us all a better chance as the pool did not respond much to day time fishing. It was the first time i had seen a bivvy jack was a full time Gardner having his own business and made the bivvies out of the thick black plastic . we were to fish nearly a week his mate bill was a bit of a card and we had some great laughs. fishing that week was myself graham Dennis Kelly jack and bill we would finish fishing in a morning graham and myself being local would go home to bed leaving jack and bill in the bivvies Den traveled all the way back to stoke, we had a big boat house on the lake next to the swim Graham and i fished. we put our big keep nets in there and pegged them out there a bit of a story here on the first night graham has a run and landed a three pound Rudd a beautiful fish so its off to the net to pop him in but i tripped loosing the fish in the process and getting very wet its good job we could all laugh about it our camera man was Don Bridgwood who did a lot of free lance photography and write up for angling times.

It was not a very productive week we caught a few and it was enough to make a story thinking back the biggest was just under ten pounds jack and i had quite a talk and he said how well they fought on light tackle which they did most of my bream fishing was done with five pound BS line but i had stepped down to three pounds BS when bites were finicky in fact one of the biggest bream i caught was just under eleven pounds and i landed that on three pounds BS line jack asked me about my alarms and i said Dick had given me them they certainly improved my fishing at least i could close my eyes without missing a bite, we used the old garden bed chair loungers they were not that comfortable i fell through a couple times over the years but we survived and carried on fishing the week soon ended we saw jack and bill off he said he would be in touch but he never did and not long after he packed up fishing to become a jehovah witness i did not think jack was all that religious as he never came over like that but it was the end of a era it was the last time we ever saw him i think angling times must have this story in there arkives i know a certain gentlman that comes onto the forum has the said cutting well thats it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #282 24 Feb 2012 at 1.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #279
In the winter we would go roach fishing on the meres and rivers of Shropshire one place i loved to go was whixall moss it held some very big roach, and Bream, the latter went over twelve pounds plus a friend caught one over twelve pounds and put it back he would not kill the fish to claim the record but that's how it worked years ago there was a big island on the water we would wade out to the island the water was only a foot deep, but deeper the other side we would fish from the island some times we float fished and had some fair bags of fish i would also ledger two rods usually baited with bread flake tipped with maggot i used a butt indicators i had made they were quite sensitive i showed one to Dick and he seemed quite interested i would cast out tighten up then slacken line from reel and the indicator would hang down bites, were fast and furious the indicator would fly up hitting the butt section and stay there i would only have to pick the rod up and and i was in they were beautiful fish as the water was in the middle of a peat bog they had lovely golden flanks we would catch them to two pound plus usually there was only myself graham and Dennis we did not really think about the significance catching these big roach now looking back they were very big fish for that era i really don't know who owned the moss as we never asked permission and never got challenged unfortunately you cant fish it today as English nature runs the place its now a treble ssi Ramsay site they have done an excellent job up there encouraging snakes and different insects and some very rare plants to grow so there is now no fishing shame really i must have a drive up and have a look it would be nice to see the old place.

We also fished for the roach on the meres at Ellesmere either float fishing or ledgering newton mere was a favorite we would fish by the old boat house i don't know if its still there today we would catch a fish a cast wonderful fishing we would use mostly bread flake tipped with a caster den would bring the casters we never caught huge roach from there but they were mostly around the pound mark we would end the day with some excellent bags i would love to be on the water on a frosty morning you never saw another soul and had the place to your self Dick would ring me at work and ask how we were getting on and what we had been catching he was always interested god its a good job we never had the tackle like you have today we would have never been at home and its a good job we had understanding wives as we fished most of our free time then.

We would also fish the river Rea and would trot a float down the fast current as it reached the slow water under the bank the float would dip and slide away we had wonderful morning fishing the Rea, and you never knew what you would catch as it held some good roach a few perch and chub to four pounds plus we would catch a fair net full on a Saturday or Sunday morning the biggest chub i caught from this small river weighed in at four pounds eight oz we also caught the occasional Trout i myself even caught salmon how they got over the big water falls i don't know but today the falls have gone the river is now full of trout gray ling and chub stocked by a local club. well there's a bit more for you all. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #281 23 Feb 2012 at 10.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #280
Thanks old geezer very much appreciated
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   Old Thread  #280 23 Feb 2012 at 8.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #279
Brilliant as normal bringing back memories those were the happy days of fishing m8
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #279 23 Feb 2012 at 11.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #278
I put the two bite alarms Dick gave me to good use the only problem i had with them was adjusting them if you fished in high winds they would go off but with trial and error i soon got used to it in fact i caught my biggest Bream using them Dick rang to ask me how i was getting on with them i replied no problem and there was not, at least you could have a kip which made a big difference how i felt as watching doe bobbins for eight hours could make you very tired i think it was early seventies when i had two rods made for me they were all through action and coupled with Mitchell reels i thought i was in heaven but i was lucky as i won a few Mitchell reels from angling time and anglers mail i even won the Mitchell match reel they were awarded for catching big fish BREAM from the Shropshire meres i won so many rods i was on fire i gave some away to my mate graham i also won two boxes of billy lane floats beautifully made and in a presentation box which i have still got to this very day i gave one set to my mate i think he still has some of the floats, i was really on a high i could not go wrong i served on the Ellesmere angling club with Dennis Kelly of the big Bream, fame and graham they held some big matches on the canal would we enter i was not to keen really i think there were over eighty entries i could not believe it when i won the match and it was not the last as i won the next match as well graham and den called me a spawny get, i suppose i was but i walked away with the money very welcome to but it was the last match i ever fished as it was not for me.

I really could not stop winning i won two monthly prizes from angling times one holiday in ireland on the black water fishing for the big Bream the next was to Denmark to fish the river guden for the big roach and bream the press were soon knocking the door to do a story on myself fame but it did not do myself and graham much good we were followed were ever we fished we were quite well known locally we would get pestered we would even be to scared to pull our big keep nets out as if seen we would not get in the swim again i kid you not we even had our swims doctored with carbolic soap this was going to far the individuals had been seen doing it and were removed from the lake and then to top it all the game keepers at Acton Burnell caught two individuals posing as graham and myself the keepers knew us well so left them were they were and called the police the police came to my house and explained the situation the pair were done in court for poaching i cant remember what they got but it left a bad taste in our mouths graham was on the verge of packing up but i persuaded him to continue i could not believe other anglers were so bitter and jealous over a few fish. well ill tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #278 20 Feb 2012 at 11.06am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #272
I have mentioned it before i was talking to dick , this one day he said you shoot don't you Pete, yes i do can you get me some pigeon, how many about four a month i was a little took back certainly i will. Put them in a box and send them to me do you know i never discovered what he wanted those pigeon for it could have been to eat, IE pigeon pie or for fly tying some times i wondered what they were like when they arrived. There's a few things which i have put in part one of my stories which some have read this is for those that have not, i used to go and see dick with a chap i have already mentioned a Mr Kieth Wilkinson he had a son who was disabled he had no coordination between his brain and his arms dick, rang this one day could i take this young man fishing as a favour. I arranged to meet his father and his son at Acton burnell , dick had sent him all the tackle he needed two brand new rods both made by hardy plus mitchell reels line all on the spools floats float box hooks ledgers you name it he sent it i was a bit astounded that's how generous the big man was i made a mistake taking him to the burnell it was to hard but he did a bit of casting under our guidance but it was hopeless it would all end up in a mess by his feet, so the next week i took him to shomere graham and i took it in turns to try and get this young lad to cast, in between we would cast out give him the rod to hold the float would vanish we got him to strike the look on his face said it all, when he landed his first fish a Rudd of about half a pound, eventually we got him casting and catching on his own it took about three sessions his dad was over the moon dick rang and thanked me i was only to pleased to have helped the lad, he never looked back he was well and truly hooked.

The generosity this big man showed was unbelievable in the mean time i had won quite a few awards for catching big bream rods reels two big boxes of floats made by billy lane i gave one set to my mate graham and a few rods i still have the box and put odds and ends in it they were beautifully made i also won two trips one to ireland and one to denmark to fish on the river guden not sure if i have spelt that right dick rang and wished me luck i had a fantastic time in denmark billy lane was there and we ended up on television i never saw the programe myself but a lot of my mates did the river was full of roach and bream and grew to a fair size at the same time the world match team were there the two ashursts Benny and Keven Ivan marks god i cant remember the rest lets say a good time was had by all billy was a great man and tutor he had fished the river before so he advised every one the best way to fish it i ended up with a net full mostly roach to two pounds plus. a little bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #277 20 Feb 2012 at 9.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #276
hi kieth thanks i think that was the taylor that fished with us on colmere in 1971 you are spot on he did write Bream, fever quite a good book if i remember right. i can remember somthing about the book along the way i think it was letters that pete had recevied from dick some one on here or in the magazine not sure which mag mentioned it just before his death or it may have been after thanks keith brings a few happy memories back pete
Moorsey
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   Old Thread  #276 20 Feb 2012 at 7.51am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #275
Right I've done some digging and "Bream Fever" was written by Bill Taylor.

Peter Stones books were:-
Come Fishing With Me
A Guide To Coarse Fishing
Coarse Fishing
Fishing For Big Chub
Illustrated Teach Yourself Coarse Fishing
Legering
Old Father Thames
Gravel Pit Angling.

From memory he then also did a book called "Along The Way" I think, which was a compilation of Dick Walker's letters.
Hope that helps mate.
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   Old Thread  #275 20 Feb 2012 at 6.45am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #274
I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember which books he did write but I will find out for you [and for me].
One little story about Peter which you may find amusing;
I had taken an afternoon off to fish the "Seacourt Stream" which is a connecting stream from one part of the Thames to another. I was fishing for some chub which I had found under a big overhang when Pete's wonderfully recogniseable voice sounded in my ear.
"My word Keith what are you doing here. There's not many carp in here you know."
"No Pete I'm after the chub but I can get plenty of bites but just can't connect with them." I replied.
"Show me how your fishing." he asked.
I cast out tightened the line with the rod at 90 degrees and sure enough the tip slammed round and I missed the fish.
"Your line is too tight" he said.
I cast again and under his supervision I slackened off more line.
This time the rod slammed round and the fish was already hooked.
As he walked off across the field I heard him say
"If I can help somebody as I go along my way then life will have not been in vain."

Wonderful man.
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   Old Thread  #274 19 Feb 2012 at 6.10pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #273
Moorsey he did write bream fever did he not i am sure he did i know he caught some tremendous bream its a long time ago i think he wrote the book in the seventies
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   Old Thread  #273 19 Feb 2012 at 5.14pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #272
Brilliant, as usual Pete.
Really brought back memeories for me when you mentioned Peter Stone. I was lucky enough to know and fish with Peter a few times and what a gent. So polite, so well mannered and could creep along the lake/river bed more quietly than anyone else I know. Fantastic angler with a pssion for chub. RIP.
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   Old Thread  #272 18 Feb 2012 at 3.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #264
It was frosty out side as we sat in the old green hut the gas fire blazed away as we sipped tumblers of malt whisky which the big man had brought along we sat in ore of this gentleman as he sat and told tales of yesteryear's i could not believe i was in the company of dick walker he was my boy hood hero never once did i think i would ever meet him he told us tales about Pete Thomas and him catching the big carp from Redmire he kept us in stitches as talked in different accents what a man he told us of the time he did a Television programme for the BBC it was how to catch a big chub he knew where one was in this little river he had seen it many times before so he baited up for two weeks prior to them coming the day came dick knelt down in the under growth they counted down on the clapper board in went the bait bang he was in with the first cast a big chub of six pounds he said he was a bit embarrassed the tele crew wanted a full session so he had to try further down the river he was a marvelous teller of tales he stayed with us untill midnight and we all felt sad when he left to go home we watched as he got in the car ill be in touch Pete and so he was, have you thought about writing for angling times no DICK, will you consider it just write about bait and methods send it to me i will edit the stories you will get paid i just could not what with a young family and work i refused it was a missed opportunity i really think i was a bit scared as i was not an academic he really tried to inspire me to write. He had given myself and graham two rods when i met him first one was a beautiful built cane job designed by himself for those that don't know the one was a ten ft Avon the other was the first rod from the production line an eleven ft built cane bream rod built for Fred jay Taylor we treasured those rods for years i used and caught some very big bream with the eleven ft .

He got in touch to sort out a session with some big angling names of yesteryear's do you know i cant remember who was present i think Pete stone was one i am sure he wrote the book bream fever and was top of his game i am not sure if one was not peter Thomas i know the Pete Collins was there as he was editor for angling times who the rest were i cant think but it turned out a dead loss we only caught a seven pound fish i know the photographer was Don bridgwood but they made a story out of the session it was not the first or the last session we had with the paper, unfortunately Dick, could not make it he had other commitments, but he would ring me at work or home as i had now got a telephone put in by my employers in between i would go up and visit him i would travel up to his factory with a chap called Kieth Wilkinson who bought lawn mowers from him for Shropshire county council he was always pleased to see me and we would be away in his car we never stayed at his factory we would be away around the lakes he had fished, if he knew i was coming he always brought something to give me he was such a kind and generous man not many like him around today well there's a bit more about the big man i had mentioned some of it in part one so that's it for now more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #271 18 Feb 2012 at 9.36am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #270


#270 18 Feb 2012 at 1.35am

In reply to Post #269
Sorry Peter,,

I honestly did hover over the submit button for a long while..

I was afraid to cause offence,but was pretty sure i wasn't.

But I just know in reference to bob an johns post you will agree

well i blooming hops

How could you offend me i am getting on a bit soon be seventy, do you know what i can remember things from when i was just three years old i remember the bombers coming, over to bomb Liverpool Coventry that is a long time ago a lot of my fishing memories only seem like yesterday time flies it waits for no man i have quite a bit jotted down in my diary going back a few years . bob my short term memory is not to bad as yet but there is time for it to diminish i don't really feel old although my problems do have a bit of a baring on what i do i am so glad people still like my stories it makes it all worth while. god bless and thank you all for your kind words Pete
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #270 18 Feb 2012 at 1.35am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #269
Sorry Peter,,

I honestly did hovver over the submit button for a long while..

I was afraid to cause offence,but was pretty sure i wasnt.

But I just know in reference to bob an johns post you will agree

well i blooming hops so..
nwpiker41
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   Old Thread  #269 18 Feb 2012 at 0.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #268
Short term memory knackered,long term memory superb! .Mmmmm,that sounds familiar .
ralph69
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   Old Thread  #268 18 Feb 2012 at 0.41am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #267
youre not referring to pete as old are you ?
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #267 18 Feb 2012 at 0.18am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #266
Old men. like my father. no access to computers.google etc pen is mightier than the sword,

My old dad can remember stuff I can't..

Although I can go to a field i rambled across as a kid, and the memories come back..

I also love Pete's thread evokes a lot in me.
ralph69
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   Old Thread  #266 18 Feb 2012 at 0.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #264
hi pete , how the hell can you remember all this ?
outstanding reading aswell by the way , keep it up please
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #265 17 Feb 2012 at 11.07am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #264
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #264 17 Feb 2012 at 11.04am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #263
After reading the thread about Dick walker and Clarissa, it has brought back many happy memories of the great man, at the time graham and myself were catching the big bream from the Shropshire meres in the company of Dennis Kelly we really did have BREAM fever we could not leave the fishing alone we actually spent more time bream fishing than being at home, i can remember this one particular morning a letter arrive through the post i opened the letter i was speechless it was from dick how he got my address i don't know maybe from angling times but it was from dick and was one of many i still have them somewhere and have promised to let his son Tim have them but the attic is so big and with my problems its getting up there as i am an arthritic i am sure they are in an old fishing creel the first one i ever had if it could talk it could tell some stories, i had caught a number of big bream some had appeared in angling times and as you all know Dick wrote for the weekly paper he wanted to know more about our success and how we caught such big fish i was only to pleased to let him know we arranged to talk on the telephone and it went from there he invited myself graham and Dennis down to his fishing hut and you know the rest he was a big man with a big heart who was kind and considerate but i must say he did not suffer fools gladly he helped me many ways giving me tackle rods bite alarms and such he would ring me at work nearly every week and kept an eye on me wanting to know more about our latest catches he always had time for me and my friends i stayed in touch up until his untimely death from cancer i will never forget his friendship and he will remain in my heart for ever.


A bit more about dick he loved BMW cars the one he had when i was visiting him was a green job he took me everywhere in that car all around the lakes he used to fish to his home and to mothers i was only in my twenties i was in ore of this big man he loved to talk about fishing not just carp but all fishing, another thing i don't think many know he helped develop radar in the war he was a very good engineer you had only got to look around his factory to see her respect he got from his workers i was really in another world he took me to dinner one day to the letchworth hotel god i could not understand the foreign language it was in french if i remember right but he sorted it out i had steak and chips. i am now freinds with his son Tim who is now doing a bit of fishing i hope he enjoys our hobby as much as his father did well thats it for now. more latter
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   Old Thread  #263 14 Feb 2012 at 1.25pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #262
l suppose i have been a bit of a jack the lad there's not many lakes around my home territory i have not fished most were poached in my younger days. Even today some of the older generation come up to me and say i can remember you when you poached the woods and hills god some of these oldies must be in there nineties you were a rum un they would say. I was i can not tell lies but in the early years the forties and fifties i had to poach so we could live my step father did not earn big money he worked on the railway as a signal man times were very hard nothing was waisted so my parents were always grateful for anything i could shoot or catch i started off with the humble catapult most young lads had one in those days but i learned to use it and became very accurate i shot lots rabbits with it and the odd pheasant i would walk the hedgerows and the big nettle beds i found the nettle beds very good they would always produce a few rabbits. I manage to catch a few out of the nettle patches i acquired an old net and would put it round the outside of a big patch then walk it through but in those days there was thousands of rabbits it did not matter were you went you would see rabbits they certainly kept a good many fed. But most of the big keepered estates employed a man to catch the rabbits they were then sent by rail to the cities i think they sold for about sixpence, each the chap would catch hundreds it was revenue for the estate the poor fellow only earned about two pounds a week and it was very hard work.

When i was young i never feared any one i could run if i was discovered or even swim the river to get away when i was a youth there were a few battles fought with gangs of poachers and the keepers but by the time i had got to fifteen years old most of these gangs had stopped most of the poaching in the fifties was done by individuals so they could live and make a few bob for the back pocket, i loved to be out on a windy night with the long nets there was always two freinds and my self, you could clear up the rabbits, on a good night the one farm was over run hundreds i would set the net in the day time keeping the net rolled up to allow the rabbits, to pass under neath and go into the fields i would set it beside the rail way line where most of the rabbits were coming from we would go back at midnight drop the net then two would walk the fields with the dogs i would stand by the net you could feel the rabbits, hitting the net you were kept busy running up and down the net dispersing the rabbits if you were lucky you may get as many as fifty or even more you certainly could make a few bob from there sale but it was not all legal as you would poach some of the big estates when doing this you set your net in the dark that was a bit harder but you soon got the hang of it i have not been out with the long nets for many years no need really i am now a bit to old but it is still used in some places. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #262 11 Feb 2012 at 3.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #255
I suppose i am lucky i have lived the dream i have had a wonderful life full of excitement, i have also met many friends along the way some famous some not but it has been a pleasure although i am nearly seventy my love for fishing and the country side is still as great as it was when i was young, i still get a thrill when i see the big skeins of geese pass over head or the peregrine swoop on its prey or the splash of a fish far out in the lake it always gives me pleasure. I remember myself and my mate graham getting permission to fish a small lake in Shropshire the owner was a lady she was in love with this old lake, i went to see her she lived in a beautiful old black and white cottage which stood at the end of the lake, she loved the wild life and would come down and feed the water fowl i knocked her door thinking i would be refused but no she gave us permission there was staging built over one part of the lake but we had a problem getting to it i suppose it was some time in the sixties we were like two young school boys a whole lake given us to fish and no one else fishing it. The lady would come around to see us when we were there and talk about the country side or her lake, wanting to know what we had caught she was quite an educated lady and could chat about most subjects.

on our first meeting i asked what fish were in the lake oh she said tench carp and perch well graham and i decided we would float fish i remember using this ground bait i cant remember the name but we would add a few drops of tincture of lemon grass it smelled absolutely gorgeous it was trial and error in those far off days we would put our maggots, in Fine ground up bread crumbs, then add a few drops of tincture of lemon and use them on the hook a size twelve. The lake was only about four ft deep what fun we had the first time we went the weather was cloudy and wet we started to catch a fish a cast beautiful deep bodied tench, if i remember right we ended our morning session with over eighty pounds this was fishing at its best we also caught perch to two pounds plus we were very protective of our fishing on this lake and never told a soul graham and i fished that old lake for at least three years. Then one day we went to fish and there were other anglers around the lake it was the beginning of the end she started to charge fish shillings a day, i could see what was coming she came down to see me one day and said pete i am sorry but i am stopping the fishing to much litter is being left, we already knew and had been collecting it up by the bag full she stopped all fishing included us and let the lake to the RSPC we were devastated while we fished on the lake the neighboring farmer, would come down and chat he said to me he had a problem with the rabbits on his property did we know any one with ferrets look no further we said we also shoot i have never seen so many rabbits, there were black ones black and white ones i think some pet rabbits, must have escaped at one time and bred, this farmers land bordered one of the biggest shoots in shropshire bloody pheasants every where i just could not help my self we had a few away it was cash in the pocket which helped buy our fishing tackle well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #261 11 Feb 2012 at 3.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #255
I suppose i am lucky i have lived the dream i have had a wonderful life full of excitement, i have also met many friends along the way some famous some not but it has been a pleasure although i am nearly seventy my love for fishing and the country side is still as great as it was when i was young, i still get a thrill when i see the big skeins of geese pass over head or the peregrine swoop on its prey or the splash of a fish out in the lake it always gives me pleasure. I remember myself and my mate graham getting permission to fish a small lake in Shropshire the owner was a lady she was in love with this old lake i went to see her she lived in a beautiful old black and white cottage at the end of the lake she loved the wild life and would come down and feed the water fowl i knocked her door thinking i would be refused but no she gave us permission there was staging built over one part of the lake but you had a problem getting to it i suppose it was some time in the sixties we were like two young school boys a whole lake given us to fish and know one else fishing. The lady would come around to see us when we were there and talk about the country side or her lake wanting to know what we had caught she was quite an educated lady and could chat about most subjects.

on our first meeting i asked what fish were in the lake oh she said tench carp and perch well graham and i decided we would float fish i remember using this ground bait we would add a few drops of tincture of lemon grass it smelled absolutely gorgeous it was trial and error in those far off days we would put our maggots in Fine ground up bread crumbs then add a few drops of tincture of lemon and use them on the hook a size twelve. The lake was only about four ft deep what fun we had the first time we went the weather was cloudy and wet we started to get a fish a cast beautiful deep bodied tench if i remember right we ended our morning session with over eighty pounds this was fishing at its best we also caught perch to two pounds plus we were very protective of our fishing on this lake and never told a soul graham and i fished that old lake for at least three years then one day we went to fish and there were other anglers around the lake it was the beginning of the end she stared to charge fish shillings a day i could see what was coming she came down to see me one day and said pete i am sorry but i am stopping the fishing to much litter is being left we already knew and had been collecting it up buy the bag full but she stopped all fishing included us and let the lake to the RSPC we were devastated while we fished on the lake the neighboring farmer would come down and chat he said to me he had a problem with the rabbits on his property did we know any one with ferrets look no further we said we also shoot i have never seen so many rabbits there were black ones black and white ones i think some pet rabbits must have escaped at one time and breed this farmers land bordered one of the biggest shoots in shropshire bloody pheasants every where i just could not help my self we had a few away it was cash in the pocket which helped by our fishing tackle well a bit more latter
themyth
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   Old Thread  #260 11 Feb 2012 at 12.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #259
loving this pete
Anon
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   Old Thread  #259 10 Feb 2012 at 1.30pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #258
I never miss an installment mate ... as Bob says essential forum reading
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #258 10 Feb 2012 at 12.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #256
In reply to Post #255
I wouldn't say those days will never return Pete ... I think this government would like to see the working man back on the bread line, make him easier to control ... maybe as well to dig the old Diana out and oil the washer

i have got a better tool for the job now but to b old to use it i am glad you still like my stories it makes it worth while it takes a bit of remembering although i have some in my diaries, it is all true i have really lead an exciting life and would love to do it all again pete
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #257 10 Feb 2012 at 12.03pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #255
Anon
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   Old Thread  #256 10 Feb 2012 at 12.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #255
I wouldn t say those days will never return Pete ... I think this government would like to see the working man back on the bread line, make him easier to control ... maybe as well to dig the old Diana out and oil the washer

petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #255 10 Feb 2012 at 10.42am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #254
I was besotted by these woods and lake i was going to fish it whatever happened i told you all in the previous chapter how i was going to have some of the pheasants away a friend asked me if he could come along i was a bit apprehensive as i preferred to poach alone i did not like being responsible for others but he was a good young lad and belonged to a local gypsy clan i could trust him with my life SO one weekend if i remember Right it was a Saturday night i decided to try another way onto the estate but it meant forging the river i knew the river was quite low so there would be no trouble it was only ankle deep we hid our bikes in the under growth beside the river then forged across coming out behind the hall we made for the main coverts but really it did not matter where we went there were birds every where, they used to put thousands down it was approaching Christmas and a few quid in our pocket would help over the festive season i would have no trouble getting rid as times were still quite hard and the birds were always welcome at home and for friends living on our village.

jack knew the woods quite well his family had been big poachers over the years so he was brought up with it in his blood, he was going to hold the light and i would shoot jack, had brought along a good sack to pop the birds into and i also had the old post office bag on my back the shooting was quite easy funny birds they would just sit there you would have one then another maybe from the same branch, we started to fill the bags you can get to greedy i said to jack not to many it will be awkward and to heavy to carry them back to our bikes we heard a shout and a whistle bloody hell jack run they are after us we ran through the woods but with bags of birds it was a bit heavy going so we hid the birds and i slipped my gun into the undergrowth beside the river, as i looked back i could see the lights on a vehicle coming our way i never stopped to find out but i think it was the police in the land rover i could hear shouting in the distance and hear the bark of dogs probably alsatians, i was certainly frightened where was jack, no sign of him at all god i hope they had not caught him i forded the river once again and lay down in the long grass beside the river and that's where i stayed for the next two hours things went very quite i was just thinking i would fetch my gun when i heard a noise Pete, where are you it was jack, where have you been up a tree we are lucky to escape he said there was about thirteen keepers with the police what about the birds i have got them as he dropped the sack on the floor there a bit heavy, i crossed the river once again and collected my gun and bag you could still hear the occasional shout back in the woods.

We will have to be careful going home with a bike and two bags full of birds, i had strapped the gun to my cross bar we dare not go onto the roads jack, as they maybe looking for us, it was a bit hard going as we crossed the fields pushing our bikes it took us a good hour to get home we approached the house from the rear through the hedge then sorted the birds sixteen in all not a bad night jack do you want one no ill have half what we make when you sell them i said good night to jack, as he peddled his bike home to the caravans down the Berry's lane how the keepers knew we were there i don't know unless they saw the lamp but we had got away once again it was not the last time i went to that estate i nearly got caught again but i told you all about that in part one of my stories i fished it many times and caught some lovely tench and perch but i was always on edge and could not relax but that was years ago now i have my memories but they were good days no need to poach now pheasants are two a penny its not worth the effort, we poached to live and to put some cash in our back pockets they were hard days which will never return.

Well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #254 8 Feb 2012 at 5.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #253
There was one lake about 6 miles from my home i desperately wanted to fish i suppose i was about seventeen at the time it was a beautiful lake and i was told it held some big tench and the odd carp but the problem was getting to fish the water it was so very heavily keepered it was about ten acres in size with extensive Lilly beds and reed fringed i made up my mind i was going to give it a go but none of my mates would go any where near the place they were to frightened i would take only one rod a few worms and maggots if i could get some from our local tackle shop a chap by the name of ken Phillips owned the place and you could get some useful information about the local lakes, from him i mentioned the lake he said don't go you will be caught it is strictly private and they have some big shooting days on the estate, but i would not be there in the day only night time, and so it was on the Friday night i was away rods tied on the cross bar of my bike bag on my back with an assortment of tackle and a few sandwiches and a bottle of pop arriving at the estate i hid my bike in the undergrowth and made my way across the field skirting the big house and keepers cottage it was nearly dark by the time i reached the lake it was fringed with reeds i made my way towards the water through the reed bed it was quite firm under feet i decided to ledger and use a big lob worm on the hook i used the back light from my bike which gave a nice red glow and positioned it so it showed up my bobbin, which was a piece of doe, i could not be seen in the big reed bed and i found an old tree branch to sit on i did not have to wait long up went the bobbin i played the fish with some excitement landing the fish with my hands no landing net in those days it was a perch about a pound or so but it was a start the next fish was a tench not big but very welcome i froze i could hear talking from some where behind the swim noise travels at night so i was not to concerned then i heard dogs barking it was the keepers.

I really got a bit worried i wound my rod in and peered into the wood i saw no one, the talking had stopped but i could still hear the dogs barking in the distance i wondered what was up why were the keepers about in the woods at this time it was around one in the morning maybe looking for poachers i managed another couple of perch and a good eel well about three pounds that would go home for eating we loved them my mum would strip the skin from the eel then cut it in chunks dip it in batter then fry it was lovely with a pan of potatoes and peas, before i left the lake i shone my torch up a couple of trees there were pheasants every where i would certainly be back and have a few of those i nearly got caught the first time i went ill tell you more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #253 5 Feb 2012 at 12.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #252
I have fished the river a good many times in this weather, althought the line froze to the rod i have had some good bags of roach and chub but in those days there were no hand warmers and you hands would hurt from the frosty conditions. we really never had the clothing we have today so we would put on whatever we could get hold of most people would wear wellingtons no good i always would put on a good pair of lace up boots which had been given a good rub over with dubbing they would certainly be water proof and with a good pair of socks would keep you quite warm funny really i would go fishing most weather frost hail or snow but today i am not so keen the older you get you are more you are likly to suffer from the cold i am seventy in may so i have not done to bad.

As you all know i was not past doing a bit of poaching it was a necessity really but did not like to go in snowy conditions as the baliffs or keepers could soon see your tracks and know you had been there but if you had no food or not much money needs must. There was so many pheasents around in those days that you never had much trouble catching a few i would feed along a hedge row with a few razins or currents mixed with a bit of corn you would soon have them feeding with confidence all you neaded was a bit of fishing line and a good strong hook and a current mounted on the hook i would lie in the hederow with my water proofs on they were easy to catch and i would soon have a few in the bag i would always cover my tracks the best i could the problem was getting the birds home especially in the day light so i would hide them and fetch them when darkness fell, i got quite freindly with a family of gypsies they were Real Romanys and had lived in shrophire most of there lifes i got to know the one quite well his name was jack but to me it was jacko he liked a bit of poaching himself he owned a couple of lurchers and he would be out all hours catching the rabbits and hares that inhabited the big estates of shropshire infact he showed me how he tickled the trout he was a good poacher a master of his craft but he did not like company when out at night i did go with him a couple of times have you ever tried carrying three or four Hares over the feilds heavy i can tell you it was not for me. but we remained freinds for many years untill his untimly death from cancer.

Infact i made many freinds that were gypsies some even went to school with me i could trust them with my life the one family had a number of ponies they would let me ride them no sadle infact old joe would come with me he loved those horses as much as his family he would break them in and sell them on at the big horse shows he would go all the way to cumbria to one such show selling and buying but i think it was an exuse for a drink or two he was a bit of a lad and could use his fists no man frits me pete he would say you could see he was well muscled he would fight any man as long as there was money in it he would return home black and blue but a bit better off in pocket his wife would play hell althought she was very proud of him she was worried in case he got badly hurt but he never did i have not seen joe for some time as he moved away but most of his family are still here they have now moved into houses joe liked to be on the road the last i heard he was at another village in north shropshire
he must be getting on a bit as he went to school with me i have some fond memories of old joe and our times at school together. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #252 2 Feb 2012 at 11.18am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #251
Talking the other day i was asked what did i consider my greatest gift i had no trouble at all answering the question love i answered love for all things your family nature and your fellow man it costs nothing i have a great love of nature just sit and watch a spider weave his Web or a salmon jumping the falls to get to his spawning ground or the eel traveling all those miles from the sargasso sea how on earth do they know were there going this is nature at its best most people do not give it a second thought but it is a most wonderful thing .

When i think back about the times i sat with old SAM and he said nature is a gift its a love of all things and he truly believed that and it showed in the way he lived his life, he was one of the old school he was a keeper although it was part of his life to clean the vermin up by trapping and shooting he had great respect for all animals i remember the time he caught a badger in a snare he did not kill it but brought it home alive for his wife to care for it, he taught me such a lot about all things butterflies birds and foxes all things really trout fishing with his old fly rods well poaching i would say what if we will get caught who by i am the keeper what about the bailiffs if they come we run it was the way he said it i would roll over laughing he would take those fish home for his wife she would make a wonderful meal with them.

It was me who he would send up the old cherry trees to collect the fruit why me i would say yer younger than me if the gaffer comes yer can run faster i would take my air gun up to his house don't e shoot any of my birds with that will e no Sam i wont. I don't know how he did it but he acquired a new spring for that gun he had a lot of trouble getting it to fit he would take it rook shooting to the big rookery in the woods, he would only shoot ten or twelve put them in a sack and take them back for his wife he would sit at the dinner table eating this big rook pie god it made me feel sick just looking dust e wont some young un no i don't you don't know whats good for yer leave the boy alone his wife would say he would just laugh, but i have told you all this before it was a real hard life in the few years after the war i think most people lived on rabbit we would have it in a big pie with a pastery covering or stewed even roasted the humble rabbit fed thousands sam would drop a couple of on his way shopping he walked every where he went he did have a bike but i never saw him on it much he would call his feet my shanks ponies i would say are you going to walk to clun sam yes on my shanks ponies he would say where that word came from i dont no but i have heard a few use it today. It was the best time of my life and in the few years i knew sam i learned such a lot but one stands out more than any and that is love for all things. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #251 31 Jan 2012 at 1.57pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #247
i have told you about Rodger in the last thread he came to live on my village a few years ago he moved from Winchester with his wife and daughter at the time he really knew nobody on the village i was on a shoot one day and Rodger happened to be beating i suppose it was in the late seventies i don't think he will mind me saying i saved him having a breakdown he missed his friends and home so much. He had not made many friends on our village of bayston hill. Rodge liked a bit of ferreting he had a good many ferrets and they were not being used so i suggested he come along with myself and graham he was a changed man although he was very laid back and said very little but when out ferritin those rabbits he always had a big smile on his face i also got him out shooting he would come with me to a few shoots in and around Shropshire he mostly helped the beaters but it was not long before he was using the gun and was a reasonable shot but like us all he has aged since i have known him he has had two heart attacks and skin cancer but he never packs in.

I have taken Rodger with me trout fishing on more than one occasion he would make himself comfortable in the punt as we drifted down the lake casting a fly to the many trout feeding of the surface i have offered to teach him i have handed him the rod but he would always decline why i don't know but he always seemed happy to just sit and watch i always gave him two or three trout at the end of the day he was like a dog with two tales ill have um for my tea tonight he would say, he is a member of my syndicate but this year he has struggled with his knees he has osteoarthritis the same illness that i have he also has got a frozen shoulder and he is now waiting for an operation on his knees but i wonder if he will get one owing to his problems which he suffered in the past ie heart attacks but he is a grand old friend and i wish him well i just hope it does not finish him going out with his ferrets.

I loved this time of year it was nearly the start of spring the one wood is covered in shoots belonging to the snow drop it wont be long before they are in flower its only a small wood, the condover brook runs through the middle of the wood i have caught a few trout from here when i was a young man i would spin or worm they never grew very big around a pound but beautiful to eat no one seems to go into this old wood it like the time has stood still there are some of the old gin traps still hanging from a tree just like the day the keeper left them there, that would be old Frank bell the traps have rusted up over the years they were cruel things i have seen them take an animals leg off they have been banned for many years but when i was young they were used a lot. How thing have changed over the years it is in this small wood that i would clime and hide from the keepers and the police the old trees are still there especially the big fir where i would hide my self in the thick branches as i stand and look up this old tree i wondered how i climbed it all those years ago i certainly could not now but that is my age, my mind is still willing but my body is not. Well a bit more latter
MattH85
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MattH85
   Old Thread  #250 29 Jan 2012 at 2.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #249
my grandads been on wharfarin tablets for years, he says it makes you feel the cold alot more due to it thinning your blood. he also nods off alot but think this is more a side effect of my grandma rather than the wharfarin
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #249 29 Jan 2012 at 2.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #246
Thanks matt and you Brian very much appreciated i have got to see a specalist now but at least they have removed the clot with warfrin injections thanks both of you the only thing is i have been a bit tired since i came out but that should pass
Brian_Woolsey
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Brian_Woolsey
   Old Thread  #248 29 Jan 2012 at 2.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #247
good to see you back at it pete, long may you continue!
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #247 29 Jan 2012 at 2.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #243
Although still feeling a bit under the weather and still very tired i managed to make my way down to see my syndicate god it was quite cold i did not take part myself but they were all glad to see me it was the last Saturday of the season i did ask if they wanted to have a go Monday or Tuesday as yet i have no answer as i sat in the car i watched the pheasants as they took to the wing there was a good show they were only shooting the morning as a few of the syndicate had a few pressing engagements i watched as three woodcock came over my car lovely little birds that will live for another day i was not sorry when lunch time came as really i wanted to go home its funny how a short stay in hospital can effect you so much but it certainly had with me all i wanted to do is sit in my arm chair and rest i am still very touched by all the members that wished me well i must admit i nearly shed a tear

It got me thinking a bit as i sat in my car i had another of the syndicate with me Rodger who is waiting to go into hospital for a knee operation he has also got a frozen shoulder i have told you all before my syndicate members are all old codgers most of us have seen better days but what keeps us together is the love of the country side i think the bird life in my garden may have got the seasons mixed up i have seen sparrows collecting feathers and grass for their nests i did have a dove sitting on two eggs in the apple tree but it has vanished the wind we had a few days ago blew it out the eggs were on the ground broken but pigeon and doves will nest any time as long the weather is right i got talking to Rodger about the woods and how they were many years ago things have really changed in front of us looking down into the woods is where a big release pen stood it was absolutely huge when old Gerry was keeper it held at least seven thousand birds it was fenced over a very big section of the wood i would sneak around when i was younger he had traps set all around this big pen to the right of the pen was the smaller of the two lakes so he did not have to carry water to far, god Rodger i had a few bird away from that very spot i suppose it would be late fifties maybe around 1958 or there abouts i have hidden myself many time in the thick undergrowth that surrounded that small lake i have watched him pass me by i could of grabbed his ankles he was that close, he was a big man and always wore a trilby hat he would come down to feed his young birds twice daily and to top any feeder up in the pen it must of been a hard life as he carried most food stuff down on his shoulder from the house, you could not get a tractor down there in those days, he also had the under keepers to give him a lift with the heavy stuff. do you see those oaks over there i said i shot a few of his birds from there with my old airgun that is where the feed rides were they would roost up in those trees , they were so easy to shoot and they kept us fed and our many neighbours through those hard years. well its time for home Rodg we picked my mate graham in the car park and said our fair wells to tony and our motley crew i was not sorry to see my front door and sit in my chair, all i have now is my memories of a life long ago so different from today . a bit more latter
MattH85
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   Old Thread  #246 29 Jan 2012 at 12.20pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #245
good to see you back pete, all the best.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #245 29 Jan 2012 at 12.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #244
Thanks pete very much appreciated
tinofmaggots
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tinofmaggots
   Old Thread  #244 27 Jan 2012 at 10.31pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #243
Hi Peter glad to hear your INR is good enough to be allowed home,,

have had an pnuemonial emulism. umm (spelling/Words) myself and DVT in the Groin. 10 days I was in there bored as ever an hungry, even got a bus home one day from hospital an made a packed lunch and went back.

Luckily my warfarin course only lasted 6 months an then my INR was ok for me to stop,

hope its the same for you. pain taking different dosages all the time..

worst thing was couldn't eat no green veg an i love my veg,,

So happy to read another tale......

All the best Peter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #243 27 Jan 2012 at 12.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #230
I think i have told you all about a dear friend called charlie Patterson he has long gone but he was a character he was known from the one end of the county to the other, he would carve beautiful walking sticks with badgers heads even foxes they were beautifully finished and hand painted he could have made a fortune, his order books were always full there was a waiting list he would only charge pea nuts for his skill. But it was the love off the country side that made him stand out from others. He was also well known for foxes every bit of spare time he had he would be out looking for his beloved foxes i suppose he was a bit like me but he also ran the Patterson hunt and was in big demand from the local farmers especially the hill farmers although he loved old charlie the fox he also cleared any up that could spell trouble for the farmers latter on.
His hunt consisted of twenty guns maybe more at times, plus the walkers that did all the beating driving the foxes forward to the waiting guns funny charlie did not like killing i have offered him a gun many times but he always said no it was just just a job of work to him i would take him around to see the local farmers at Christmas by the time i took him home he would be drunk as a skunk i would take him to his door and his wife and myself would put him in his old arm chair beside the roaring fire he was a great friend one i really miss we would walk through the woods together and he would say can you smell him Pete i can charlie we have walked miles together as i have said before he liked a bit of fishing Christ his rods were something out of the iron age years old he never bought any more all the years i knew him i really thought they would break if he had a big fish on but they did not i have told you all before about the salmon he caught at Atcham come on Pete lets get home what a procedure as he put this salmon down his trouser leg i fell about laughing he really stank the van out as i made for his home at wenlock.

I have never seen the likes of charlie before or since he would walk miles he never learned how to drive when up in hill country he would clime those hills like a mountain goat and leave some half his age struggling for breath me included he would just look and laugh get up of your arses he would shout your only young i suppose he was getting towards sixty then but he was very fit , he would walk miles with his terrier, the ferrets in a box over his shoulder, the keepers and farmers loved old charlie and he was allowed to roam more or less where he wanted any rabbits he caught would be gutted and left at the nearest farm to be pick up latter when he could get transport. I have laughed, until i have nearly cried at some of the antics he got up to he was a true country man he was with me when we found the albino fox cubs he said they were worth a fair bit of cash so we moved them on by leaving our scent on the earth before they were found by others and dug up, we never did see them again they would have a job surviving in the wild i have often wondered where the vixen took them to i would like to think one or two survived we were sitting down the woods this one day having our sandwiches when he said Pete i have got a problem whats that charlie, i have high blood pressure a man like you that walks miles are you sure yes m8 that's what the doc says he says i must relax a bit more no more walking it was the beginning of the end his wife found him not long after sitting in his favorite arm chair by the roaring fire the great man was gone he had passed away when i walk the woods now i quite often i hear old charlie whisper can you smell him Pete . well a bit more latter.
Sgfc
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   Old Thread  #242 27 Jan 2012 at 10.11am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #240
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #241 27 Jan 2012 at 10.08am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #240
Brilliant news...Put your feet up and start writing!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #240 27 Jan 2012 at 10.05am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #234
Well i am now home the specialist thought home was a better option than staying in, so i would like to thank you all for the kind remarks i was deeply touched i am a bit bruised from the injections of warfarin in my stomach but it has got rid of the offending clot thank god it was not very big i shall now be going to see a specialist in the near future so once again a big thank to you all mods included. god bless you all pete
VLT
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   Old Thread  #239 26 Jan 2012 at 8.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #238
Great to hear Stu, nice one!
Stuski
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   Old Thread  #238 26 Jan 2012 at 8.18pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #237
I've just been speaking to pete, and thankfully he's on the mend and home now, he's still very poorly and tired but hopefully he's going to be okay
Saw the thread and thought I'd let you know
carra
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carra
   Old Thread  #237 26 Jan 2012 at 2.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #233
God bless to you, Pete. All the best, you old poacher
KenTownley
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   Old Thread  #236 26 Jan 2012 at 1.28pm  0  Login    Register
Get Well Soon, Pete...
Bluepanido
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Bluepanido
   Old Thread  #235 26 Jan 2012 at 12.31pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #230
I never read this thread before. Just read those last 4 posts - great stuff! I'll certainly be spending a bit of time going through this.

Cheers Pete
Sgfc
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Sgfc
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   Old Thread  #234 26 Jan 2012 at 11.46am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #233
Bloody heck! Speedy recovery Pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #233 25 Jan 2012 at 12.51pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #232
wont be on for a few days being rushed into hospita with a blood clot in my chest i will resume stories when i can


god bless you all pete
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #232 23 Jan 2012 at 5.50pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #231
HI brian yes we used it a lot, when i left the butchers to work else where i would buy it by the hundred weight it lasted quite a time and mixed with the layers mash you could ball it out quite a distance and it was reasonably priced
Brian_Woolsey
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Brian_Woolsey
   Old Thread  #231 23 Jan 2012 at 5.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #230
blimey, fishing bread over sausage rusk!! that takes me back a few years too pete!!

the bloke who taught me used to swear by it for winter fishing for roach & bream, with either flake or punched bread.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #230 23 Jan 2012 at 5.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #229
When i was bailiff at the trout fishery it brought back many memories just over the field from the fishery is another small lake it is now used by the bird watchers and is owned by the RSB and also a stock pool for the environment agency when i was a young man i would poach that place long before i met up with my mate graham it was full of carp and tench i would cycle from my village at Bayston hill hiding my bike in the field adjacent to the lake i would ledger bread flake or worms. Being a butcher boy it gave me access to sausage rusk and charlie the butcher always gave me some to go fishing i would throw a bit in mixed with layers mash the fish would go mad no kidding you could get a fish every cast the carp were not that big i suppose the biggest went to round five pounds but this was in the late fifties we never really bothered much about size in those days we were young and all we wanted was to be out fishing we never asked permission as it would not be granted but i was about one day and i saw the owner who was rounding his sheep, up i approached this frosty looking gentleman can i fish your pool sir thou best get off he said if i catch e on that pool ill shoot yer with a ball of your own muck, charming he did not want to know he was a right old bugger we shoots that pool for the duck he said as i turned to walk away wheres yer from he said in broad shropshire language up the road sir well get e back up the road and dare yer not come back, little did he know i already fished his small lake i did not know they shot the lake for the ducks i thought to myself next time i will have a few myself he really rubbed me up the wrong way i wont say the gentleman's name because he was quite well known and and respected in the farming community over the years i became a friend of the old man he is now long gone but i had a few of those ducks and when i told him years latter he would just laugh yer did not take much notice did you young man over the years i found he was a kind old gentleman and he would give me eggs to take home for my parents we remained friends up to his death he was in his nineties and had a good life but when i look at that small lake it brings back happy memories.


I would go fishing and also take my trusted air rifle i would lie in the under growth there were hundreds of ducks mostly mallard, i would shoot them on the water then pull them in with long piece of stick it gave me a few bob for the back pocket i had no problem selling them i would also watch them shoot the lake they would be all dressed up in there finery men and women they mostly loaded for there husbands, the ducks would get up in there hundreds circle round and try to come back in the ducks would come crashing to the ground in a ball of feathers i would pick a few under their noses before they started picking up with the dogs they would also shoot a few pheasants that got up out of the undergrowth, they were great days it was a necessity to poach the pheasent and duck for food in those days as times were still quite hard well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #229 19 Jan 2012 at 2.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #228
Over the years i have been bailiff on a few fisheries it can be a very lonely job you never know who you would meet in the dark i was lucky i could call for the assistance from some of the local game keepers the one chap used to bring along a ex police dog by gum he was fierce i would not fancy my chances against him and most poachers we caught were to frightened to run in case we let the dog go he would snarl bark the very look of him put a good many poachers off but it was not always possible to call him out as he worked on a big estate not far from the fishery and had trouble with poachers himself which kept him quite busy.

I would wait at the lodge for the poachers to arrive you could see the top car park which in the day was used by the many bird watchers that used the top pool it was owned by the RSPB and also a stock pool for the environment agency it was full of carp they would net every it so often taking the fish to stock other waters the poachers would arrive usually any time after midnight the silly buggers never switched there interior light off so you could see when they got out of the car i had also been supplied night vision binoculars a very handy piece of equipment i would let them settle in on the lake to maybe catch one or two so we had some evidence to take them to court but if the police arrived they just let the dogs go what a noise you could hear them a mile away the Sgt said it was better than taking them to court there car was checked over some times the tyres were let down or if the keepers were there the tyres were slashed they wont come back Pete if it costs them money most cars were not even taxed so i doubt they were even insured i suppose it was one way of getting rid of them the police even towed one or two cars away most were known to the police so it was a matter of visiting there homes.

You never knew who you would meet i always tried to have the company of some one else, my mate graham was also a bailiff but could only come at weekends but he was a great help we alarmed most of the lake by setting trip wires if they were activated at night you would here an almighty bang as it pulled a pin out of the tube releasing a bolt which activated a cartridge i would fill the cartridge full of rice and by putting a piece of tin under the tube god did it make a noise just like a shot gun going off , the poachers would shout out and run i had six trip wires set on the road side of the lake one would go then another until all six had gone off, we would double up laughing i would go around the next morning to reset them the poachers would drop there rods in there haste to get away i would take them back to the lodge to show the police as we were visited most days well it was for a free cuppa some times i even left the rice out leaving the lead in but i was always concerned i case some one got hurt but it certainly kept them away. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #228 18 Jan 2012 at 11.12am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #227
I watched as he came down the field towards us i could tell by the way he walked he had his faithful black labs by his side he had not spotted us he looked in the direction of the old oak wood why was he out what was he looking for i said to my friend johnny get down out of sight but it was to late i heard the unmistakable voice shout out what are you doing there it was old bell , he was a snarled old warrior a good keeper who stood no messing we had been after the odd pheasant by walking the hedge rows with johnnie's dog butch he would push the odd rabbit and pheasant out for us to shoot but old Frank bell must have heard the shots now he was after us run johnny i shouted picking up my gun i ran for for the nearest cover i was into the fir wood it was dark nothing else grew under those firs as the light could not penetrate through the trees i crawled on my hands and knees through this impenetrable jumble of branches scratching my face in a number of places where had johnny got to he could not be far away i knew it would come i heard the bang as pellets rained down on me come out you buggers, he was shouting then another blast and another shower of lead, fell from above i kept on crawling and managed to get to the other side of the wood there was a strip of ground between the firs and the next copies i never even looked to see if it was safe and bounded across the field throwing my self over the iron railings i heard a noise from behind then a voice where is he Pete it was johnny we lay there in the undergrowth shaking with fear did he fire at you Pete no over my head he still thinks we are in there.

As we watched i caught sight of the blue land rover coming down the fields it was the police some one must have rang them it was Sgt old landers and p c sharp two more keepers arrived its time we were not here Johnny it was starting to get dark well make for the river walk the old falls then onto the blind school land and away across the fields and skirt the woods of bomere making for the old stone quarry which was on our village well that was the plan it never works quite like that the keeper had position two more men on the road he must of realized we may come this way so it was back to the river and in we went it was not that deep but very cold we forded down stream until we came to the bridge under we went there was a concrete ledge under the bridge and that is where we stayed we were cold and wet our teeth chattered but it was better than being caught it was now dark and we had a better chance to get away we gave it a good hour before moving across the river and away over the distant fields we went, they had given up so i thought arriving home i saw the blue land rover waiting out side the house bugger, it was old Sgt landers but my parents were not in i waited until he was gone before venturing into the house he called next morning had i been on land at condover no said i his eyes would go white with rage but he could not prove a thing i smiled as he drove away. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #227 16 Jan 2012 at 11.33am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #226
-4 today and it feels cold a few years back i would not bother about this type of weather you would see me out with my pike rods i have always liked a bit of piking we would get the boat out we have had some great days fishing from the boat, when graham and i were younger you would see us down on Bomere no one was allowed to fish the lake in those days we managed to get permission from the owner Mr SAM Davies the water was all ours you would see no other anglers on the water we also had the use of a punt the lake was a haven for wild life well water fowl you would see big rafts of ducks and big flocks of geese also visited the lake, i can remember a Mr lock from Bomere farm he never owned the fishing rights but he was in the shoot i have seen him and his workers out in the punt collecting the geese he had shot from his back garden which backed onto the lake they were good days it was nothing to see graham and myself catch up to twelve pike on a Sunday morning while listening to the distant church bells calling the faithful to worship at condover church, we caught pike up to twenty pounds but lost a lot bigger we used mackerel herrings sprats as dead bait the only problem we had was getting the dead bait out as the rods were not that good in the sixties most anglers i saw used old sea rods graham and myself managed to acquire a couple of ten ft fiber glass rods they certainly did the trick if it was windy we would float our baits out using a polystyrene tiles and a balloon attached but the wind had be blowing from the right direction which allowed us to sail the dead baits to our chosen fishing spot other than that we rowed them out using the punt. We never had indicators like today so where the line touched the water in front of the rod tip we would clip on a big piece of polystyrene that acted like a float when you had a take you could watch the polystyrene being towed away then vanish under the water it was crude but it worked. The lake was still shot over and the keeper was a Mr Hoggins who had a reputation for being a very hard man.

I am sure he wont mind me saying he was a bit of a rogue as well, he got into a few scrapes the last i heard of him he had repented and turned his back on shooting and such and was now a man of the cloth it really takes some believing i certainly could not watch him preach i would burst out laughing when i knew him he would fight any one that invaded his space his language was not that good either but he was my type of lad i can remember when he met another chap called panter he was a poacher well old hoggins caught him taking his pheasants all hell was let loose they fought and knocked hell into each other hoggins was covered in bramble scratches black eyes they packed up when they both had enough, funny really they remained friends until panters untimely death years latter, i think old hoggins met his match in those woods, on the day he met panter. well a bit more latter
Fozzy
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Fozzy
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   Old Thread  #226 12 Jan 2012 at 9.52pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #225
Well in Pete, I will pick up a copy next time i do a bait order
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #225 12 Jan 2012 at 9.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #224
Thanks pete very much appreciated kens in the book as well not read it yet but looking forward to it as there is some great chapters by other anglers
tinofmaggots
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tinofmaggots
   Old Thread  #224 12 Jan 2012 at 9.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #223
Just paid for my copy..

I'm not really a book worm. but your in it Pete. so had to.
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #223 12 Jan 2012 at 5.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #221
yes martin its a start our own ken townley helped edit the story and it was jason rider who asked would i write a chapter for his new book i have not seen it yet but i was talking to jason and he is sending me a copy at some stage but he has been not to well of late his been laid low with this sickness bug thank martin for letting me know.
Great-Blondini
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   Old Thread  #222 12 Jan 2012 at 4.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #221
the only way is carp
Contents
1. Pete Pemberton – Old school angling
and some others LOL


I see you have some of the memories into print Pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #221 12 Jan 2012 at 12.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #220
When i was young i used to fish in all weather i always loved the humid nights especially if the wind blew causing the water to foam at your feet you only had your umbrella to protect you from heavy storms at times we could get quite wet, we only fished with two rods in those days mine consisted of two eleven ft fiberglass with a all through action which a freind had made for me, two mitchell's both loaded with five pound BS line we used arsley bombs as ledgers bite indication in the early days was a doe bobbin i must admit watching that bobbin all night would make you very tired we never slept. We fished mainly for the bream and roach that inhabited most of the lakes and meres in Shropshire one such lake was not to far from my home it was full of of bream and roach no one knew really how big they grew to, i had a few friends that had fished the water but they were not really after the bream only the big eels which they had caught to over five pounds.

So graham and i set up our stall and decided to give this old lake a go we had an idea where we were going to fish from, as we had watched the fish for some time mostley in the closed season so we had a fair idea where they would feed. We asked the farmer for permission to dig out a swim in a wooded area the only trouble was the mosquitoes they would eat you alive i manged to get some cream from a friend in the the army they used it when they were abroad it was very good and kept the little sods away, our ground bait consisted of Growers mash mixed with sausage rusk and bread crumbs we started bait up through the close season a little bit often it was not to far from our homes so we baited three times a week, When we started fishing graham would pick up a gallon of maggots on his way home from work on a Friday. That gave us Friday night and Saturday to fish arriving at our chosen swim a hour before dark giving us time to set up and put some bait in the swim which we had also laced with maggots. Out we cast two rods apiece we were fishing bread flake tipped with maggot, nothing happened for the first hour then in the darkness we heard a fish roll then another i looked at my bobbin and saw it rise to the butt up came the rod and i was in it was the first bream from this old lake we landed it and into our keep net it went Graham was next catching an identical fish, All having deep bellies looking back they were only about four or five pounds but to us they were good fish our home work was paying off. We had to pack one rod in and fish with just one each as it came impossible at one stage we had four fish on together using the two rods. We were also catching one or two nice roach they looked well over two pounds but we never had time to weight them so into the net the went, we ended the night absolutely exhausted we had caught over one hundred and fifty pounds of fish the biggest roach was just a fraction under two pounds eight 0z we were both elated and decided to give it another go but now it was home to bed for the first session on this lovely lake we did well it was not the first ot the last time that we caught huge bags of bream from this lake. Over the years we have had some decent carp and tench from this same water also a few bream the biggest going eleven pound eight oz if any locals read this they will know which lake i mean i will not mention names as it is now a syndicate water. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #220 10 Jan 2012 at 11.17am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #219
Last night i watched the otter debate on tele i thought martin bowler came over quite well it was the environmental agency that that really put my back up he denied categorically that no groups were breeding and letting otters go how would he know they are hardly going to let the environment agency know but seriously look what we are up against and while you have films like Tarka the otter and ring of bright water shown in our schools what chance do we all have otter are portrayed as beautiful furry creatures and they are but there are far to many on some waters . When i was young i suppose i would be about eight or nine when i saw my first otters i lay on the bank of the River onny and watched them play in those days they were completely wild and shy creatures if they had spotted me they would of gone i was lucky i lay in the thick undergrowth i watch as they chased the Trout and Grayling and any caught they would carry them out onto this big lump of Rock and devour them this was about 1950 i was lucky they were seldom seen in those days.

Photobucket
The otter hounds
I can remember quite well the excitement the otter hounds brought to the locals who would follow the hunt in large numbers it was the norm in those far of days i have seen this first hand i was there i spent a lot of my younger days walking the woods and fields i always had a catapult in my pocket and i must admit i was not a bad shot i had been brought up with one most lads of my age used a catapult we would go up the hedge rows looking for rabbit which were squating down in the hedgerows or big nettle patches some days we could shoot a good numbers and the odd pheasent sharing them out at the end of the day if we had been caught we would have received a telling off and maybe a clip behind the ear or a boot up your back side, we had just come out of the woods and caught sight all these people on the river bank as we came nearer you could see these fellows dressed in green jackets in the river with a pack of maybe twelve dogs they were hunting the otter the dogs went scatty we caught sight of the otter he had no chance the lead dog was on him in a flash i can still remember that kill the river was red with the blood of this animal being young it left a lasting impression it was certainly barbaric after the otter was chucked out onto the bank for all to see the dogs pulled this way and that it was a tug of war i have mentioned before in the first part of my stories about the otter hounds i watched this spectacle many times but although barbaric it kept the otters in check although there was not the amount we have today those days will never come back the otters were hunted twice a week mostly weekends on the onny and its tributaries . well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #219 7 Jan 2012 at 12.52pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #218
I was just thinking how my syndicate were getting on today its the first time in thirty odd years that i have missed going on a Saturday, i had to ring my mates Tony and Graham and tell them i could not make it i have a chest infection by god it makes you feel bad and with emphysema as well its not to good i'm puffing like a steam engine but ill have to put up with it for now. I did manage to go on Tuesday after new year i had a few protests from my other half but being bull headed i went although feeling quite under the weather i did not take part my self and sat in my car and watched there was a good show of pheasants and duck i think all the syndicate were happy they had quite a good day i cant really believe the undergrowth in the woods has not died off completely and being a syndicate of old has beens they complained how hard it was walking seriously here we are in January and some of the brambles are still green we have had no severe frosts to make it die down but i much prefer this weather than ice and snow.

As i sat in my car watching i saw a big dog fox in the distance he looked in fair nick i suppose he does with all the food around IE pheasants and rabbits with the mild weather we are experiencing he wont have to much of a problem feeding himself, i was going to look at the old earth on the bank adjacent to our small syndicate to see if the vixen is in residence she usually rears a few cubs there then moves them on to another spot when they are a few weeks old. We now have quite a few wood cock in our woods nice to see as they were becoming quite scarce. There was no one fishing the lakes on Tuesday i was a bit surprised as there is a winter pike syndicate its funny really i have not seen many fishing on the lake this winter why i don't know as you usually see eight or nine with their bivvys up well i have in seasons past, i have said before they used to hold the pike fishing matches on the lake but that was years ago, i think i told you all before i met Dez Taylor on the big lake many years ago before he became well known he would be set up pike fishing he was always trying to sell his water proof suits god that must of been in the late sixties. No fishing on the river Severn now as its over the banks but we do not get the big floods we used to years ago but flood defences has helped the situation when i was a young lad i would cycle down to see my step fathers mother the house would be flooded , she would then live upstairs how she managed i don't know as she was well into her eighties i think her one neighbour kept her going by taking food for her from the village shop, they were certainly hard times.

I see the Shropshire's farmers have agreed to have the badger cull but they have to apply for licences but there is quite a lot of opposition to the cull i do wonder if it will go a head i don't think the owners of our woods will be very amused if they cull the badgers here, but we will have to see i am sitting on the fence and waiting i have watched the badgers here for many years it would be really very sad to see them all go we have no large dairy herds in our area and only one individual that rears beef cattle so we may get away with it. The local badger protection man bern is quite upset about the whole cull he feels it will makes things worse as the Badgers will move and if they carry the virus it will spread to other farm land where they may not of had it in the past, we will see but what ever we say will have no effect on the out come. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #218 5 Jan 2012 at 2.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #217
I have walked the valleys and the hills of Shropshire I have sat down in the heather and listened to the drone of the honey bee she was there taking, the succulent nectar back to its hive at the cottage far below, i have stood in the mountain stream as it tumbled down the mountain causing a silver spray as it crashed into the pool far below you would hear the call of the grouse high up in the heather and i watched above as the curlew crossed the sunlight sky
making his familiar call cour-ee maybe calling his mate who was far below. It is in these hills that i have watched the goshawk i have climbed to her nest in the coniferous forest and looked inside to see the young chicks both parents attacked as i held the youngsters in my hand they fiercely attack any potential predators this includes humans i replaced the chicks and down the tree i went, they still stooped warning me away giving a cry gek gek gek i did not get hurt but was a bit frightened that i may fallen from high up in the old conifer i kept and eye on that nest for a few weeks i did not want the chicks stolen she reared three in all i was really thrilled to see them they were extinct in Britain in 1800s a few birds escaped captivity, and some released made the big difference, most breed over the border wales in the big conifer plantations looked after by the forestry commission.

As i walked on through the heather i could see the stream far below it was now quite wide you could see it winding its way through the Shropshire country side i have fished the stream many times catching the wonderful brown trout they did not grow big a pound was a good fish but they were marvelous eating i would spin with a small minnow mounted in a flight but could they fight sending up a spray of silver water as they bid for freedom i would not take them all it was great fun catching these small brownies i would hold them in my hand and stare in wonder at the beautiful coloured spots that covered there flanks on both sides then slip them back into the foaming water and watch them swim away they were there to fight another day. As i reached the low land i sat and watched a buzzard circle hight above looking for some poor unsuspecting rabbit maybe to feed her chicks, the humble rabbit was now making a fast recovery from that horrible disease myxomatosis they lived in small pockets using the brambles and scrub as there home bush rabbits, they were black, where they had originated from i don't know maybe some ones pet rabbit that had escaped and breed over the years they were also good eating plenty off fat around the kidneys, i loved these hills and valleys they were so much part of my life. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #217 4 Jan 2012 at 11.33am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #216
Since i was old enough i have loved nature and the country side its a way of life i have met so many friends over the years some have been real old characters alas no more they have passed on and taken there knowledge with them i have pitted my wits against some fine game keepers knowing if i had been caught i would probably had a good hiding they were all good chaps and did the job to the best of there ability the war years interfered with some of the big estates the game keepers were called up and some never returned by the time the war was over the woods and surrounding land was full of vermin foxes stoats weasels bird life crows every thing that took pheasant poults was killed unfortunately falcons as well i would creep up the woods and looked what the keeper had hung from his rail there would be all sorts hanging there badgers foxes crows rats even the odd otter even cats . thank god things have now changed there would be lots of trapping going on i would find them in the hedge rows they were fearsome things i would find the odd rabbit in them any foxes shot or trapped in those days were usually skinned and there pelt were sold even when i was young some keepers used the pole trap a nasty way to catch the big predatory birds but funnily enough there always seemed to be more wild life around in those days.

Most estates had a lake on the property but they were strictly private anyone caught fishing would be in serous trouble but these estates attracted me i loved to fish these lakes they were mostly stocked with Rudd roach and pike some of the Rudd were big some over three pounds we never had scales in those days you would guess the size but they were very big you could not get your hand around them we never had landing nets only your hands it was on these estates that my love of wild life started especially the fox he was an old rogue of the country side it was sad to see him hunted and shot but like all things he had to be kept in check the birds came first but the keeper never killed them all you would see the odd one or two when out and about what a handsome animal he is with his beautiful rustic red coat but he certainly can inflict a lot of damage to farmers and keepers i have been called out by farmer freinds old foxy had got into the chicken pen not content to take one he killed the lot over forty hens you could not afford to let that happen so he had to be sorted.. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #216 3 Jan 2012 at 4.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #215
AS i walked through the woods to the lake the wind roared in the tree tops the old trees creaked with age some of oaks were years old i was there for a purpose to catch the trout from sirs lake it was stocked full of beautiful rainbows they were put into the lake for the friends of sirs and for his own pleasure, and believe me when i say it was also for my pleasure i will not mention the owners name although he was a lord i do not want to embarrass his family but just say he has long gone but his family still live by that old lake in the woods, all i would carry was a bag on my back and my trusted rod and reel and my tin of red worms gathered from a local farm it was a necessity in those far off days we needed the trout for food out i cast keeping low behind the big reed bed i felt for the bite with my finger and thumb i did not have to wait long they were greedy fish you would feel the bite it would pull the line then the top of the rod would loop over no net in those days play it to the side and into the bag but this estate was not easy to poach you were always on the look out for the keepers there was at least six on this big estate and they were out at night looking out for deer poachers and such they even looked after sirs trout lake i was lucky i never once came up against them, it its funny old life years latter i became a friend of the head keeper and would be invited on the hare drives there were hundreds in those days you could shoot a hundred in a good day maybe more it was revenue for the estate the money they got for the hares was plowed back into it.

Over the years i got to know sir quite well he would always have a chat if he came across you on the hare drives he was a true country man little did he know i had poached his trout years before, but getting to know the keepers and gaining there respect led to many things i was asked if i would attend the big fox shoots they held on the estate i had even by then got a reputation for foxes i loved them, but i also knew they needed to be controlled on these big estates as they reared hundreds of birds for sirs syndicate and many friends as far as the hare drives i was always a bit suspicious about the guns if i did not know them as some used to get quite excited and you had to be on your guard as you may get a pellet or two i have seen it happen the bloke further up the line has been shot in the legs not badly but bad enough to ask the offending gun to remove him self from the shoot with a few choice words from the keeper.

I must admit i was tempted to have a few of sirs birds but i had gained his respect so left well alone he had another lake on the estate that he let me fish i caught some big eels from there ,i don't think i had one under three pounds i also caught a few carp nothing big i suppose the biggest was five pounds but did not complain as it was free it is now a few years since i walked that estate the keepers are all dead sir died the estate is still run by the family, i have some great memories about my poaching those trout years ago and my friendship with the keepers and the shoots that i took part in now it seems a long time ago i suppose it is i am now approaching seventy years old not like the youngster that poached that estate many years before. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #215 31 Dec 2011 at 2.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #213
WELL i hope you all had a nice Christmas i ended up with the lurgy but had some great presents from my family and friends how things have altered over the years when i was a youngster you would hear the carol singers they would come to your house and sing but not any more but we all had a Christmas, our presents were wrapped in brown paper but we did not mind , i can remember lying in bed and listening to the bombers as the past over our house i was not very old at the time but i can remember it as if it was yesterday what a noise they made the house would be all blacked out that was over sixty years ago my grandad died in 1947 he was a big influence in my young life it was he that introduced me to fishing and the delights of the country side he took me to see old Harry Edwards the local rabbiting man who thinned the rabbits out on the big estates there would be rabbits hanging every where you looked he would pass my grandad a rabbit wrapped in news paper how much harry grandad would say nowt to you charlie as you makes a good job with my boots when i bring them in for repair grandad was a shoe repairer he also made boots for the local gentry but that was years ago he died in 1947 at the age of 52 young really but he had a big influence in my young life introducing me to fishing and the delights of the countryside my father had died in the war so i was brought up by my mother we also let a room in our house to a land girl called Joan hay she is still alive and a grand old age it was she that introduced me to bomere as she worked for the local farmer Mr lock i was only young but i would wonder around old Mr lock would say keep thee away from that pool as you may drown it did have reputation a few had committed suicide in the lake my great uncle drowned trying to swim across the lake whether he had cramp no one knew but he disappeared and was never seen again he still lies in the depths of that lake they tried to find him but failed.

When i went down to bomere i would walk into the woods and watch the keeper feed his young poults in a pen behind his house he never knew i was there i would go birds nesting clime the trees height did not worry me the woods were a wonderful place for a youngster like me if had been caught i would of been in trouble i learned so much about nature from those woods but it was much latter before i poached the place latter on the woods were full of pheasant hundreds i used to think how i could catch a few but i was far to young old Mr lock would say thee will be in big trouble if them keepers catch you , i was only about eight years old when mum met and married a man called Bert pemberton i had my name changed to pemberton my real name was wood he was a signal man on the railway it was not long before we moved to craven arms he died four years ago he was a great father who encouraged me to fish and shoot he bought me my first real gun only an air gun but i soon became very accurate using it and shot a few pheasants but that stopped when i met old SAM the keeper. well that it for now more latter i wish you all a happy and prosperous new year
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #214 24 Dec 2011 at 9.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #212
Merry xmas to you an yours Pete.,

Thank you for the reads..
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #213 24 Dec 2011 at 11.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #212
It was the night before Christmas as we made our way across the fields the frost glistened on the grass leaving our tracks for all to see the sky above was covered in twinkling stars the moon cast shadows over the distant fields but i had promised our friends a couple of birds apiece i could not let them down the year was around 1959 things were still quite hard i had taken a friend with me tonight his name was jack a wily youngster who was no stranger to breaking the odd law but as we walked he seemed on edge whats up jack i said, whim get caught shooting the birds from these woods, there was a little bit of gypsy in our jack and he was very dark skinned i had never seen him frightened before no jack i said they will all be at the pub they will not expect any poaching to night he answered Na i suppose not but what about the ghosts that haunt the big lake there is only two ghosts tonight jack that's you and me i have poached these woods for years and have never seen out.

On we went towards the distant wood but our jack was not saying much he seemed a bit down and quite what about the ghostly bells that come from the lake Pete, i had heard this story before and said to jack its been made up by the keepers to keep the likes of us away i don't know about that Pete my grandad heard them years ago god jack i have never seen you so scared pull yourself together there's nowt in those woods that will hurt you, we climbed the fence into the wood and made our way under the canopy of trees to the main covert there was ice on the side of the big lake my ears tingled from the cold, you can hold the light jack ill shoot the buggers it was not long before we had a few nice birds in the bag, for once it was quite nice to have company we have got more than we want jack lets call at the compases one of the local pubs and raffle a couple of birds with the domino's what if Gerry in there bugger him its Xmas they will soon go, Gerry will be at the fishes, we started to walk back through the woods when the bloody bells chimed out jack took one look at me and was gone leaving the bag with the birds behind i was doubled up laughing it was the bells from condover church calling the faithful for midnight communion. Poor old jack before i caught up with him he had made it to the railway line did yer hear them ghostly bells Pete i had to laugh no jack they were from condover church i must admit the lake being in a valley made the bells seem if the came from the lake we made our way home across the fields funny i could not get jack to come again he was deeply superstitious and really believed he had heard the ghostly bells of Bomere woods. well that it for now have a peaceful christmas and an happy new year more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #212 22 Dec 2011 at 10.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #211
"At solstice, the woods were bright in a snowy way, the sky pearl gray above the stately maples and gnarled burr oaks. An Alaskan marooned in the urban Midwest, it took me years to find this nearby patch of relatively undisturbed land where I can sense the power of wildness. Now I go there often, watching the seasons unfold their changeful unchanging patterns in the increasingly familiar forest.

I especially like to walk among the sleeping trees in the half-lit silence of winter dawns. The trail I follow winds and twists, new patches of mixed woodland appearing at every turn. That morning, I reached a point where the path turns sharply left to follow a small ravine. In spring, ephemeral ponds—lively with salamanders, loud with frogs—form in the creases of the forest there. But in frozen winter, I expected nothing beyond silence and wind.

So I did not see them at first, three deer beside three empty larches. When I made them out—gray-dun hides against a gray-dun world—they were motionless, white tails aloft like flags of distress. I stopped in my tracks, thinking how lucky I was to meet the animal my Celtic forebears called the spirit of wildness on that auspicious day."

May i wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and very happy new year
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #211 20 Dec 2011 at 11.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #210
As i stood in the woods i remembered the time i poached the woods and stream belonging to the condover estate the keeper was old frank bell although dead for many years his house still stands and the big wood known to the locals as bells wood is still there old frank chased me on more then one occasion with the police and under keepers joining in i was fishing this one night when i heard the barking of dogs and the voices of approaching men i ran the field beside the stream and decided i would cross the water fall to the other side belonging to condover blind school but i fell in it was not that deep only about three feet but it felt very cold and i shivered from head to foot it was two in the morning. I made for the river bridge staying to the side of the stream i knew it would hide any scent from the approaching dogs up into the wood i went hiding the rod and fish then up this big old fir and that is where i stayed i watching as the keepers and police passed under this big tree i giggled to my self not aloud i could hear them talking as they followed the dogs further down stream i could see from the torches they used it was Sgt landers and also pc sharp Stan who i was freinds with in latter life, they soon returned and gave in for the night i stayed up that tree for at least another hour until things had settled down picking up my rod and fish on the way home i picked up my bike which i had hidden in condover i had one job to do before returning home, i got on my bike still very wet and took two trout and tied them on old bells gate it was my way of saying thank you i still wonder if he had them for break fast that old fir i hid up still stands to this very day and looks the same as it did all those years ago i could not clime it now but i have my memories of times long ago.

I was really frightened this one night i thought i was going to be caught i had been shooting a few pheasants with my trusted air gun and torch when i heard a shout i have got you this time bloody hell it was old bell and not by himself he had others with him including the police the estate was surrounded by a big stone wall i ran the path out of the wood and over the wall hiding the rods and birds on the way crossed the adjoining road into the field jumping into the ditch it was dry thank god i could hear the shouts in the distance i ran the ditch coming out by the farm known as the green now belonging to Jim Davies it did not take me long to clime the bales in the barn and cover my self up it was not long before i could hear voices god they were at the farm, why i don't know but i heard them call the chase off and they returned the way they had come i was shaking with excitement my adrenaline must have been sky high i gave it an hour for things to settle then collected my gun and birds from the undergrowth picked up my bike i had hidden it in condover and started for home i arrived on the out skirts of the village only to see the police land rover blocking off any access to my house, the crafty bug;;; had twigged it may be me so i turned left into the field arriving at the back of my house over the hedge went my bike followed by me through the hole in the hedge it was not the first time i had used this way to get home i put the pheasant in the shed i was awoken in the morning by a knock on the door my mother answered it was the Sgt where was i mum said in bed before he could answer she said all night it was now six in the morning mum was not amused about being got up so early away they went they could not prove a thing don't make me tell lies again she said as she was a very honest women but it was all forgotten when eating the pheasants for Sunday dinner. well that it for now more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #210 20 Dec 2011 at 9.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #208
In reply to Post #206
hi pete , spotted a bird round my way a while ago , about the same size as
a blackbird . it had black blue and white feathers, bit like the blue on a magpie
but defoe wasn't one of them. spoke to a game keeper who told me it was a field-fare
but it wasn't , just wondered if you had any idea what it would have been





hi ralph feel i must apologize to you concerning the blue in the magpie, the amount i have caught over the years in the larson. for the local farmers i should have known better, it does indeed have iridescent blue green sheen on its black wings infact talking to a member on here it could even of been a young magpie that you saw once again i apologize .
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #209 15 Dec 2011 at 8.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #206
Some local guy asked if i would continue my stories my answer was very simple as long as you all enjoy what i write i will continue, i have not done all i would like to have this year owing to my health i have been struggling to walk owing to my breathing and my back complaint i am now waiting to see a specialist for my back problem which is called senosis, i have just had a scan on my lungs unfortunately i have emphysema caused by me smoking a pipe for over forty years i have not smoked for at least four years but the damage has been done and walking to fast and to far really makes me struggle to breath but i am not ready for old nick just yet i am waiting now to see another specialist and things can be done but there is no cure so if you smoke please pack it up as i would not like to see you all like me.

Well that's enough of that lets get on with my stories heavy snow is forecast for Shropshire tonight followed by heavy rain we certainly need the rain some of our lakes need a big top up i have never seen them so low the ground is still very hard in our area and the recent rain has just not soaked in. Getting back to the wild life going down to my syndicate last Saturday i followed a little Merlin he flew a foot off the ground then skimmed the hedge row to my right and landed in a gate way and allowed me to stop and watch him i was only about maybe a yard from him he was a male with his bluish grey back he just stayed where he was and only took to flight when i put my window down but for me it was a privilege to have seen him this is not the first time i have seen this little hunter and it is always in the same lane. Another bird that has shown up on our shoot is a hen harrier it is a female and she is by her self with no male, how long she will stay i don't know maybe she is only resting coming down from the hill country to the lowlands as food is more available IE rabbits and small birds i just hope English nature does not see the bird as all and sundry may be rolling up to watch her after all it is a triple ssi site even my syndicate has to watch what we do although we have a good re-pore with them and really get on well together they like to see us around as our feeders do feed other birds as well as our pheasants.

The river Severn is bank height it must have rained quite hard in wales i would not mind having ago for the barbel as some real biggies come out in the winter my friend the bailiff has had a few doubles already i think the biggest was over twelve pounds ill have to look for the photos he sent me but he slipped putting back the big one, and ended up in bed hurting his back quite severely i think he is now back in circulation but have not seen him for a couple of months well the foxes should now be mating for all you night anglers you should now hear the vixen calling and the dog answering with with a sharp bark, she will have now chosen the earth she will have her cubs in at a latter date and will lie in this earth on her own out of the bad weather keeping her self warm the cubs will be born early march april not to far away, i hate these dark nights when i poached they were a great help but now i am getting old i prefer the light nights if any one wants to ask any questions regarding wild life please do i am only to glad to help and answer what i can . well that's it for now more latter.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #208 15 Dec 2011 at 11.58am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #207
In reply to Post #206
hi pete , spotted a bird round my way a while ago , about the same size as
a blackbird . it had black blue and white feathers, bit like the blue on a magpie
but defoe wasn't one of them. spoke to a game keeper who told me it was a field-fare
but it wasn't , just wondered if you had any idea what it would have been
thanks,

hi Ralph not being rude a magpie does not have blue in his plumage i think what you saw was a jay beautiful bird full of colour there is one other that has a bit of blue but not as big as a black bird it is the haw finch it has bluish on its back his wings are a blackish with a bluish back and has white wing tips and white tips on the tail they are quite a big finch and a lovely looking bird def not a fieldfair. hope that helps a bit Pete.
ralph69
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   Old Thread  #207 14 Dec 2011 at 11.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #206
hi pete , spotted a bird round my way a while ago , about the same size as
a blackbird . it had black blue and white feathers, bit like the blue on a magpie
but deffo wasnt one of them. spoke to a game keeper who told me it was a fieldfare
but it wasnt , just wondered if you had any idea what it would have been
thanks,
ralph
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #206 10 Dec 2011 at 5.54pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #205
Well i have been down our woods today it was absolutely bitter our small duck pool had frozen over the woods were very still and quite i saw very little wild life the odd rabbit scampered by vanishing in the dense undergrowth one thing i am very pleased with was the amount of woodcock that were put up by the dogs they seem to have appeared over night i saw at least eight and that was only in one part of the big wood there was a time a few years ago when you would put up at least fifty or more i think the snow is not to far away it would not surprise me to wake up to a fair covering one of these next mornings i looked across to hill country and they had a small covering of snow i love these winter days it reminds me about the poaching i did in the surrounding woods for the pheasants especially this time of year we could make a bob or two for our back pockets the woods at that time were full of birds it was quite easy to poach a few with the air gun and torch the only worry you had was the game keeper and if you watched him long enough you would soon learn the best time to poach his birds was between seven at night and eleven o'clock he would be away at the pub usually the three fishes on our village i would pop in to make sure have a pint of mild listen to the chat and see if the keeper was there, he would leave his trusted motorcycle around the back of the pub so he may have gone to one of the other pubs on the village.

But if his bike was there i would be away to collect my gun from home you really had to know the woods and the many pathways i would make for his main coverts they were very easy to shoot i strapped the torch to the gun barrel switch it on look up into the trees pick an easy bird aim the gun pull the trigger and down he would come he would flutter around a bit so i would remove all evidence by picking any feathers up, then to the next tree you repeated it a few more times until you had enough birds I carried an old post bag to put the birds in, it could get rather heavy if you shot to many, and by the time you got home you would be tired out i have shot as many as twenty some nights but it was a necessity in those days as times were very hard i would give a few to our neighbors my mother always worried about me getting caught but i would tell here not to worry i can run lot faster than old Gerry the keeper or frank bell and i knew the woods well even if it was dark i knew which tree to clime to hide or which path to run and get away, even the farm at the end of the wood i could hide in the haystack i never once got caught but had a few near escapes over the years i have had a few shots fired over my head but it was worth the effort in those days the humble pheasant fetched a fair price not like today last week i saw them at the market for a pound each to cheap not worth poaching well that's it more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #205 9 Dec 2011 at 10.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #204
n reply to Post #203
i didn't know that people were allowed to shoot badgers pete, or is it only farmers that are

excellent reading by the way

hi ralph have not been clear enough only trained shooters will be used i just hope it does not happen maybe some of the farmers will be good enough shots we will have to see, they are trying out inoculations on some farms catching the badgers then injection we will have to wait to see how it works out thanks for the kind words pete
ralph69
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ralph69
   Old Thread  #204 9 Dec 2011 at 10.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #203
i didnt know that people were allowed to shoot badgers pete, or is it only farmers that are

excellent reading by the way
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #203 5 Dec 2011 at 1.13pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #202
This morning i noticed the birds are feeding heavy from the feeders in my garden i wonder if bad weather is on the way it is surprising what our little feathered friend can tell us regarding snow and ice when i lived in hill country the sheep would give you signs of approaching bad weather by coming down from the tops and lying down under the hedgerows it was a certainty when they did this you would have bad weather on occasions we would have had to dig them out of the deep snow drifts it is really funny how warm they would be under the snow how they breathed under that lot i do not know. when younger i would track the animals in the snow the fox stoats weasels even badgers but most would stay under ground in severe conditions.


I was down the woods on Saturday in the one corner of the field the farmer had left an unopened straw bale the badgers had opened it up and dragged it into the field they were taking it back to there living quarters to use as bedding i followed them down the wood you could see where they had dropped some of the straw on there way back to the set there must be at least twenty badgers, living there probably more a few years back i would go down to watch them at night what a lovely sight to sit and watch them search for worms on a moon light night, we had them quite tame and they would let us get quite close they were so used to seeing us out at night they never really bothered . i am just hopping they will not get annihilated when the farmers shoot them one thing we have in our favour most of the land surrounding the set is arable there is only one farm in the vicinity that has cattle no milkers only bullocks being reared for eating and quite honestly i have never heard him complain about the badgers.

There was only one angler on the big lake on Saturday he had his bivie up i drove past him in my 4-4 but he never came out to see who it was maybe fast asleep it was quite a chilly day my syndicate had a reasonable day the bag was not huge a few ducks and a few pheasants but i was happy every one except myself had a bit of shooting i watched from a distance sitting in my car as i did not want to do much walking. I am really a bit shocked that more anglers are not fishing the lakes as graham and myself had some wonderful days this time of year fishing for the pike we had them to over twenty pounds in the sixties, but i am told they are not in the water like they used to be why i do not know, i do know when it was day ticket some were caught and killed i suppose that was the future stock i removed some of the people killing the fish
by banning them for life but i could not be there all the while so i dont how many more were killed . This was in the late sixties early seventies some were taken to eat so we cant blame polish and such as it was going on in the sixties i have had pike but was not very keen as it tasted quite muddy but in the forties and fifties you would eat most things . as times were very hard . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #202 29 Nov 2011 at 1.28pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #201
i really wonder what kind of winter we are going to get the amount of fieldfare and Brambling we are seeing huge flocks in Shropshire with a few red wing they all come from northern Europe Scandinavia it must be a lot colder over there to see the amount we are getting here we usually see a few , but not the large flocks we have got now i have already told you about the huge flocks of teal appearing we always see quite a lot of this lovely little bird but not the amount we are seeing now we have also seen a few shelduck which is quite unusual this far in land whether these birds are migrating from Germany and have stopped over to rest on our pools and lakes, One bird i have not seen as yet is the woodcock we usually see quite a number in our woods they usually arrive over night from countries such as Russia and Finland they are a lovely little bird with there beautiful camouflaged plumage which makes it a difficult to observe the dogs usually disturb this bird from thick cover you could easily walk over it as it blends in with the under growth well the gentry used to love to eat this little bird but not enough meat on it for me the species has been in decline for the last few years caused from being over hunted in parts of Europe.

I loved to fish the river at this time of year when i was younger it was mostly chub and the roach i fished for but we had great days float fishing for The dace this lovely silver fish is really in decline also the roach are not there in the numbers they were, what with cormorants and goo sanders the latter birds are doing terrible damage on the Severn they hunt in big packs i have seen them all in a line across the river and have counted as many as thirty some anglers have called for a cull i would like to see that happen but you would never get the public to agree to such a thing what with otters mink goosanders cormorants its a wonder any fish are caught, the match weights have really suffered over the past few years Even the tributaries have suffered to name a few the river Rea the river tern not so long ago you would see the water vole on the Rea i have spent hours watching this shy animal when i have been fishing now nearly all gone due to the mink we now have the otter back he may move the mink away but what damage will he do to these lovely little rivers there are far to many otters around now they have no predators or hunt to keep them under control i am not getting into any arguments over this animal. Its humans to blame interfering with nature and having little knowledge about the damage they can do. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #201 27 Nov 2011 at 5.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #200
What a day the sky was black with duck all the years we have run our little syndicate i have never seen so many duck they were mostly teal with just a few mallard what a sight, a friend of mine has been reguarly feeding our small duck pool and its been covered in ducks the last few weeks. These ducks have arrived so early it must be the weather conditions abroad most come from Iceland Russia so maybe its the cold conditions that has caused them to migrate a lot earlier than normal they are quite welcome on our small syndicate, there was also a nice show of pheasants that flew very high and fast in the gale force winds a few years ago we used to put down around two thousand birds, but that has finished my health will not allow myself and friends to do the work that it entails we are all mostly old fogeys past our best, but we enjoy one another's company i did not take part yesterday owing to my left hip and back playing up so i sat in my 4-4 and watched the events unfold i or my friend tony has to be there to make sure the day runs smoothly i think our oldest member is nearly eighty years old the youngest is 14 years old he is my mates grandson we are trying to teach him as much about the country side traditions as we possibly can it has changed so much since i was a young man one thing he wont have to do is poach which was a big part of my younger life

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A CARP FROM BOMERE YEARS AGO
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YOUNG TOM WE ARE TEACHING HIM THE COUNRTY SIDE TRADITIONS

Looking around the lakes yesterday i saw no one fishing i think the carp fishing was not that good this year, why i wonder, i think most of the syndicate live quite some distance from the lake and can not afford to travel to put a little ground bait in it is quite a hard water, well it was when i fished it. I would put in half a bucket hemp three time a week with a handful off bolies on top a little bit often was my motto and it did seem to work and i always fished the margins never putting a bait into the deeper water maybe things have changed over the years most of my fish came at night but one syndicate member told me most come in the day light now so that's one thing that has changed, i was a bit surprised there was no pike anglers on the water as you usually see a few this time of year, i cannot believe how undergrowth is still so thick in the woods the beaters and walking guns said they had quite job getting through the tangle of briers what it really needs is a couple of good frosts to kill it off, we still have a lot of leaves on the trees, but the high winds should bring the rest down . one thing that did please me was the big skeins of geese that came into the old quarry pool they were mostly geylags i think in total i watched at least five hundred birds come in to rest on the pool it wont be long before a few of us have a go at them before the farmers start to complain god knows where all the Canada's have gone i have only seen the odd skein but i have heard stories that there has been a cull on these birds, i hope it is not true but there certainly was far to many in some parts of the country, one such place was Ellesmere where i have been told they made one hell of a mess of the paths that surround the mere, how true it is i don't know but i was also told they were trying to get rid of a few, the one lake i fished at Ellesmere were having lots of problems with the birds and the wardens were *****ing the eggs in season so they would not rear so many young. well thats it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #200 25 Nov 2011 at 10.13am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #199
I don't know what it is but there something nice about the woods this time of year maybe its the leaves changing another year over, you can smell decay all a around you, and can certainly see more when the trees have no foliage. when i was young i would fish the winter through we had no protection in those days i would be away float fishing on the mighty Severn or the little Rea brook the times my line froze to the rod my hands would be frozen but i caught it was mainly roach or chub we really never fished the lakes as most fish would turn off they obviously did feed at times but we never had the cloths of today to protect us i remember fishing this one night with angling Times it would be around 1970 it was on blakemere we fished for the big bream it held, i remember covering our bodies up with a blanket then a piece of canvas it would be late November early December we must of dozed off it was freezing hard i awoke with a start i have never been so cold i was white all over the frost had frozen the canvas solid i looked over at graham he looked like something out of a horror story the canvas looked white and it had frozen some of his hair we both could not stop shaking i said never again but we did and fished Berrington one night in late November the very next year, that was the last time i ever fished a winter night we were both frozen to the bone i remember carrying our tackle back to the car my fingers were that cold i was nearly crying and that was not the end we finished up in bed quite, poorly with flue like systems we could not afford to be away from work we needed the money we had young families and times were still quite hard i certainly did not want the sack but jobs were a bit easier to find in those days but the money was not that good.

I have also shot in terrible weather we would go up in hill country graham and I always got a few invites on some of the pheasant shoots another friend always came with us his name was Rodger he used to beat for us i have been in some terrible storms in those hills the snow soon drifted making walking nearly impossible when you were in the woods standing the snow did not appear to be that much as it could not penetrate through the big fir trees you would get a bit under foot but not much but once out side the woods there could be as much as a foot of snow more where it had drifted i can well remember calling it a day usually about three in the afternoon we have gone back to the cars no way could we get out it would was over a foot deep the farmer would get the tractor and pull us out but the roads were like an ice rink not much gritting done like now a half hour journey would take a couple of hours by the time we had called at the local pub for a glass of malt to warm us up , i was always glad to get in the house and warm myself by the fire but they were great times i have loved every minute and if i had the chance i would do it all over again. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #199 21 Nov 2011 at 12.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #198
We have had over the years a few practising the black arts in our woods we have found everything from crosses up side down nicely made and screwed to the tree we took it down and threw it away but it was back within the week i did meet the culprits as i have stated in a earlier thread all women i was bit embarrassed they were all in the noddy they explained they were good witches i could not keep a straight face it went bright red there was about twelve in all some were really attractive i could not get home quick enough to tell my mate graham they even asked me if i was embarrassed i was a bit you don't see that very often especially, when you had gone to bait up, we came in contact with another group, on Bomere this was years ago they had made little men and they hung them from a tree branch they were all made the same and had a proper noose around there necks we never met the group doing this but it left a nasty taste in your mouth the one i found latter on had a needle going through his head and was hanging by his neck we destroyed them all.

It never put me off fishing the place and quite honestly i never saw any one maybe i was not there at the right time we had some great times fishing the lake the pike champion ship of great Britain was held on the lake a couple of times i can't remember the out come of this big competition i know there was a big entry , we also had the British eel club they fished it for some time but i don't think they did very well and pulled off . I must admit graham Bernard and myself fished it for eels in the late sixties but we never caught one funny really as there was a over flow at the one end of the lake i have never heard of an eel coming out until about three years ago one was caught at a weight of four pound eight 0z but i have heard of none since we had some very good pike days especially in the sixties early seventies its where i first met a young dez Taylor who was fishing for the pike he tried to sell me a water proof suit he fished bomere for a good many weeks we also had a few big name carp anglers on bomere trying there luck this was when it was day ticket it was my job to check the tickets but we had a job with lots of litter left it was full time job picking it up so it was not long before it went syndicate again it was the best thing that happened we had a very young Ellis brazier who ran the syndicate i never joined but was allowed to fish free owing to me looking after the place. And you all know Ellis went on to better things i can remember him catching his first thirty from the lake i did the photography. He has since suffered a heart attack i felt very sorry for him but i believe he has now recovered and is fishing again. well a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #198 18 Nov 2011 at 10.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #197
As i walked down the woodland ride i stood and listened the only noise i could hear was the buzzard who soared on the thermal high above the wood, giving the occasional mewing or ee-uu i have walked these rides many times over the years the woodland floor was a mass of primroses as far as the eye could see they had grown in this wood for generations i put my back to a big oak and sat down and thought about the days i had sat here and watched the fox cubs rolling down the steep embankment at the time the woods were a sea of blue bells and the cubs flattened every thing in their way they would then scamper back up the bank and do it all again there was six in all all healthy cubs and well fed they would soon tire and would then fall asleep in the ferns that surrounded the big earth i felt really privileged to watch these young foxes i am sure they knew i was there and would come right up to where i lay hidden in the ferns and blue bells.

my mates would say i smelled of foxes i suppose i did as i spent many hours watching them. I will tell you more about these young cubs as i watched the vixen would arrive with a rabbit or pheasant put it down and give a sharp yap the cubs would come running so excited to see there mother some tried to suckle but she would push them away as they could now eat meat and her milk had dried up, looking at the vixen you could see she had been pulled about and was really not in very good nick but she would pick up once the cubs had gone but she never saw her young cubs grow up she was killed shot by the local farmer i wondered how these young cubs would survive they were not old enough to hunt for there selves so i left a rabbit in front of the earth i did not expect them to eat it with human scent from my hands but they did i watched as they played tug of war with this rabbit one thing i did not expect was to see this big dog fox appear and leave a rabbit in front of the earth then a vixen came on the scene and started bringing food to these youngsters i knew this vixen she was very small i really wondered if she was a litter sister to the vixen that had been shot i had seen this happen before but if you read the books they say it does not well i can honestly say it does.

I loved the foxes and it is funny how i got to know them, every one was slightly different in some small way the one dog had a really dark coat another a sandy colour i soon learned to tell them apart we had a three legged one but he could still hunt and run as fast as one with four legs. The six young cubs soon left the safety of the earth and went there separate ways two of the cubs were vixens and did seem to stay together for some time but the other four were males and moved away not many survive the first twelve months they are either shot or end up as road casualties. well theres a bit more about my favorite animal the red fox i have spent many happy hours watching them over the years and they have given me great pleasure. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #197 15 Nov 2011 at 6.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #196
As i sat under the big oak and watched the stars over head i heard unmistakable call of the vixen it was carried on the wind from deep in the wood i loved to hear the noises of the night when i was fishing. The wind ripped through the top of the old oak tree, the clouds drifted across the full moon casting shadow of silver across the distant fields in the distance you could hear the cry of the geese , they were traveling to some distant stubble field the crash of a fish far out in the lake that brought me around the water foamed at my feet the wind was warm i did not need a heavy coat for protection from the weather tonight, i had positioned my three rods one was fished to the left by the side of the reed bed the other two out in front in the baited area i lay down on the bed chair and thought of the times long ago when i first fished this ancient pool it was formed by the ice age i wondered how many in the past had fished its depths whether the fish had been used for food, i looked up at the big oak from my bivie door and wondered how many years had it stood beside this old lake a screech from a owl made me jump somewhere out in the lake another fish crashed out disturbing a coot, who made that unmistakable call kwok, she had nested on here early on in April rearing her brood of seven chicks and had another brood in June she had done well this year although she lost some of her chicks to a mink.

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The black carp
I was startled from my slumber by the my alarm it went into overdrive i was on the rod in an instant, it felt a good fish as it rolled on the surface just out in front it made a rush to my left but applying pressure i managed to turn his head at last he lay on his side and i manged to slip the net under him he was mine i carefully lifted him onto the mat and parted the net it was a good fish a mirror on weighing him he was twenty eight pounds four oz a good fish my mate was fast asleep so i sacked it in deep water until morning when i could get the photos done, i cast out again to the baited spot and returned to my bed once again i was awakened not by the alarms but to some one shooting looking at my watch it was two thirty i got up and looked out side you could see the lamp being used as it swept across the distant fields they were lamping shooting the foxes that were numerous around here owing to the tip which was over the field from where i fished, i suspected it was the farmer or one of the locals who had got permission i remembered the times when graham and myself had traversed the same fields looking for the humble rabbit it was not unusual to shoot fifty a night which we sold to the local market or friends i am afraid it was not always legal but such is life, a pheasant piped up disturbed from it roost by the sound of the distant gun i watched as the light disappeared in the distance it was early morning when my alarm sounded again i managed to land another mirror of twenty pounds a real black fish it had a big slash down its back which had now healed i wondered if it had been struck by one of the boats that was used for skiing . i returned both fish and watched them both disappear into the depths of this ancient lake. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #196 12 Nov 2011 at 3.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #195
As i stood under the hedge that surrounded the big wood it started to snow i pulled my coat around me to keep me warm the north east wind was bitter looking up the field he came towards me head held high he stopped and shook the snow from his rustic coat he sniffed the air looking back, he was in no hurry i heard the sound of the hunting horn surely they are not out today in the distance i could see the dogs spread across the fields. The old dog stopped once again and sniffed the air he had done this many times before he knew these woods well it was his place of birth he knew every path and tree, he remembered how he had played out side the big earth many years before, he slipped under the old hedge and fence that surrounds the wood and was lost from sight i knew this dog well i had seen him many times before he would make his way to the big lake and would walk the waters edge he would leave no scent today, in the distance i could see the red of the huntsman's coat it was a foot pack. Where the guns were standing i did not know more figures appeared and stood out against the white of the snow covering the distant fields, there would be no scent today even the tracks of the passing dog had disappeared beneath the drifting snow on they came you could now hear the cry of the hounds as they came toward the old hedge they were exited by the chase the horn blew once again they were in full cry on and on they came i knew the huntsman well hi Pete he said have you seen charlie pass this way, yes says i he passed me by but you wont find him today under the fence the dogs went coursing here and there but no scent could they find.

The old dog had long gone he had traversed the big lake making his way to the rhododendrons under these big bushes he would crawl he now stretched out he had done this many times before he felt secure as the warmth of the bushes protected him against the wind and snow, here he would stay until hunger beckoned and then he would be away hunting the distant fields or farms the huntsman called the dogs away the snow was now falling heavy and drifting in the wind they gave old charlie best today the old dog knew he was safe as he had done this many times before that's how he had reached the age he was, once again he had out witted hounds and man to live another day. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #195 10 Nov 2011 at 3.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #194
When i moved back to the village of my birth i really started to fish i was fishing mad i did quite a bit of tench fishing i paired up with another young chap he had a motor scooter away we would go with two baskets on my back and the rods we started to fish a local water called the dell i loved the place and i soon became a member it was full of big tench and some nice roach there was some carp in the water but it was very rare to see any come out we both would float fish in the big holes in the Lillie beds we would throw a bit of ground bait out, usually bread crumbs mixed with sausage rusk it did the trick the lad i fished with was called Dave anslow we usually fished in a double swim you would see the lilies moving as the tench grubbed around stiring great patched of mud from the bottom they soon found our ground bait the whole swim would be a mass of bubbles we watched our floats, they would move about as the fish brushed against the line then the float would rise in the water and slide away it was hectic fishing we now had landing nets so there was no problem landing the fish, we caught some good tench not huge usually around three pounds plus when hooked they did scrape and you had to try and keep them away from the lilies or you would be snagged and lose the fish i learned a lot fishing with Dave he liked a bit of match fishing but that was not for me.

When we were not fishing the lake you would see us fishing the Severn we both liked it when in flood the river Rea met the Severn and caused a big pool where the water backed up we had some cracking days fishing there it was full of fish taking refuge from the main river we both caught usually roach and chub there was few pike they would strike at our hooked fish in those days i had an old sea rod i would put some heavy line on my wooden reel a big old pike bung then a treble put on a live bait and cast it out it would not be long before the float vanished below the surface and you were in i have landed some nice fish up to fifteen pounds you could catch four or five in a morning we always put them back it was great fishing things had started to improve tackle was getting better i just looked at the clock i am writing this at three in the morning i am suffering from gout and can not sleep for the pain it is a terrible thing caused by to much acid in the blood my foot looks like the the rising sun very red and painfull well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #194 8 Nov 2011 at 1.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #193
Just read the thread old school carp fishing got me thinking a bit when i first started i suppose i was only about eight years old it was chuck it and chance it i did have the tank aerials rods that a friend of my father had made up for me as young lads we would cycle miles i can still remember the excitement of it all our tackle was crude old wooden reels i have said it all before, i would sleep under the stars not a clue what we were doing we would lie on an old sack with a, army blanket wrapped around our body to keep us warm at times it was very cold we would then move to the farm buildings and sleep in the hay loft the owner was a chap called Sid Evans he liked to see us youngsters on his lake and would not take any fee for the fishing, he would bring us big bottles of home made ginger beer and at times bring us packets of biscuits and crisps, there was a few adults fishing the lake and they would turn up on there motor bikes some slept in tents they would pack up fishing as darkness fell and resume first light but i must admit i never saw them catch much. One lad i went to school with was always down the lake his name was Chris dodd we would sit and watch the carp in the weed beds and throw them big chunks of bread you would watch as the carp knocked the bread around until; it was small enough to swallow you could hear the slurping and sucking noise they made as they sucked the bread in. Chris and i and my friend ray decided we would give floating bread a go in the weed beds we mounted the bread crust on our big old eel hooks uncoiled the line behind us dunk the bread in the water then gave it then big chuck sometimes the bread came off other time pieces of grass tangled your line but we learned and got it out there it was exiting fishing you would sit on the grass beside your rod which was put in a forked stick cut out the hedge, you watched so full of excitement as the carp, approached the bread they would push it around until it was the right size then you watched as a big pair of lips sucked in your piece of bread, the line would straighten, up with your rod and strike some time you were lucky you would be in others you missed it was a job extracting them out of the weed bed we had no landing nets then so we got them into the shallows and lifted them out by hand.

At times we had an audience watching giving us all sorts of advice the fish we caught were not big by today's standard three or four pounds we never had any scales in those days one of the adults would fetch his pair they were a bit crude but did the job, we were the very first to catch on floating bread and there was a bit of jealousy because we were catching and others were not, we tried something different and it worked but every time we went from then on some other angler would be fishing that weed bed. we managed to get around that by fishing from the other side sid never let anyone fish the far side but gave us permission they were lovely days and at times i still dream about fishing that lake the biggest carp we caught was ten pounds which was weighted on SIDS fruit scales a big fish for those days the year was 1950. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #193 7 Nov 2011 at 11.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #192
When i was a youngster i would get really exited when i went fishing it certainly beat school i would play truant at every opportunity just to be by the river or lake it was my whole life i slept and dreamt about fishing i did get caught eventually and had three lashes of the cane on both hands i am sure my head master really enjoyed giving us youngsters the stick but i can honestly say it stopped me playing truant again, so i spent most of my free time up the river or on some lake it was a wonderful time in my life i had my bike and would tie the rod or rods to my cross bar and with only a bag on my back i would cycle miles to fish some long forgotten river or lake ,in the beautiful country side of south Shropshire, i would cycle as far away as bishops castle a long old plod from my home at craven arms i think i fished every lake within a radius of ten or so miles i would cycle a few mile to stretford and fish the small river i mostly span for the trout it held i had some wonderful days fishing that stretch of river you would see no one all day although the fishing was private i never got caught i would sit by that foaming river and eat my sandwiches a drink my bottle of pop they were hazy, lazy, days i have even caught perch from this part of the river i used to stare in wonder at this beautiful fish then return it and watch it swim away most people would eat it in those days but i could not see such a lovely fish killed.

In those long gone days i could take home as may as twenty or so trout they were never wasted and all was eaten by our selves and our neighbors, it was quite a wrench when we moved back to the village of my birth Bayston hill where i still reside i was about fourteen and it is where i really got into poaching i fished the mighty Severn the river Rea and all of the surrounding lakes i spent hours fishing the condover brook for the brown trout i would mostly fish it at night as it was strictly private and was looked after by old Frank Bell the keeper he was a good game keeper and would stand no messing and if he thought he had got a poacher he would ring the police station from the old phone box in the village and it was not long before two or three policemen joined the chase it really gave my adrenaline a big boost i never ever got caught and i loved the chase nearly as much as fishing i would hide up a tree or lie hidden under a bridge or even in a ditch and listened to them all chatting at times and have nearly burst out laughing at some of things they were saying about me they knew it was me but could not prove it i did get a bit embarrassed when the Sgt went to see my parents asking where i had been the night before they never once let me down i would get a bit of a telling off because they were frightened i might get caught, but they never said no to the fish i brought home every thing was shared with our neighbours and friends as the times were still quite hard. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #192 6 Nov 2011 at 3.24pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #191
Yesterday morning saw me down the woods with our small syndicate i can not believe how the leaves are still on the trees some are still green and we are now in November i was really thrilled to see loads of ducks come off our flight pool mostly all teal a good two hundred there was a good showing of pheasants it was our first morning nothing serious just a walk around for those that can, the problem is most of our syndicate are from the older generation they all shoot and fish my oldest member is eighty years old, but we all bear the same problems arthritis. We are not the good shots that we used to be me included, but our syndicate is not just about shooting its used as a meeting place where we can all get together and have a good chat about the past and the present one thing we all have is a deep love of the countryside and a passion for its wild life i have known most of the members for years we have shot and fished together most of our adult lives i personally have had this syndicate for the last thirty four years and some of our members are the same ones i started with, because of my health my good friend tony helps me out running the place but he is no better and is now suffering from the same thing as myself osteoarthritis which effects people in different ways i was very unlucky mine started at the age of 39 years but i persevered with it and never let it get the better of me.

As i stood and watched our guns it brought back many happy memories just behind me was the small lake called shomere its where i used to poach in my younger days, looking to my left is where the keeper old Gerry had his main release pen that was over fifty years ago god i had a few of his birds from that pen, its the same lake that i would see the gents an ladies dressed up in there tweeds shooting the ducks that came into the the lake god they were posh and all spoke as thought they had a plum in there mouths, but i had a few of those ducks before the dogs even got there. Its the same small lake that i fished years before it was strictly private but i would hide in the under growth and reeds. I float fished for the Rudd and bream i caught some good bags of bream nothing huge four or five pounds but good fishing i suppose i was about seventeen at the time i would watch as the game keeper gerry came down to feed his pheasants, and ducks, he would leave buckets of boiled potatoes mixed with barley in the shallow water at the edge of the lake i watches as big flocks of mallard arrived to feed off his offerings they were great days i was never caught once, but i had a few near escapes and have had old gerry fire his old gun over my head but with today's laws he would not of got away with doing that, but most of the keepers were the same when i was young guarding against trespassers the birds were there priority and livelihood. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #191 3 Nov 2011 at 11.11am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #190
I loved to walk in hill country it was there i got to know a farmer who had a small lake it was only about two acres but a beautiful looking lake he said it held some fair sized carp so it was not long before i had a go at fishing the place the farmer did not want any one night fishing only days i caught some beautiful mirrors biggest i caught was 23 pounds but there were a lot bigger fish in the lake it also held two big shoals of golden orfe with some very big fish amongst them unfortunately when i was fishing the place the farmer got poached and the one shoal went missing the lake was a couple of fields away from the house. They got in over the fence that was erected around the side of the lake and netted the water they did not bother with the carp only the golden orfe, how they were not seen i don't know as they must of a had a pick up or such with tanks on the back but i suppose it was in hill country which could be a bit quite not many around at night.
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a friend caught this pretty fish from the lake

Pete he said can you tell me how i can secure the place not an easy thing up there but i explained all about trip wires and such he ended up with infra red cameras on a couple of trees over looking the lake with a few trip wires it was a beautiful place, where i spent some happy hours it was in a valley surrounded by hills but the owner never had much luck i went fishing with a friend this one morning on arrival i could not believe my eyes there was complete carnage carp lying out on the bank not one but at least twenty, all dead, a few had chunks ripped out of there belly's the farmer had one big problem an otter i soon found where he was lying up under a big old oak tree, i say he because that's what he was a dog otter he was on his travels looking for a bitch but he had stayed on the lake, personally i have never witnessed anything like it it was complete devastation why the farmer had not picked the otter up on his cameras i don't know but on having a look he had them to high up in the trees it would catch approaching humans but not otters i felt real sorry for the chap what can i do Pete i said don't ring the ea as they would put a protection order on the water, the otter eventually moved on and as far as i know he has had no more trouble the water took a long time to recover , there was no stream running into the lake so that otter must of traveled over dry land the nearest small river was at least six miles away, but dog otters will travel miles looking for a bitch to pair up with i am still friends with the farmer he is about my age i think his sons do most of the work on the farm now it is mostly sheep farming the hill farmers are now getting a better price for there lambs and its not before time because they did have a really hard life some even were forced to take second jobs to make ends meet. well that's it for now a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #190 31 Oct 2011 at 2.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #189
went down the woods on Saturday took my wagon down beside the big lake there were about eight fishing on the far bank. there was one bivie my side asking if he had caught he just shook his head, i don't know if the rest caught, i was really there to take bags of corn down to a feed bin which is about half way down in the side we call the strip after the lads had removed the corn tony graham and i continued on down to the end of the lake i will admit English nature have made a good job this side i really wanted to check on the badgers they have a huge set at the end of the strip in a big embankment, how many it holds i don't know its been there for generations it was there when i was a youngster i would be about five years old when i first went down there with my mother in those days it was to pick the primroses they absolutely smothered the wood it was a sea of yellow we were not supposed to have been there as it was strictly private. When i was young you could not get to the side of the lake where i now parked my car it was under water in those days, if you look at it today its lost so much water due to the quarries we have two one stone, the other sand, both are well below the water table and lots of the water from the lake has seeped into both quarries both are full of water the owners and English nature have now blocked the the pipe that is used for an overflow from the lake, hoping with a bit of rain it may fill up. English nature are very worried about the low level but it wont make any difference as i say they are losing the water to all the quarrying going on around the lake.

Funny really i stood at the side of that old lake and thought of how it was years ago when i poached it, i usually fished the other side it was a lot easier to get your rod out between the big old oak trees, that lined the one side the strip was a bit more difficult although i did fish from this side it was very bogey in places, and you had to watch where you put your feet it was that so bad all the ground would wobble and shake and if you stood in one place to long you started to sink. It was this side that a lad called Gerald and myself were seen by Sgt landers who was helping Gerry with the shoot they chased us and this is where poor old Gerald fell into a hornets nest which put him in hospital for a few hours he was covered in stings and came up in lumps all over his face and legs i had a job to stop him crying we did manage to get away hiding in this big culvert but i have already told you all about that in part one of my stories, i had a look up the big tree where the buzzard had nested she has reared her young here for decades she is still using the nest site and had reared four chicks again this year although we shoot, these birds don't worry us as most of our syndicate like the wild life and are conservationists, the deer have returned to the woods i have see two or three myself and you can see where they have walked on the muddy ground beside the lakes leaving there foot prints in the form of slots, i am thinking of putting some infra red cameras down the woods hoping for some shots of badgers and old foxy maybe the deer to, i am trying them out at home at the moment but when i get used to them ill set them up some where down the woods and see what we get. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #189 27 Oct 2011 at 11.20am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #187
When i think back it only seems a short while a go when i poached what we knew as the honey meadow it was in front of the old quarry on my village and was then owned Mr Harper it was an over spill from bomere as the lake used to flood a lot in the forties and fifties, it was full of eels but the problem was the keeper fed it for his ducks so the only way i could catch them was with night lines big bunches of lob worms chucked out and pegged down i caught my fair share they were eaten in those days it was nothing to catch ten, i would take them home alive in a bucket of water and kill them and skin at home a lot of neighbours in the years after the war would eat them. i have told you all previously how i would shoot Gerry's ducks i was not very sporting and shot them as they fed but we were short of food in those days so they were very welcome.
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another from bomere from years ago

There are still some on my village can remember me poaching those ducks they would arrive in there hundreds mostly big fat mallard Gerry would come down every day to feed them then he would be away to the local the three fishes and would stay there until ten pm then ride his old motor cycle back home so you had plenty of time to bag a few in the beginning i would use an air rifle but when i acquired my first shot gun which was a webley four ten i used that although it was a bit noisy it did the job i was only sixteen at the time i think my first licence was seven shillings and sixpence, at the times i had to get into the water to fetch a duck god in winter it was cold but i could not afford to leave any dead birds as it would warn the keeper all was not right i am afraid that pool is no longer there filled in by the quarry owners tarmac at its deepest it was only about three or four feet but gin clear but in those days it was a wonderful place and i spent many hours down there.

A friend of mine had a four ten walking stick a true poachers gun you could walk through the wood on the public foot path see a pheasant in the under growth point the stick bang old jack shot a few birds like that he died a few years ago i wondered what happened to that old stick, when i acquired my first twelve bore shot gun he gave me loads of cartridge he used to be in the home guard and kept a lot back they were white in colour, I would cycle miles to fish and poached most of the estate lakes around shrewsbury i would mostly float fish in those days most lakes were covered in lilies not like today most have gone because of water sports and such Bomere was covered in beautiful lilies in the bay opposite the keepers cottage the water was a complete mass of these beautiful flowers but now they have long gone i would find a hole between the big lily leaves and float fish i caught a few good roach i would use bread paste or maggots i would cycle to town and buy six pennies worth the shop keeper would put them in a brown paper bag i would carefully put them in my saddle bag and transfer them into a oxo tin when i got home i suppose i would be about fifteen maybe sixteen years old at the time but it was years latter before i came to grips with the carp it held.

Photobucket A fish from acton burnell years ago

I would cycle to acton burnell and spent some happy hours fishing both lakes i was a bit lucky as i got to know the keeper mr owlet and he allowed me to go as long as it was not the shooting season but before i had permission i poached it but i never did much good in those early years only catching small pike but in latter years we caught some really good carp that was years before rob hales got it to be honest i fished where i wanted and was very lucky i never got caught as most lakes were owned by the big shropshire estates and were strictly private another lake i fished was in the ground of this wonderful old black and white hall it was full of carp not huge i suppose the biggest i had was around four pounds but it was right beside the hall to those in the know it was pitchford i had a few pheasants from that place using my old method of fishing line and hook baited with sultana they walked around like chickens a li
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   Old Thread  #187 25 Oct 2011 at 10.32am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #186
Over the years i have had a few funny things happen while fishing one such incident that sticks in my mind was fishing at lordys must have been late seventies early eighties i was fishing with a friend called George Kimberly we were set up in a double swim when we heard a noise behind us looking behind i could see a helicopter coming straight for us only about twenty feet up Christ George its going to hit the trees, before we could move he was over us i looked up it looked huge from where we sat he blew the rods off the rests into the water and poor old George fell off his chair the pilot must of realized what he had done and came around in a circle and hovered over the lake just in front of us i think he was quite sorry as he opened the door and shouted something then put up his hand gave us a wave and away he went, to be honest i could not keep a straight face and could not stop laughing mainly at my mate who had to extract him self out of the reeds George recons he was blown of his sun lounger but i thought he fell off in shock. Another incident on the same lake George was with me once again we were sitting in the swim all set up when we heard this almighty roar over our heads looking up it was a hot air balloon for some reason he could not gain height i said George he is going to hit that big oak tree they could not avoid hitting it. they crashed into the top of this big tree tipping the basket on its side emptying the occupants out they all fell through the big tree onto the field below we left the rods and ran over to see if we could help i was expecting to find some severely injured but no they were all alright there were five in all a bit bruised and shaken .
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A fish from lordys


Another incident that i can remember was graham and myself fishing a night on bomere it must have been in the sixties we had only got the old sun loungers no alarms only bread bobbins as indicators in those days you could stop fishing at midnight as the lake would cut off you would not get another bite until first light so in came the rods we both had a cuppa and after a pipe full, it was to sleep we only had a blanket and a piece off canvas and umbrella to keep off the damp we had been asleep maybe an hour when i felt warm breath on my face opening my eyes i saw this big white face i gave one shout and almost fell off my chair the umbrella which was over the top off me flew off and disappeared into the night what was that graham, i was shaking from head to toe looking up the bank behind us using the torch you could see the culprit the white horse from the farm with my umbrella stuck on his head we both fell about laughing the poor old horse was shaking his head trying to remove it we did manage to get it back in one piece. well thats it for now a bit more latter

Photobucket
One from Bomere late sixties
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   Old Thread  #186 23 Oct 2011 at 12.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #185
As we sat in the car yesterday we watched the geese pass over head they were grey lags and Canada's all going in to rest on the old quarry pool they have been arriving in one or two big skeins, more than i saw this time last year i really wonder if the approaching weather has some factor to do with it, there also seems to be a fair amount of teal and other wild fowl being seen i wonder if conditions abroad IE cold weather has moved them over to Britain a lot earlier than normal



We were infact putting grain into the feeders on our small pheasant shoot i can not do much lifting my self but managed to bring a few bags of grain from the farm in the back of my 4=4 i had other members of the syndicate helping so i never did any real lifting myself, grain has shot up in price this year last year we paid eighty pounds a ton this year it is one hundred and thirty quite a big jump my poor old mate tony who runs the shoot with me has been quite poorly over the last month, he has now been told he has rheumatoid arthritis yesterday his hands were severely swollen and he was in great pain i felt very sorry for him as he has always been such an active sort of man i know how he feels because it has happened to me i watched as he limped about he is not the sort that will pack in but i must admit there are days when i have felt like packing fishing and shooting in, then i think god its been my life and i struggle on. Life is to sweet to many things i want to do when i come home tired and knackered which i do quite regularly and the wife says i told you so i say no its my age and not my illness, but deep down i know its my arthritis that causes most of my problems, what a knackered old lot we are in our syndicate. we have a few more members with the same sort of problems but we all try and get on with our lives we are like a bunch of geriatrics, but what binds us together is our love of the country side and our fishing and shooting i have known most for many years and regard them as good friends.
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our little shoot

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the woods on our shoot
Some of the lakes in Shropshire are really short of water and some of the smallest pools have nearly dried up we desperately need rain i was talking to an ex keeper yesterday who now looks after a carp, lake he was telling me about the poaching he was experiencing some one had been setting night lines to catch the carp whether to eat he did not know he thinks it may be some gypsies that are living locally Irish, but i am not convinced it is them, as there has been quite a lot of fish movement going on in the area, i thought we had seen the last of this but it seems to be rearing its ugly head once again one lake not far from my home has lost a number of fish mainly the bigger ones in the upper thirties i really feel for the syndicate i believe the law has been involved but how can you prove who took them very difficult well that's it for now. more a little latter
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   Old Thread  #185 20 Oct 2011 at 12.32pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #184
I saw the first bit of snow yesterday just a shower, winter is upon us again the leaves are coming off the trees leaving them like huge skeletons, soon the only real greenery we will see is the ivy and the holly trees they are now covered in berries the pigeons are feeding well on the berries from the trees, they are big plump birds and have fed well in the summer months on the grain left on the stubble fields. I have not been up to hill country as yet i can drive across the big stubblefield with my trusted 4+4 so i have not got any walking to do well, i could not if i wanted to as the pain in my back can be quite bad at times, i expect the stubble, will have now been plowed over and reset but there should still be a few ducks about on the small pool under the big hill. Graham and i have spent many nights huddled up by that pool in all weather hail snow rain and gales, it was very sheltered and it could be snowing quite hard on high ground but down below very little it was not until you came to go home that you realized just how much snow had fallen one night we had a terrible time getting back grahams land rover would not have any of it we could not get up the track beside the big wood because of the depth of snow the wind had blown it into big drifts we were stuck cold and hungry, we ended up going through the fields lower down where it was not so deep we eventually came to a farm we knew the farmer and he gave us access to go through the farm yard and onto the road it was a terrible night and it was not until you got home that you realized how lucky you had been getting back as in the past the odd person had died on those hills from the cold and the wet and exposure it is a different world up there.

Just down from hill country was a big estate i wont mention any names as not to embarrass any one a friend of mine was the owners son they were loaded with money and held some very big shoots on the estate the son was a bit of a rebel he took us fishing on the estate lakes there was some good carp in the one the problem was we were poaching, the lads dad would let no one on the estate, it will be alright Pete he would say but it was not it had about three keepers and they were around all hours we would hide in the under growth that grew around side of the one small lake, we did catch a few carp to around twelve pounds but i had seen some a lot bigger but you were always on edge if it had just been myself it would not been to bad, i suppose the year was around the middle seventies there was about four of us fishing on the pool, i pulled off as it was obvious that some one was fishing the lake and any keeper worth his salt could see that by just looking at the undergrowth, a few years before i had poached this estate for the rabbits and pheasants i was always very careful as i said before it was quite heavily keeperd i knew the one keeper who was a friend and i got quite a bit of information from him, he knew i did a bit of poaching and he would warn me off. As a friend i felt a bit guilty when i took a few pheasants because of our friendship but that was years ago it was a necessity then so we could live, i had no car then only my bike which i would hid behind the big wall that surrounded the estate i remember the local bobby chasing me this one night his name was Sid betts he was rather a large man. And was not as fast as me on his cycle and i lost him down the back lanes but it all added to the excitement. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #184 17 Oct 2011 at 11.02am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #183
A lot of the small pools and lakes i fished when i was younger has now vanished some drained and filled in just to make way for more houses, or to make that field a bit bigger so the farmer could get better access shame really as a few of the pools held some very big fish one such pool was on my village it was about three acres with a fair sized island the swans always had there nest on the island, the old cob used to kick up if we tried to get onto the island to fish it was a lovely pool it had some weeping willows with a nice bed of Lillie's we would go along although it was private, a Mr Davies owned it and as long as you did no damage he would turn a blind eye it was full of Rudd and carp we would float fish with bread paste as bait we caught a few nice fish, but that was in the late forties but like a lot more pools it got drained what happened to the fish i don't know maybe they were took out or just buried it has now regained its place on the map and is a pool once again created by the residents of our village, until two years ago there was some fair sized carp in the place and the youngsters on our village would be up there fishing they caught carp to seventeen pounds plus it kept them out of mischief but some of our residents were not very happy as their homes backed onto the pool and they complained about the noise i went to a meeting to plead for the youngsters but it was no good the pool has now been netted and is devoid of fish it really sickens me when this happens the youngsters have no where else to go.

Just in front of Bomere was another pool it was not very big it was created by Bomere flooding , i can remember the people from our village skating on the pool in the winter , i suppose i would be about seven or eight years old it was not over deep about four ft at its most but it was full of fish and in the summer us lads would be fishing there we only caught stunted roach and small tench but it kept us busy and out of trouble, we went this one day and the farmer was pumping the water out filling it in us lads were broken hearted at least some of the fish were put in Bomere well the ones that were not buried. Across the fields was another another water which was quite big it was at Betton strange, and called alk mere not the Betton i have mentioned in my stories but you could not fish it as it was strictly private my mates would not go near the place as the farmer had a bad reputation for giving you a clout with his stick if he caught you fishing there, i would poach the place i never got caught. I had some beautiful Rudd i had no scales or landing net as it was just after the war, but but thinking back they must have been over a pound i could hardly get my hand around them they were deep bodied fish, i also caught a few eels from there not big around two pounds which i took home to eat i always kept my eye open for the farmer as he was a miserable old toad he changed his workers like his cloths and most got sacked within weeks of starting to work on the farm, i can remember the land girls working for him i think they had a real tough time and put up with a lot of abuse from that old toad, the pool is still there today and still holds fish but no one fishes it i don't think the owner gives anyone permission some things don't change. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #183 16 Oct 2011 at 12.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #182
Being brought up in the country side i got involved with most things from fishing shooting and wild life its been my whole life and i suppose it still is i went down the woods to meet some of our syndicate yesterday i met tony who helps run the shoot with my self and graham, the trees looked beautiful in there autumn colours the brown reds and yellows it is a lovely time of the year there was no one fishing on the lakes i wonder why as its the best time of year we saw an abundance of pheasants which certainly pleased us all i can not believe how dry the fields are in Shropshire some are rock hard, we were talking to one off the local farmers who is having a bit of a problem plowing as the ground is so hard, looking at the lakes the water is right down we certainly need rain funny how wales has had plenty it seems to have passed us by, there's talk of frost next week and maybe a dusting of snow i really hope not .
When i was a young man i loved to walk the hedgerows we would collect the hazel nut take them home and mother would stow them away to use at Xmas as you all know i would poach a few pheasants it was a necessity in those days so we could live, it was in the days of the old keepers i can remember finding a young cat in an old gin trap they were terrible things and would Mame anything that trod on one the keeper would set it and cover it with grass or leaves along would come a rabbit or even a cat and be caught in its vicious jaws i have seen foxes with three legs how they managed i don't know they must of been in great pain the trap had taken there rear leg off thank god they banned them in the early fifties another trap i came across was the pole trap another that has been banned a few poachers used these to catch a pheasant or two but they were originally made to catch falcons IE sparrow hawk and owls which took the keepers young birds

The rivers and brooks are really suffering ,some of the trout streams i poached have been reduced to a trickle and the fish are in the deeper pools i notice the environment agency have been removing fish on the river team as it is to shallow from lack of water i hope things start to improve and we get a drop of rain. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #182 13 Oct 2011 at 11.39am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #181
Only the older generation will remember the forties and fifties and how hard it was after the war years most things like butter cheese and tea were rationed which carried on into the early fifties when things started to pick up but even then it was hard the wages were very low a lot of the people living in the country side were employed on the land as farm labourers some even worked down the pit mining for coal it was a hard way to make a living, the railway was another that employed hundreds it was in the days of the steam engine my step father was a signal man at craven arms but when i think of the hours he put in to make a living it was very hard , but we managed and got by. really i could not of moved to a better place than craven arms it was here i learned to fish although i fished before. This place with all the rivers and lakes was something else my mother and father would worry that i may get caught fishing some of the lakes, but i never did but fishing the river onny was a bit chancy with all the bailiffs and keepers that looked after the river i learned to trot a float and trundle down a worm and feel for the bite and even fly fish SAM tried to teach me but i was never that good it was years latter when i became a bailiff for a big trout fishery that i really started to enjoy casting a fly and really caught some good trout the biggest rainbow was eighteen pounds with some nice brown trout thrown in i loved it and would spend hours out in the punt with my springer spaniel SAM, ballifing was a not an easy job especially at night when you would get the poachers down they say it takes one to catch one i had i had done my fair share of poaching over the years the owner of the lake approached myself and graham as we had been recommended by some one else and asked if we would consider doing the job.

I was supplied with a set of x army night vision binoculars they were quite good on every entrance to the fishery i set trip wires that were connected to a tube with a cartridge inside if the poachers tripped the wire it would pull the cotter pin out releasing the bolt and then bang on the road side of the lake i had six set in a row i would take the pellets out of the cartridge and supplement it with rice if you put a car hub cap under the tube what a nose it made with the rice hitting it, i have left a few pellets in at times i was there one night all was quite it was about one thirty there was a terrific bang followed by a lot of shouting as they ran down the side of the lake tripping a further five they were that frightened that they left thier rods, behind in there hast to get away i but that was the object to frighten them and stop them coming, i was there with graham or another friend most nights, and never got to bed much before the early hours but it got easier they started to learn and eventually kept away i had a lot of help from the police and keepers from other local estates, if i had any trouble i would ring the one keeper he would bring down his alsatian it was an ex police dog god he was nasty if we caught any poachers they would not argue back but would stand there untill the police arrived i got threatened a few times but it never came to much its funny really i am now a great freind of one of the old poahers i had trouble with he is a great chap and is now a memeber of my syndicate. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #181 10 Oct 2011 at 4.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #180
When i was a youngster at craven arms i fished most of the lakes in the area, most were very private and only used for duck shooting. I fished one such lake it was not to far from my home i would cycle the two or three miles hiding my bike behind the big hedge that surrounded the lake the other problem was the big house stood at the end of the lake, when they had the big party you would see them all out on the lawns beside the lake the butler and his staff would bring the tables and chairs out side onto the lawns, the tables would be piled high with food and drink i would be hiding in the reeds, that fringed the lake watching it all go on, god were they posh the ladies, would be dressed up in there long skirts most of the gentlemen, wore black dinner suits or tweeds this was in the late forties early fifties it was a bit of an eye opener for a youngster like me as i had never seen so much food we certainly never lived like that but i suppose it was the big divide the rich, and the poor, i will not mention any names but the said gentleman, ended up being the high sheriff of Shropshire, they had some very big shoot days on the estate, i always returned home with a few pheasant the keepers failed to find i would mark where they came down and hide them in my sack, it was an easy way to get a meal or two and our neighbors were always pleased as it was very hard living following the war years, so a bit of a change to our diet was always welcome.

Back to the lake my tackle was not over good i had just got the tank aerials my step father had them made for me i used them for all my fishing the reels were the old star backs loaded with silk line it was a bit crude but i caught the floats were porcupine quills i did acquire some split shot but the hooks were the old black eel hook size eight you could not get anything else where i lived i would sit in those reeds on my old sack at times i would get my backside quite damp but it was a hazard of fishing and not being seen, my mother would make bread paste flavoured i think with honey, it was certainly very sweet and i would always carry a few worms i would float fish beside the reed beds the float would slide away and i would catch roach after roach thinking back they were only about half a pound but they looked quite big to me and they were fish, i will never forget this one day i had been sitting there for a good two hours with out a bite, when my float disappeared and the line flew from the reel Christ what had i got on i played it to my feet a couple of times without even seeing what it was god did it scrape i was that exited and my heart was pounding like a sledge hammer i eventually got it to the side and he just lay there it was a carp but not like any i had seen before his flanks were a bronze color and he was shaped like a torpedo, i managed to wrestle him into the reeds we had no nets then, god he was big how big i had no idea, i had a dilemma do i take him home so every one can see him or just let him go i took the second option and watched him swim away it was not until years latter that i realised they where Wilde's maybe stocked by the owners of the big house years before for food, it was not the last carp i caught from that lake over the years, but i will always remember that one carp i was only about eight or nine years old and it was one of the first i ever caught, thinking back it was about four pounds but it looked absolutely huge to a youngster like me . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #180 8 Oct 2011 at 12.58pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #179
The wind was blowing as i made my way to the brook i had hidden my bike in the field by the railway line it had recently rained hard and there was a bit of colour in the fast flowing water i made my way to the first of the water falls there were three in all. I had made my rod up before approaching the bank where the old falls were they were man made and had stood for generations, i had collected a few nice red worms which i would use to catch the willy trout, that lay in the foaming water, i cast into the silver spray using a swan shot for weight and a couple of red worms for bait it was a cloudy night and the movement of the clouds cast shadows over the adjacent fields i sat down and listened i could detect no noise only the howling of the wind, it caused the odd tree to creek and groan i felt for the bites i knew they would come i slight pluck of the line then a steady take lifting the rod and tighten up no need to strike i was in once again i would always catch under the sill of these falls, it was the late fifties and i needed a few trout for the family and neighbors i knocked it on the head, and put it in the bag and recast i did not have to wait long i felt the pluck and was in once again but this fish, did not want to give in eventually i got him to the side what a sight met my eyes it was a cock fish an old male it was the biggest i have ever caught from this brook i was in a dilemma did i return him or take him home to eat, he had lived a long time to reach this size he was deep and long spotted red and black down both flanks he was about two pounds big for a brook trout i would let him go i watched as he swam away into the foaming water under the sill of those falls.
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The Brook a i poached all those years ago its altered a lot since then


I carried on down stream once again i cast under the falls ,it had hardly hit the water and it was away i brought it to the side another of about a pound it joined the other in the bag i stood and listened i could hear the keepers dog barking in the distance it carried on the wind making it sound nearer than what it was the hoot of an owl in the trees above gave me a start but i no need to worry old bell was tucked up in bed slumbering the night away he was not out tonight , maybe he had been to his local and would not give the brook a second thought it was stocked for the gents and ladies to fish with there artificial flies, but it was mine for tonight i would stay until the early hours getting home before Dawn i caught a further eighteen trout a good night work but there was one more thing i must do before i went home i tied two trout together and crossed the field to old bells cottage making no noise i hung them on the gate, he would find them next morning, it was my way of saying thank you and to say, i had called once again he knew it was me but could never prove a thing he would get Sgt Landers to call at my home but he would go home empty handed. I have told you all before i would call him old white eyes when he got exited and was telling you off his eye balls would go white he would call and see my parents where had i been the night before in bed mum would say, he chased me many times and actually caught me but i had already hid my rod and fish so he just let me go to his disgust, i was talking to a friend the other day who said he was still alive he must now be in his nineties, when i think back it was all harmless fun, but poaching was a serious offence in those far off days. more latter
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another of the brook i used to run down here and hide from the keepers the water was a lot deeper in those days
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   Old Thread  #179 6 Oct 2011 at 12.27pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #178
As i crossed the dew soaked fields the prints of my boots stood out i was the only one who had past this way except for the prints of the badgers a sure sign they had been after the worms in the early hours before dawn i followed there prints back to the old set that had been there for generations i wondered how many of there kind had actually been born in this set, it had been there when i was a youngster how long before i can only guess, how it survived the old keepers i do not know as i would creep up to where he had his gibbet there was always a badger or two hanging there i would look at all the animals he had killed old foxy was one, the weasel was another, stoat, jays, crows, buzzard they were all hanging there even a cat or two and all in the name of shooting the keepers protected their game with a rod of iron nothing got in the way of the pheasant and partridge days, if they did not produce the goods then they would loose their jobs that was a fact, you really would think there would be no wild life left but there was even more than today maybe not as many badgers in those days the fields were full of flowers poppies every where you looked the woods would be full off the wood sorrel primroses blue bells fox gloves grew on the sides of the woods, the yellow water iris, in the boggy ground there were the orchids, several different types where have they now all gone i think herbicides and such things have killed a good many of our native flower farming methods,changed hedges ripped out to make way for the combines its all had a big impact on our country side.

When we were young we would walk miles to collect the mushrooms it was nothing to collect a big basket full
they would be made into soup or fried and served up with home cured bacon from your own pig and eggs from the farm with big chunks of home baked bread and butter, but today you are lucky to pick any some of our local farms where there used to be an abundance of mushrooms are just not there any more shame really but once again its farming methods although i think it may be getting better as more farmers are letting a few corners of our fields grow wild which draws the wild life in its like a magnet, it grows poppies thistles long grasses it helpes the feild mouse and many birds even old foxey will lie in the grass and sun himself in warmer weather, the brooks and small rivers are now a lot cleaner i dont know if i should say this but the otter is now making a recovery and can be seen on most small rivers but the difference is in my young days they were controled not that i really cared for the method as i have said before the river ran red from the blood ot this animal but there must be some sort of control, they will find thier own level with the availabilty of food but that could take years. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #178 5 Oct 2011 at 11.08am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #177
It seems just like yesterday when i first started fishing with my grandad i was only three years old its been a journey one i have enjoyed immensely i learned myself to fish as we lost my grandfather in 1947 my father got killed in the war so i had no one to teach me i learned the hard way but slowly persevered and started to catch fish as i got older i ventured further afield one of the nicest lakes i have ever fished was Acton burnell i poached it on and off for years until i got written permission from the owner it held some beautiful fish roach carp tench and of course pike i got to know the keepers quite well, when i was youngster there was Bert Howlett head keeper and peter jackson under keeper i must admit before i really knew them i poached the lakes they were both man made and as i said before between the two lakes was an eel trap i expect it is still there today the wild life was amazing just up the fields from the lakes was another pool it was in the woods it was absolutely full of Rudd i would go up there to catch my live bait for pike fishing they were not big the biggest only around half a pound how they got into this little pool god knows but they were the right size for live baiting i knew those woods back to front they held some very big shoot days there and some huge duck days i can see the gentlemen standing now and the ladies all dressed up in there tweeds, its one place i really never took many pheasants from as Bert had been very good to me letting me fish the top lake i would sit on the dam wall between the two lakes and fish for the pike i never caught any real big ones seven or eight pounds was the biggest but they were big to me.

Just down the road from the burnell was another pool not big but covered in lilies it was private and the farmer would let no one fish there but i was determined to have a go it was so awkward because of the trees around the pool and the big lillie beds but i got to know the farmers son and he took me a couple of times we managed to fish in holes between the weed and Lilly beds but it was useless you would hook into a good fish then loose him because of the weeds we did manage to land a couple they were mostly tench the farmer would not let you cut any weeds out, i think it was also used for duck shooting i went this one day and his son said we could not go anymore as his dad had played hell with him for taking me there, so it was rather short lived the pool is still there but you never see anyone fishing it. just down the road was another lake it stood in the grounds of this big black and white mansion i had some great times fishing there i would poach the lake right under the owners and keepers nose it held carp and i caught them to just under ten pounds i got to know the Gardner who had a son called Roy he would say if you get caught Pete they will throw the book at you i must admit it was strictly private and once again it was used for shooting i got chased a couple of times and the police were called but that was my own fault for taking some one else with me they must of heard us talking but i had some happy times fishing on that lake over the years, i would be about sixteen years old and would cycle from my village of Bayston hill hiding my bike in the under growth then i would cross the fields into the grounds of the hall . a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #177 4 Oct 2011 at 2.46pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #176
I am finding it very hard not to be out fishing, but my health must come first i have severe stenosis of the spine and i am finding it hard to lift or sit for long periods it has really hit me hard as i have always been used to being down the fields or on some lake fishing but it has stopped me walking any distance so until i am sorted out i can only reminisce about times gone by and my love of the countryside and off course my fishing and shooting that have been part of my life. I have fished a good many lakes some legally some not one such lake nestled under the fringe lined trees of hill country i had gained permission to fish there from the farmer it had only an average depth of four feet and at times it could be very cold fishing there. But i loved the place and would float fish with maggot or bread i caught literally hundreds of crucian carp over the months i fished there, not big only about a pound occasionally you would hook into a tench i think the biggest i had was only four pounds i had ten in one session but that never happened very often it also held a few half decent carp mostly commons i always put one rod out for them and caught them to around eighteen pounds it was good fishing and i had it all to myself but alas that was years ago it is now rented by some fishing club they have improved the access and built a few stages to fish from but its not not for me any more i liked it as it was covered in lilies, with the sides of the lake reed fringed, all that has now gone why the lilies, i don't know they were poisoned by some sort of weed killer that was sprayed around the lake so they could get more swims for matches they now run, apparently the spray did not hurt the fish and only killed the weeds.

HOW man destroys his environment but that's exactly what they did on this lake when i fished it years ago it was beautifully covered in lilies and reed fringed now its all gone feature list its just like fishing in the middle of a ploughed field no bushes all gone what the farmer thinks i don't know but i suppose he is getting money for it which helps out as most are hill farmers breeding sheep a hard life some one said to me the other day why is lamb so dear to buy when the hills are covered with them, its not the farmer that makes the money its the middle man they also send them abroad they are then sent back and it pushes the money up a shameful exercise. I really wonder what we are coming to when i was young we had none of this we all lived together in harmony there was no greed as such every one helped one another i am a Shropshire lad and hate to see the land disappear building houses here and there we loose our wonderful wild life which is our heritage and needs to be looked after for the future generations so much has disappeared in my part of the countryside places where i walked and fished are now covered in houses and it still altering they are now talking about building on the green belt i really hope that does not happen as if it does i can see a time the country side will be a concrete jungle, it wont be in my life time but it may for the future generations i really wonder what houseman the poet would say about his beloved shropshire now, it was he who wrote the shropshire lad, well moan over a bit more latter

A poem from houseman from the shropshire lad

In my own shire, if I was sad,
Homely comforters I had:
The earth, because my heart was sore,
Sorrowed for the son she bore;
And standing hills, long to remain,
Shared their short-lived comrade's pain.
And bound for the same bourn as I,
On every road I wandered by,
Trod beside me, close and dear,
The beautiful and death-struck year:
Whether in the woodland brown
I heard the beechnut rustle down,
And saw the purple crocus pale
Flower about the autumn dale;
Or littering far the fields of May
Lady-smocks a-bleaching lay,
And like a skylit water stood
The bluebells in the azured wood.

Yonder, lightening other loads,
The seasons range the country roads,
But here in London streets I ken
No such helpmates, only men;
And these are not in plight to bear,
If they would, another's care.
They have enough as 'tis: I see
In many an eye that measures me
The mortal sickness of a mind
Too unhappy to be kind.
Undone with misery, all they can
Is to hate their fellow man;
And till they drop they needs must still
Look at you and wish
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   Old Thread  #176 3 Oct 2011 at 2.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #175
I have a great passion for my county as i am a shropshire lad we have the hills the plains rivers and lakes its gods own county one mile from where i live is lyth hill Mary webs cottage still stands on the lyth she lived there for many years and had it built to her own design she wrote many books one such book was gone to earth another precious bane she loved the lyth as she could see the longmynd and wenlock edge and the rolling plains, from there she loved to walk through the woods the same wood i told you all about when my mate johns dog Butch got shot and killed by the keeper looking back from there you can see the quarry where we shot the geese all those years ago it is also where they found the woolly mammoth and three youngsters they were over twelve thousand years old and they have now toured the country since being set up for all to see, Mary web was also a very good naturalist and loved nature she moved to London with her husband Henry who was a school teacher but it did not last her passion for the lyth was far to much so she returned after a short stay in London unfortunately she died very young at the age of forty six on the eigth of 0ctober 1927 and she is buried in the shrewsbury cemetery, in the film gone to earth it shows you a lake called the sarn infact it is really bomere where i poached the pheasants and also fished.
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The road to the lyth in black and white

I am really very lucky to live in Mary web country it is beautiful you have the rolling plains the hills either side this is where i was born i love to stand on the lyth and see the sun set over hill country as i watch the sun sinking below the horizon i think about the times i have stood on those very hills, i have walked the hills and dales fished the mountain streams shot the duck on a september night on the big stubble fields have watched the vixen and her young on the mountain tops i have disturbed the grouse in all his splendor what a noise they make as the sail down and over the valley far below they are safe today the guns are quite there is only me what more could i want nothing and it is all free, looking back from the lyth you can see the woods where Acton lakes lie nestled below the tree lined woods looking to the left we have Bomere and shomere then Betton these lake are from the ice age then further over Berrington where i fished with jack Hilton and co you can see the small river that i poached years ago the keepers house it still stands at the end of the wood that we called bells wood how many times have i poached that wood to many times to remember the gate still stands shut the same gate i hung the trout on for old bell to say thank you. You can see it all if you stand on the lyth every time i look i shed a tear it has so many memories of a times long ago when i was a youth and could walk those hills and vales. more latter

a poem by mary web showing the pasion she had for nature and the country side

into the scented woods well go
and see the black thorn swim in snow
hight above in the budding leaves
a brooding dove awakes and grieves
the Glades with mingled music stir
And wildly laughs the woodpecker
when black thorn petals pearl the breeze
There are the twisted hawthorn tree
Thick set with buds as clear as pale
as golden water or green hail
As if a storm of rain had stood
Enchanted in the Thorny wood
and hearing fairy voices call
Hung poised forgetting how to fall
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   Old Thread  #175 2 Oct 2011 at 12.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #174
It was some time in the early seventies when angling time approached Dennis Kelly and myself with a view to having a session on Bomere pool graham and i had got the lease, and we had caught some beautiful roach in the past some over the magic two pounds, Don bridge wood would be the photographer and the reporter he was free lance but did quite a bit of work for angling times we decided to ledger at night and float fish in the day the weather at the time was quite hot and i really did not fancy our chances it was to be a three day session the anglers present were Dennis Kelly of the big bream fame George bebbington, graham and myself i fished with graham in a double swim in those days it was the garden lounger and a big umbrella and for indicators we used the old ping pong balls with a low voltage bulb glued inside a light weight cable went to a small six vault motor cycle battery you clipped them on the line by using a hair grip glued into the top of the ping pong ball they were very sensitive i would clip them up- between butt ring and reel they would float on the water and looked like two small moons but on a serous note they did the job if you needed more weight you would pinch a couple of swan shot on to the cable you did not have to strain your eyes to see them they were something i knocked up at work and worked really well as i have stated before anything we were short of in those days we made our selves the herons were really not sensitive enough to use for the roach.

Photobucket
The ping pong balls hang from the rod

For ledgers i had spent some time making slow sinking ledgers using an arsley bomb and hollowing out a peace of cork the bomb would be glued in side then it would be cut down to size using a Stanley knife and sand paper until it was perfectly round making sure it sank very slowly. It would just rest on the bottom if it was silty, they were painted green or black then varnished to make them water proof, you would cast out and at times would get a take before the bait even reached the bottom, they were very sensitive and did the job . before midnight on the first night graham and i caught eight roach all over the magical two pounds with many more around half a pound it was fast and furious sport i know Dennis and the others had a few nice specimens as well, the float fishing was a lot harder using big floats over a ft long the problem was the sun it caused eye strain and a few of us ended up with bad headaches we had no decent glasses in those days, one thing that did happen was the pike moved in to feed off the roach that had come to our ground bait so it was out with our pike rods hooking small live baits on it was fast and furious sport and when hooked they would leave the water and tail walk in a spray of silver water it was wonderfull fishing we caught them to over sixteen pounds i really forget how many pounds of roach were actuly caught over the three days but it was a fair few and with the pike it put the icing on the cake that made a good story, but that was many years ago it still remains in my memory and only seems like yesterday. a bit more latter

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Bomere in winter
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   Old Thread  #174 29 Sept 2011 at 3.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #173
I have known a few poachers in my life one of the best was a chap called Joe hatton Joe lived for the wild life every thing he did was involved with the country side he was also a great naturalist i would go a long with him in those far off days he liked to catch wild birds all sorts from linnets to yellow hammers his Avery back home was something else bulfinch's gold finches you name it he had it he would use bird lime but also used traps funny i never did see him use mist nets he was conservationist and would let a fair proportion of the birds he reared out into the wild it is a few years since Joe died but i have fond memories him as a real English gentleman or should i say rogue but a nice rogue he would be away with his gun and walk the fields and hedge rows he never bothered whose land he was on as long as he shot a few pheasants. He was not a big drinking man but would go down the pub on our village it was called the three fishes he only went for one reason to make sure the keeper was in there he would say to me its funny how much you can learn when people have had a few drinks if the keeper was in he would be away picking up his gun and dog he would be down the fields and woods he had at least three hours before the keeper returned you would hear old Gerry coming he used an old BSA motor bike for his transport to the pub and back, i can see him now riding the bike back home to his cottage in the wood he would be excuse the pun pissed as a fart and had been known to fall off a few times the main road in those days was very quite and the police never said much to him about his drinking as the Sgt was a big friend and helped him out with the shoot.

poor old Gerry failed to turn up home one night and next morning his wife reported him missing they sent out a search part but did not have to look far he was lying next to his bike on the track that led to his cottage in the woods, but he was dead he must of had a heart attack as he rode the bike home it really upset old Joe as they had one or two ups and downs over the years but deep down Joe respected this old keeper i did also he was part of my life we played many games of cat and mouse i have told you about the time he shot at me, it was over my head when i was in cover but it was still a bit m frightening he always had two black labs with him but they were very docile and you never really got bothered by them they would bark if you got to close to there pen which was behind the house but joe had a trick or two up his sleave and would chuck a bit of meat into the pen i think they got quite used to him he walked where he liked and never once did he get caught but that was years ago in late fifties, i was only young my self i learned such a lot from old joe over the years and i still shed a tear when i think of those times long ago when i knew old joe and we walked together guns in hand. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #173 27 Sept 2011 at 11.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #172
I have been passionate about many things in the country side one such exercise was done by a friend we had a big incubator at the farm and we breed English grey partridge they had mostly all died out when he started to breed and let them go, that was a few years ago but we still have one or two coveys around today the birds prefer open grassland with dense cover for nesting they also loved the thick hedge rows which was used for nesting, but the greys really benefited uncultivated areas or wide unsprayed fields but unfortunately farming methods have really been to blame for there decline also the increase in foxes has had its effect, some will say but you breed them to shoot yes maybe but we were also trying help the population as it had fallen by about eighty percent in recent years it a beautiful little bird, that needs a chance no one in my syndicate dare shoot one we have put a total ban on touching them i hope over the years they will increase i may not be here to see it we will wait and see.

Another animal to see a very big decline was the hair going back into the sixties and seventies there were hundreds and on some of the big hair drives i attended it was nothing to see over one hundred shot in a day and that did not even make a dent in the population the big Shropshire estates made money from them it helped the estate out, but over the years in our county they started to disappear mainly due to insecticides spraying the fields i have found young leverets dead herbicides also caused death because it killed the natural diet it reduced the food the animal fed on but they are now making a steady come back it is another we have put a shooting ban on last year we started to see a few so i hope they breed and start to recover its really sad how man destroys the wild life more out of ignorance not understanding what the insecticides they were spraying did to our native wild life, it also effected fish in our streams polluting many water courses but things now seem to be on the mend.

The old game keepers persecuted many of our English falcons especially the peregrine, they were also shot in the war years to protect the homing pigeon and it also was infected disastrously once again from agriculture insecticides, plus egg thieves did not help, another of our birds that suffered was the buzzard, poison was really blame the game keepers of the time would inject a dead rabbit with the poison strychnine was one such thing it would kill anything that fed off the dead rabbit i am glad those days have gone but we still see it carried out by some unsavory characters , owls, were another that suffered quite severely but we now live in better times all that mattered years ago was the pheasant and the partridge on most estates the keeper would have to show the birds on shoot days to his boss and the many gentleman and ladies that took part in the days sport, if that did not happen his job would be at stake so the keeper took action by eliminating everything that threatened his livelihood i know this has nothing to do with fishing but it has been a big part of my life. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #172 26 Sept 2011 at 12.47pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #171
Its many years since i fished heart Break pool when i was fifteen i would go along to watch some of the local anglers fish for the big pike it was supposed to hold i got to know the owner quite well and he showed me a pike in a glass case it was thirty two pounds that was back in 1957 it had been caught by the owner his name was sir Reginald Holcroft at the time he lived at a place called pulverbatch and i had to cycle up to see the said gentleman i remember knocking on this big door and being asked into this big rambling house and sir showing me this stuffed pike and lots more beside do you think i can fish the pool i said don't see why not he answered ill give you written permission but don't go anywhere the top pool i did not know there was a top pool but there apparently was he explained it was used for duck shooting and he kept it rather hush hush this really tickled me as i had and still was a poacher of sorts but i would not touch this other pool as he had put his trust in me and i was only 15 years old i felt really privileged to fish there but it was really hard and it broke a good many hearts for a start it was very deep going down to at least 45 ft in the middle so i would only fish the margins with a live bait small perch or roach i caught . I would watch the big cork float bobbing about as the small fish towed it around then it would disappear under the water i would count to ten then i would strike i caught absolutely loads of pike but nothing over seven pounds but they were big fish to me.

But there were other fish in the lake i had heard stories from other anglers about the big bream that was reputed to be in the place in the summer i tried very hard and float fished the margins in between the big Lillie beds i caught no bream but what i did catch was some wonderful perch most were around two pounds i had no scales in those days i also caught a few roach nice fish but i had also seen some big fish rolling on the surface and i presumed these were the bream i wanted one of those fish above all others i tried and tried without success what i did not realize then it would be many years before i got to grips with these big fish i wanted to night fish but sir would not let me . it was many years latter when i got the lease to the place that i really started to catch some lovely bream i had them to 9-12 0z they were good fish that would of been around 1971 or there abouts we also caught some big rudd i did not know they were even in the place we caught them to three pounds also bream hybrids to four pound pounds this was the same pool i fished in the company of Jack hilton and Bill quinlon. more latter
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   Old Thread  #171 24 Sept 2011 at 2.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #170
I have been lucky enough in life to know many great anglers dick walker was the top of the list followed by jack Hilton bill Quillan terry Thomas Ivan marks who i met when i was fishing in Denmark with angling times another one i have had a few drinks with was billy lane who was with us on our trip they were all great anglers . it was such an honour for a young chap like me to have known them, the first time i met dick i was speechless i had no idea how to approach this great man we were fishing on his private bit of river i had been trotting down hoping for a chub or a good bream it was a very cold day and had forecast frost when i see the big man walking towards me he wore his trade mark hat caught owt Pete was his first words we shook hands and as you all know it started a friendship until his untimely death from cancer he was a clever man a genius really the things he invented speak for them selves the arsley bomb the bite alarm rods he was a true pioneer for our sport i don't think it would be like it is today if it had not been for dick and his many friends from the carp catchers club, i am still in touch with his son Tim i have been looking for some letters i have from dick to myself god know where i have put them i have promised Tim he can have them or copies of them i think they are up in the attic some where i have struggled to get up there as yet i have not found them but i will continue to look as it would be nice to put them on the forum.

When i first knew dick he was into trout fishing in a big way and had broken the rainbow record he was also doing a bit of perch fishing and was very successful at it like he was at most fishing he was a wonderful friend and helped me in many ways from rods to bite alarms his knowledge was extensive a good engineer. i fished with Jack Hilton in the early seventies it was only for a week but he was top of the game when it came to carp fishing he had caught some very big carp i think if i remember right he was fishing Red mire at the time of his visit to fish with us , i loved to chat to jack and bill as they were a mine of information both great anglers i baited up for a week before his arrival to maybe make it a bit more easier to fish the lake as it was called heart break pool but it held some wonderful bream and big Rudd he had never fished for bream and was really up for it so in the company of Dennis Kelly my self and graham he was great company in fact it was the first time i had seen a bivie he had made it out of black polythene but it was warm and dry another of the pioneers its all down to these chaps that we have what we have today it was a pleasure and a privalidge to have kown them all . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #170 23 Sept 2011 at 1.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #169
I would hide my bike in the thick under growth then walk along the railway line then over the style into the fields it was around midnight when i arrived at my destination climbing the fence and into the wood i stood and listened no sound could i hear the woods were quite and still no one with prying eyes only the animals of the woods i was used to them they would hurt no one it was the keepers that i kept my ear open for but now they would be tucked up in bed after visiting the pub the dog at the house gave the occasional bark but that would not wake him from his slumbers. I approached the lake and made my way forward i had only one rod but i was going to fish this old lake it was left from the ice age not many had fished it only friends of the owners and maybe the keeper, we as youngsters had heard tales of how the pool was bottomless and held some massive pike it was supposed to be very haunted it was a tale put out by the owners to keep people away they wanted no one down these woods i was sixteen years old no ghosts would worry me i had been here many times before. Tonight it was to fish but i would also visit the coverts before i went home i had also brought my trusted rifle it was rapped up in the old sack.

I cut myself a forked stick from the hazel tree behind, i was only using worm i cast it out and sat and waited i had folded a piece of silver paper on the line to act as an indicator my torch had a red reflector i watched with excitement but no movement did it make about an hour latter it moved and slowly the silver paper reached the butt ring i struck and i was in it felt a good fish i played it carefully to the side i could see i had hooked an eel it was a good size maybe three pound plus it was one for home as it would be cooked and eaten the next fish was a small roach of a pound it was worth coming i looked at my watch it was three o clock i put the eel in the bag and hung it on the fence behind with my rod. i only wanted a couple of pheasent for the family as i walked past the keepers cottage i stopped and listened all was quite i moved down into the wood behind the house i moved into the trees surounding the big pen shinning the torch up in the trees i picked one out aimed and pulled the trigger down he came in a ball of feathers then another this was easy i ended up with six i stuffed them into the old postal, bag then i was away the dogs never even barked as i passed the cottage, i made my way back to my rod and sack which i had brought to sit on and cover my gun and retraced my steps untill i i got to my bike then tying my rod to the cross bar bag on my back made for home and bed hanging the pheasents in the shed . the eel was skinned and eaten the next day it made good eating fryed and battered it was a sucsessfull night i left no mess no sign i had even been there it would not be long before i returned again the year was about 1957 long ago but to me it only seems like yesterday. more latter
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   Old Thread  #169 22 Sept 2011 at 12.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #168
As i sit writing this the leaves are starting to fall from the trees it will be beautiful down the woods with all the different colours its a most beautiful time of year winter is knocking on our door once again the trees and hedgerows have been full of berries black berries holy berries there has been a good nut harvest the elderberries so the birds will be hard at it gorging on the berries getting ready for the coming winter for me the fishing has not been that good graham my friend has not been to well and i am now suffering my self quite badly mainly my back and i have severe asthma something i have never suffered with until now, but it certainly gets you down so at the present all i can do is reminisce about my early years i suppose i have led an interesting life with my fishing shooting and general love of nature i have met some interesting people along the way and if i had the opportunity i would do it all again i would not change one thing i do miss fishing at night i loved the dark and the quietness of it all i would sit and listen to the different noises so different from the day the dog fox calling the vixen the old Tawney owl high up in the tree above where you sit the barn owl as it drifts across the fields like a white ghost the call of the coot the moorhen the badgers as they pass you by it has been a most wonderful experience make the most of what you have got before age creeps up and takes it away life is so very short you are like a leaf on a tree we only come this way once so take it by the throat and enjoy every moment i certainly have.

I have had my ups and downs i fought in the booths at the fair ground i feared no man but being young you soon learn there is always some one better than you i had a few hidings but my love has been fishing and my wild life i have fished most lakes around my county and a few out side the county not all legal i have poached the pheasants so we could live a better life as in the days of my youth it was very hard when i look back and think of all the different game keepers i knew they have now all gone they have died and took there knowledge with them maybe there ghosts still haunts those woods i poached long ago when i was young there was old bell he was middle aged a good keeper i poached the river under his very nose he chased me a few times i would always hang a couple of trout on his gate to say thank you he knew it was me but could not prove a thing he would call the police and the Sgt Landers would arrive with a couple more policemen old Stan sharp was one i have climbed the trees to get away and have listened to them as the chatted far below i have not dared move a muscle but these are my memories of an age long ago it was a wonderful period in my life i would do it all again if permitted but that is not an option. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #168 21 Sept 2011 at 4.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #167
It was early may i lay in the undergrowth at the side of the wood she made her way towards me not a care in the world she stopped and squatted down relieved her self and on she came, i held my breath as she poked her nose through the fence where i lay hidden. She was a lovely vixen and her eyes were bright she was not pulled around from suckling her cubs, they were in an old rabbit warren up the bank from where i lay she sensed something was not right as she made her way past the earth then did a complete circle and past me by again she stopped and checked the air by sniffing here and there, she vanished into the earth bringing out her four young cubs they were not that old but they rolled down the bank and scrambled back up rolling over and over playing like kids they tried to suckle but she would not stand for that away she went across the fields maybe in search of a rabbit for their meal,

The badgers brought there cubs down from the same bank the boar came first then the sow followed by five lovely cubs it was late evening she brought them through the fence where i lay i held my breath as they clambered across my boots my friend Bern was next to where i lay and was operating the camera even thought they scrambled over my feet they did not know we were there, they were going to the green pastures beyond to feast on the many worms it was getting late i must go but i would be back the next day.

As i drove down the drive the next day i was quite taken back the dog and the vixen were lying out on the grass adjacent to the earth i drove past thinking they would move how wrong i was they never moved i stopped the car and wound down the window i was no more than six feet from the pair but before i could get the camera out they moved away i watched them disappear from sight over the brow of the bank heading towards the earth, i got down into the wood thinking the cubs would come out but i was in for a shock i waited for about three hours but there was no sign they were gone she had moved them something had disturbed her, i wondered if it was us the night before where would she take them i walked the hedgerows and eventually found them tucked up in a hole under some old willow trees i did not go to close and left them well alone i did not want to disturb her again but we watched from afar she fed them often bringing rabbit even hedgehog, over the coming weeks they really did grow and became more inquisitive leaving the sanctuary of the earth and venturing further away i knew it would not belong before they went there separate ways they were now old enough to hunt for there selves the vixen was not visiting as much she knew it was time for them to go. This was in the eighties all part of my life and my love of nature and my beloved foxes. more to come latter
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   Old Thread  #167 20 Sept 2011 at 2.10pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #166
As i stood within the wood you could hear the sound of the hunting horn they were out in force today i could see the hounds four field away from the old style where i sat i saw a streak of rustic red as two foxes made there way towards this old wood and sanctuary the wood was private, but the hounds could not tell on they would come through the wood following the scent of old charlie, i watched as the foxes parted company one making its way through the old bog that surrounded the pool the other making it way towards the big bushes of Rhododendrons in to it she vanished she would lie there panting for breath hoping the dogs would not find her scent it was a chilly day and had started to snow it stung my face as i looked out from my hiding place the dogs were now in the wood casting here and there the huntsmen blew his horn to call them back but the hounds were on the scent the leading dog was away around the bog where the biggest of the foxes went the noise they made would wake the dead there was about eight couple in all i made my way towards the hounds old foxy had gone to earth and they stood around with waging tales waiting for the terror men to appear what a shock they would get when they appeared with spades in hand to dig old foxy out, i stood in there way gun in hand sorry i would say you cannot come this way this is private property so please call of your hounds and take them away the owners of the woods had already written to the hunt requesting that they should stay away the huntsman arrived on his horse hi Pete he says for he knew me well from years ago we tried to call them back but they were on the scent he cracked his whip blew his horn and took the hounds away i watched as they carried on across the fields they disappeared in the distance but they would be back another day.

The woods were private treble ssi no one was allowed to trespass here i was lucky and could walk where i liked with kind permission from the owners as long as i looked after there interests and kept people away you could stand most days in those woods and hear a pin drop that's how quite they were i would walk and look after the two big badger sets make sure they were not disturbed the wild life was amazing around and on the lake the different species of ducks and the big skeins of geese that rested on the water. I would fish it with graham catching the pike we had amazing days on that old lake and would tag any pike we caught but that was years ago long before the present owners its still ssi and run by English nature i am still allowed on the property a privilege, i love and except, a beautiful place to walk and dream your life away. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #166 19 Sept 2011 at 8.40pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #165
The clouds scuttled across the sky casting shadows across the surrounding land we were both huddled together under the hedge row that surrounded the small pool the grass looked silver in the full moon the only noise we could here was the occasional yap of a dog fox higher up in in hill country as you looked up above you could see the twinkling stars there was no light pollution here how insignificant we really are the universe is so huge we are like a leaf on a tree just a small part of this planet we call earth graham and i have stood here many times over the years we never failed to get a thrill waiting for the ducks to come into the small pool my dog blaze trembled with anticipation it was a chilly night as i pulled the color up on my coat as we looked behind where we stood the big hill stood out in the moonlight looking more like a big volcano you could see the big fir wood on the side of the hill it was over run with rabbits and we thought of the days we had spent there shooting the bolting rabbit i would wonder what it was like thousands of years before in the jurassic period what strange animals roamed these hills.

You heard the odd noise from the ducks as they fed far out on the big stubble fields it would not be long before they flew our way to rest on this small pool like there parents had done for generations but it was a moonlight night they could fly all night but we need not worry they came in like darts in two and threes big fat mallard duck there were hundreds the sky was alive with ducks i had a right and left graham did the same as i stood blaze my dog brought them to hand there was a fair pile on the ground in front of us we needed to fill our orders the farmer wanted at least six we ended the evening with twenty mallard we stood and watched as more came in we would leave them in piece until the next time it was like a harvest they would taste good as they had been feeding on the best we walked to the landrover putting the ducks in the back as we rode across the feilds we could see the rabbits bolting for the safety of the big woods on the side of the hill, a fox crossed our path and you could see his shining eyes in the beam of the head lights after a rabbit maybe for his impending supper we came out off hill country calling at the farm where the farmer met us with a big smile want a drink pete no john we must get home we left him hollding his share of the ducks and made our way home i soon fell asleep in the chair beside the fire dreaming of things to come this would be some time in the seventys. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #165 18 Sept 2011 at 12.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #164
My stories are not just about fishing but about my life in general from the forties up until now as i have told you all i was born in the war years and until 1947 i lived most of my early years with my grandad i suppose i have him to thank for getting me into fishing in was only three when i first started to fish with my grandad, from that point on a became obsessed with this great hobby of ours i have not just fished for carp , all fish fish were worth catching in my book i really cut my teeth on the river Rea just down the fields a stones throw from my house, and the onny when we moved to Craven arms it was while i was there that i started to fish the lakes and pools that existed on the many estates in the surrounding country side they were all private in those days i don't think many anglers had had really seen the potential of these old estate lakes as i have mentioned before they were generally shot over and the fishing was left alone i would go as much to say most had never been fished maybe the keeper had fished but most were so over grown you had a job getting to the side of the water what with brambles old trees you could not cut any out as the keepers would be onto you and you would soon get caught one such lake i will mention no name as it is still private and is still a shooting estate i was determined to fish the lake but it was surrounded by rosedendrum,s there was no way through i was young so i literally crawled rod and all under these bushes until i reached the side of the water even thought i was young by the time i had got there and my rod set up i would be knacked but it was well worth the effort i float fished and caught some great tench i would use home made bread paste my mother would make it god knows what she put in it as it smelled beautiful good enough to eat i never caught any huge fish maybe a couple of pounds three pound the biggest most i think were over stocked and the fish were stunted the lakes had been left alone and were only used for duck shooting there would be signs keep out shooting in progress or private lake and woods keep out dogs will be shot on sight.

Some of these old keepers were real hard characters and would not hesitate to put a shot above your head i had it happen to me i was frightened to death i was in the cover of a pheasant wood he knew i was there and shouted for me to come out i had been doing a bit of poaching i never answered then bang bang the pellets hitting the undergrowth around me i was out the other side and over the top of the old quarry hiding on The railway line until things had quietened down i had that happen a couple of times, they would not of got away with that with todays laws. They would protect there birds using most methods because if they did not put a good show of birds in the shooting season they would soon be out of a job but things were a lot different then they were hard days the wages were really peanuts and most poeple were very hard up but they managed to scrape by. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #164 16 Sept 2011 at 1.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #163
You saw very little traffic on the road when i was young you could wander far and wide you would see the occasional lorry or car but it was so quiet us lads would play football on the main road running through our village after the war years, the early fifties things picked up you did see a lot more transport a lot of our friends had motor cycles and side cars i think when i was about eight my step father bought an Aeriel square four he then added a side car it got us every where to the sea and back ,and to the towns of ludlow and shrewsbury but our main transport was our bikes i would bike miles to go fishing rods tied onto the cross bar, an old army bag or my big post office bag on my back with all the odds and ends from sandwiches to a big bottle of ginger beer we even carried a box of matches plus an old tobacco tin with hooks and weights in as i have said before tackle was poor at the time but we managed on what we could afford. I loved to go to, the little carp lake about 6 miles from my home when i first fished there it must of been around 1950 i used to go with a friend called Ray evans we were two young scallywags and fished together quite often unfortunately, Ray died many years ago at the age of fifty two he will always remain in my heart as he was a great friend who fished and shot with me until he died he is buried in the little church yard at Halford craven arms, we would go carp fishing together i can well remember us casting out and lying down in the long grass we would shake with excitement as we saw the carp break surface you could see there backs out of the water then tremble with anticipation as the float moves and slides below the surface you grab the rod strike and you were in the fish would charge around as you played him this beautiful monster of the deep, we had no landing nets then so it was a matter of getting it to the bank then getting it out with our hands at times we got a bit wet trying to get the fish on dry land no mats then only lush grass he would lie there this beautiful fish no more than three pounds ,but to us youngsters it was huge we would return it gently and watch it swim away then we stood around congratulating our selves they were great days.

The summers seemed to be long i can only remember sunny weather but we must of had rain its just i can only remember the good times we would strip of and swim in the lake no one cared they were hazy lazy days we had a few weeks off school in the summer i spent most of my time either fishing the river or the small carp lake we also followed the corn harvest it was an exiting time as i have told you before catching the rabbits that bolted from the corn and tried to get away these were the days of my youth to picking the apples from the orchards they were privately owned by the many farmers we got chased a few times but we loved to scrump not only the apples but damsons to we would take a basket home and mother would make jam from the fruit the apples we would have a stew or a pie they were marvelous days we roamed the country side care free which i feel is sadly missing today we should not have been there as most estates or farms were strictly private but it did not worry us as lads we would also dig the potatoes before they were harvested we would fill a couple of buckets and make our way home they were boiled and eaten with home made butter and big chunks of bread yum yum but times were very hard so nothing we got was ever waisted . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #163 15 Sept 2011 at 10.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #162
I loved birds nesting i would be away all day looking for nests climbing trees ripping the arse out of my trousers it was a grand child hood i would clime to the buzzards nest the kestrel and the sparrow hawk the kestrel would lay her eggs in an old crows nest i was never afraid of heights in fact i was quite a good climber i could shin up a tree with no branches or clime the rocks for the jackdaws eggs if the nest was there i would clime to it i know one thing i could not do it now to big in the belly and my legs don't work i would clime to the crows and the rooks nest i would only take one egg from each nest i would carry a pin making a hole each end of the egg then blow the yoke out i had a big collection in those days but today it is illegal to take birds eggs, i got to know a couple of chaps in those days who caught wild birds the gold finch, linnet, bullfinch, siskins, you name it they had it they would make bird lime the birds would stick to it they would smear it on thistle tops and such they would breed with these birds in a big Avery then ring the youngsters and let the adults go some times they would let a few youngsters go if they had to many they would cross the linnet with a border canary the young males were called mules they sang beautifully it was a bit hush hush and they would not tell you that much i know they used traps as well as i found them in the hedge rows i asked if i could go with them but they always answered no i suppose they only had them selves to look after and could not be bothered with a Youngster in tow.

There was always something to do i used to fish old farmer bagots land he was a funny old chap and he let all his part of the river to some of the big fly fishing clubs one such club was the Shropshire fly fishers they would be one side the river i the other side they would be fly fishing i would be worming they did not like this at all i must admit i did not make a habit of this as they would shout and tell you it was private they would nearly blow a fuse if you caught one under there noses saying they would fetch the police man but being a nimble youth i would be away before it ever came to that but i did most of my poaching early morning or late evening when no one was about we did have the policeman call but he usually went away laughing and feeling a bit jolly after mum or dad had plied him with elderberry or damson whine my parents made quite a bit of the stuff it would be in the cupboard in old dusty bottles dad never drank so who had it god knows friends and neighbours i would think there was only two policemen on the village who were kept quite busy chasing petty crime IE poaching and such i don't think we heard much about robbers in those days we left our back door open all hours nothing would go missing in fact things turned up a loaf of bread eggs even butter your neighbours shared if they had to much, we did the same but those days have long gone you could not leave your door open today but they were great days we did not have that much but what we did have was respect and love for your fellow neighbor and friends. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #162 14 Sept 2011 at 10.58am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #161
I would only be about ten years old i would roam the fields and woods i had an old Diana air rifle it was not that powerful but it would bring a pheasant down i walked many miles with that old gun and i suppose i got quite good it was very accurate when i went up to sam's he would go and shoot the rooks with it for his rook pie, he made it a bit more powerful i think he altered the spring no one ever knew but me i carried it every where, there were pheasants in every wood and field as all the estates bred them. I can remember seeing the rearing field old SAM lived there when there were chicks about he had a little hut he eat slept in it, he would go home then, back again his wife would bring his dinner up for him it must have been very lonely for her living in the cottage in those woods by her self while SAM was on the rearing field, there would be lines of coups with a broody hen sitting on the eggs where they got the Broody's from i don't know but there was at least a hundred SAM would guard them with his life, he slept with his gun and anything that threatened those birds he shot it was his lively hood and if he did not produce the pheasants in season he would be soon out of work.

i also roamed for miles up the river onny and its tributaries just me and my rod i would spin the different pools catching the beautiful brown trout in those days there was an abundance of wild life i would sit for hours watching the kingfisher dive for the minnows to feed her young brood, she had a hole in the bank a bit further up the river you would see the little dipper running through the rapids more or less under water funny little birds but when i was young they were quite a common sight the sand martins would have there nests in the many holes in the river bank there would be hundreds in the breeding season a bit latter on the otter hounds would be around the men would walk through the water up to there waist they had about twelve dogs they were known as the otter hounds it was not for me the water would turn red when they killed the animal but this is the way it was at times i would meet the hunt on my travels the ladies would be dressed in black with long skirts and would ride side saddle some of the men would be dressed in red or black bloody hell they were posh they caught me one day in the woods what are you doing here young man well it went something like that i tried to explain i was at Sam's but they would have none of it and said they would get the police man but SAM arrived on the scene and saved me i had a telling off from old SAM saying i should not have been in the woods without him but it went in one ear and out the other SAM would say your about as bone headed as that dog he takes no notice and he would burst out laughing his wife would say leave that young alone but he would just smile to him self.


He was a great old character and i learned so much from him he would show me the partridges nest and how to find it in the bottom hedgerows you could soon walk passed it they were that well camouflaged how to find the pheasants nest there was never a dull moment i would on occasions go rabbiting with him he would take his old gun and ferrets he would net some holes and leave other open any that bolted from the open holes he shot some he netted he was a good shot and rarely missed but he was brought up with a gun in his hands and it went every where with him he would not do to much rabbiting as the estate employed some fellow full time catching the rabbits they made quite a bit of revenue out of them i think a lot went to london birmingham and the cities or else where. They would hang out side the game shops in there hundreds people lived on them in those days they fetched about sixpence each but it was a cheep meal, but it would not last very long as the myxomatosis reared its ugly head well there we go a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #161 12 Sept 2011 at 3.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #158
I was always up the fields or down the woods although fishing was my main hobby i loved wild life i loved to see the badgers they would be huddled all together on the meadow looking for worms they got quite used to myself and grahams presence at night when we were out with the rifle after the rabbits, when i used to bivie up on the big lake you would quite often hear them at the back of your bi-vie it could be quite of putting if you did not know what was making the noise. At one time going back a few years i would scatter a few peanuts ,just out side the bi vie they would be soon sniffing around i got them quite tame and they were not scared at all the problem was they would spray my boots with musk i thought foxes were bad enough but badgers really made me stink i was banned out of the house until i had a shower and change of cloths but i did not mind they are lovely creatures they are a communal animal only one boar living with the sows and a number of youngsters i have had eight on nine badgers playing out while i just sat and watched, the one sow would bring her youngsters out of the set usually about five it was great watching them slide down the bank just like children, i do wonder how they are going to get on in the wake of the cull. Its all been done before they gassed them all in summerset parts of Devon and Cornwall it made no difference the cattle still caught bovine TB i have my own theories on the problem, they can now inoculate why not try and see if that will work with out annihilating them all. Since they were protected the species have really increased and i suppose you could say there far to many but i love to see them then country side will be a worse place without them.

The one set has at least ninety holes now that a lot the farmer was not very happy as the badgers had eroded his fields and the tractor had got stuck a few times its wheel went through into one of the many tunnels he used to get very angry about them i know the badger society removed some of the culprits by catching them in a trap and taking them else where but a few miles away was no good, they were back with a few days i think the farmer has now given up as there is only so much that can be done this set has been in existence well before i was born its really incredible to think how many badger have been born there, i can't believe its nearly autumn some of the leaves are on the change and even falling off in the high winds it certainly has come around so quickly it does not seem five minutes since last year the older you get the quicker it goes there is talk about another bad winter there are good crops of berries and hazel nuts around loads of black berries some of the holy tree,s have been covered in berries so the birds will now feed and gorge there selves getting ready for the coming winter. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #160 11 Sept 2011 at 5.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #159
Thanks ash for your kind remarks much appreciated
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   Old Thread  #159 11 Sept 2011 at 3.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #158
What a privillage that must of been for you Pete, Brilliant stuff!
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   Old Thread  #158 11 Sept 2011 at 1.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #157
It was in the early eighties i discovered a new fox earth bordering the old quarry as far as i could see she had quite a big family in all i counted six cubs they would certainly take some looking after so i decided i would film them over the next few months and watch the highs and lows of this family a couple of friends were quite interested and wanted to tag a long my old friend Bern was one such friend Rodger was another the one field above the earth had been used quite a lot the cubs had been playing in the long grass and they had nearly rolled it flat so the week after saw myself and Rodger set up just above the earth lying in the long grass with my camcorder set up on a tripod, we did not have to wait long to see them out and playing i got some rather good footage over the next two weeks the vixen would drop the occasional rabbit and we would watch as they played tug of war pulling the rabbit one way then the other there were six cubs the one was very small i suspected he or she was the runt of the litter.

Its strange really i suspected all was not right with the litter for some reason they disappeared they were not now playing on the field some thing was wrong or so i thought so Rodger and i decided to investigate i did not want to leave to much human scent because if they were still there the vixen may move them on, as i walked down the bank i caught sight of one of the cubs lying on its side he was dead bloody hell Rodger those were my exact words some , ones killed them but i could only find the one and it was the runt of the litter it had been bitten quite severely maybe dogs i thought but where are the others i must admit i really felt low and upset at the thought some one may of ended their lives so young, so it was with a heavy heart we made our way home the next day i decided i would investigate some more in the company of Bernard we would have a look at the earth which was situated in the old hawthorn hedge in some old rabbit holes, we lay down by an old five bar gate and waited just below the hay field where they had played before, bless me i need not of worried they had rolled the undergrowth flat under the hedge row i saw movement in the nettles and out stepped a beautiful cub i was over the moon in fact there were four others they walked across the hedge row to the five bar gate to where we lay hidden and not once did they suspect we were there. We watched for a further two months the vixen would bring food twice a day it varied from rabbit hedgehog to chicken which i, presumed it had got from Bomere farm in fact over the next few weeks they got quite tame i am sure they knew we were there and would show them selves close up by June they were quite big and the vixen did not visit as much it was time for them to leave and survive on there own i remember turning up this one day but they had gone probably they had made there way into one of the many rape or corn fields we never saw them again but we had so much pleasure watching the heights and lows of this family . Over the weeks i took quite a few with me and it was quite an education for them as most had never seen a fox or cubs. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #157 9 Sept 2011 at 11.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #156
The north easterly wind was bitter as we made our way across the fields to the old fir woods i pulled my coat around me the weather had been like this for at least two week the farmer had been complaining about the wood pigeons that had been feeding on his crops last season the woods were full and they were finding it difficult to find any kale or sprout tops to feed on the farmer grew crops to eat as well as kale and turnips for animal feed he wanted to thin them out and asked if we would oblige, i could hardly refuse as he had given us permission to fish the pools on his ground, it was so cold graham and his brother shivered we should of been at home not standing at the edge of some old fir wood waiting for the arrival of the pigeons as they came into roost in the distance we caught sight of old foxy making his way across the distant field maybe looking for a free meal from home farm where the hens roamed free. the pigeons appeared getting blown around on the cold easterly wind, i took a right and left my dog blaze stood by my side until i told him to go find he dropped the pigeons at my feet i shot another five when i noticed the snow had frozen to the dogs front paws i tried to clean it off but it was solid. the pigeons looked emancipated you could see there breast bone there was no meat on them at all, i was not carrying on like this the birds were starving i called graham he was like minded we collected our gear and made our way back a across the fields to grahams land rover his brother was limping badly what we did not know at the time was he had frost bite in his toes my old lab blaze was not much better i had to lift him into the land rover we had to thaw my poor dog out he was OK i don't think it did any of us that much good the wind was bitter it even froze my eye lashes never again but you never learn i have pike fished in similar weather when the lakes were not frozen but the wind was cold grahams brother ended up in hospital for treatment on his toes it must have been very cold to get through this boots .

Two weeks latter we stood under the old hawthorn hedge waiting for the big skeins of canadian geese the weather had now mellowed but the wind was still chilly but once again the farmer wanted the geese shot owing to damage they had done earlier on in the year it was not the same farmer, we tried to keep them all happy but we would not make much difference to these geese they came in there hundreds we would only shoot a dozen or so between us as that is all i could get rid off its not every body that likes wild geese but some of the older generation had survived on this sort of food in the war years and after. We took what we wanted it was late January and we were pike fishing on the big lake Sunday morning we awoke to quite a bad frost but arriving at the water it was not frozen solid there was few areas open we fished with dead bait it was so cold we shiverd, and by dinner time we had just about enought we had landed sixteen pike the biggest only sixteen pounds but worth the effort we made our way back through the farm yard getting to our car we loaded our rods and bags and made our way to our local pub the fox we sat before a roaring fire with a pint of the best in our hands a great way to end our day as we talked and dreamt of things to come. more latter
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   Old Thread  #156 7 Sept 2011 at 11.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #155
In those days i would cycle to Atcham hide my bike and fish Attingham park the water was part of the river Tern i would catch some lovely roach and chub the problem was it was heavily keeper like most big estates at the time. There was a lot of deer poaching going on they would arrive in gangs and set dogs on the poor beasts the injuries were terrible it is something that really revolts me it is cruel and barbaric but it was down to the money they could make i have already told you in part one of my stories how i had to swim to get away one particular night. A number of years latter i had a few invites to shoot at the place and the keeper told me off an incident where a deer was running around with a cross bow bolt through its neck although i shoot i was horrified what pain that animal must of been in and these individuals call it sport.

There was another estate just north of shrews bury i used to fish i will not mention its name but some who read my stories and are locals will know where i mean, none of my mates would go near the place as it had a number of keepers you will get caught they would say but i was lucky and never did in those days i always carried a catapult with me there were pheasants every where you looked i would hide my bike and ford the river you could only do this if the river was very low i would skirt around the big house and end up beside the lake it was fringed all the way around with big reed beds the pheasants were that tame i would shoot a couple with my catapult and put them in the old post bag i would have to be very careful where i fished from as i did not want to be discovered there was a big old oak that had fallen down i would walk across the tree then into the reed beds, it was not to bad only a bit muddy i would float fish using bread and maggot i would chuck out a bit of ground bait i had brought with me it consisted of mashed bread and boiled mashed potatoes it really worked mind you i don't think the lake had ever been fished it was full of Tench i would catch them to four pounds a beautiful green colour i got broke on a few occasions i put this down to carp how things have changed you can now fish the lake as long as your a member of the syndicate there are still keepers on the estate and they still have some very big shooting days.

I suppose i really started to get a bit greedy i would take along my trusted air rifle the birds were so tame i would shoot a dozen in no time i got to know another lad on my village who owned a car he liked a bit of poaching Christmas would come around and we would be away as soon as it was dark he would hold the lamp and i would do the shooting it was better than strapping the light to the barrel of the gun we would shoot dozens like this and made a bob or two for our back pockets, but this one night the keepers twigged we were there the police were also present so the chase was on we hid the gun and the bag with the pheasant in and made it back to the car we sat there for some time until it had quietend down then we fetched the gun and birds, it was not the first or the last time i got chased from that estate over the years but times were still quite hard and we needed the money and a few pheasants for the family and neighbors well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #155 5 Sept 2011 at 10.22am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #154
Fishing the river Severn in those far off days was wonderful the river was full of roach chub there was no barbel then we had some good days catching dace i suppose i was around fifteen years old when i first started fishing the severn seriously i would cycle down to the grey friars bridge in shrews bury and ledger for the big roach, i had got an apollo taper-flash as well as my tank aerials plus my built cane rod which was an all in one job with different tops it was made by hardy until of late i had still got some of the sections we would use bread paste molded around a size eight hook or even a size twelve thinking back the year was around 1957 a fair time ago we would leave our rods against the railings that over looked the river and watched the top of the rod for a bite at first i was not very successful but there was an old boy who always fished from there he was mustard the top would flicker and he was on the rod strike he had some whooping roach i used to watch him for hours no good watching me young man get that rod out there that's the only way to learn and i did i started to get a few fish it was so different than today the bailiff would come around he was so helpful he use to have a big alsatian with him it was his soul companion as in those days there was only him and he had miles of water to look after the salmon fishing in those days was excellent and he had to keep his eye out for poaching.

I also liked to trot down the river for the dace it was full of these little silver fish you were lucky if you ever caught one over a pound they were mostly around 8oz to 12oz but great fishing i would use a little cork float the smallest hook you could buy i used an old wooden centre pin it was not that good but it did the job i also used the Mitchell 300 i would throw handful of maggots in and let the float, follow them down it would get to the end of the glide and away it would go dipping under the surface strike and you would be in it was not unusual to catch twenty or thirty pounds of dace in a session real good fishing the maggots were cheep in those days two shillings and sixpence would buy you as many as you needed you got people fishing the river but not like today it was never crowded some of the anglers i knew all had motor bikes and they would take me on there pillion two baskets on my back plus the rods but i loved it and made many friends we would go for miles we fished at atcham and would ledger for the chub with big chunks of cheese we had wonderful days i don't think i caught a chub over three pounds but to us they were huge another thing we did was fish for the eels at night using big bunches of lob worms we would only fish until about one in the morning but could easily catch ten or twelve eels they were eaten in those days so i would always take a few home for our neighbors and our selves some times you would hook a salmon if you were lucky you may land him you should of returned the fish but you were away home you could sell it to a local hotel and get a few pounds for your back pocket . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #154 3 Sept 2011 at 12.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #153
i was in to everything when i was young it was a bit of a shock when i left school, we had moved back to the village of my birth Bayston hill the year was 1957 i started work as a butcher boy but it was not for me i worked with butcher called williams for the coop he was a nasty old character and punched me around quite a bit i think he thought he was a boxer but it was me he was punching so my job with him did not last that long i went to light the water heater this one morning two minutes past and there was a big explosion the heater blew straight off the wall and through the ceiling he blamed me he went to punch me so i gave him one well i nutted him that was the end of that the fire service was there and the police, i walked out telling him where to stick his job i ended up working for a big firm called C J pierces of dawley they put sewer pipes in, i started as a tea boy i was on sixteen pounds a week at the age of sixteen i earned twice as much as my father it was well paid they were all Irish navies but i got on well with them i eventual;y ended up working in the trenches my money went up to twenty pounds a week it was a lot of money i could afford to get new fishing tackle i still did my share of poaching the pheasants and the Irish lads would order one for Christmas it was a marvelous firm although you had to work hard the Foreman was a Irish man call mac Phillips, every one used to be scared by him he would shout at the laborers get your backs bent i would laugh at him what y laughing at young man he would say, you i would answer he would fall about laughing at least you don't seem to worry about me, they were terrible if they got rained off it was straight to the local pub god did they drink they would take me with them it usually ended up with them fighting falling out between there, selves there were three pubs on the village and some of the landlords would not let them in well they were banned but i love them they were very good to me.

At week ends usually Sundays i would be off fishing i would fish the big lake that was in the middle of the woods which was known as the sarn but in fact it was Bomere it was called the sarn because it appeared in the classic movie gone to earth by Mary Webb it was strictly private and well keepered i would fish under the keepers nose his name was Gerry Haiz there was also a number of under keepers it was a huge shoot the other head keeper was old Frank Bell from condover i would fish the smaller lake Showmere just below the keepers cottage i would hide in the undergrowth and float fish i would catch bream after bream they were only about four pounds but they looked huge to me the Rudd used to grow quite big you could not get your hand around them but you had to wade through the small ones first i had a few near escape from there, none of the locals would go near the place, just behind the lake was a big release pen it was full of pheasants how many they put down i don't know but it was in the thousands i have told you all i would have a few away using fishing line with a current or sultana on the hook the birds could not resist them i would kill the ones i caught and put them in the old post bag which i also used for my fishing i had the best of two worlds i caught the fish and the pheasents in the same session they were lovely days and i still have some happy memories i really wonder what the owners would say if they saw it now as things have changed so much over the years. well thats it for now more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #153 2 Sept 2011 at 2.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #152
I had a good childhood although it was hard at times i did most things young lads of my age did wild life was a big passion then as it is now it is our heritage to keep it safe for future generations i can just hear some people say oh yes but not the otter this animal was on this earth long before us and it has roamed the English country side and swam in the river for generations its not the otters fault that its killing fish that's its life how it lives, but i do put a lot of blame for the present crisis on the individual groups the EA are partly to blame English nature is another all conservation groups, there are far to many being let go there are a good many splinter groups breeding the otter and letting them go willy nilly not taking in to consideration the availability of food, as we all know there is no control over the otter not like years ago although i did not like the hunt it did keep the otter in check, and then we had the old game keepers who would shoot one on sight if he was interfering with his game birds or the trout fishery that came under his control but today there is nothing they are much tamer than when i was youth that is because they are used to humans who have brought them up by hand feeding and have looked after them until they were old enough to fend for there selves, i cant see any sort of control in my life time i hope i am wrong but i wont hold my breath.

Enough about the otter, my life was so full when younger the fields then were full of wild flowers the bird life was amazing, so many of our birds have now gone missing birds that i took for granted when i was young there was an abundance of mistle thrushes the grey partridge the spotted fly catcher i could go on for ever i still see these birds but in the quantity like years ago i suppose you can put it down to farming practices pulling hedgerows out draining pools and such there habitat has disappeared the one that still seems to flourish is old foxy he has adapted to life in the cities and is a common sight especially after dark and we have a good healthy population in the countryside another animal that is making a good come back is the brown hair it to really suffered and was killed off by using agricultural sprays that at the time no one realized the danger of using them they really suffered and you were lucky if you even saw one, but now they are making a great come back i put a ban on our syndicate shooting them and we are starting to see a health stock which is great to see i think the rabbit population is now back to the 1950 level although you still see out breaks of myxomatosis it does not kill them all like years ago they have bred a certain immunity to this horrible disease but a few still die but not like years ago they fetch a good price at market a freind is getting three pounds each or six pounds a couple as long as they are ferreted or killed by head shots with his rifle, he has now retired, from work and can be out nearly every day ferreting or shooting at the different farms in shropshire and he really is doing a good job of work for the farmers and also making a bit of cash for his back pocket i wish i had got that much when we were doing it years ago i hope i have not bored you to much going on about our wild life as it goes hand in hand with fishing and it is up to us all to look after it for our gran kids and for the future generations. a little bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #152 30 Aug 2011 at 10.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #151
I have fished from some funny places some very scary i have fished sitting with my back on a head stone in a church yard some of the places i have fished i have felt very uncomfortable not really liking the place, i have had the same feeling when in some woods and was always glad to move away from there. Why i don't know other places i have fished always seemed friendly i have never ever been scared of the dark its the same as day time if you know your way through the woods the only difference is it was dark some of my mates have seen ghosts it has never happened to me so i keep an open mind i have told you all about my father in law in the earlier stories he firmly believed and i have told you all before how he saw wild edric riding his horse over the hill with his band of men and the big hunting dogs they past him by riding across the stiperstones he told me there hair streamed out from under there helmets and he watched them disappear into the distance and listened to the sound of the hunting horn as they vanished from sight this was a few months before the start of the second world war it is said that wild edric is seen with his band of men if Britain is threatened with war my father in law was a sincere man a very truth full person he was a miner when i got married he had left mining because of his health he had caught the dreaded disease caused by the silica dust but i have no reason not to believe him i am convinced some people can see some things that others cant.

Like one such lake in Shropshire i was fishing birch grove at the time long before it went syndicate i was fishing with a friend called Kimberly just up the road was another lake where two of our friends were fishing they were both very level headed and not easily scared i suppose it was around 1-30 our friends turned up in a very agitated state what ever wrong we asked i will not give there names as they are still alive and would not want to embarrass either one or there familys but over a cup of tea it went like this they were really shook up they had set up on the far bank it was a wooded area they had cast out and baited up they retired to there bivies well umbrella with a cover over it they fell asleep but were awakened to the sound of there alarms going of intermittently they both went to get up and noticed just out side the bivie was a man who was pulling the line with his hand which then operated the buzzers it was a moonlight night and they could see this was no ordinary man in the moonlight his hair looked yellow and he wore skins even his foot ware was made out of skins he had a sword by his side my two mates shouted at him he turned to face them he looked a very proud man but just vanished as thought he had never existed then all hell let loose they heard the sound of fighting metal against metal the sound of horses they pulled there rods in and left every thing where it was, and came down to see us i said i would go back with them no way they would not go back until morning we packed up next morning and went back with them we bumped into the farmer and land owner on our way and asked him if ever he had heard anything yes he said a few others have had similar experiences now i can vouch for this it did happen my friends saw something that should of not been there as far as i know they never ever fished the place again it is a well known area and there are a number of burial mounds that have never been excavated as it is a protected site believe if you wish or not believe but it did happen not that i saw anything but my friends were absolutely terrified there is a lot more in heaven and earth we do not understand maybe one day we might untill then i will keep an open mind on the subject. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #151 29 Aug 2011 at 1.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #150
Things are not the same as when i was young, some times i thank god they are not i would go down to the woods and find the keepers gibbet this is where they hung all the predators they had shot or trapped you would see rats weasels stoats foxes badgers even hedgehogs otters you name it would be there in the late thirties early forties they even used pole traps which caught owls hawks and such i am really glad some of these practices have now gone. But in my younger days especially after the war a lot of the big shoots were revived as a few lay dormant throughout the war years the woods and surrounding land was full of vermin and the big shoots then produced pheasants by the thousands so they had to get rid of the vermin if you walked the hedgerows you would find tunnel trap inside the hedge or on a well worn path the animal had made, it would be the old fashioned trap with its vicious jaws they would dig a little hole place the trap in the hole after settin it they covered it with leaves or grass then put a piece of wood or piping around it the rat or stoat would run through bang they were caught mostly dead instantly the trap would be pegged down you would also find the snares put down for foxes i was with SAM when he found an old boar badger in one it had cleared all the under growth around the snare trying to get away, Sam was a bit braver than i was or ever would be, he grabbed the badger by the neck and used cutters to get it out. The snare had cut deep into the badgers neck but he put it into a sack and took it home where his wife looked after it no need to kill him young UN he would say they don t do me much damage only take a few eggs from any nests they find they were very partial to an egg or two.

Most keepers would have killed it and hung it on the gibbet you would also find poisoned eggs left on the keepers rides they were injected with poison then left until an animal or bird found it they would die instantly a lot of people lost there pet dogs and cats to this awful practice the old keepers would roll an injected egg into the badgers set which would kill it or them instantly how things have now changed for the better as far as that goes its a wonder we had any wild life left but all keepers were not the same some conserved the wild life as long as it was doing no damage but they were far and few between, the main thing was the shooting and if the birds were not there the keeper would soon get the sack he had to put a good show of birds for his boss and guests they were hard times and you could pick keepers up from far and wide so you did your job right or you would soon be out they would also be out at night looking for poachers some would come in gangs and could really handle there selves so the keepers job could be quite dangerous but they had the backing of the police and other keepers it all bolied down to money as times were very hard. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #150 28 Aug 2011 at 11.39am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #149
I have lived my dream i have walked the fields of Shropshire fished its lakes and rivers i have watched the vixen and her cubs i have been lucky in my life time to see pure albino foxes to watch the badgers, out at play to feed them peanuts from my hand what more could one want i have done it all i am at piece and content to still tell my tales from long ago about the times when things were hard and believe me they were you would run around with the arse out of your trousers, no new ones would you get only a big patch to cover your bum, holes in your socks would be repaired darned with a needle full of wool or thread your boots, or shoes, would be repaired the best they could you would rub dubbin on your boots to make them water proof there was no new cloths all those years ago only hand downs from other families that lived in our row of terraced houses, no electricity for many years only the light from the old oil lamp if you were lucky you had the gas and that was all the light we had from the mantels around the house it was my job to check the gas mantels and any needed changing was left to me gas was cheap as we lived in railway terraces i am not sure if it was not free we had loads of railway sleepers delivered every year it was my job to saw them into logs then chop some up for fire lighters when burning on the fire you could smell the tar the sleepers were full of the stuff i had to do this once a week it came before my fishing or being out at play.

But they were also good times you had respect for your elders sadly laking today you could be out all day your parents knew you were safe not like today you left your back door open for all to see and know one would enter mind you we did not have that much to steal they were happy days the schools were strict but fair if you did wrong you would be punished i can still see the head masters stick, it was frayed and split at the ends and would leave your hands blue and pinched were he had hit you the most i had was three on each hand looking back it did no harm it taught you right from wrong at times he would cane you in front of all the school at morning assembly you had to go in although you knew what was coming you stood there in the front 0f the other classes it was done as warning that what they would get if they missed behaved this was life in the forties and fifties how its changed for the better i dont know but there are some caring youngsters about. We went to school in snow hail or what ever weather came we truged the way to school with snow over our boots no time off because of no central heating we had a coke fire in the middle of the class room all our boots and jackets would hang there to dry all day untill we went home some youngster walked six or seven miles home and would be cold and hungry by the time they got there these were the days of my youth i am sorry this is not about fishing but how we lived all those years ago i am nearly seventy so it must have been about sixty years ago how time flies it only seems like yesterday. well more a bit latter.
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   Old Thread  #149 27 Aug 2011 at 10.09am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #148
My school days at craven arms was a great experence i made so many freinds who some i am still in touch with but most have passed on, most are burried in halford church yard but my young days were full if i was not fishing i would be in some wood or up at sams the one wood was called nortons camp god it was full of pheasents in those days i think it was all part of the onibury shoot i would go up in an evening take my air rifle they always ran around like chickens i would pick a couple off quite easy my parents were always pleased with a couple of birds as it altered our diet the keeper always set a few snares wich i would find by the hedge row leading into the wood i would take a few rabbits i soon learned to reset the snare i would clean up the ground before moving on the keeper did not know i had been there i would carry an old post office bag and put all the game in it, some times it would become to heavy to carry as i was only a young un so ,i would hide a few and fetch them latter i got quite well known for my poaching down the terraces where i lived as i fed most of the residents they were always gratfull and returned the favour by giving us home made bread, some made butter it was lovely on big slabs of home made bread we always had somthing to do in the summer i would be out from dawn untill dusk, in season birds nesting i had quite a collection sam , my keeper freind had a huge collection but when i knew him he had packed it up he would say to me look but dont take hold them in your memory when he died i was devestated as i said before they found him up the woods lying there with his gun in his hands i think the egg collection ended up in some musem his house stood for many years curtains hanging in tatters pains of glass missing then it disapeared pulled down all thats left is a few stones and ghosts from the past and some very happy memories sam and his wife lie in halford church yard with a good many of my freinds they rest in piece in amonst the trees with the sound of the water fall just below the church it brings back some happy memories of times long ago when i caught the trout and perch under the sill of those wanderous falls.

I would walk the river from stoksay bridge down to onibury and spin for the trout i had some great mornings out i would be out first light and be back before the baliffs or keepers were about i would catch what i needed then i would be away i could catch up to twenty trout and would share them out with our neibours they were always welcome as times were very hard. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #148 25 Aug 2011 at 10.29am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #147
In those days i would cycle the eight miles to ludlow and fish on the river Team most of the river was private in those days but i caught some good gray-ling and trout from just below ludlow but after you had been fishing all day it was very tiring cycling back to craven arms i found another lake at a place called clungunford it belonged to squire Rock in the early fifties it was strictly private but i would cycle from the arms hide my bike and hide in the big reed beds i also did a fair amount of spinning but all i caught was small pike stunted fish no more than a pound in weight i remember catching a perch but other than that it was full of roach all stunted but to us youngsters it was exiting fishing there were a couple of keepers i have watched as they walked around the pool feeding the ducks i would not make a noise siting still until they left the pool as i have said before you had little chance to fish any where unless you poached the estates and then you were taking a chance if caught they would throw the book at you this one day i thought i would ask the squire for permission i knocked on the big house door, and when he appeared asked whether i could fish the lake he went bright red and started raising his voice saying he would set the dogs on any one fishing on his property actually he was not very nice but years latter he did give me permission to fish the lake he had certainly mellowed over the years.

I was told about another lake or pool in the woods up on Brandon hill above clungunford i went to school with a lad called Thomas his father had a farm above clungunford they had some big shoots up on Brandon but we managed to find this pool after a fair walk we only had one rod apiece it was a beautiful pool it was in the middle of the woods but the one side was all grass and it had been cut very short so some one was looking after it it also had a boat house at the one end and an island in the middle at times you could hear dogs barking in the distance i never really felt safe fishing there, but we did have a go float fishing with bread for bait we caught a fish a cast they were Rudd nice fish from half a pound to a pound joining this pool was another with a ditch between it was no more than a puddle but very clear we saw two big carp in that puddle they must have made there way in when it flooded we tried to wade in and catch them but it was very boggy but they looked good fish i fished it a few times but all we caught was Rudd i was always on edge and never really liked the place there was somthing about it. I suppose the year would have been around 1952 thats fifty nine years ago wheres it all gone i don't think there was many rivers and lakes i did not fish most were private i wonder to this day about that pool in the woods is it still there i am now to old to find out .
We did find another pool deep in the woods boat house and all but i have told you all about graham and myself fishing there in my earlier stories. well thats it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #147 24 Aug 2011 at 9.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #146
I soon learned to look after myself when we moved to craven arms i was a stranger and i got picked on by the other lads i would have none of it and would fight they soon learned to leave me alone i can well remember this one lad his name was barker he was determined he was going to give me a hiding and would pick on me at school so i said meet me down the fields at dinner time and he did i think all the school was there i got the first one in and that was that he soon shut up and i never had any more trouble from him but i soon started to get a reputation as some one not to tangle with but it suited me in fact i made many friends over the next few months it was all part of growing up.

I would cycle over to walcott lakes they were strictly private in those days rods strapped to the cross bar i would leave my bike hiding it in the undergrowth and clime over the hedge it was quite heavily keeper ed but it did not stop, me fishing it there was some good tench and roach in the water i have told you all about the shoot days there were hundreds of ducks on the two lakes the pheasants were every where i would watch where the duck and pheasants fell and would have a few away but i loved the fishing and caught some half decent roach i think the biggest tench was no more than three pounds i would float fish and hide in the big reed beds they were great days i was fishing this one day, and every thing went solid then started to move away i caught sight of this fish it was a very big pike, which had taken the roach that i had hooked i never stood a chance and he soon broke my line i stood there shaking what a monster but all the times i fished there i never saw another pike it was quite away from our house i would think about eight miles or so but we cycled every where in those days there was a river just up the road and i would have a look on the way home it was full with trout and decided i would have a go for them.

So i arrived on this river one early morning and proceeded to walk the bank and spin for the residents it was good fishing there were signs every where saying private fishing if caught you will be prosecuted but it did not stop me i would be there for first light and be away about eight thirty the trout were no more than a pound but made good eating i had a saddle bag on my bike and would wrap the fish in paper and carry them home in the saddle bag i have caught 20 odd fish in the few hours fishing there, the little river was called the the river clun it was baliffed and all the trout fishing was let i had some great mornings out over the years fishing this little river and my parents and neighbors were always gratfull for the trout i think i fed every one living in newington terrace in those early days and would catch fish to order . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #146 23 Aug 2011 at 10.00am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #145
Although we fished we had other hobbies as we lived in a railway town lots of the lads would go train spotting you could buy a book from the paper shop it gave the different classes of engines also giving its name and number you would just tick it off, but Ray and i were not that interested in that we would rather be fishing or out with our catapults trying to get a rabbit or two although i say it myself i was not a bad shot i would save the lead seals from the pigeon crates they would come in there thousands every Saturday i would go, up and collect the seals then melt them down i made ledgers and ammo for my catapult there were thousands of rabbits in the late forties early fifties we would walk the fields looking in patches of nettles the rabbits would be cutched down thinking they were safe from any predator in went the lead slug pull the elastic back bang you would here the thud as it found its target ray and i got quite successful doing this and would walk miles bringing home a few rabbits every time we went what we did not want went to the shop owned by j-p wood in latter years they were renowned for there chickens and had a big factory thier chickens went country wide but alas now long gone sad really as they employed lots from the country side and surrounding area.

Just up the fields two rivers joined the onny and i think the other one was the perry it was quite deep where they met we would ledger a worm from under the bridge the amount of trout we had from that spot it was productive i have caught as many as sixteen in a couple of hours the ground we fished from would be ablaze of colour in the daffodil season it was covered with the flowers we would pick bunches and sell them to woods for sixpence a bunch it was all part of the old hall but the problem was old price the farmer would let his bull loose hoping to keep people and poachers away there was also big signs saying keep out private property i must admit i did not like that bull he was a nasty thing and had chased us before most kept away from him, he even had a go at old price and he was the owner he put him in hospital not a very nice animal i thought he was mental, he chased ray and myself one day we went over the fence the bull just plowed straight through we were in the river and swam to the other side he stood watching pawing the ground head down i did not know if to laugh or cry not Raymond out came the catapult in went a stone before i could stop him bang i heard the thud he hit him in the testicles he roared in rage and took straight into the river i was gone we got up the nearest tree he knew we were there, we did not come down from that tree untill he got bored and moved away i never went near him again and if fishing we always made sure he was not out but they were good days althought we did not have much we were happy and content. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #145 22 Aug 2011 at 1.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #144
People in those days were very modest although hard up you never saw any greed or any thing like that if your neighbour had got to much lets say tea they would share it with you as with all food stuff when you had the pig killed as most people in the war years and after owned one they would all turn up to give a hand to scrape the hairs off and salt the different cuts of pork some would be shared out between the neighbors and your selves the main cuts were salted and hung on the hooks up by the ceiling it amazed me over a period of time it would go black mainly caused by the fire you kept in night and day as it was the only source of heat i remember them cutting big slices of bacon from the fl itches then the would fry it on the old stove it was a range that was all part of the fire we had a big hook hanging in the fire place we would hang the kettle on it to boil, things were so different then i have seen the fat soak the big hunks of bread from the bacon but it never seemed to do a anyone any harm you never had it rammed down your throat it was harmful and would give you a heart attack people would eat most things i know they would eat the perch i caught if i took them home but most of the time i just returned them they were to lovely to kill pike was another fish they eat i always thought it tasted a bit muddy but they would eat it with a big plate of potatoes and peas i suppose it filled there belly up. Eel was another fish they loved i have seen it hanging in the kitchen and watched how it was skinned out then they rubbed with salt all over it, they would cut it into chunks and dip it in home made batter and fried it in the pan i must admit i quite liked it myself.

I loved the woods and would walk miles to me the woods were beautiful.. i soon learned the ways of the animals and the birds and spent hours climbing the trees to birds nests it is surprising how many pools i found deep in the woods some were not much bigger than a puddle but they held fish mostly small roach or Rudd how they were stocked god knows as they were miles from any where unless the odd water fowl had transferred the eggs from its legs into the pool. i would always have a go and fish these small pools it was usually a fish a cast as they were small stunted fish and short of food, but size never really bothered us it was about being out catching fish i would kill and take some home to mount on my flight to spin for the trout or pike or perch what ever came my way you can tell they were not very big roach, more like an over grown minnow but they certainly did the job i think the biggest pike i had in my young years was only seven pounds it took a live Rudd i was trying to land but to us kids it was enormous the owner of the lake wanted to kill it but i would not let him it was released back into the pool after he had took some photos on an old wooden camera god that was a few years ago well that's it for today as i am taking my mate graham to hospital to sort his eyes out as he has been experiencing a few problems as of late.. so a bit more tomorrow if i am not fishing.
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   Old Thread  #144 21 Aug 2011 at 10.20am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #143
Fishing was not the same years ago as it is today how can i explain when i first started carp fishing i suppose i was eight years old the country side then was different than today i fished from an orchard and in season was full of apples every where you looked was a blaze of colour from the wild flowers the smell was overpowering the hedge rows were full of honeysuckle as boys we were allowed to stay at night as the owner of the lake always looked after the youngsters we very rarely paid for the fishing i think when i first started it was chuck and chance it as we did not know that much about carp fishing but we soon learned. I remember casting with a float to the bubbles we could see coming to the surface i used a big lob and fished the float just over depth if i remember right i had the tank aerial rod then i would watch the float move as the fish brushed against the line then watch as the float lifted in the water then move across the water and disappear oh the excitement of it all you would play the fish to the side we had no landing nets then but got into the water and lifted it out i cant tell you how us young lads felt as we stared at this beautiful fish it was not big by today's standards only about three pounds but it was all muscle and to us youngsters it was huge.

We were lucky to have this small lake we would cycle there it was about six miles from our homes we would Tie our rods to the cross bar of our bikes then bag on back which held sandwiches pop and odds and ends of tackle if we did not spend the night there we would be back before bed time it was the best time of our young lives we would fish day in day out especially in the holidays just up the road from the lake was another lovely water it was in the grounds of a private school and was full of tench and Rudd myself and a friend called Ray fished it well poached it just in front of the lake was the cricket ground so you could watch the cricket match and fish at the same time we would float fish we caught Tench after Tench not big but a beautiful green colour thinking back they were stunted but we did not care they were fish we also caught the Rudd they also were not that big we fished that lake for years and never got discovered i some times wander if it is still there as i have not been there since the middle fifties it was a beautiful lake covered in Lillie's all different colours the world was our oyster some how the pace of life was a lot slower in those days i suppose they had not got much to worrry about as the war had ended. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #143 20 Aug 2011 at 10.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #142
One thing that really helped me when i was a youngster was Mr crabtree goes fishing i had one of the first additions it was printed in 1949 i would lie in bed with a old bicycle lamp reading how many times i read that book i don't know but it was like a bible to me a fishing bible i learned so much from that little book it was bought for me one Christmas but i followed it religiously or tried i would be away down stokesay pool it was a little pool in front of the castle and would float fish in the holes between the weed beds i really did not know the significance of those Rudd we caught they were great big fish there fins bright red with beautiful golden flanks two farming brothers owned the pool the marshes. I would drop small pieces of bread in the holes between the weed beds and watch the Rudd taking it there was some very big fish indeed the brothers that owned the lake did not mind the youngsters fishing there you might see as many as twelve young lads there at a time some only had a piece of cane with line tied to the top of the cane they would just drop it in front of where they were fishing in to one of the holes in the weed and they would catch it also had some lovely pike and they grew to quite a size with all the food in there us lads really cut our teeth on this pool it was about six foot deep at the most but graham and i in the latter years caught some spectacular Rudd some going near four pounds the average weight was around two pounds it appeared in angling times way back in the sixties a chap called SOS valentine had a page in angling times he rented the pool from the marshes but it did not last long and they kicked him off why i never discovered i suspect it was because the youngsters always fished there and this chap had stopped them.

They were lovely days and i learned to trot a float on that small river onny i would spin for the trout but also caught some beautiful perch i never had any scales in those days so thinking back they were around two pounds they were great days the Brown trout were stocked by the local farmers and there was a couple of fly fishing associations on the water Shropshire fly fishers was one such club but i would worm it was in the fifties we really needed the trout for food it was full of grayling as well the lady of the river and i loved catching them on maggot i had collected from the abitor. It was about this time i met sam the keeper who showed me how to fly fish i was not that good at it but got by, sam was a wonderful teacher and naturalist and taught me many things in my early life mostly about the birds and animals He was one of the old breed they have mostly all gone now old sam was not past doing a bit of poaching on the river but i have told you that in my earlier stories. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #142 19 Aug 2011 at 10.45am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #141
When i lived at craven arms there were a number of lakes that were strictly private you would never get permission to fish them as the estates were all shooting that's what brought the money in so the only way to fish them was to poach most of my friends at the time were to frightened to go anywhere near as there were big signs saying you will be shot on sight shot on sight if caught, or private keep out watch for the dogs, most of it was a load of tosh i have been on a few estates when younger and did not see many dogs only springer's and labs certainly not Alsatians that some game keepers use today for there protection mostly ex police dogs. I would creep down my chosen lake taking my float tackle with me and fish by the big Lillie beds, one such lake was onibury court i think it is still private it belonged to the Holcrofts at the time and was quite heavily keeperd they certainly had a few big shoots there the one lake was covered in lilies i would hide my bike in the under growth beside the road, i would fish from the cover of the reeds and under growth around the side the lake, it was full of big Rudd beautiful fish red fins they were broad and deep with golden flanks you would catch the tench as well the biggest i had was about three to four pounds but to an eleven year old that was a big fish.

I nearly got caught this one day i rolled up to fish i had been fishing about half an hour when i saw all these gentlemen and ladies standing out in the surrounding field it was a shoot day the keepers were driving out the ducks from the lake and the pheasants from the surrounding wood that ran around around the lake side i was petrified i would get caught there must have been about twenty beaters so i climbed the nearest tree an old fir hiding my rod first, i watched as the beaters passed right under the tree i was hiding in but no one gave the tree a second glance as soon as they past i was down and watched from a distance as pheasants tumbled out of the sky some very near to where i was hidden it was all to much for me and i picked three or four before the dogs found them i hid them in the hedge where my bike was i could hear the guns shout bird down keeper its over there you would watch as the dogs tried to find the birds no scent the keeper would say or it must be a runner little did he know that i was having them i had some great times down the lakes on that estate and caught some nice fish i was not discovered once although i had some near misses the pheasants were always welcome at home and by our neighbors as times were still quite hard as the year was 1953. well that's it for now . more latter
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   Old Thread  #141 18 Aug 2011 at 10.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #140
Whats happened to all the bull heads lampreys and such we as lads spent hours with a net and a jar catching them but they really do seem to have gone missing in the forties we as lads would be always playing down by the streams or rivers in the school holidays we would be either swimming or fishing i spent most of my younger life down by the river i would watch the different seasons, in those days the may fly hatch would be spectacular they would be seen in there hundreds i would watch as the spent flies floated down stream to be picked of by the brown trout they certainly satisfied there hunger at that time of year. Just down the lane from where we lived was the river bridge you would see all the youngsters in a line fishing from the bridge as the bailiffs always turned a blind eye to this but go onto the adjacent land they would certainly confiscate your tackle and if old enough you would end up in court i don't think any one in those days knew what a fishing licence was for we were not old enough but some of the adults were but in all those years i never heard a bailiff ask an adult for one.

I was introduced to carp fishing, in the late forties early fifties they were hazy lazy days we seemed to have glorious summers my mate and i would cycle to the old pool rods tied to the cross bar of the bike a bag on your back with pop and sandwiches and baits and odds and sods they were great days you would be out first thing in a morning and be back for bed your parents knew you were safe sadly the youngsters cannot do that today as i have said before our tackle was really antiquated i was lucky dad got me some tank aerial rods and i did most of my fishing with them we had old wood reels but we managed i think the first good line i ever had was platal or perlon but that was not until the middle fifties i did manage to get my hands on an old, rapidex fix spooled reel latter on, the first fixed spool reel i acquired was a old green job not very good but it did the job i wanted it to, but until then we managed with the silk line and the wooden star backs as i have said before we pulled the line from the spool coiling it on the ground behind you then gave it the big chuck some times it flew straight out other it got caught in the grass and such but we never cared we would do it all again after sorting out any tangles we had no pressure in those days every day was a joy like one big holiday we would have about six to eight weeks away from school most was spent fishing or up the woods camping.

My old teacher Mrs Thomas knew i fished and she would always encourage me to go in fact she came with me once but i think it was to get a free meal of a trout but she was a lovely person i have still got a book she gave to me about the country side god it dates back to the forties she has long ago passed over but i have a lot to thank her for if i had the cane for playing truant or fighting she would always come and see me after and soak my hands in cold water she said it would take the swelling bruising away in those days you had to look after your self if you did not you would be bullied by the other lads but they were good days it was in latter years that mrs Thomas asked me to get her a pheasent or two she knew i poached but never ever said it was wrong she knew poeple needed the food as a lot was still rationed we as kids all had idendity cards as the war had not finished that long a lot of the sons of our neibours never came home they had been killed in action we as lads never gave it much thought untill you saw them crying it was very sad. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #140 16 Aug 2011 at 2.19pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #139
What a day we went for a short session on the river yesterday and we both blanked well i suppose that is fishing the river is that low and desperately needs fresh water, fishing just below me were two youngsters they really did not have any idea in the direction they were casting it was way out and every cast they made went over my line, after sorting it out a few times i packed up and decided i would try and help- them out the ones dad was fishing further down but really took no notice of the lads at all, they were quite polite youngsters but there rods were really not made for ledgering both were only about seven ft long more of a spinning rod than ledger i do wish parents would buy the correct rod for the job as they could pick an eleven or twelve ft rod up quite cheaply there set up was not the best a arsley bomb tied directly to the line with a big hook and a piece of sweetcorn for bait six inches from the bomb, it took me about an hour or so to get them sorted and casting in the right direction. i also altered their rigs and hooks the one young lad started use maggot and got a bite instantly he duly landed a nice perch of around two pounds he had a great smile on his face which really made my day then it was out with the keep-net i was a bit concerned as the water was only about six inches deep by the side and suggested it would be a lot better if they did a photo and return the fish to the water out came the mobile phones photos done and fish returned with no damage the smile on there faces said it all it did not take long to show these youngsters the right way to cast and tackle up but so many of the older anglers have no time for these youngsters it a shame really as we all had to start and learn at some point.

Personally i love to see the youngsters fishing as it keeps them out of trouble they learn such a lot not only about fishing but about the wild life to, so the more i see down the river the better when i was young i had no one to show me how to fish i learned myself but there was not as many anglers around then as today i suppose i did have dear old SAM the game keeper he did put me right on a number of issues but i was fishing long before i met SAM the tackle today is far superior than it was when i was young most of the rods were bamboo i have seen them with a spliced top section of green heart but i was never lucky enough to own one myself so the day ended with us blanking but i got as much pleasure watching and helping the youngsers, i do hope they continue to take part in our lovely hobby as it has given me great pleasure over the years well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #139 14 Aug 2011 at 11.00am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #138
Just been reading the old thread called rats rats rats you may think living in the countryside and loving nature we like them i absolutely hate them why they were put on this earth god knows they are filthy animals one farmer friend died from the disease caught from them weals he was feeding or milking the cows and felt something drip from above on his face and lips it was rat urine he was dead within months his wife told us all about it and how he suffered. i remember ferreting a big estate not far from shrewsbury we netted this one warren all that came out were rats it must of been a huge colony infact the chap i was with got bitten through the fingers trying to extract his ferret from the warren he had to go straight to hospital for it to be looked at luckyly he is still with us my springer spaniel drank from a puddle beside the road which was infected ,he died six months latter even thought the vets said they could save him it was cruel to watch him fade away if ever it happened again i would have the dog put to sleep.

The council tip was about five miles from my house if you went up there in the evening just as it was getting dark you would see dozens the farm over from the tip was inundated with the furry things i had a friend that went to the farm at night with his air rifle and lamp he shot dozens of the things the farmers were quite glad of his or our help the adjacent hedge rows were full of holes and the vermin chap came around and poisoned most but there is a problem doing this as the poison can and does kill other animals and birds but he eradicated most of the hedge rows around the farm the farmers wife was petrified as they even got into the house but all is now good again as they are all gone, funny really i have never seen a fox with one i suppose they must eat them but i have never found there remains on any earth i have visited. The old tip was alive with foxes scavenging amongst the rubbish at one point the farmers were very worried because of there young lambs not as i like killing this old rogue of the wood but at times it becomes a necessity so we shot every Saturday morning lining the guns across the woods and in five separate morning we shot forty five full grown foxes they say they are territorial absolutely rubbish we shot ten out of one small wood. but rats i can not stand i have lived in the country side all my life and i love nature but not these furry pests. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #138 13 Aug 2011 at 11.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #135
As i said before i learned my self to fish i only had a bamboo rod in those far off days, i remember i found a pound note on the road and went out and bought myself a rod. i was only about seven years old i did not know at the time it was the next door neighbors i got the strap for being dishonest as money was not easy to come by i soon learned i came from a loving family but they were strict and would stand no messing i had to go next door and apologies to Mr Fletcher he was a nice old boy but loved a drink he would come up the lane in his pin striped suit and black bowler hat as drunk as a skunk, i was allowed to keep the rod but mother had to give Mr Fletcher his pound back when i went to apologies he was a bit tipsy and gave me the pound back mum was not to happy, but i gave her back the money as times where very hard.

I never stole again if i found money i would always hand it in this was not my first rod just up the lane from us Mr Jarvis lived he called me in one day giving me a rod reel and all the bits to go with it i suppose that was when the bug really set in it was not the best of rods it had seen better days but it got me going this was before my mother married again and we moved to craven arms my grandad really started me fishing but he died aged 52 in in 1947 i was broken hearted i was only five years old and my grandad was my world i missed him so much as he was like a father and took the place of my dad, my dad got killed in the war i was living with grandad and granny when he passed away. I then moved in with my mother who worked at the condover blind school it was a hard life she did not have that much money so we took a land army girl in called Joan hay the money improved a bit and mum bought me odds and sods for fishing i think that was the first time i fished the condover brook as Joan worked at the home farm belonging to Mr cartwright i suppose i was really poaching as in those days most ot the water came under Mr Bell the local game keeper it was stocked with brown trout and really looked after, i really did not know what i was doing i had an old brown wood reel so i would have to pull the line which was a green silk from the spool and then give it a big chuck some times it would get stuck in the vegetation other times it would fly out my float was a porcupine quill i had got some weights and hooks but it was trial and error i had no one to show me how but over a period of months i really got better and would wonder down the brook away from the farm my bait was worms from the old muck heap at the farm i remember catching my first trout under the old bridge the float disappeared i thought i had snagged the bottom i started to wind in then felt the fish pull i managed to get it in to shallow water and pick it up i shook with excitement my first fish from that brook i killed it and took it home it was only 12oz or so mum fried it in the pan and we both enjoyed it, but that was not the last time i fished that brook i caught many more trout from there over the years and some not strictly legal all poached. well that's it for today more latter
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   Old Thread  #137 12 Aug 2011 at 12.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #136
Thanks Harry very much appreciated ill do my best we have not had a talk lately on the phone we must have a chat some time in the near future i hope your well
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   Old Thread  #136 12 Aug 2011 at 12.23pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #135
i;m still keeping my eye on ya pete . great stories about the old days , keep em coming .
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   Old Thread  #135 12 Aug 2011 at 11.18am  0  Login    Register
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I have already explained most lakes were private in the days of my youth the only way you could fish them was to poach if you got caught you could depending on age end up in court i did my fair share of guesting i would usually go by myself as you only had your self to blame if you got caught. But at times i have relented and let one of my friends accompany me one such lad was a boy called Gerald he loved pike fishing and was never happier than when spinning for pike we would creep down to the pool behind the keepers cottage it was very boggy and the whole place would shake like a jelly when you stood on the side of the pool, we caught loads of jack pike up to about seven pounds now in those days in the late forties and middle fifties most families would eat pike i can see Gerald now struggling across the fields with a few pike tied together with binder twine you pushed the twine through the gills and out of the mouth Gerald came from a large family so nothing was wasted i fished a few lakes with Gerald in my younger days.

I think i told you the story about him getting stung by hornets while running through the dense under growth ill tell the tale again for those that never read it in the first part of my stories, the big lake well bomere was strictly private no one in those days fished the place it was fairly over grown except for rides cut by the keepers, Gerald and i had been fishing for some time when we heard a shout looking over the lake we saw a land rover with Sgt landers he had seen us and the chase was on what we did not know although we had heard shooting, there was shoot today and there was a number of under keepers with two head keepers old bell and Gerry hayes, behind where we stood was a strip of under growth then a bit of a bank where the badger sets are now so some anglers reading this will know where i mean. we ran through the under growth Gerald ran straight into a big hornets, nest hanging like a foot ball from the lower branches of a tree he actually knocked it down with his body tripping over a piece of wood he was covered in the things he was screaming for help run Gerald and he got up and did just that i waited on the field he still had hornets on him which i soon knocked from his jacket and shirt his face was bloated and swollen he was really crying we got onto the railway line and made it to the bridge where we stood and listened i could see the landrover making its way down the lane to where were hidden. In the next feild was an old culvert big enought to crawl throught we both headed for it and vanished down this old pipe it came out a bit further along the feild we stayed there some time but gerald was in agony by the time i got him home he was really fading fast he was in terrible pain his mother and grandad got him to hospital whers he stayed for a couple of days, we had a call from sgt landers wanting to know where i had been , all i said was home i dont think he believed it for one minute but he could not prove a thing i was talking to a freind the other day and he said mr landers was still alive he must be in his nintys now i expect he has forgot the days he chased me around. well thats it for today more latter
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   Old Thread  #134 11 Aug 2011 at 11.27am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #133
I have walked the lanes and woods of Shropshire i have stood in a sea of blue deep, inside the woods the blue bells what a sight to see . I have walked through the wild garlic that really makes you smell, i have seen the woods in a mass of snow drops i have been in the woods when the buds were opening to welcome another year i have watched the fox in his coat of rustic red making his way forward between the trees stepping so lightly you never heard a thing stopping and lifting his head and sniffing the air making sure it was safe to carry on i have watched the badgers at play and seen them huddled together on a moon light night looking for worms in the Shropshire meadows i have been out after the rabbits rifle in hand on the darkest of nights i have poached the pheasants long ago it was all part of my life i have stood beside the the small river as it menders through the fields and country side i have cast a worm and held the rod as it trundled down under the far bank i have felt the pluck of the fish as he picked up the worms i have played him in a sea of spray and held him in my hand his flanks covered in spots another for the pot, i have cast a fly and watched it vanish beneath the surface as the trout gently takes it in his mouth and then he is away splashing in glistening water trying to get away what a wonderful feeling holding the rod as it doubled up into a hoop as you felt the power of the small fish as it dashed down the river in his bid for freedom.

I have watched the buzzard way above as it soars on the thermal i have climbed to her nest long ago and have held her eggs in my hand the white with spotted red brown i have held the chicks in my hand what more could one ask i have watched the peregrine stoop with tremendous speed and hit his prey sending a spray of feather towards the ground another pigeon has met his end, i have watched the female on her nest on a rocky ledge hight up in the old quarry for all to see, i have watched as she fed her chicks a wondrous sight to see, I loved to ferret the rabbits on a winters, day. ending the day by the fire in the local pub discussing our day.

i have took many out with me to watch the fox we have hidden in the dry ditch as the vixen makes her way to the old earth bringing a rabbit or a chicken stolen from the adjacent farm she has five healthy cubs and you watch how they fight over the food its all a game, i have watched a tug of war with a rabbit pulling it this way and that way, it was all part of there fun as they grew older i have watched them leave the earth they are gaining confidence it wont be long before they are old enough to fend for there selves not many live and are killed in the first twelve months of there lives, they are usually shot by the game keepers to protect his birds or fall victim to our roads but that is nature only the fittest survive. well that's it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #133 10 Aug 2011 at 10.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #132
Fishing Tuesday was really a disaster the river a the moment is far to low it needs water badly, we did manage a chub or to but nothing big the barbel were none existent the bailiff came and sat with us and another friend popped down we had a good old natter about times passed and present the bailiff said no one had been catching in the last week not even me now for Rodger to say that things must be bad it needs fresh water i just hope the way its rained in wales today it should put a bit of colour in the water quite a few anglers have been visiting from Liverpool and Manchester long way to come for nothing one lot stayed over night in there motor home fished until dark and resumed first light they went home with nothing not even a chub graced there landing net i feel sorry for them as they had traveled a fair distance but that is angling.

We may try again on Friday if we get a bit of fresh water talking to the locals the carp fishing has not been that good of late probably the weather i had a look at one such water it was green all over i have never done very good in those conditions when it clears we may have a go one estate lake i fished always seemed to fish well in muggy conditions we always caught a few fish in these conditions one such lake was lordys is it always fished well in dull and muggy weather why i don't know yet another up the road not far from lordys would turn off completely.

well old foxy has done well this year the reports i have at the amount of cubs around its been a good breeding year there has been plenty of rabbits around to sustain the cubs there seems to be more foxes around than ever and a few years ago fox deaths were really caused by man indirectly treating cereal seeds with toxic dressings Aldrin dieldrin and Heptachlor pesticides before planting, Birds unfortunately died in great numbers due to eating the seeds old foxy being what he was a major scavenger of the countryside eats the poisoned birds which it led to a great many fox deaths especially in the 1960 that does not happen any more i am glad as i think there is so much to be learned from old foxy by direct observation as you know from my stories i have watched foxes all my life but i think the albinos with the white fir and pink eyes was the highlight of my life although being born like that is a big disadvantage and they seldom live to breed i have come across black foxes over the years i have seen them shot in hill country usualy they are black belled but i have seen them with a black head and black brush and belly funny how these animals vary in colour and size i hope i am not boring you with my tales of foxey he has been my favorite animal over the years it would be a sad place whithout him. a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #132 8 Aug 2011 at 12.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #131
Well i have a bit of time today so ill carry on going fishing tomorrow so i hope we have something to report i feel lucky as i have only blanked once up to now. Blanking does not bother me as there is always something to see and even at my age i really am still learning there's always something i have not seen or done i am never so happier than when i roam the banks of the Rea in search of the chub trout and grayling the wild life is also spectacular but alas the one or two friends are saying they are seeing otters on a regular basis a friend was sitting fishing the other day when one swam straight through his swim it never gave him a second look they used to be a shy animal but not any more they are quite used to humans as most were bred in captivity luckily there are quite a few eels in that little river so they might keep them happy but i really doubt that i think the trout and grayling will suffer big loses i was told there are eight pairs in a stretch far to many for a stretch of only ten or twelve miles because that all it is to the source.
Photobucket pike from this old lake

Photobucket A bag of roach and chub from the rea when i was a young man
If they get into the lake at the source they will have a field day its full of big gorgeous roach big fish i have sat out in a punt a few years ago and float fished the water with a sliding float in twenty five ft of water and caught some beautiful fish none under a pound plus it has some nice bream and a few carp with some lovely pike so i really hope the otters don't decimate this water as i have spent some happy hours pike fishing in the winter from the boat catching some quality pike they will definitely have to control these predators but i don't think it will be in my life time protect any animal and as long as the food is there they will breed and spread to other parts but they will only survive if the food levels are there and they are with all the fisheries around some one said to me the other day they are only back to the levels they were before hunting stopped i had a chuckle about this statement no way were they so common as today those days they were very shy you rarely saw them i have had to creep on my belly and lie in the undergrowth very quietly when watching them if they caught sight of you they were away so there is a big difference there are far to many around our water courses today, and to many do gooders who have released these these predators without giving any thought of how these animals will effect our environment in my opinion they know nothing about nature or the the country side.
Photobucket Another pike from the old lake

I would not like to see them hunted again not as that will ever happen to me it was cruel as i have said before the river ran red it was not nice but in my day that's how they were controlled as a young boy i can still remember the otter hunts on the river onny at craven arms they would hunt this beautiful river where i spent most of my child hood two or three times a year. well more latter
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   Old Thread  #131 8 Aug 2011 at 10.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #130
I suppose i have had a great life i have fished and shot met an awful lot of friends i have had my ups and downs mainly through my health but one can put up with that i wish i could do it all again but you only have one bite of the cherry so you make the best of it. Talking about cherries there was a few nice trees on our village mostly in peoples gardens well when we were young there was nothing nicer than a bit of scrumping the one garden was bordering a field called the foxes you could actually pick the cherries from the field side but if you wanted the real good ones it was through the hedge and up the tree we were up this tree the one day when out of the blue the owner and the police arrived on the scene, my friend was gone in seconds dropping from a branch into the field leaving me to face the law i lay across the branches height above and listened to them talking the owner was not happy his cherries were being taken the policeman was Stan sharp and Sgt landers not once did they look up the tree well so i thought it was not the first or last time i visited this garden as i would ferret the rabbits around the hedge bordering the garden as they were making a come back, well to cut a long story short i stayed very still not moving a muscle until i saw them move away i was down the tree and away home it was a few days latter i saw old Stan sharp the policeman come here he shouted i saw you up that tree the other day what tree you know what tree good job the Sgt did not see you he twisted my ear and with a smile said don't let me catch you there again no Mr sharp you wont but we did the year was about 1958 i think i had just left school.

Just below the field called the foxes was the railway line and then a big sheet of water called the Honey meadow alas not there any more the people that owned the quarry in those days filled it in shame really it was the over flow from Bomere as i have stated in my earlier stories i would put night lines down for the eels it was stuffed with them not huge but they grew to around three pounds or more i would give most away to the locals as times were still very hard. The keeper old Gerry would feed the ducks at honey meadow and the ladies and gents would shoot the place once a fort night i have told you all when i bought my first gun i would poach the place i shot a good many mallard from that place i would lie in the undergrowth and shoot them as they came in i was not fussy and would shoot them on the water as well but i have already told you about that in part one. It was not far from bomere only two fields away so i would go looking for the pheasants nests i usually found a few in the hedge rows this was mainly in the spring April may i would take a few eggs as old,, Harry Edwards the mole and rabbit catcher he liked them, most of the rabbits had died out by then but they were making a come back . its the ducks eggs we liked as a family and i would collect them from the willow trees they would nest in the tops were the trees had been cropped i have even had them out of a squirrels dray they were lovely eating and if i took a dozen or so home mum would be happy i would eat them for breakfast there was thousands of mallard around in those days as most estates reared a few as i have said before the estates relied on the shooting for revenue . shooting came before fishing all the lakes were private and most displayed big signs saying just that private keep, out or you will be shot on sight. But that did not worry me i did my fair share of poaching on these big estates but that was years ago there are not many of the old poachers left most have past on and there is no need to poach these days as there is plenty of food available with the big supermarkets and the wages for most are very good in my youth they were not when i left school i got two pounds ten shillings a week so you did a bit of poaching to help out. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #130 7 Aug 2011 at 10.52am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #129
When i was young august was one of my favorite months it was the month of plenty so was September the blackberries were ready to pick the orchards were full of fruit and on the hills the winberries were ready to pick one thing us lads loved was the harvest of the corn and barley we would surround the corn fields stick in hand and would chase any rabbits that broke cover. they could not run as fast because of the stuble every one we killed we would cut a notch on our stick some of those sticks were years old kept from one year to the next some had big club end which you hit the rabbit with, adults joined in the fun i suppose it was a necessity as it was late forties early fifties maxomatosis had not arrived on the scene as yet the rabbit was a good meal in those days full of protein, we more or less lived on them we would have them in a pie or roasted as i have stated in my earlier storeys part one it was our main meat ration and would have it for Sunday dinner lets get back to the corn feilds and the humble rabbit we would wait until the very last cut of corn there would only be a thin strip left you would see the corn or barley moving it was so full of rabbits not many got away from us lads those that did got tangled in the long net the farmer had put along the side of the far hedge at the end of the day there would be a big pile of rabbits maybe two or three hundred, if you were lucky the farmer would give you a couple to take home then the rest would be taken and sold in the market the revenue going to the farmer we did the work and he got the rewards i soon wised up, to this and would hide a few in the hedgerow or in between the sheaves of corn i would fetch them latter when all was quite, we would follow the harvest around the different farms as august was the school holidays.

Some farmers had no tractors and the big shire horses would pull the binder that cut the corn, it was a bit slower than a tractor i loved the fields of beans and peas they would be crawling with rabbits there were so many about when i was a youngster, if i had any rabbits spare they went to our neighbours and friend every one helped one another in those days, or i would take a few down to a shop, in the small town of craven arms it was owned by JP woods i would get six pence each not bad as i could buy a few odds and sods for my fishing floats hooks and such money was hard to get in those days the wages were not that good most adults worked for British rail, as Craven Arms was a huge shunting yard i would lie in bed at night you could hear The clang and bang of the trucks and the steam engines puffing away it was a great sound and it would not be long before i fell,asleep.

I was brought up in the country side i love my fishing and nature came a good second i soon learned to distinguish the different birds and animals, in summer and spring the fields and hedgerows were a blaze of colour with the different wild flowers then we had the butterflys, where ever you looked you saw something different you would see young rabbits every where you went, the habitat was never touched in those days no sprays they grew fields of clover which was ploughed back into the land before the crops were set they were smaller fields no hedge rows ripped out as yet, but that would come with the invention of the combine and that would be the begining of the end for some of our wild life. well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #129 6 Aug 2011 at 5.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #128
Thank you allan for the kind remarks i hope you enjoy part, one and two its a true story of my life the ups and downs thanks again pete
gruzza
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   Old Thread  #128 6 Aug 2011 at 2.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
Started to read a couple of the later posts and jus had to go back to the start and will now have to read the complete thing..Excellent stuff...Pete you should write a book!
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   Old Thread  #127 5 Aug 2011 at 3.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #126
I will carry on with my tales as i am not to busy today i suppose i had been a bit of a jack the lad myself when younger i would poach not for fun but out of the necessity for food as times were very hard most of the big estate lakes were strictly private on most estates shooting came first,, as it was revenue for the squire ,or the owner of the said estate Bomere was ,one such lake in my younger days no one fished there except the odd friend of the owner and then they only fished for the pike it was reputed to hold some huge fish. I poached right under Gerry Haze's noise I have watched him pass me by many times on his way to feed the pheasants not once did he suspect i was there if i had been caught i would have been given a good clip behind the ear or marched home to see my parents you may even go to court old Gerry and bell ruled the woods and fields around my home village of Bayston hill not many locals would venture into the woods around bomere after dark for fear it was haunted i think it was started years before by the old keepers to keep people away from the place lets put it like this i never saw any one worse than myself so it never really kept me away from the woods and lakes i have fished shomere with the pheasant release pen behind where i was fishing, and you could hear the keepers dogs barking at the house which was situated just in front of the release pen.

I have watched 0ld Gerry feed the birds and once he came so close he nearly stepped on me i have hidden up the old firs many times on shoot days i would pick the lost birds before the dogs got near i would maybe pick up seven or eight birds like this ,and pop them in a sack eight birds would be a bit heavy so i would hide them until latter on when everything went quite i have watched from the fir trees as they shot the duck they literally shot hundreds from that old lake mostly mallard in those days, they would be all dressed up in there plus fours the ladies used to load for there husbands they would be dressed up as well i would laugh to myself god they were posh and spoke like they had a plum in there mouth, i also fished the lakes usually i would spin for the pike i caught a few mainly small jacks but it was enjoyable fishing i got quite a kick from poaching the lakes as it was myself against the keepers i never once got caught i did get fired at by Gerry for poaching his pheasants i heard the pellets hit the under growth where i was i have told the story in part one of my stories. Not once was i caught my parents and neighbours were always grateful for the birds some times i got a lecture from my dad saying don't get caught as it worries your mother i would just say ill be alright dont worry i got to know those woods back to front maybe better than the keepers i always had an escape route if needed they were exiting days i bought my first real gun, when i was sixteen years old a webley scott four ten it was good for close work the licence in those days was seven shillings and sixpence it certainly opened up a new lease of life for me. Well theres a bit more a bit more to follow latter
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   Old Thread  #126 5 Aug 2011 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #125
Going back a few years ago i was approached by a farmer who said his trout pool had been poached they had tried to catch the individuals that were doing the poaching waiting there all hours but they failed. Could i have a look for him well at the time i was fishing another pool close by i could see the land adjoining the trout pool from where i fished i could see if any one arrived well to cut a long story short they did arrive this one night i watched as they made there way up beside the wood five individuals i certainly would not approach far to many, i wound my rods in, and made my way through the woods and lay down in the undergrowth just above the pool i watched fascinated i had suspected they had been using night lines but had not looked around the pool for evidence i did not want to disturb the said poachers as yet, in fact i recognized the one chaps voice so i let them get on with there business i watch as they dragged the night lines in most had fish on i suppose they were not on the lake more than half and hour and they were away night lines recast, i watched as they vanished into the distance before returning to my swim on the other lake i would wait until morning then go and see the farmer and show him the night lines not only that the pool had a syndicate on it so the farmer contacted the bailiff who looked after the place and asked him to come down i had an old gaff at home so as i went around the pool i dragged the gaff through the water around the side pulling the night lines up thirty in all i saw the bailiff face he was a good friend of mine he could not believe what he was seeing i think we recovered ten with hooked fish not bad nights work for the poachers as they would get a quid a fish i soon found out they were selling them in a local pub .

We recast the lines minus bait and decided to wait it out and catch them when they returned the police were informed they arrived mob handed but the poachers never returned i wondered if they had been tipped off i don't know but they never returned for those lines so we got them out of the pool and destroyed them that was a few years ago. The lads were very happy and gave me a place free in there syndicate the farmer was also happy in fact still walk his land it was a few weeks latter i bumped into the one chap in our local i asked him if he was still catching the trout he smiled and said no Pete we watched you taking the night lines up we were not going to chance our arm any more, we had over three hundred out of that pool until you arrived on the scene so we are now fishing else where there was no animosity it was a few weeks latter i was told they were poaching the three lakes up in hill country. A good friend called Walter ran the syndicate of twelve rods on the the lakes, it was few weeks latter before he approached me can you catch my poachers Pete i really don't know Walter but i will have a go i would not make the same mistake i made at the other pool they certainly would not come back here by the time i had finished whether i caught them or not and so it was, i have already told you in my stories how i frightened them they never did return, and for favours done i was allowed to fish the place for trout and shoot the duck in season no money ever crossed your palm you did a favour and they did you one back that's how things worked in those days they say it takes one to catch one. Well that's it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #125 3 Aug 2011 at 12.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #124
In reply to Post #123
thanks for posting Pete- the reference to red admirals is spot on. Used to see them all the time when playing out during the summer hols. Saw one last year and went wow- not seen one of them for a long time

Thanks Andy glad you enjoy my stories, its not just the red admirals its other species as well even the moths have degenerated it is quite worrying as when i was young you would see loads i would like to think things will right them selves but i say that with a heavy heart its the same with bees i have come across two or three bumble bees struggling to fly on closer inspection i could see there backs were covered in some sort of eggs that had been laid there by some other parasite and they were slowly killing them what the parasite is i dont know i will have to do some reserch into it thanks again pete
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   Old Thread  #124 3 Aug 2011 at 12.16pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #123
thanks for posting Pete- the reference to red admirals is spot on. Used to see them all the time when playing out during the summer hols. Saw one last year and went wow- not seen one of them for a long time!
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #123 3 Aug 2011 at 11.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #122
We did a short session after the barbel yesterday it was that hot and humid there was about ten more fishing on the stretch some arriving the night before no one caught the river is very low it certainly wants a bit of fresh water myself well i did not blank and i caught chub up to four pounds my poor mate graham blanked it was very hard fishing i scaled down and managed the chub, i felt absolutely tired out i can not stand this sort of weather it sucks the energy straight out of you, as soon as i got in it was straight into the shower trying to revive myself we could do with some rain to cool us off we had a couple of showers while fishing but it was not enough we need a good down pour, the farmers are complaining about the lack of water and i see they have been using the pumps and spraying the crops, the price of bread will rise once again as the grain will fetch high prices i know i will have to pay extra for our grain for our pheasant shoot the farmers are blaming it on the lack of water, we have always been pretty lucky in Shropshire as far as drought conditions go but i have noticed a lot of the small pools have started to dry up the one little pool not far from my house contains great crested newts there is just enough water to sustain them they have been there for generations and i can remember catching them when i was a youngster as a protected species they definitely need fresh water they have forecast it for Thursday big storms heavy rain but with the ground being so hard it will not do that much good as it will run straight off and not soak in it wants a good week of continues rain.

Funny how some are afraid thunder my wife is one such person i say to her its not the thunder but the lightning you must watch i had an acquaintance killed by lightning he was in hill country and this storm arrived he tried to make it back to the car but as he ran down the track with his wife he was hit he was in quite a mess it burnt the clothes from part of his body it was a great shock to his wife and she has never really got over it, they told me that he was unrecognisable as his face had been burned quite badly i well remember another incident while working in the building trade i suppose i was around nineteen years old at the time it started to thunder and lighten and rain and we got into the jcb for shelter there was some bullocks sheltering under the trees with there heads over a barbed wire fence there was an almighty flash the lightning hit the fence we watched as it ran down the fence it pole axed the first bullock down he went into a ditch you could see his legs sticking up it caught a few of the others they were running around the field with there tails stretched out behind them making one hell of a noise it was quite funny to see, after it stopped we went over to where this other bullock was lying thinking he was dead but he was not and manged to get up and stand well to cut a long story short he took across the field round and round that field he went we got the farmer down he manage to round them up there was not a mark on that bullock funny he should really of been dead, i do not like lightening a friend's house was hit not far from my house what a mess it made a big hole in the roof and all the electric sockets in the house were blown out it also buggered his television, so i do not like fishing in such storms or even be out in them.

well thats it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #122 31 Jul 2011 at 10.31am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #121
Its many years since i was on the committee for the Ellesmere angling club i was then in my twenties graham and i traveled meetings once a month we both had A35 vans in those far off days they allowed us to get around we used them for most things with a bit of poaching thrown in they also carried our tackle we did not have a great amount in those days, the lakes around Ellesmere were heaven to me lots of variety to fish for, big bream good roach some huge eels and carp i think we fished all the meres the one mere held some lovely tench we spent hours trying to catch them we got permission to fish another water just above Ellesmere it was full off tench good ones we would float fish and catch them to five pounds plus, the keeper did not like us being there he was a grumpy old chap nothing was ever right for him he tried several times to kick us off but the owner was a friend of a mate and would have none of it but that keeper would not leave us alone i suppose he was only protecting his interests he had duck on the lake which he fed most days he would come down with his bucket full of barley and scatter it around the side of the lake in shallow water, i don't know how many pheasants he had but they certainly wet my appetite to do a bit of poaching but i never did owing to the trust the owner had in us.

At the same time we were inundated with farmers wanting the foxes cleared from there land, one individual i really felt sorry for , he reared geese and cockerels for Xmas he has vast amounts of chickens this old rogue of a fox got in to the big hen run and killed every thing in sight he killed over sixty hens by biting there heads off when i went to look with a friend well i have mentioned him before Charlie it was complete carnage i found some in the adjacent field he had tried to hide which he would fetch latter. I don't think i have in all my life seen anything like it two days latter he was back and killed a number of geese the farmers wife was nearly in tears i wont mention names as not to cause any embarrassment to his family. Charlie and i walked the woods and hedge rows looking for this old rogue he had to be stopped eventually we found him well i should say them there was two family of full grown cubs A lot to feed two vixens and dog two days latter we arrived with our motley crew of guns put them around the wood and drove it throught bingo job done the farmer was grateful i was allowed to fish his private stretch of river the tern for helping him out i did not like killing young cubs there was no pleasure in it for me but it was a necessity even if we had moved them by leaving our scent they would have been back as there was plenty of food available thats the way it was in those days but i still love that old rogue of the country side it would be a sad place whithout him. well thats it for today a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #121 30 Jul 2011 at 11.35am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #120
We live in a wonderful world it can be cruel but on the other hand it can be kind its been kind to me over the years i have got to know so many people through my fishing and shooting and through my general love of nature its surprising how people who don't understand the country side can change within minutes i well remember we were moving some wood down a friends farm when a young lady who was helping got bitten by an adder the first thing the lady's husband did was to try and cut its head off with an axe i stopped him immediately it was not the snakes fault he was only trying to protect him self the lady in question was taken to hospital were she remained for a couple of days and came out no worse for ware.

But it just goes to show how some people have no understanding of nature when i was young i would go and find the slow worms the grass snakes and adders if you remember in my stories i caught one and put it in the teachers desk he was bit of a bad teacher and had given us lads quite a bit of stress giving us the cane or slipper for really nothing i can still remember his face when he opened that desk the snake reared up trying to get out we all fell about laughing it was only a grassy about three ft long they can give you a nip he was away from his desk i can tell you and went to get the head master, by this time some of the girls were standing on there desks frightened to death i picked it up and put it in a bag well a satchel belonging to me that was many years ago i was about twelve years old at the time and some can still remember that episode we have had many laughs about that snake was the teacher better not really but he was very careful when he opened his desk.

I loved to be out and about and would be either fishing or down the fields or the woods i learned myself how to fish and most of what i know about nature was learned over many years some of the best fishing was below the sill at Halford falls i have caught some lovely fish from this beautiful spot i would hide myself in the undergrowth that grew on the bank where i fished it was a very private stretch and was patrolled by the river bailiffs but it did not stop me i would float fish a minnow for the trout or perch, i have caught some lovely perch under those falls i had no scales in those days but thinking back some were nearly two pounds they would be eaten by the locals our neighbors the river also held some wonderful grayling i have caught them to over a pound lovely eating you see in those days nothing was wasted, i caught them on maggot i had collected from the abattoir . Just above the falls was an island it was covered in garlic there was an old willow tree that had fallen down if any one came i would be over that willow onto the island and hide in the under growth and the garlic, you would stink of this plant for days after no matter how you washed it still lingered on your body and clothes for some time. In season i would dig the garlic up and take it home for my parents and neighbours to eat you could smell it on there breath i never really fancied it but like every thing else in those days you soon got used to it as i said nothing was wasted, we would eat most things i was sent out to collect the hazel nuts mushrooms back berries in season, the blackberries made lovely jam i can still see our mum putting it into the jars the mushrooms made soup or they were fried, the nuts were salted and buried in an old tin and used at Xmas it was a wonderfull life sadly missed today. well thats it a bit more latter.
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   Old Thread  #120 29 Jul 2011 at 12.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #119
Come walk with me through the dense woods it is a mixture of oak and beech with a sprinkling of silver birch i wonder if these big oaks could talk what things they could and have seen over the centuries. the big old dog fox lies in this old wood he lies in the ferns and sleeps the day tired out from his hunting throughout the night his belly is full and he lies contented away from danger the deer keep to the shadows hidden in the vast undergrowth under the canopy of the trees as i walk on i hear the unmistakable mew of the buzzard as he glides on the thermal high above i stand and look up this big fir and can see her nest it seems to get bigger every year they have used this tree to nest for many years i sit below and think of the times i climbed this old tree and held the eggs in my hand or held the chick and stared in wander at this ball of fluff but that was many years ago i cannot clime any more as age as caught me up.

As we stroll along i hear the noisy call of the rooks ka ka the trees are full of the nests of these big back birds the keepers shot these bird years ago and the breasts would be used for rook pie i told you all about sam and his rook pie he loved to eat its dark flesh, covered in golden pastry more than once i was offered a slice but it was not for me i would heave at the very thought of it. I come to the old oak tree with its big hole the Tawney owl had nested in this tree for generations the marks are still there for all to see i cut steps in the tree so it could be climbed i was only about eight years old at the time i would look in this great hole you could see the white eggs, down below or the white balls of fluff of the newly hatched chicks i well remember my friend being attacked by a Tawney owl when we lived a Craven arms he took a chick to rear from a hole in a big oak tree and its parents attacked scratching his face badly with there talons he was lucky not to loose an eye.

As we carry on we see the green wood pecker with his vibrant red head he spends some of his time on the ground looking for ants and such there is an abundance of woodpeckers in these woods with the great spotted and lesser spotted seen most days they hammer away hoping to get out some insects for food it really echos in the quietness of the wood, you watch fascinated as a Treecreeper makes its way around and around the trunk of a tree looking for insects and such what a small bird it is you watch the nut hatch as it feeds it youngsters high up in a hole in the tree calling out tuit tuit that becomes more strident if alarmed if lucky you come across a lone hair as he makes his way across the woods to get to pastures new the Rabbits scuttle through the undergrowth frightened by my presence making for the security of there homes deep below the ground.

We make our way forward and arrive at the pool deep in the woods you see movement from some fish far out in the middle you sit with your back to a tree and watch the dragonflies with there beautiful colours the blues browns and reds a damselfly lands on my jacket what beautiful creatures they are i watch as a moorhen leads her youngsters through the vast Lilly beds to safety the coot gives noisy call as he flies across the pool alarmed maybe by me, i watch as a sparrow Hawk skims across the pool and disappears down a ride cut out years ago by the old keepers it looks like a rodent in his talons this is all part of my life and its free so we now will leave the woods in quietness until we return another day. more a bit latter
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   Old Thread  #119 28 Jul 2011 at 11.11am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #118
When fishing on the lakes or down the river you would always see loads of butterflies where have they gone when i was a youth the pasture lands were covered in these lovely creatures this years i have not seen the red admiral even the tortoiseshell is missing the common blue is also a bit on the scarce side whats happened to the brown fritillary you would see them down the sides of the woods in fact most of the fritillary are in short supply i have not even seen a peacock sad really there is got to be an answer maybe habitat i don't know but they are slowly vanishing bit like the bees we cannot do without these wonderful creatures the bees pollinate our food and such.

As i was fishing a week ago, i watched as a kingfisher hunted the minnow for her young she was back and forwards most of the day i don't know how many minnows she took back to the hole in the old bridge but it certainly was a few the kingfisher has had there nest under this old bridge s for years it existed when i was a youngster if i think back they have been using that hole for over sixty years a long time i remember climbing down to the nest i was probably only about seven years old and can remember the rope breaking sending me down into the river with a splash breaking my arm as i hit the rocks under that old bridge that was so long ago and walking home in great pain as i was a few miles from the nearest house but it was all part of growing up in fact i broke the other as well trying to clime a rock face to a jackdaws nest they found me unconscious how long i lay there i don't know but the gypsies found me and took me home i had concussion the best part was i never went to school for some time.

Something i have noticed this years is the amount of dragon flies there seems to be more than ever hovering around with there big bulbous eyes i have seen the blues browns and a few reds funny how they mate then die a most beautiful creature another thing came to my attention while up the woods was the amount of young pheasant poults around must be a good year for breeding owing to the weather the members of my syndicate will be pleased i think most birds have had a successful year i know the tree sparrows in my garden have had two broods i am well pleased about that because they are becoming quite rare. well that's it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #118 26 Jul 2011 at 10.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #117
After tin off maggots posted in the thread it has made me think about the joys of nature and fishing, i know what joy means and its not just about fishing the different seasons gives me great joy to look back from hill country and see the mist drifting across the tree tops in the valleys below to look at the colours of the trees in autumn the beautiful shades of rustic brown the orange the reds they all give joy to watch the mountain hair as it runs from the approaching beaters, to watch your float glide down the river see it dip strike and play another fish to the waiting net this has also brought me great joy. I loved to watch the rod tip as i trundled a worm for that beautiful coloured fish the brown trout even to hold him in my hand and stand and look at this wonderful fish with his vibrant colour to take a youngster fishing let him hold the rod and catch his first fish watch his face so full of joy this is what life is all about it gives me a great feeling i am at piece with the world .

Even the new born lambs up on the high tops gave me great pleasure a great satisfaction watch them skip and jump towards there mother what a great world we live in it gives me a great lift to see such things watching the buzzard high above as you lie in the heather in a dreamy state watching the peregrine hunting its prey it stoops like an arrow shot from a bow it hits the pigeon sending a shower of feathers floating down just like snow this is nature at its best i loved to see the Deer on an autumn day i would creep close lying on my belly how they blended in with the colours of the woods and nature to hear the old buck roar for to me that's how it sounds to hand feed the badgers on some quite dark night with not a care in the world it all; brings joy and happiness to me.

To sit in your bivie and watch the stars above and listen to the noises of the night the fox the badger to hear the hedgehogs, fighting can be quite off putting if you do not know what they are, to hear the fox cubs out at play and the sharp bark the vixen gives as a warning to her cubs to hear the call of the moorhen the coot as well and watch the great created grebe feed her young as the light fades away to play the big carp to the waiting net it all gives joy i am so easy to please you do not need money to enjoy nature as it is all free and a wonderful way to spend your time.

well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #117 26 Jul 2011 at 8.53am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #116
In reply to Post #115
Hey pete child hood dreams are not lost or never..Lost.


No problem pete i know you love the country side from our conversations well from your pms be my guest more the better thanks for putting it in my stories
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   Old Thread  #116 25 Jul 2011 at 11.32pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #115
Hey pete child hood dreams are not lost or never..Lost.

i've seen with great satisfaction today younger generations of the familys sibblings catching fish!!

Tinchas mainly (Tench to the learned) caught from less than 1 metre wide cuts.

Thats what fishing is all about, looking and learning where fish are,

I'm really quite impressed an happy to see it's not all computers and games etc.


a love of the wild....

overjoyed at catching something!!!


Didn't want to jump in your thread Pete. but had no where better to post my joy..

Hope you understand Peter,;

Pete..
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   Old Thread  #115 25 Jul 2011 at 12.02pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #114
When i was a young lad the fields and hedgerows where ablaze with flowers the hedgerows were covered in honeysuckle sadly lacking today the fields i knew have now been opened up hedges removed to make way for the combines making it easier to plough and get the crops in unfortunately it has affected our wild life the grey partridge is one such bird the yellow hammer and many more the hobby and the Merlin would hunt the hedgerows or you would see him skimming low to the ground hunting the meadow pipit skylark the chaffinch and wheatear or hunt the hedgerows looking for the voles moths and beetles its a real shame as i took both birds for granted when i was a youngster you very rarely see them today its all to do with farming methods and feeding the population we have today.

In our part of the country you would see the curlew when young i would look for her nest they were a common sight but no more i saw one pair last year there habitat has gone the big hay fields they relied on are no more we really should take notice in my opinion we are destroying our wild life when a youth i could walk the hedgerows and find the partridges nests no more those days have long gone most pools and small lakes contained fish but they have gone the same way filled in to make the fields that bit bigger to produce that bit more food at what cost making the fields a big dust bowls, no drainage, any more the hedgerows was the drainage i know i go on about such things but i remember how it was not like today i am not living in the past i am generally concerned about our lovely country side and how it is disappearing at an alarming rate i am very passionate about the country side and its wild life i really wonder how you the younger generation will see the country side in say fifty years will it even exist or will it be built upon making a concrete jungle i really hope not but it is now up to the younger generation of farmers not to make the mistakes that there fathers made by pulling the hedgerows up.

Well moan over maybe i will be fishing tomorrow i am awaiting graham to say yes or no, only he has experienced a bit off a problem with the new mini he won something to do with the computer controlling the car gone are the days when you could fix it your self he has got to take it in latter today for the dealers to sort out so as far as the fishing is concerned i am awaiting grahams decision i do not like going by myself any more owing to my health problems well i have been told by the hospital to always be in company of another angler just in case i fall over it has happened in the past and without a bit of a helping hand i would have difficulty getting up old age who wants it not i well that's it for today. a little more latter i hope i have not bored you to much with my rant about the country side.
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   Old Thread  #114 24 Jul 2011 at 8.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #113
Pete, do you remember the groundbait that Dick and Fred J invented during the early sixties, called Pomenteg and manufactured by Efgeeco? It was always something of a mystery. What did the name Pomenteg stand for?

Allen i remember the ground bait i have used it myself but i do not no what it stood for perhaps some one else can throw some light on it, you have got me over this one i wonder if Tim knows i might give him a ring some time in the week
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   Old Thread  #113 24 Jul 2011 at 4.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #112
Pete, do you remember the groundbait that Dick and Fred J invented during the early sixties, called Pomenteg and manufactured by Efgeeco? It was always something of a mystery. What did the name Pomenteg stand for?

Considering the product was intended as a meal for the fish, and knowing Dick’s great sense of humour, I’d bet money that the name was derived from:

POtato, MEat ‘N Two vEG
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   Old Thread  #112 24 Jul 2011 at 1.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #111
I really wander some times if the younger generation know anything about dick walker and co what makes me say that you might say i was talking to a youngster the other day who had no idea who walker was or cared i think this very sad as dick was the grand father of carp fishing he put it on the map.

He helped form the carp catchers club it would really do good for some anglers to read this wonderful book it was written by the great Maurice ingham a good friend of dicks i was lucky to acquire my copy it was sent to me by friends from another forum oh how dare i say such things. when i came out of hospital from my operation to straighten my leg i have read it at length maybe two or three times and i never tire from reading it for those that don't know the club was formed in 1951 it is one of the most famous angling club in history it is about the waters they fished the tackle they used there up and downs .

There is quite a bit about Redmire leading up to the capture of the magnificent record carp he was in the presence of his long term friend peter Thomas who i believe is still alive he must be the last member now living from that old club i never really got tired of the stories Dick told me about the capture years before i would be traumatized as i sat listening to his stories in his office at the factory where he worked he would take me out in his BMW car it was coloured green he would take me around all the local lakes he had fished i don't think you could imagine, how wonderful it was for a young man like me in the presence of this big man he was my hero and not once did i envisage ever meeting him he took me under his wing gave me tackle and advice i could not believe he was interested in me and what i caught but he was and always wanted to know about my latest captures.

As i have stated before i met his mother on a few occasions a most wonderful women she lived in this lovely old house and would fill me up with of her home made cake and tell me tales of her resident ghost i never once saw anything resembling a ghost and Dick would laugh as she told the stories to me he would say take no notice Pete i have not seen, it myself as yet but she honestly believed and why not the house was set in a most beautiful garden and i loved listening to her but that was long ago i can not say much more about this great man but when i sit by the babbling brook some times a tear forms in my eyes as i think about the times i had talking to him all those years ago a man i formed a freind ship with some one i could talk to who always gave advice a kindly gentleman who helped a good many out we shall never see the likes again so i raise a glass and say rip to A man that was a freind. more latter
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   Old Thread  #111 24 Jul 2011 at 10.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #110
Tim walker emailed me today about the plaque erected outside dicks birth place i really think this is a wonderful way to remember such a great angler and freind. the piece about dick is as follows.


Richard Stuart Walker (29 May 1918 – 2 August 1985) was an English angler.

One of the first to apply scientific thought to angling, 'Dick' Walker wrote many books on the sport. He also wrote for the angling press, most notably for the Angling Times. He held the record for carp in the UK for 30 years with a fish of 44 pounds caught at Redmire pool in Herefordshire.

Biography
Walker's birthplace at 32 Fishponds Lane in Hitchin Walker was born at 32 Fishponds Road in Hitchin, Hertfordshire in 1918; he lived there until 1928. His father was a professional soldier and his mother an employee of the Post Office. He started fishing at an early age, being taught by his grandfather in Hertford. He was educated at the Friends School in Saffron Walden and St Christopher School in Letchworth. He went to Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, during which he worked for the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. He flew regularly over Germany and was deafened in one ear by a shell which exploded just outside the aircraft.

After the war he joined Lloyds and Co, manufacturers of high quality grass cutting machinery as technical director.

His inventions included the electronic bite alarm and the Arlesey Bomb weight, and he was instrumental in the development of the carbon-fibre fishing rod. Considered by many to be one of the best fishermen of the twentieth century, his books are now collector's items. One of his personally handmade Mark IV carp split cane rods is worth some thousands of pounds.

He lived by the river in Biggleswade from 1978 until his death in 1985 after a long battle with cancer. A biography by Professor Barrie Rickards was published in 2007.

A blue plaque was unveiled on his birthplace in June 2011.[1]

Published works
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   Old Thread  #110 22 Jul 2011 at 1.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #109
Well my old mate graham seems to be well again so we should be of fishing again next week he really is a jammy sod his wife won a new car in a local lottery draw while he was poorly she was given the keys on Wednesday it was also grahams birthday 75 years old so she gave him a new mini for his birthday he has never had a new car in his life so i am well pleased for them both, we should be going barbel fishing once again and hope to start where we left off.

my old mate the bailiff Rodger did it again catching another superb double barbel weighting at just over ten pounds a lovely deep fish he has not been out fishing that much owing to having a small op but he tweaks them out where others fail doing short sessions a couple of hours at a time so i am quite looking forward to getting out on the bank once again we will be having a go for the carp over the coming weeks i love my carp fishing but i also like to catch other species so at my age now i do not put the hours in i did once upon a time for the carp, over my life time i have been lucky and caught my fair share it does not give me the thrill it used to i can not do the long sessions any more i finished night fishing a couple of years ago owing to my health issues but i do miss them as for me it was not just the fishing but everything else that went on around me i miss the sound of the Tawney owl the scream of the vixen or her sharp yap when calling her cubs i miss watching the skeins of geese as they pass over head there was always something to hear and see i loved the stillness of the night i would watch the planes fly over head and wonder what foreign shores they were heading to.
Photobucket RODGER WITH HIS DOUBLE FIGURE BARBEL
The splash of a fish far out in the lake would bring me to my senses the coot giving her shrill call as thought she was frightened maybe a mink had crossed her path this was all part of my life i also miss the scream of the alarm as a big fish picks your bait up and heads out into the lake to hold the rod in pitch black and feel the strength of the fish and the bucking of the rod as it fights to get away far out into the lake, wonderful memories playing this giant of the lake and watch it slide over the rim of your net to part the net and stare in wonder at what lay within to weight and photograph that great fish and slip him back, and watch him swim away in the beam of your head torch is what i miss the most life is so short, so i would get out fishing at every opportunity it does not seem long ago when i was friends with dick and jack Hilton and many more they have now passed on and i suppose i am now old as well it does not seem like five minutes ago since i fished the big meres in Shropshire and Cheshire time flies by when graham and i fished the big meres we were in our prime young chaps the world was our oyster but all we have now is our memories of those times long ago. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #109 21 Jul 2011 at 10.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #108
I do wonder what this country is coming to badgers where protected now there going to shoot them there has got be some sort of control i am the first to admit, there's far to many but i don't think shooting is the answer i have taken many people over the years to watch badgers in there own environment they are a communal animal and lovely to see in the wild, i have hand fed them the only problem i had the old boar would spray my boots with musk you would smell like a ferret i have been out at night, and they have brought there cubs down the fields with them a wonderful sight they are a very clean animal and change there bedding on a regular basis i have seen at times a fox try and use the same set as the badgers but they kicked him out as he is a dirty animal they will not stand that.

My main concern with shooting it would be very easy for a good shot to kill thirty or forty a night and then you have the cowboys shoot at anything that moves there are some real unscrupulous characters out there the government say they are going to be selective we will wait and see i would hate to see them exterminated the same thing will happen with the otter protect any animal without proper control they will grow in numbers and as long as the food chain is there for them they will flourish

If i remember rightly they gassed a good many sets in devon and somerset a few years ago i don't think it had any effect on bovine tuberculosis i was talking to Bern the badger man the other day he feels inoculation should be tried before other methods badgers have no real enemies only man they are a big animal they have no predators a few years ago you would rarely see a badger now it is common to see them on the roads not always killed by a car some are shot by unscrupulous farmers and dumped on the road making it look if they have been run over not all farmers do that i have many friends who are farmers who love to see old Brock around. The country side would be a sorry place without him i have a big boar badger that visits our garden on a regular basis he comes after the worms next door feed him with peanuts ,with they leave out in a big bowl i wonder how much longer he will last i know where his set it is on land that is used for growing potatoes and such the farmer does not have cattle, the government have now canceled the cull for another twelve month and are having further consultations on the matter they really should talk to the people that know this noble animal and it ways i really hope i have not bored you all with my rant about badgers but i have a real love for the country side and all that's in it. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #108 20 Jul 2011 at 10.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #107
I hid the rods up the old drain pipe and climbed the nearest tree it was a fir i lay in the top branches and listened as the keepers and police made there way towards me my heart was beating like a drum and i was pumped up with excitement from the running i had done, i could now see the the keepers and the police land Rover they were standing directly under the tree where i was hidden it was a moonlight night it was not a poaching night but i needed a few trout for a few of our neighbors i was shaking with excitement i listened as they talked amongst them selves i could here Mr bell the keeper telling the Sgt there was only one fishing and he must be caught as his employers were not to happy having there fish poached it was not the first time i laughed to myself thinking it wont be the last time either, the dogs sniffed about but could not get my scent they moved on down the river still looking i suppose the year was about 1959 i was sixteen years old I waited for them to return and vanish the way they had come then i climbed down the tree it still stands today when all was quite i collected my rod and resumed my fishing trundling a worm under neath the far bank it was exiting fishing and i regularly came away with at least a dozen trout they were never wasted i think i supplied all our neighbors but to me it was a game being out in the country side i spent a fair bit of time out at night but i loved to be out on the rivers rod in hand the smell of the bank side vegetation the night noises it was all part of my life i have sat down put my back to a tree and just listened to the different noises you would hear it was quite different to being out in the day.

Before i went home i took a couple of trout and hung them on old bells gate i always did this to say thank you not once did they catch me although we did get a visit from the Sgt he could never prove it was me i was chased a good many times it was exiting i loved every moment in season i would have old bells pheasants i would lie in the under growth and use a piece of nylon line with a hook attached with a sultana or current on the hook the pheasants could not resist them i would scatter a handful around before i actually used them on the hook building there confidence up i would catch six or seven like this then move on to another spot leaving no evidence i had ever been there, if i caught to many to carry i would hide some and return for them latter but usually i did not over do it and only took what i needed this is how we lived food was still scarce so we supplemented our diet by eating pheasant fish an the occasional rabbit if they could be found as the myxomatosis had nearly wiped them out but they were returning but not in large numbers. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #107 18 Jul 2011 at 4.57pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #106
When i look at the tackle today it makes me wonder how we managed years ago i suppose i was lucky two tank aerial rods they did everything from carp fishing to Rudd fishing we had no specialist tackle like you have today our choice of hooks was very limited also line was not easy to get i managed for years using the old silk line that's all that i could get when i eventually got nylon it was very springy stuff how things have come on reels were the old wooden star backs but do you know what we caught even using this primitive tackle, it was fun i would float fish the hooks were tied direct to the silk line we did manage to get split shot of sorts for floats i used porcupine quills if lucky you may get some cork bodied jobs or the white plastic floats with the red tips money was in short supply you could only get what your parents could afford and bought for you this was in the late forties early fifties i always remember getting my first fix spool reel it was a green Jobey it was a bit crude but it worked especially with nylon line i soon learned how two spin for the trout using one, i would catch the minnows in a trap then mount them on a flight needle through the body then clamp the fins top the minnows head the hooks going into its side it really helped my poaching as in those days we needed the food nothing was wasted i would be up at first light in the summer and walk the river bank casting here and there maybe walking two or three miles it was deadly fishing and would arrive back home for breakfast with a bag full of beautiful brown trout my parents always welcomed the trout as it was a change in our diet not only that it helped feed our neighbors as well the trout was always welcomed by them.

I also caught some nice perch while spinning for the trout these would be eaten as well i think folks in those days would eat most things i used to put a few night lines down as well tying the line to a peg then the line was buried ,the peg was covered up with grass i had quite a few using that method the river was looked after by the water bailiffs as it was quite well known for its trout and grayling in those far off days, they would walk the river bank every day that's why i would go early morning before they got up i knew the river onny back to front and knew where to hide if you saw the bailiffs coming, some times you would be taken by surprise no way could yo get away without them seeing you so i would lie down in the under growth and reeds under the river bank i have been stung a few times from the nettles and got a bit wet but it was better than being caught as you would have your tackle confiscated or you could end in court as poaching was a big offence in those days this is how i learned to fish i learned by my mistakes i had no one to show me but it was great fun i still think about those days i did not have a care in the world and i lived for my fishing they were the days of my youth so full of fun and love for the countryside those days will never return but i have my memories of those years long ago. more a bit latter
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   Old Thread  #106 16 Jul 2011 at 12.27pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #105
It was raining heavily as we walked across the field making our way towards the old pool, the woods were dank and damp and smelled of decay it was September, the old pool was deep in the woods the undergrowth was wet our trousers were soaked but we were determined to fish this old pool who had stocked the water and built the boat house i do not know we were poaching and were traveling light one rod and reel and a few bits and bobs carried in a bag on our back the pool although small maybe half an acre held some good fish the Rudd were beautiful you could not get your hand around them it also held carp we had seen some reasonable fish on a earlier visit but this was our first time fishing the water, i had fished it many years ago and had caught Rudd to over two pounds i was hoping they were still in the old pool, we eventually arrived at the waters edge it was really over grown but the dam end had been used as a walk way maybe by the keepers but there was no sign any one had ever fished there the keepers cottage was further on by the old hall which had burned down years ago you could hear his dogs barking in the distance it always gave my adrenaline a big lift it was exiting fishing if the keeper came we would hear his approach and would give us plenty of time to hide in the extensive under growth

I think the pool had been an old marl pit the as water was blue the boat house had fell into disarray and wanted repairing i decided to float fish using maggot and bread the water was quite deep so i used a sliding float graham used the same out i cast, the float came to the surface and cocked i had a bite instantly and could feel it was a good fish it was duly landed and what a lovely sight it was a Rudd, we only had the old spring balance scales it weighted in at two and three quarter pounds by dinner time we had caught at least twenty of these lovely fish between us, all a similar size this was good fishing we had not seen a soul and all we heard was the occasional pheasant piping up and the bark of the keepers dogs we did not have a camera in those days it was middle sixties and could not afford such things we carried on fishing still catching, then i caught the distinct smell of pipe smoke drifting throught the woods then the crashing off under growth i called graham we must hide there's some one about we lay in the extensive ferns and watched the keeper with bucket in hand cross the dam wall he was going to feed the pheasants so i thought but how wrong could i be he had come to feed the pool for the wild ducks he never noticed where we had been fishing and left the pool going the same way he had come we resumed fishing but it had cut off we had no more bites and decided to call it a day, we fished this old pool many times over years and never once did we get caught it still lies deep in the woods no one ever fishes there it is as though time has forgot it. They still shoot the estate and use the old pool for duck shooting last time i had a look it was very over grown with brambles and bushes and there was no sign of fish i said to graham i wander if they are still in there we are to old to give it a go now so, its left to the elements and nature one day some one may come across the old pool and give it a go until then it is hidden from sight deep within the woods well that's it for now more latter.
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   Old Thread  #105 14 Jul 2011 at 8.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #104
We are going to have to leave the fishing tomorrow my poor old mate graham went with his brother shooting rabbits last night got up this morning did not know where he had been and did not remember anything about it the doc called he does not think its a stroke i really hope not as graham has been my fishing partner for years not only fishing shooting as well i first fished with graham in the sixties its a long time ago he has been a true mate and friend.

I first met graham in 1963 we both worked at sankeys at wellington he said he liked fishing and our friendship went from there in those early days we fished the river for its chub and roach catching some half decent fish our tackle was not that goods but we got by we poached a good many of the old estate lakes in Shropshire catching some good tench and roach with a few carp thrown in they were not big fish ten pounds the biggest but it was enjoyable fishing we would poach Acton we caught some beautiful tench from that old water we eventually got permission to fish the place it was so quiet no other anglers on there we had it all to our selves those days have now long gone we helped form the three counties specimen group that was 1969 it was formed mainly to fish for the big Bream that inhabited the big Shropshire meres at Ellesmere and we were very successful catching some wonderful fish also breaking the English bream record three times it was while fishing there that we formed a friendship with dick walker our fishing really took off we got quite well known in Shropshire for our fishing exploits.

We also shot together all over Shropshire some legal some not we did our fair share of poaching mainly pheasants and rabbits but what we sold paid for our cartridges and helped buy new fishing tackle we would go out long netting with his brother dick and caught a fair amount of rabbits it was all poaching on the big estates around Shropshire we could catch one hundred rabbits in a night not bad going they were mostly sold at bridgnorth market and to friends who has placed orders they were great days we were young the world was our oster the wages were not that good then and we both had young familys to keep so any exrtra money helped out so i do hope my old mate gets better i dont know what i would do whithout him we are now both getting on i am seventy next birthday graham is seventy five its gone so quick but with a bit of luck we will continue fishing for a few more years. a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #104 12 Jul 2011 at 6.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #103
Well we made another start after the Barbel this morning it was an overcast morning and felt very humid the river had a fair bit of colour so i was very confident we would catch i had a few casts with a big feeder putting a fair helping of bait in hoping to draw the fish upstream, i sat there for the next hour casting every five minutes and then it happened the rod bent over and i was into a very angry fish which headed down stream i played him for about five minutes before he snagged me on the underwater rocks no way would he move and i eventually pulled for a break, i was a bit surprised when i got my hook link and feeder back it was not long before i had another take and managed to bring it back to the net not a big fish but better than nothing it was grahams turn next he hooked into another what seemed a very good fish only to loose it to a hook pull.
Photobucket A barbel from today
Photobucket another from today
WE could not believe in the amount of goose-sanders, that were on the river i had a line of over twenty of these fish eating birds going through my swim and more or less diving all together they are a most horrible bird and do seem to hunt in packs when i was young we never ever came across the birds but they are definitely on the increase on the river Severn its time something was done about them but i cant see that happening in my life time. I was sitting there dreaming when my rod bent into an ark i picked it up and felt a reasonable fish it started to run up stream against the current and was taking line off the clutch i knew it was a big fish i said to graham it feels very heavy i had just about got it under control when all went slack the hook pulled, so out i cast again and immediately i was into another fish i played this fish with care on landing him i could see it was about six pounds no biggies at all graham was really struggling and a few anglers came up for a chat saying they were really having a bad time of it but that's fishing it was not long before i was in again and i just could not believe what happened next he broke me how big i don't know but i suspect my hook link got cut off on the sharp rocks that adorn this part of the river we had fished the best part of nine hours so we headed for home just beating the rain we will be back on Friday i have to many appointments wed and Thurs so i will leave it until then we will keep at it for the next few weeks and leave the carp until latter on well that's it for today. more latter
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   Old Thread  #103 10 Jul 2011 at 10.34pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #102
I walked the fields with an old friend it would be sometime in the late fifties old Blenty was a master at poaching he knew the country side back to front we were after the partridge he was a master at his trade it was his job the way he made his living i can see him now standing next to me his gun was as old as the hills the stock was held together with wire but he could certainly use this old weapon, i have even seen him shoot at a covey while huddled together on the ground and pick about six or seven of these plump little birds they were true old English grey partridge not very sporting some would say but that was the way it was his job, i have been with him when he ended a morning with a least 10 brace in those days a good morning work he also watched where they roosted they would huddle together in the same spot every night he would with friends drop a net over them and take the lot i would go to his house there would be birds hanging all over his old out house waiting to be sold to the game dealer.

He was equally at home fishing and would often be seen salmon fishing his rods had seen better days mostly made of bamboo i often wandered if he payed for a licence he was a master at worming, in those days the river was full of salmon and old Blenty went were he wanted he knew the salmon runs the best time to fish for them i have seen him catch as many as eight a week and believe me he was not past netting a few as well he would sell them to the local hotels some would end up in London, i have been out with him at night poaching the pheasants i have seen him and his mates have at least sixty birds in a night from one estate then they would move on to the next estate anything was fair game to old Blenty i went to his house one night and he was skinning a sheep out if he had been caught it would mean prison, but he was good very good he feared no man they just do not exist like him any more he was a true poacher from the old school he learned his trade from his father he could not read or write but he was a very educated gent when it came to the country side he did a bit of mole catching and had loads of traps he would carry them on his old bike they would be hanging from the handle bars he an old basket in front it almost looked like the old butcher boys bikes it would be full of traps he had mole skins pinned to big boards at his house where he cured them i think he then sent them to Horis friends the skin man he got a few bob for them it was a pleasure knowing old Blenty, he lived alone and never married he died in the middle sixties they found him lying in his beloved fields gun in hand and birds in his old sack he was in his seventies his old spaniel by his side i was told it was a heart attack he died doing what he loved and was one of the last poachers who plied there trade to make a living he was a true gent and friend and it was a privilege knowing him he lies in the local grave yard when i went to look for his grave i could not find it he had no head stone to mark where he lay he had no family very sad but i have my memories of this old man and his gun. He was a bit like old SAM some one you treasure and keep in your memory for ever. more latter
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   Old Thread  #102 9 Jul 2011 at 12.12pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #101
What weather we are having i loved to be out carp fishing this time of year, always so much to see the wild life would be at its best the birds have more or less finished breeding i would lie in my bivi listening to every thing around me i had a pair of night scopes that i borrowed it made life a little more interesting they were a good set ex army so i am led to believe. I fished one lake and was always a bit apprehensive being there they would be out with the rifles fox shooting i know the farmer used a 243 and i did not fancy being hit with one of those you would lie in your bivi half a sleep then bang it was quite off putting the farmer was a friend i know i could trust him but it was the others that poached the surrounding land and believe me there were a few you would see the lights sweeping across the fields they were after the rabbits, using 2.2 i have even pulled my rods in and i have gone for a closer look there would be as many of six some had dogs as well big lurchers, it was not until they really involved me by going into the woods which i had ran as pheasant shoot, for the last thirty odd years i did not want them roaming about in there but we managed to scare them away by putting trip ,wires down connected to a tube with a cartridge in they would trip the wire pulling the cotter pin out and releasing the firing pin and bobs your uncle if you put a piece of tin sheeting under neath it made an almighty noise i would take the pellets out of the cartridge and fill them with rice but not always you would be hiding in the wood then hear the bang then the shouting as they got away saying they had been shot at i and my mates would roll around laughing we had these traps set all over the woods and they certainly did the job.
Photobucket a carp from this old lake
i caught some big old fish from this lake over the years i can well remember poaching the place years before i suppose i was about twenty years old at the time it was a wonderful lake in those days covered in lilies alas now nearly all gone when the place was sold the new owner let us fish the place for five shillings it was fair bit of money then but then he had the shallows dredged with a big machine and it really spoiled the place we used to make some spectacular catches of Bream fishing the shallows plus some good roach we also caught a number of eels some going six pounds but those days seem to have finished, no one fishes for the eels any more there are some good carp in the place but it is now used for water skiing the carp are usually fished for at night i have caught from there when the skiers have been using the water but its not for me i like piece and quite not noisy boats going around washing all the birds nests away but i suppose we have to learn to share the waters that are available well that's it for now more latter
Photobucket< A real old black warroir from the lake
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   Old Thread  #101 8 Jul 2011 at 11.03pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #96
What a wonderful holiday plenty of good weather, while there i had a fox cub underneath the caravan he came mostly at dark and tried to get the rubbish bag down which i had hung up in the awning i watched from the window as he delicately balanced on a deck chair and managed to get it down i then had to get the bag and replace it once again, i removed the chair but by next morning he had managed to get the bag once again how i don't know but he had ripped holes in the bag and managed to get some strawberries that we had thrown away also getting a few slices of bread a fox eating strawberries its a new one on me i just hope he did not get a bad belly when i looked under the van you could see where he had been lying down leaving two slices of bread i think we must of disturbed him.
We also went down to the harbor at porthmadog it was absolutely full of mullet and there was some good fish amongst them i had left my rods at the van i sure our ken will tell us how hard they are to catch i have had them in the past using match tactics using very small pieces of bread but i have missed more bites than i have hit i did wander after watching them taking small pieces of bread that the holiday makers had chucked in whether you could catch them on a fly rod as i watched them even having a go at a little piece of white feather i am sure if you tied some small hooks with imitation feathers small that resembled bread you may catch a few well it's worth a go i will have to try next time i go up there.

Where ever you look the road side banks were full of foxgloves and many other wild flowers it was a sea of colour they have yet to cut the bank sides and hedge rows leaving them well alone until the birds have all nested i notice a pair of blue tits were still nesting in a hole in the stone wall behind the caravan according to the chap next door it was the second brood, they have nested there for at least the last five years maybe not the same pair but nice to see. The chap next door had a few nice sea bream from his boat, , and a couple of nice codling but no mackerel as yet but it wont be long before they are catching a few, well all being well we will be off fishing again next week maybe be for the barbel or the carp i will, let you all know how we get on well that's it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #100 8 Jul 2011 at 5.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #99
just back from holls i will commence stories tomorrow all being well
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   Old Thread  #99 29 Jun 2011 at 9.38am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #96
ill be back in a few days and will; continue my stories may have time to do one more before i go, so see you all latter thanks for reading them, pete
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   Old Thread  #98 28 Jun 2011 at 12.29pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #97
thanks ken for your kind remarks appreciated
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   Old Thread  #97 28 Jun 2011 at 11.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #93
Nice Borises, Pete and great tales as usual.
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   Old Thread  #96 27 Jun 2011 at 11.28am  0  Login    Register
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We arrived to fish at the weir at shrewsbury this morning the water was only six inches from the top where we fish and the water was a funny colour i have caught barbel in those conditions with four oz feeders graham did not fancy it and we would have been burnt to a cinder its that hot, if we had been younger maybe we would of chanced it graham is now 75 years old i am coming 70 next birthday you just cant do the things we used to do.

I was reading with interest about older anglers and the younger element of our hobby i personally have many friends that are young anglers and i am only to happy to help and answer questions regarding fishing there is nothing to be gained by being a miserable old sod i suffer pain but it does not stop me being polite and helping others i am not one of these secret squirrels and will tell other anglers what bait i am fishing with we all have to learn and to some extent you learn all your life, i love the look on the face of a younger angler who catches a nice fish and has caught it with the same rig and bait you have helped him with we older anglers have an obligation to help the younger anglers in our mist to learn how to fish and pass our knowledge on to them some may not agree with me, graham and i have taken his young grandson tom under our wing and we are passing our knowledge on to him about the countryside and its inhabitants the life of the fox badgers and the bird life it is our heritage so we pass all we know on it will make him a better person and he will have a fair understanding of the country side i also taught my grandson Antony from a young age he was only 3 years old when i first took him but he has now flown the nest and is a member of the royal dragoon guards i am so proud of him but what i have taught him will help him through his life time one thing he did not like was fishing he had no interest maybe one day he may take an interest we will wait and see.

I have had a wonderful life and have so much to tell the younger generation not only about fishing but the country side in general nature and angling go hand in hand and while fishing you see some interesting things i no longer night fish but still manage to catch one or two nice fish in the day, i loved to be out at night fishing i would listen to the different noises coming from the fields and woods i always carried a note book and would log every thing down i am now to old and crippled to erect bivvies i can not do it any more so i give the night fishing a miss all i have now is my memories and a few photos and i feel more comfortable in my own bed fishing is so different today than what it was in my early days tackle and methods have changed such a lot i think for the good i would not like to go back to how we fished in the forties and fifties although we had fun using it trying out different methods. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #95 26 Jun 2011 at 12.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #94
We went again on Friday but it was blankety blank although i lost what looked like a good fish the rod bent over no need to strike and away down stream he went he was taking line against the clutch i could feel him trying to shake the hook i tried to gain some line but it was hopeless he kept going i really bent into him and did turn him upstream but it was useless he managed to get his head down stream once again i could not follow him because of all the obstacles in between i hung on for dear life graham came to my assistance saying looks a good fish Pete no way could i gain any line and then it happened he snagged me in something what i dont know i pulled for a break no good so i decided to put the rod down give him some slack line and see if he would come out on his own no way not for a least an hour then he was off again there was a twang then nothing i had lost, him i was using drennan Dacron its nice and supple and really hugs the bottom but he broke me at the hook but that's the way it goes i said to graham and Rodger the bailiff it could of been a salmon it would not be the first time i have had a salmon on using small halibut pellets graham never had a take Rodger went and came back and set up next to me and what did he do caught one i said you jammy bugger but that's the way it goes we are going again on Monday so we will try once again but i am not holding my breath.

I have told you in part one all about Halford church yard at craven arms it is where so many friends from the past are buried even old SAM and his wife lie there it is a most beautiful place peaceful and pretty the water fall still crashes down in a silver spray it was a happy place when i was young and still is i thought about all the trout i had landed when fishing below the sill of the falls but yesterday was a sad occasion once again a friend i lived next door to and school chum has passed away he had a epileptic fit he has had them for years but he went into a coma and never came around some sort of meningitis set in and that was that he was only seventy thats another freind gone i had a look around the church yard and eventualy found sams and his wifes grave you can hardly see the writing on his head stone as its badly faded, i expect from the weather over the years, it has got to be nearly sixty years since he was burried i nearly shed a tear as i thought back to those years when he was keeper in the big woods that over look the church i would like to think that part of sam still roams those woods so yesterday was rather sad it really makes you think life is so fragile it only takes seconds and you are gone you are like a leaf falling from a tree so get out there fishing and do what you want as life is so short. well a bit more latter before i go on holls
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   Old Thread  #94 23 Jun 2011 at 12.08pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #93
I will continue after the barbel for the time being and let the dust settle on the carp scene graham and i have checked out a couple of waters and with a bit of luck we will give it a go in a few weeks time i will not be around for a few days as i am going on holiday so i will leave my son in law in charge at home plenty for him to do like watering the tomatoes in the green house so the stories will have to wait for a bit well until i get back. I had a phone call about some fox cubs the other night and i must have a drive down to have a look maybe with a bit of luck get a few photos the lady says she has had them in her garden and is a bit worried about her pet rabbits she has about six cross Belgium hairs big things i bet they weight about seven pounds or more old foxy wont mind thought he will soon devour them.

I told the lady to move the rabbits into her shed for the time being while the cubs are around but its not them but the vixen or dog will do the damage i have heard of a number of residents on our village complaining that there pet rabbits have vanished ripped through the wire of the pen and one or two cats have gone astray to they will take a cat but not that often as the cat can quite easily escape and can and put up a fair fight. A friend down the road was really anti fox hunting and anti shooting he would tell every one how nice the fox was and they should be left alone i agree they are lovely animals but they can and do cause a lot of damage, but lets continue about this friend he had pet rabbits some he used to show well to cut a long story short old foxy got in and played havoc killing a number of his show rabbits i was called down what a mess he had killed at least five taking only one, we found another three in the next door neighbors garden still alive but very traumatized it was pure carnage the gentleman has now changed his mind about foxes you can shoot the lot his certainly not anti anymore but as i explained the foxes had cubs to feed and the rabbits were easy pickings the gentleman has now got them in a big shed where old foxy cant get at them i found the earth just down the field at a place called the stocking you could see by the way they had been playing the cubs were quite big next to the earth was a corn field you could see where they had been playing rolling the corn flat it wont be long before the vixen moves them on and they go there separate ways well its off fishing again tomorrow we will try once again maybe we will catch a few maybe not but who cares we are still alive and its a wonderfull way to spend a day. A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #93 22 Jun 2011 at 11.28am  0  Login    Register
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With a bit of a struggle graham and i decided to go fishing yesterday we went for the barbel and although the river was low. When i say struggle my back is terrible painful but i managed a few hours after this hard fighting fish, there was a hint of colour in the water we only fished with one rod each as where we were fishing its a bit cramped. Trust me i screwed the rod rest in to the bank only to be met with a swarm of wasps i soon moved swims lucky i did not get stung when the bailiff came around i pointed the nest out to him i think he is going to get it dealt with a few years ago i would of dug it up for the grubs it held they were brilliant for fishing for chub but those days have gone , we started fishing with a feeder and small ellipse pellets and it was not long before graham was attached to one angry fish he was talking to the bailiff at the time he played it for a few moments then all went slack he got cut of on the rocky bottom it seemed a reasonable fish but not deterred he cast out again and was soon into another fish which was duly landed and took the scales to six pounds ten oz not a bad start to the day the bailiff had told us it was very quite and not many had been caught since opening day the sixteenth of June.
Photobucket Graham with his 6ib -10 0z barbel
Photobucket Me with the biggest of the day graham weighed it at eight pound ten oz but it looked a lot bigger

Then it was my turn the top of the rod bent around from a savage take i grabbed the rod, and he took line as he headed down stream after a while i managed to turn him and get his head up stream he did not want to give up and started moving against the current upstream i could tell it was a good fish and took me about fifteen minutes to get it under control it was duly landed looking at the fish i could see he had a fair belly on him graham weighted him at eight pounds ten oz but he looked a lot bigger i said to graham have we weighted that fish right as to me it looked a, lot bigger, never mind i recast sitting there wandering if grahams scales were right when once again the rod tip looped over it felt a reasonable fish but only weighted in at six pounds eight oz but it was turning into a good day and up to now i was well pleased it was shortly followed by another of around five pounds then it was grahams turn he was into what looked like a decent fish when all went slack he had lost another good fish well that was it although we tried no more came our way so at tea time we called it a day it had been well worth going the final tally was six barbel and we lost three not bad for our first day out we will try again on friday hoping for more of the same. a bit more latter
Photobucket A beautiful stretch of river
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   Old Thread  #92 19 Jun 2011 at 2.26pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #89
I was with Dick one day at his mothers god bless her and he said come with me Pete he proceeded to get a fork and bucket and started digging for worms they were perfect lovely little red jobs after putting some soil and leaves and mixing them together he said take them home with you and start breeding your own worms i had already got one in my old compass heap but i added Dicks i think he gave me around a hundred and i still have it today i like to think some are descendants of Dicks worms they have certainly caught me some fish over the years mostly perch and trout but i have also caught a few Rudd and bream using them.

Looking back that was in 1974 thirty seven years ago where does the time go i really don't know most of the old anglers from my generation have now passed on Dick was my boy hood hero jack Hilton bill Quinlan terry Thoma's Fred jay all gone but they left there legacy they were the anglers of yesterday i really feel that if it was not for them and what we learned from them our carp fishing would not be like it is today they were the pioneers, then we have good old Terry Thomas Chris tarrant's mate i remember them on tiswas together i certainly learned how to drink wine when he was about ,i remember him falling out of a boat while filming a bit worse for ware i would see terry most years at the game fairs and he was always a bit under the weather but a nice chap and we had many laughs talking to him.

Dennis Kelly was another quite well known angler at the time and in the late sixties and seventies he was one of the best bream anglers ever he caught so many big bream he also broke the record, a fish of over thirteen pounds from white mere at Ellesmere but he never claimed the record he did not want it publishing as you would have never been able to fish the place again. There were only a few swims so it was kept very quite i fact it was broken again by another member of our group and that was also not claimed for the same reason but they were the days we would be fishing at every opportunity i would fish all night then go straight to work next morning i would wash at work and have a change of cloths i would be tired out by the evening through lack of sleep as in the early years we did not have bite alarms and you would have to stay awake watching the doe bobbins for any movment that was tiring enough but to go to work after you would be completly tired out by five in the evening and ready for bed things improved for me when Dick gave me the Herons and i found i could sleep a bit which really helped in fact i caught my biggest bream from colemere using the Heron bite alarms i could never thank Dick enought for his kindness in giving me a pair. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #91 18 Jun 2011 at 6.48pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #90
Thank you so much Allan you are right the banks were very quite in those days most lakes where private you had no chance to fish them unless you did a bit of guesting you were right about dick he did hold both records i see your name is walker no relation are you dick also did a bit of poaching with the gun shooting a pheasant or two Tim his son said he was caught and i am not certain but i think he was done for his crime well done the man seriously it was a pleasure knowing him he was a terrific man and freind thanks again pete
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   Old Thread  #90 18 Jun 2011 at 1.57pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #89
Pete,

I always enjoy your posts. There is something about the old days that is sadly missing today, natural untrodden banks for one.

You are absolutely correct about Dick and the trout record. In fact he held the trout record at the same time as he held the carp record. The only man in history to hold two British records simultaneously.

The 34 lb common that took his bait off the dam wall at Redmire was at the time the second biggest carp ever caught in Britain. The only man in history to hold a record and the second biggest fish of the same species at the same time.

Truly, he was the greatest.

We will never see his like again.

Alan
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   Old Thread  #89 17 Jun 2011 at 12.36pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #88
I always remember the last time i spoke to dick i really rang up to see if he wanted any more wood pigeons sending down as i used to send at least four a month as i have said before i would pack them in a shoe box i don't know if he would eat them or whether he used them for fly tying i never did ask him. well i rang him from work this one morning and a lady answered the phone i suspect it was his wife sorry , but dick is to poorly to take phone calls i heard a familiar voice say who is it peter from shrews bury ill take it hi Pete he said how you doing and what you catching i told him all the news do you still want the pigeons dick no Pete i am in bed i have got cancer i am dying it went very quiet i was absolutely shocked, i thought you knew Pete no i did not i replied what do you say to your boy hood hero words would not say how i felt i was devastated as he had done so much for me given me tackle and such but one thing above all else stood out he gave me friendship i would certainly miss our little chats and the visits to his factory we said our good byes and that was the last time i spoke to dick walker he did not last that long and a few weeks latter he had gone i never went to his funeral as i could not get the time off work i would of loved to have gone but it was impossible owing to big work commitments one thing i can honestly say he was a great man and had a good sense of humor also an inventor and writer and a superb angler i do wonder if without him carp fishing would be what it is today i still think of dick as the grand father of carp angling.

But he could and did catch many other species he caught big perch roach tench you name it he caught it in the last few years of his life he spent fly fishing if i remember right he broke the rainbow record i am sure if i am wrong some one will correct me i have fond memories of the times i went to his factory he would take me around the factory and introduce me to the work force he knew all by name it appeared to be a wonderful place to work he said most who work here are fishermen or play football his co director was a world class referee he would take me out to dinner and a pint or two then either to see his mother or around some of the lakes he had fished i used to like going to see his mother we would always have big pieces of cake and tea she was a wonderful old lady she used to try and scare me with stories about the resident ghost i never did see it but she was conviced the ghost was real dick would shake his head take no notice pete i had some wonderfull times when i went down to his factory and they will remain in my memory for ever,. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #88 16 Jun 2011 at 10.12am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #87
How the years roll by it did not hit me until yesterday, the next birthday i will be seventy i said to a friend yesterday wheres my life gone it has passed so quickly i have had a great time especially fishing and i have met some some great anglers and made many friends. I have fished in shropshire from one end to the other some legal some not but i have enjoyed it all they say life is for living i have certainly done that if some one asked me what was the best thing you ever did i would not hesitate and say meeting dick walker he was an icon, i learned so much from the great man he was so kind and generous towards myself and friends we lived a long way apart but he would ring me at work asking how i was and what we had been fishing for he loved it when we were catching the big bream and asked me to write about our campaign but i never really had the time i was a young chap with a young family work had to come first.

At that time my life was rather full most of the time when i was away from work i was either fishing or down the woods as nature played a major part in my life i also walked the hills where the time came from i don't no i would come home from work and would be away fishing until dark i lived and breathed fishing in the sixties and seventies and then i had my shooting in the winter so there was never a dull moment lucky i had a very understanding family and wife, I remember dick giving me a ring at work hi Pete can you do me a favour and take a disabled lad fishing no problem he gave the address and telephone number i arranged to meet him and his father at Acton Burnell i had a ticket and was a friend of the owner i took all my gear a long but i had no need dick had sent him all the rods reels the lot line hooks you name it he sent it the man was so generous and helpful towards young anglers, the rods were made by hardy one a twelve ft float rod the other an eleven ft ledger rod but i had my work cut out with this young lad he had no coordination between his arm and brain when he tried to cast it would end in a tangle at his feet it took nearly all day to get him casting but he eventually did it i can remember his face when he caught his first fish a small Rudd he was made up, and that was the beginning of a long friendship with his father who was also a friend of dick the great man rang me up at home and could not thank me enought it was not a problem, i know the lad carried on fishing throught his young life i think his father has now passed on and i have now lost contact with the family i suppose that would be in the middle senventies. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #87 14 Jun 2011 at 10.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #86
Well i have just enough time to write this story before more treatment on my back. As a teenager i was pretty lucky in Shropshire i could fish most places there was a lots of estate lakes and those i could not fish i poached then we had the river Severn the river Rea and the onny in south Shropshire and loads more besides in those days i would fish the river tern it ran through attingham park it was a keeperd estate and in those days strictly private i would cycle there and hide my bike in the undergrowth i got to know the estate quite well and would fish it on a regular basis i also roamed the woods there were pheasants every where i think in those days there were three keepers i was only about fifteen it was the late 1950 you had to be very quite as the estate employed a fair amount of workers IE gardeners park workers and of course the keepers i would never take any one with me as i did not want to be caught so i was responsible for my self and no others.

I soon discovered the river was stuffed with chub roach and a few trout and thinking back i caught a few nice eels not huge around three pounds but nice eating size they held some very big shoots in those days and i would hide in the under growth or even up a tree i always carried a bag with me it was an old post office bag the ones the postman used i would watch where some of the pheasants hit the ground and i would be away and pick it up before the dogs even got there they shot literally hundreds they would never miss a few birds but they did the gun would say keeper its over there of course they never found it because it was in my bag you would hear the keepers or the picker up saying you must of *****ed him sir and he has run or flown on you could see the frustration in the guns face but he came down over there keeper he was dead in the air, i found it quite funny and had a job to stop laughing they were great days i would be gone from home all day on a Saturday, the park also had some beautiful deer, in those days the park got poached by men with lurchers looking for the deer they would come mob handed they caused terrible injuries to these beautiful animals, i was there one morning and i found one severely wounded bite marks all over its rump poor thing it was terrible cruel i left it where it was a bit latter in the day i heard the sound of a gun it was the keepers putting it out of its misery these men would poach the deer in the night using torches and the dogs.

It was a lovely estate and i really got a bit to confident, and got chased one night they discovered i had been fishing in the park and were waiting for me to arrive i was into the water and across the other side i made for the road bridge hiding my rod and bag before i got there i launched my self into the water and swam under the bridge it was quite deep not over my head about three ft and that is where i stayed for the next hour i could hear them shouting in the distance i was trembling with cold but at last it went quiet and i scrambled out onto the bank wringing wet i manged to pick my rod and bag up got my bike and made for home i kept to the back roads and eventually got home around midnight but it was not the last time i would fish and shoot on that estate, and over the years i also had my fair share of rabbits but that's another story a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #86 11 Jun 2011 at 1.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #85
I see there are a couple of threads regarding otters and the damage they do the problem is certain organizations have been playing with nature letting them go willy nilly without giving a thought about the damage they can do. When i was young i loved to watch the otters at play most of this was done on the river onny in south Shropshire's i have also watched them on the Rea brook to me they were lovely animals, but now we have all the big commercial fisheries with big stocks of carp breed for match fishing and such in my younger days these sort of fisheries just did not exist it was mainly rivers and the estate lakes, but there were not the amount of otters that we have today in my stories i have said i poached and fished most of the rivers for the trout, they held and you would very rarely see an otter at times you would come across a pair they were secretive animals, i would lie down in the under growth for hours watching them but in those days they were hunted to me it was very cruel but it had existed for centuries and was an accepted part of out heritage in the country side hunting ended when the otter hounds IE huntsmen volunteered to end the hunting of this lovely animal the main cause of there demise was pesticides and pollution causing a lot to die out so the hunting stopped

in my opinion it was about time the river ran red with the blood of this animal it was not a pleasant sight i was only a young lad at the time it it has always remained in my memory very few got away but because they hunted the otter it was also looked after especially the otter Holt's beside the rivers and another thing the otter found its own level with the availability of food. It also gave the keepers a bit of a headache because if food was short it would raid the keepers pens i have seen a few hanging from the keepers gibbet over the years but not now of course. I think the only way around the problem today is to protect your fishery with fences and such the game keeper protects his birds putting electric fences around his pens and if having trouble with owls and hawks he may cover the top of the pen but he takes the necessary precautions when needed to protect his interests . I think this is the only way forward if it costs more to fish your favorite water so be it, because we will not get permission to control this animal in the public's eye it is a furry cuddly animal and it is also the way it is portrayed in school along with the fox and other animals. The public dont care a toss about our fish they cant see them because they are below water but they can see otters mink foxes and such it would cause a human up cry if otters were culled the on going problems have been caused by human intervention not giving the country side a thought or about the damage they may do but it is to late now we must put our own house in order even if our fishing costs more and fence as many fisheries as we can, in time the otter will find his own level with the food available but that may take a few years another thought they could make the females baron over a period that also may be an answer, but i for one would not like hunting of the old days to appear not as it ever will.

Photobucket I would not like these days to appear as the river ran red with the blood of this animal
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   Old Thread  #85 10 Jun 2011 at 2.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #83
The hill country is so huge acres of land covered in ferns heather and in season the wimberries a wonderful place to watch wild life it was dominated by my favorite old foxy but there were many more birds and animals the humble rabbit the Hair even the stoat and the occasional weasel you had the peregrine buzzard sparrow hawk and the goshawk and the grouse and the curlew i loved the place then there was the mountain streams they did not look much but they held the brown trout i have had my trousers rolled up many times and tickled a few of these lovely marked fish they never reached a huge size maybe only half a pound but lovely eating i would take them home and they would be stuffed with tomatoes and herbs then baked in foil the flesh would fall of when cooked absolutely wonderful to eat.

I have walked the Shropshire hills from one end to the other i have slept under the stars and listened to the noises of the night a lot different to the noises of the woods i have watched old foxy feed her cubs in one earth i found two litters two vixens and twelve cubs which is a bit unusual they took some feeding the cubs got quite used to me being there, and would come and investigate where i was hidden they got quite used to my presence. I felt a bit sorry for the two vixens they had been pulled about by the cubs when they were being suckled and now the were hunting for the food it really made them look a bit ragged and out of sorts i don't think the vixens knew who's cubs were who,s they seemed to feed them all. At the time i did wander if the vixens were litter sisters , all the time i watched the vixens i never once saw the dog fox it was all left to them but they managed to rear them until they went there separate ways.

I have fished a few pools up in hill country most we have acquired through helping the farmers on the big old fox shoots they would have two or three every year it really was a must as the foxes would take young lambs people will say they don't do that but i can assure you they do i have watched foxes harassing a mother and twin lambs while she was trying to protect one they would take the other nature is quite cruel, but they have to survive, on one big earth on the longmynds we found the remains of six young lambs now thats a lot to lose to a fox so they had to be cleared as the farmers could not afford to lose so many. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #84 8 Jun 2011 at 9.39am  0  Login    Register
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   Old Thread  #83 7 Jun 2011 at 11.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #82
His bright eyes watched me from the corner of the room he coward in the corner of the kitchen as i tried to calm him down but he was a wild animal a most beautiful fox full grown with his rustic coat i had opened the door hearing a noise and in he ran seeking a place of refuge i heard the hunting horn in the distance as they made there way towards the house no way were they going to come on our property i stood by the garden gate and faced the on coming dogs i suppose the year was about 1963 i watched as the huntsman came down from the hill a towards the gate where i stood, have you seen the fox sir no says i the dogs were casting around looking for scent hoping to find a line to hunt again can we come through your garden sir no was my answer you can follow the road at the bottom of the hill he was not amused by my answer he knew me well he only lived down the road why he called me sir i do not know probably being polite in front of his friends we have chickens and cats so we do not want you on our property.

They gave me a dirty look and made there way down the hill calling the dogs as they went i had left the fox in the kitchen with my in laws my father in law wanted to shoot the poor thing but i would have none of it as i approached he gave a snarl and coward further into the corner i talked gently to the animal, and wandered if he was thirsty his eyes shone bright as he watched every move i made he never took his eyes off me i put a bowl of water on the floor and with in the hour he plucked up the courage and lapped it up i would say he was about two years old and a fine looking fellow. I was going to let him go as soon as the hunt disappeared from the area how you going to get him out of the house i was asked ill pick him up was my answer it was not the first time i had handled a fox he will bite you Pete no he will be alright i gently talked to the animal and he eventually calmed down but i would keep him a couple of hours i tried him with some dog food but he was not interested it was now time to let him go i got an old blanket a threw it over the animal he did not move i gently grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and gently eased the blanket away he did not even struggle and let me carry him to the garden gate where i gently let him go he trotted down the path stopping once looking back then he was gone and vanished into the gorse that surrounded the house that why our house was called then gorsty bank i never saw him again just another true tale of my favorite animal this is only one of many i have handled i like to think i saved him from a tragic death by the hounds well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #82 6 Jun 2011 at 12.14pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #81
I suppose the country side has been my life fishing has been my main hobby it has kept me happy and out of trouble over the years i have made some really good friends through fishing. Although i don't see some for months but when we do meet we have a good old natter about the past and the present. A lot of my friends are now old men well i suppose most are in there sixties and seventies but most still go fishing they are not fit like they used to be it takes a little longer for them to set there tackle up but they still love there hobby i don't like saying sport some of these same gentlemen also shoot i think i have at least six in my syndicate who i have known for years they are really good friends and i could trust them with my life.
Photobucket A pretty acton carp
Graham and Bernard have been my main fishing partners over the years they both also shoot, we have fished together on a number of waters local and away into wales, and between the three of us have caught some very impressive fish, not just carp but eels bream roach i always remember fishing with Bern at landodd we went a couple of times, in those days it was a prolific water for the carp we had some great catches from that old lake it was in the middle of the town the only thing that worried us were the drunkards when they closed the pubs they would get the boats the out and would be row around the lake the police would arrive what a job they had getting them off the lake, they would cart them off to the local nick but they would be back a couple of nights latter but it was a bit of a laugh. The carp society fished landodd nearly every year in those days, they would have there get together on the water, and they caught some very impressive fish i believe there were a number of thirties caught over the years but we never had that luck most of the fish we managed to catch were around the fifteen pounds mark but it was good fishing and we had some tremendous multiple catches from the lake, in those days you could only use two rods but it got so bad that we could only use one we were getting two runs together so we packed up using the two rods and used one in fact the one night i packed up i was absolutely tired out from hooking and playing the fish funny really the locals would come down and ask what we were using as bait it was pea nuts at the time we never knew what damage they did to the fish, we also used them at lordys the fish really went mad for them and we caught some respectable carp using them.
Photobucket Bern with an impresive fish from acton
Photobucket A couple of tench from acton
We also fished acton burnell together and caught some wonderful fish we caught them to over thirty pounds they were good fish for those days, we also had some huge tench from acton many over six pounds with a a sprinkling of sevens good fish for those years, but like every where else word soon got out and it went syndicate but i was allowed to still fish the lake as i was a friend of the owner over the years we caught some great fish from this water . It is now run by rob hales and is stocked with some very impressive fish. a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #81 4 Jun 2011 at 10.25am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #80
No more do you see the gypsies around your house selling pegs like years ago they used to visit my house selling everything from lace to carpets from the back of the horse and cart i remember our mum talking to the old lady and being given a posy of heather for good luck those years have long gone its sad really as i learned so much from them. They would have there dogs lurches terriers and were never short of a meal or two old jack lock going back when i was only about six or seven would be out with his two lurches and always caught a rabbit or two i would go down to the caravans which were in the wood called the Berries they would all be around the fire smoking there clay pipes even old Mrs lock smoked her clay pipe fiddler would be playing away and they would sing along i think they were very deeply religious people as i have been down there and they have all been praying a lot of the villagers were a bit wary of them, but not me old jack even went to see my mother to see if it was alright for me to go down to the caravans i remember jack saying he will be alright misses we will look after him and they did i would have sweets biscuits pockets full, jack would take me out with him and showed me how he set a snare for the rabbit i was only young as i say he would give me a couple to carry back to the vans by the time i got back i would be tired out from carrying the rabbits, but he would say take a couple for your mam young UN she was always grateful as the war had only just finished.

Another clan lived in the gorse they were honest people true Romany's like the locks i have sat in there caravans more than once and listened to the old chap telling tales from long ago mostly about horses he loved them and had a few through his life time. It was he that gave me a sandwich i was with another friend a chap called john leading-ton and we had been up the fields shooting well poaching, with my old ferrets i suppose i would be about sixteen then as i had got my first shot gun a webley and Scot four ten it was great for bolting rabbits at close range lets get back to the sandwich after we had eaten it he said nice was it Pete yes i said. Well it was Hedge hog he said cor did i feel sick the very thought of it all i could think about was dead hedge hogs killed on the roads but thinking back it was very tasty a bit like pork but i have never had it since . It was this old gypsy that taught me how to tickle trout i will not mention his name as not to cause any embarrassment to his family, his sons are good friends of mine and now all live in houses his dear old wife lily lives about six doors from me and she has told me she would never go back on the road it was a hard life she is now quite old, her husband died years ago the true gypsies have mostly all gone now and have taken there knowledge with them, sad really there are not many true Romany's, left i know this has nothing to do with fishing but it was all part of my life i would not have missed it for the world and would do it all again if permitted i have met so many interesting people throughout my life time and all i have now is my memories well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #80 2 Jun 2011 at 11.15am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #77
It was a moonlight night the wind roared over head as i made my way to the old woods i don't usually venture out on a moonlight night but i needed a pheasant or two i approached the wood and slipped in beneath the canopy of the big oaks and beech trees the leaves had mostly all gone leaving the branches exposed looking like huge skeletons i know these woods well i have roamed them since a child i stop and listen all i hear is the roaring of the wind the bark of a fox traveled on the wind maybe looking for a mate the month was November i make my way forward down wind from the keepers cottage i pass through the trees just like a ghost no noise do, i make i was heading for the big ride i already knew it had recently been strawed ,where old Gerry fed his pheasants but he was not around tonight he was in his warm bed not a care in the world no one would dare poach him but how wrong could he be i had roamed these old woods since i was a child i knew every path and walk way as thought they were my own.
Photobucket The pheasent in the car
i made my way towards the ride stopping and listening but all i could hear was the creak and groaning of the big trees as they moved to and fro in the wind as i reached the ride it was on with the torch the birds were easy to see i, pick one and take aim he hits the ground in a ball of feathers i pick it up and put it Ito the bag i clear the feathers away from where the bird hit the ground and away to the next tree as i walk the ride i take the easy birds twelve in all enough for tonight i fold the gun and it joins the pheasants in the bag i make for the fields and away for home i stand and listen before i leave the woods but all is quite except for the wind as i walk across the field the rabbits run for cover to the distant hedge rows they are now recovering well from the myxomatosis a terrible disease made by man the moon shines showing up the fields like a silver sea as the grass ripples in the wind i can see the badgers five in all huddled up like giant mole hills they were feeding on the worms and feasting well, i leave them well alone and make for the old wooden bridge over the small stream i stop and listen all is quite as i make my way up the field before crossing the railway line as i come from the railway line and over the fence i stop and stare in wonder as a barn owl drifts by like a silent ghost how it managed in that wind i do not know i made my way slowly through the copies stopping now a then to listen i knew i was safe now i ,put down the bag put my back to the old oak tree and pulled my pipe from my pocket and lit it the aroma spread throughout the old copies. if foxy was there he would be well gone by now i skirted the village arriving at our house from the fields it was 3am i hung the pheasant in the shed there would be plenty for the family and neighbors as things were still hard this is the story of a night out with a young poacher some time in the late fifties. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #79 31 May 2011 at 9.11am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #78
In reply to Post #62
cracking thread .
Thanks i apprecate that
Joshey_m
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   Old Thread  #78 30 May 2011 at 11.27pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #62
cracking thread .
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   Old Thread  #77 30 May 2011 at 1.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #76
I watch the rain as it hits the window pane it is muggy and over cast a few years a go i would be out with the rods i spent a lot of time fishing around Ellesmere or just about any where i could wet a line when i first fished the meres, which looking back was in the late sixties it was a far cry from fishing today. I think i fished all the meres at the time some where well known to hold big bream others tench and roach but all the years i fished those meres, i never once heard carp mentioned i suppose they must have been in the waters. But you would have thought all the time we put in some one would of hooked a carp but as far as i can reselect no one did. The Eel club off great Britain fished the meres at the same time we did, and caught some respectable big Eels there was one or two caught over the six pounds mark so there was a lot of potential to fish the meres, bites were few and far between i am sure graham would not mind me saying we fished 1972 from June until late October for one bite which i had culminating in another fish over ten pounds graham sat beside me twice a week we fished it hard and he never had one bite i can only call that dedication i suppose we both had bream fever i know we did we could not leave it alone i think it was one of the worst years i have ever fished, it was so wet it rained, and rained, there was mud every where the swims were awkward to fish because of the water rising in the mere we would trudge through mud up to our knees to even get to the swim it was not nice but we did it we decided to pull off late October and decided to give it a rest the following year and concentrate on waters nearer to home.
Photobucket One of the biggest Bream i caught at ellesmere just under the British record

Graham and i were offered the lease on Berrington pool and snatched sir Reginald's hand off and called our syndicate Berry croft angling club the pool was known locally as heart break pool i soon filled the syndicate with some great friends and we set about tidying the place up making swims clearing the under growth and such at the time it was a mysterious place as i have stated before we had a bit of black magic going on down there we had a coven of witches all women who i have mentioned about in an earlier story one or two of the lads would not fish the pool at night because of the upside down crosses screwed to the old oak tree, but i must say they well made we also had one or two home made dolls hanging from, tree branches with there heads in a noose as though they had been hung a bit off putting. But graham and i gave it a go and baited up over a period of time we started to fish the place seriously around 1973 we fished in close company with Dennis Kelly renowned for his big bream exploits and chairman of stoke angling club we started to catch some beautiful Rudd Bream hybrids up to nearly five pounds lovely fish but it was not until some time latter that we started to catch the big bream that the pool held. well a bit more latter
Photobucket A Berrington bream from years ago
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   Old Thread  #76 29 May 2011 at 2.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #75
Friends used to say hell Pete you stink and i did it was usually from foxes it would get over my coat i got a few tel lings off at home but i spent a good many hours watching them and also at times there was a need to shoot them and carrying a fox across your shoulders is asking for trouble i even caught the odd flee from handling them but they will not live on humans very long i suppose a lot of my life time has been spent watching and following foxes but i still say he is a wonderful old fellow with his rustic coat and the country side would be a sad place without him although i am not pro hunt they did a job for the local community but on the shooting front you could kill more foxes than the hunt ever sees on some of the big fox drives i have seen as many as thirteen shot in a morning but this was mostly in hill country where the foxes do great damage to the sheep farmer, the hill farmers cannot afford to loose to many lambs as it is a very hard life and the money they make is not a great lot. A lot of the farmers have second jobs to keep there heads above water so it has been a necessity to thin out the foxes in the hills funny some of the biggest foxes i have seen have been shot in hill country as i have stated before the biggest i saw was twenty eight pounds a huge fox but there has been many over twenty pounds.
Photobucket A small fox
Nothing more frighting at night than a vixen screaming i have seen it put up the fear of god into people that are not used to country sounds but it can put the fear of god up country people who are out at night i remember graham and myself fishing one lake then out of the blue right behind us the vixen screamed i can tell you we were asleep in our bivies but it awoke us up with a start i think my heart missed a beat but we knew what it was but for some that don't know it really frightens them they think old nick is out there.

I have spent so many nights out in the woods i have slept there in the ferns and listened to the noises of the night and believe me there are a few we have the owls fox badger voles and such all make peculiar noises and if you do not know what they are it can be a bit off putting when i poached all those years ago i got used to the woods and its inhabitants old SAM learned me a lot about the birds and the countryside in general so over the years it has really helped me i only wish i could still do it but i know that is not an option so i now pass my knowledge to other people but i know they will not use it like i did, there is no need to poach any more and be out all hours so i really think the end is in sight there cant be many of the old poachers left and when they die there knowlege will disapear with them. well a little more latter
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   Old Thread  #75 27 May 2011 at 9.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #74
As i walk around the old lake it brings back so many memories from long ago i find it hard to walk to far because of the pain from my affliction but i sit and rest on the old log beside the sparkling water i dream of things past, the old tree is still there where i cut into the bark making it easier to clime to look at the tawny owls nest they have used the old hole for decades, i was only 15 years old where has the time gone, i was sixty nine yesterday another year gone by, i watch the great crested grebe going to and fro with her young not very old they make such a noise calling to there mum . I look up and see the buzzard soaring on a thermal and thought of the times long ago when i climbed the old fir to her nest and held the chicks in my hand how wonderful nature is but those days have long gone no more climbing for me only dreams about when i was young.
Photobucket
carp from the ancient lake
A splash far out in the lake brought me to my senses it left a ring of sparkling water and then another they were carp showing as they moved down this ancient lake that once appeared in the film gone to earth. I thought about the times i fished and caught the carp from this lake i remember well my first thirty and how i shook with excitement and stared in wander at this great fish, the times i watched as the young deer came down to drink from the lake and how they were quite oblivious to where i was i lay quite and still covered in ferns and could of touched there legs, the time old foxy passed me by and nearly trod on me he was so near i could hear him breathing as i lay in the undergrowth and watched him in wonder, and not a noise did i make, those days i really miss to wonder the woods and watch the wild live its been a big part of my life, i well remember old SAM saying to me when i was young there nowt to hurt you in those woods only another human and he was right.
Photobucket<
Photobucket
A big common from the old lake oh so long ago
To wonder the hedge rows and poach the pheasants from the great wood from under the keepers nose it was all part of my past or catch the the spotted trout from his lair under the far bank and to be beside the river in the dead of night and catch the trout on a trundled worm and be long gone before the keepers were about to take a couple of trout and hang it on the keeper door just to say i had called it was a way of saying thank you, it is all in my memory from long ago how graham and i have stood gun in hand and waited for the pheasants to soar across the ride in those ancient woods giving you some excellent shooting this was all part of my life and remains in my memory for ever well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #74 25 May 2011 at 11.22am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #73
Going back to the farm yesterday was a bit of a dead loss the farmer said he had not seen the foxes since his wife chased one on Saturday and they had lost no more hens funny. With food ready available as it is at the farm they usually keep coming , so i was off down the fields with my mate tony to see if we could find where she has the cubs well we did find where she had been under an old holly bush, but they had been moved to pastures new following a few feathers where the chickens had been pulled through the undergrowth we soon arrived at a big field full of oil seed rape well that's where they are they had rolled flat a few places from there playing, but it is an impossible task trying to find them in cover like that so it was back to the farm with the news i must admit i was not sorry to be back as my senosis is really playing up and causing sciatica down my right leg i am having physio tomorrow so i will see if it improves but the hospital says there is no cure to my problem while i write this i am in agony all down by back side and right leg but back to the foxes i have told the farmer they will be back at some stage he asked me why they had not been back since sat i said with the amount of rabbits around there is plenty of food , and maybe she took more than one hen and hid the rest and that would keep her going for a few days but make no mistake she will be back we are going to leave it until Saturday than have another look the cubs must be quite big and maybe she has stopped feeding them as they are old enough to look after there selves.
Photobucket cubs playing out
But he will get a visit or two in the next few weeks maybe from the cubs as well but i have a feeling there is more than one taking his chickens so if i am able i will have a look around the adjacent woods and hedge rows they are not difficult to find usually they leave a few feathers here and there i also look for flattened nettles and undergrowth where the cubs have been out playing but if one of the local game keepers have found them they will be dead gassed, but being sandy soil its not very good gassing them as sand disperses the gas so we shall see i usually move the cubs by leaving my scent on the earth the vixen will soon move them on some times a few fields away but if they keep visiting the chicken farm and continue causing damage they will be dealt with humanly usually by shooting although i love this old rogue and have watched him for many years at times enought is enought some say the farmer should keep his hens in a secure shed but that is not free range so we will be keeping an eye on my old freind foxy to see what her next move will be. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #73 23 May 2011 at 10.29am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #72
I had a phone call on Sunday morning it was tony who runs the shoot with me can you help Pete whats a matter tony the farm above me has got fox troubles and the farmer was wandering if you would come and have a look i know the said farmer and he has lots of free range chickens as a few ducks up to now they have lost four ducks and a number of hens charlie having a great time but he has obviously got cubs and big ones by the sound of it and they will keep coming back as the food is an easy option.
The crunch came on Saturday the farmers wife went out to give them a bit of corn and she said the smallest fox she had ever seen was walking down the field with a white hen in her mouth this is where i had a laugh she chased this fox and it dropped the bird which got up and ran back to the farm it had not killed it usually they bite there heads off so i have to go have a look and find where there coming from it should not take that long but i feel there is more than one fox visiting .

The farmers wife asked me if it could be a young cub as it was very small i would not think so, i think i know this vixen i have mentioned her in my stories before she was at bomere for some time she is very small i would think it is the same vixen as you can see the woods of bomere from the farm so she has moved on just across the fields
but she has obviously got a big family of cubs to feed and i would think they are near splitting up by that i mean they are a few months old and will go there separate ways. if there are a couple of young vixens they may stay together i have seen this before but the young dogs will fend for there selves so i shall not kill this small vixen i will follow her from a distance and see where she Leeds me, the earth will not be that far away but i would think the cubs are lying out in one of the big fields of oil seed rape that's if they are as big as i think.

the farmer says he has seen three different dog foxes visiting the farm it would not surprise me at all as there are a number of woods bordering the farm and the hens are easy pickings but it must stop as he sells the eggs to local hotels and such he cannot afford to lose to many. So tomorrow i will be going to have a look around and try and find where they are, i could just hide and do a bit of squeaking and call the fox to me then bang job done but its not my way i must see how big the cubs are and i certainly will not kill the little vixen as i have known her for some time how she has survived i don't know as she looks like a small cat but she has and has got a family to look after so ill write a bit more about the foxes and how i get on in a latter story. more to come latter
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   Old Thread  #72 21 May 2011 at 9.53am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #71
As i sat beside the old mere midnight was fast approaching it was so still you could hear a pin drop the weather was humid with a chance of thunder but it was a great night to be out fishing you could hear the thunder in the distance giving a rumble but it was still miles from where we fished we had already caught a couple of slabs that weighed in at just under nine pounds i said to graham we best get the umbrellas up i could see the flashes of lightning in the distance it was approaching fast as you looked across the mere the lightning would show the flock geese over the far side .

Looking up the sky looked black and the wind had started to get up a sure sign of an approaching storm we pegged the old umbrellas down as best we could and waited now to late to make for shelter of the car it was the early seventies we did not have the protection of a bivi like today it started to rain but did it rain hail as well the thunder crashed over head and and it echoed through the woods the lighting flashed over head sending streaks of forked lighting across the sky we huddled under our umbrellas for protection from the rain and then we heard an almighty crash the lighting had hit a tree behind us somewhere in the wood you could smell the arid smoke as it scorched the old tree the wind got even worse blowing waves like white horses towards us and leaving the water by our feet a foaming white what a night and it was not easing one bit, we had to stay and let the storm pass i was really hoping we would not get another run as i did not fancy getting wet but up went my bobbin and as it glided towards the but ring i struck and found solid resistance this was no small fish i played him with care to the waiting net and then we had him we parted the net and stared in wander at the big bronze slab lying in the folds of the net we weighed him quickly and slid him into the huge net that had already been pegged out ten pounds not a bad fish graham was next to catch we were getting wetter by the minute another good fish of nine plus the sky was still black as coal and the lightning still streaked across the sky.

We were both clad to see morning the storm had moved on we had pulled our rods in and got our heads down for the rest of the night as i looked behind our swim it was flooded how we going to get through that graham i don't know he said we weighted our fish and photos done we packed our tackle away and made a move good job we had waders on we went through mud and water up to our knees what a night we made our way over the canal bridge to the van that had been parked in the lay by loading the tackle we got our wet cloths off and sat back i lit my pipe and looked at graham with a big grin on my face what a night lets get home the mere was colemere for those that want to know, we fished it for a number of years leading to the british record bream. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #71 18 May 2011 at 1.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #70
As i walked down the field to the old earth i could see something was not right some one had been digging up the earth and had killed the cubs i was overwhelmed with sadness, i had a word with the farmer who passed by on his tractor asking who had done it he had no idea as he had not given permission to anyone other than myself and graham i can understand killing foxes that had caused trouble i have my self when needs be but to dig up an earth and kill the cubs and throw them to one side really gets up my back they had just about ventured out side in the last couple of weeks , the diggers had been using terriers you could see there prints in the sandy soil.

I buried the cubs by putting them in the old earth then i covered them with soil using my hands i stood still i could hear a faint mewing where on earth was it coming from i looked above the earth it seemed to be coming from the big bed of nettles parting them i found the cause of the noise it was a little cub one they had missed it had beautiful blue eyes and chocolate coloured coat poor little beggar i picked it up and wrapped my coat around it to keep it warm it trembled all over what could i do with it, the vixen would not come back so i had two options open to me either kill it or try and rear it so i took it home the poor thing was very traumatized caused by its ordeal i got it home and put it in a box by the gas heater i manged to get a bottle and some dried milk and i got it feeding by gum was it hungry it had obviously been weened so i tried it on dog meat all went well and he began to eat the problem was at night he was lonely and would call out all night so i gave him a old toy my daughter had years before in the shape of a cat it did the trick and he would cuddle up to it and sleep i had a friend at work who was keen to own a fox so i had a word and he went to them and they reared him to an adult he would even go to the pub and lie under neath the chair they sat on and he even liked a drink of mild beer the landlord would put an old dog bowl full and he would lap it up i lost touch over the years but i was told by friends that they still had him.

That was a few years ago the foxes have now moved back into the earth and have had one or two litters since and i really hope it continues as the farmer said they cause him no trouble so they are left well alone i never ever discovered who had dug them out and i will probably never know it does happen even badgers get the same treatment i always think they are sick individuals who have no knowledge of the country side or its wild life.
well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #70 16 May 2011 at 11.37am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #69
As i stood in my mates kitchen he wife shouts the badgers are in the garden come on Pete watch me feed them his wife turned the back light on it illuminated the back garden and there stood five beautiful badgers my mate sat on the steps and the badgers were all over him his wife brought out some bread smeared in peanut butter they really loved it apparently they had been coming for a few years he could even hold a piece in his teeth and the badgers would take it from him ever so gently by what i saw they absolutely loved him, they come from the old set down the fields Pete they make there way up the ditch behind my garden then in to the garden i could see that some were full grown cubs maybe from this year or last he said the old boar comes as well but he can be a bit funny and really keeps the others in check but like everything else Pete i have a few problems why Bernard neighbours keep complaining about them as they dig a few holes around the garden especially in the lawn when looking for worms i have told them to fence the back off behind the ditch but i don't think it will keep them out at all they have been coming for years well before the houses were built, he really has a great passion for these animals and now he has retired he does all the liaising for the badger society i met Bern a number of years ago when i used to go fly fishing he was a good fisherman and a good naturalist he also liked a bit of course fishing.

Periodically he would contact me asking if he could go down to have a look at the big sets at Bomere i would ask the owners if it was OK and they always said yes well they would have a job stopping him he had a big map at home in his garage with nearly all the sets he knew of in our area and more beside from further away, he knew i shot and he had no problem with that he also knew i loved old foxy but he hated cruelty and got called out a good many times to people digging the sets up he carried a camera not any old thing but a good one i think it was a Nikon with all the different lenses the photos were used in evidence against the men they caught digging up the sets i really should of got a few photos from him that i could put up on here i may go down to see him latter as he only lives down the road from me he is a wonderful friend although i don't see him that often when we meet we have a good old natter he certainly knows the ways of the country side and its animals although he has been a bit upset of late about the possible gassing and shooting of badgers as he said to me they will get any one to shoot them i would rather leave it to some one like you Pete who understands the country side but now it looks if it wont be necessary as in some areas they are being inoculated i am certainly in favour of this as i could see whole sale slaughter of this beautiful animal.
Bern also removed badgers that caused a huge problem to the farmers and would release them else where he did one such job for the old quarry where graham was manager it happened a few years ago there was a big lake at the quarry and the badgers had moved in and the managment were frightened they would tunnel through to the water at the dam end and flood the surrounding fields and property there was quite a big family living there so they fenced all the lake off putting a big cage at the only exit and fed this cage trap for weeks with peanut butter and bread when they were used to it the one end was closed and the trap set over a few days they caught them all a good job well done the Badgers were released a few miles away as far as i know the quarry have had no more trouble since. well a bit more latteer
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   Old Thread  #69 15 May 2011 at 10.40am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #68
As graham and i huddled just inside the wood the wind ripped through the tree tops . It was really blowing a gale we were once again up in hill country the sky looked grey and full of snow but it was not forecast the moon came out casting shadows on the ground and the surrounding fields as the clouds raced by, once again we were after the mallard duck that came to roost on the little pool below the wood as a rule the ducks would fly over the wood before turning and then land on the pool but tonight they were late as a rule you could set your watch by them, we had been here the last couple of hours it was cold i pulled my coat up around my neck and tucked my scarf under the color the wind was cold it had an icy feeling to it. Do you want to stay i said to graham we will give it another hour he says i put my hand in my pockets and grasped the hand warmer out came my pipe lighting it the aroma filled the little wood if old foxy was around he would certainly would have gone by now.

Looking up i was sure the wind was getting worse the clouds were racing across the sky, i looked behind where my dog was curled up he did not seem interested tonight, graham sounded the mallard caller and within minutes a couple of duck swung behind the old wood only to reappear second latter up with my gun bang bang i had one out of the two it was a start i sent the dog i had watched the duck hit the distant fence the wind had took it that far it was not long before my dog blaze returned with a big fat mallard. The mallard had arrived within minutes there was four more over us graham managed two a right and left i got one we had already shot four but i needed more the farmer Mr shake shaft wanted at least four to be dropped of at the farm latter, the ducks kept coming we had shot a good dozen before we called it a night we picked them up and made our way across the fields the wind was blowing that hard we had trouble standing upright but at last we made it to the old land rover that belonging to graham, i for one was pleased as i sat in the front the dog curled up under my legs making it a bit cramped in the front, but he had done his job so he deserved a bit of warmth we called at the farm dropping the four ducks do you want a drink the farmer shouted the wind was really howling around the old farm yard no thanks,, we said our fair wells and made for home and the warmth of the fire this was sometime in the seventies. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #68 12 May 2011 at 12.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #67
Not far from Acton burn-ell was another lake i will not mention names on here as it could cause a bit of embarrassment although it has been a long time ago i think the lake is still there although the fish got poisoned years ago some sort of chemicals got into the stream running in to the lake and killed everything in there but it was years before i fished that stately old lake the house was black and white a most beautiful place and it had stood for centuries well that's giving some a clue i got to know the old Gardner well i new his son better and he told me all about the carp that were in the lake, but he also said the place was haunted by some pipe smoking squire that owned the estate years before, you could not get permission it was strictly private in those days the lake was part of the extensive gardens a most beautiful place i would say the best place i have ever fished the problem was getting to the lake without disturbing the residents i would cut across the fields pushing my bike then hide it in the extensive undergrowth in the wood that boarded the hall and lake. There were pheasants every were hundreds of the things as the land and woods were used for shooting and joined onto the Acton shoot.

I had a few while i fished the place using fishing line and sultanas and currents on the hook. But it was the fishing that really interested me i only used one rod it was easier to get away if discovered i would cast a big old lob worm out, place my rods on the rest mainly sticks with a v cut from the hedge bobbin on the line and i would hide in the foliage and reeds that surrounded the lake up it would go and i was in lovely fish i don't think i had one above five pound in all the time i fished the old lake but it was great fishing and free. Billie asked if he could come with me we will fish it in the dark no way i said the place supposed to be haunted by the old squire funny really it has been in the local papers about the said haunting quite recently. we decided to fish in the dark and fished it for a number of weeks and never once saw the old squire, we caught a good many carp and tench but this one night we had just set up and sat down behind the rods when we heard a shout we know your in there come on out it was the owner and the police, the gamekeeper was also there. We snatched our rods and made a run for the field hide the rods Billie then follow me we put the rods under the brambles at the side of the wood and climbed the nearest tree we were covered by the foliage up the tree we heard the policeman who i knew as Sgt landers say he would go down the road in his land rover and see if he could catch us, we also heard the owner and the keeper talking for about an hour landers came back and said he could not see us and eventually they went back to the hall we stayed up the tree for another hour when all was quite we were away picking up our rods and bikes on the way. we eventually got home in the early hours i did not fish there again for a few months . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #67 10 May 2011 at 11.08am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #66
As i crept through the undergrowth to the side of the lake the sweat ran down my face the sun was high in the sky my cloths stuck to me a felt like a wet rag but we were both determined to fish this old lake it was private no fishing it belonged to a big shooting estate here in Shropshire but this would not stop us, but we needed to have a look at the place in the day time find a couple of swims that would protect us from the elements and also hide us from prying eyes there were at least seven keepers on the estate mostly under keepers and one head keeper i had got to know the estate with a friend called Robert willox at the time he knew the head keeper Mr owlet and he gave us permission but the owner knew nothing about it it was kept very quite as Roberts father was a big wig on the council and a friend of the keeper so we were allowed to go we did manage to catch a few pike but that was about it.

We were only young when Robert and i would bike up from bayston hill with our old bamboo rods tied to the cross bar of our bikes two exited young lad maybe seven years old, but things change over the years my parents moved to craven arms it was not until we moved back to bayston hill that i decided to go and have a look at the lakes there were two they were packed with big tench and roach little did we know but there was also carp in the lakes . Between the lakes was the eel trap and i believe they caught hundreds in the Victorian times most were sold at market with a few kept for the estate but it was now strictly shooting pheasants and ducks with a few geese thrown in, i was approaching 15 years old we still; had to bike up to the lake i would go with a lad called Billie we could not carry that much with us as it was about six miles from our home the rod reel a few ledgers i had a couple of Michell 3oo so i was really set up i well remember the first time i fished there with Billie we were frightened to death we would get caught and even more so when the mist drifted across the lake or should i say rolling it really spooked us both you could here a pin drop Billie would say is it haunted Pete know said i well i don't think so but he would really scare me, but all the years i fished there i never saw any one worse than my self we had a few scares when the keepers came down to feed the ducks mostly on dark you would hear them talking then they were off to the pub so you knew you were ok until morning we caught some good tench up to five pounds but they were good fish to us young lads and a few Roach as well mostly around a pound we saw the occasional carp show but never hooked one it was not untill a few years latter when graham and i got permision that we managed to catch a few carp from the place. That place is now kown to most anglers as acton burnell well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #66 8 May 2011 at 12.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #65
I wander some times why a certain fish gets caught time after time they must certainly be suckers for punishment or are they plain greedy not long ago i had the same fish three times in one session the hooking and playing the fish certainly did not seem to do it much harm but its strange you catch others and at times never see that fish again for months i do think they learn by association but some never seem to learn i well remember fishing for pike on one of the big lakes in Shropshire i was dead baiting i had this run struck into the fish and duly got broken snapping the line above the trace it must of caught on some snag after tackling up again back out it went within the hour i had another run on playing him to the net i was surprised to see my other trace ,in the side of his mouth it was the same fish i had lost but it never stopped him feeding i have landed a good many pike with parts of a trace still in there jaws the hooks had nearly corroded away how can they feel pain i cant say they do as if they did how on earth do they feed the trace never seemed to bother that fish i hooked twice, not that i like loosing fish but it does happen at time through no fault of your own.

One fish i have not mentioned on here is the EEl a few years ago well more than a few years myself graham and Bernard did quite a lot of EEl fishing and over the months caught some big specimens we caught them to nearly seven pounds big fish by any ones standards i know Bern played one to the landing net that was absolutely huge only to loose it trying to get it into his net i think it really startled Bern and his father who was with him that night it was huge Pete he would say it was thicker than my arm how big do you think bern i would say, i can not hazard a guess it was real big and his father said the same that was from Betton it was in the late seventies we had loads from this old water from three pounds to over six it really produced some monsters funny really we have tried since before it went syndicate and never had one EEl why i don't know Bomere was a strange place when it was day ticket, long after i had it as syndicate the British anguilla club fished it for weeks without success not one EEl was caught i even fished it myself with bern and graham but we never caught i heard one had come out the other year caught by a syndicate member that's the first one i have heard about in all the years i have fished it.

The other small lake holds some huge EEls when it was electro fished a few years ago i was really surprised as it produced some good EEls the biggest over six pounds which was but back after photos of my self holding it why people have not caught them while fishing is any ones guess i think they feed on the small Rudd that are in the water its a bad water to fish at night although i have done it years ago, most wont fish there because of the mosquitoes they would eat you alive i dont think i have ever fished where they are so bad but one day that small water will throw up a suprise shropshire has thrown up some huge specimens over the years the gate pit at wem produced a fantastic fish going seven pounds twelve oz caught by david Bennet that was in july 1979 we had another of 8-13 0z from a wem pit by R woollham in 1984 another of 7-8 -0z from a shropshire mere by d holman 1982 there are several fish of around seven plus fish from the shropshire meres also a big specimen from the severn at Hightly caught by R Perks at seven pounds 7-3-0z the shropshire union canal has also thrown fish to 7-4-0z so you can see shropshire has produced some fantastic eels over the years . well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #65 7 May 2011 at 11.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #64
I suppose i have been very lucky in life i have done most things i have wanted to do fishing shooting nature what more could i ask i have walked the woods of Shropshire fished the streams the lakes done a fair bit of game keeping on our shoot i have watched the fox and badgers all hours of the day and night i have waited for the duck to fly on a moonlight night going in to roost on the old quarry pool and shot the geese on a winters evening or early morning and i have made many friends over the years friends i would not have had it not been for the fishing and shooting i have tracked the fox through the woods also the deer and they have never even known i was there i have got down in the under growth old foxy has past me by i could have stretched out and touched him that's how close i have been, he has cocked his leg against the tree where i was and never even caught my scent how wonderful nature is.

But now i find it hard my back hurts like hell i can't walk the distance but i have my memories from all those years ago i have seen things that others have not, i have seen the grass ripple while fishing on the field behind as thought the grass had come alive and then i saw a big black line stretching far behind i left the rod where it was up the tree i got and from the fork of a branch way above i watches the rats pass me by there were hundreds of the things they looked like a black wave as they disappeared into the distance i had heard about this sort of thing but it was the first and last time i have experienced it. The rats were on the move from one farm to another why this happens i don't know but others used to tell me stories about the rats that moved to pastures knew some time it was caused by floods or maybe they had thrashed all the corn and there was no cover or food left i know they would congregate in the big chicken houses as there was plenty of food but that's one thing i can honestly say i have seen it would be around the middle sixties and i was fishing at Atcham nr Shrewsbury.


I have fished the big Shropshire meres and heard the song of the nightingale it sang from dusk till dawn a most beautiful song what More could i want and have watched the water vole sit up and take the doe bobbin from the line and never bite it through it kept graham and i wide awake watching the antics of this little furry animal i would replace the bobbin time and time again but he was intent of taking every piece i replaced i even moved him on but he would be back within the hour but now they are so scarce caused by the predatory mink who have nearly made them extinct. How things have changed over the years you would see the vole on most rivers and brooks but not any more we have to many predators on our water ways the problem now is the general public they thing the mink and otter are furry little creatures that do no harm, but that's the way these animals have been portrayed in school and books we also have the comoront the goosander the merganser taking the small fish which are the future stock for our rivers they need to be controled before its to late but i dont think it will happen in my life time it will be up to the younger generation to voice there opinions before some of our rivers are devoid of life.. well rant over a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #64 5 May 2011 at 12.03pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #63
I was talking to a friend the other day and mentioned Rudd and how i fished for them when i was a young lad, not far from my home at craven arms was a lake well maybe we should call it a pool it was very weedy covering most of the surface of the pool it was no bigger than around two acres if that the depth was around three to six ft at its deepest it was full of beautiful Rudd us young lads would fish through the holes in the weed bait in those days was mostly bread although as i have mentioned before i would collect the maggots from the local abattoir but the problem was it made you stink my cloths would absolutely hum and my parents really did not like me going there but i found it very well worth the effort thinking back i really did not realize the potential and how big the Rudd were i caught huge fish you could not get your hands around them beautiful deep bodied fish.

i think it was sometime in the early sixties i met my long term fishing partner graham and it was quite by accident i introduced graham to the pool we had gone to fish a night on another lake but when we got there we found it packed with anglers and radios blaring out around the lake this was far to much for me and we never really started to fish we stayed the night in the van i said we would go and fish this other lake which was full of Rudd graham agreed and by six am next morning we were on our way i got permission from the farmer to be honest i have never in my whole life caught bigger Rudd the place was full of them the only other place i had seen them this size but not in quantity was a little pool up Clungunford way but it was a route march to get to the place and of course we would be poaching .

But this pool was something else we caught Rudd to 3-8- 0z a big fish but there was bigger in there i remember at the time a chap called SOS valentine wrote for angling times and he discovered the place and started fishing it but the problem was he published photos of the pool and it started to get to many fishing there. The farmer really got fed up with his piece and quite being interrupted and chucked most off the anglers off place, we still fished there i can honestly say we never had any fish under a pound most were two to three pounds lovely fish in those days we never owned cameras, or never even thought about records, we fished for pleasure but now thinking back i sure we would have broken the record on this small pool but it was not to be some one be it the farmer i do not know lifted the sluice gate and drained the place the fish were left floundering in the mud not only rudd but carp and pike as well the locals carried huge amounts in bins and buckets and put them into the adjacent river onny there was some huge Rudd some going well over four pounds what a shame the pool was ruined i have been back many times it appeared in country wise on tele the other night it is now full of water once again but unfortunately devoid of life. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #63 2 May 2011 at 12.10pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #62
We arrived at the lake late after noon it was to be our home for the next three days we unloaded our gear from the trailer behind the tractor and said our fair well to the farmer we had brought plenty of food and water with us as the nearest shop was miles away we sorted our stuff out and erected our bivvies before getting some tea, it was bacon and egg on the menu graham did the cooking i would fish to the right hand side of the lake up beside the reed fringed water graham would fish down the centre while Bern fished the wood side as i looked back across the moors you could see thin tentacles of mist making its way to wards us like fingers out stretched at the top end of the lake stood the old house abandoned by some old game keeper years before it now looked like some old haunted house as it was shrouded by the approaching mist the house end of the lake was all reeds and deep stinking chod if you walked to far out you would soon sink to the tops of your wellies so fishing that end was no no unless you had a boat.
Photobucket Graham and Bern with two wildies from the old lake on the moor
How the fish became to be stocked in this old lake is any ones guess the farmer had told us they were in when his great grandfather farmed the land but what i do know they are wildies all muscle and shaped like torpedoes it also held tench and between the lull mostly in the day we float fished for these wonderful little fish because that what they were the biggest only about a pound all stunted but you could have great sport fishing for then and on light tackle they gave you quite a fight. the first time graham and i fished this lake there was no bite alarms only the old herons which i owned two given me by dick walker but now they had improved so much i had managed to buy some op tonics bite alarms now they were all the rage and coupled with the hair rig you could not go wrong the year was some time in the eighties i cannot remember if you could use three rods i think not it was two but up here on the moor you would see no bailiffs to far from civilization and besides you would see him approaching it was wide open except for gorse bushes and such in fact it was such a beautiful place and the wild life was amazing
Photobucket Seven more wildies from this forgotten lake
The action started in the night no need for boilies here only luncheon meat hair rigged they had never seen a boilie in there lives but absolutely went mad for meat of any description the first night i hooked and landed six i think we had about fifteen between us they were all the same size the biggest was only around six pounds but do they fight if you have never experienced fishing for true wild carp and you know where some are have a go you will be pleasantly surprised how they fight. I think without going upstairs and looking in my diaries we caught over thirty fish in those three days it was wonderful fishing and we spent some very happy times fishing the place you certainly got piece and quite you would not see another living soul only the farmer checking his sheep. well there we go a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #62 1 May 2011 at 10.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #61
The easterly wind blew across the fields driving the sleet towards us we were huddled together under the old hedge it gave us some protection but the sleet still stung our faces i pulled my coat around me and sat in the ditch on some plastic sheeting there were four of us today spread out in the ditch behind this big hedge we were waiting for the geese to come into roost on the quarry pool like we had done for many years but the conditions were bad at times you could not see as the wind brought the sleet towards us thick and fast the farmer stopped to chat as he made his way to check on his sheep further up the field he had the protection of his cab on the tractor by gum its cold Pete he says are you going to stay in this weather yes john, they have to arrive at some stage in the day, as i took a sip of warm coffee from my flask we heard the unmistakable call of the wild geese somewhere far away they were stirring graham and i really needed a couple as i had promised some friends i would get them one for Christmas which was still a few weeks away Tom and tony were both above graham and myself further along the hedge so we had got it well covered the farmer left us in piece and went to check his sheep.

My dog SAM was huddled up between graham and myself at times he shook with excitement he knew why he was there he had done this many times before the wind and sleet stung our hands and faces so i slipped my gloves on and pulled my hat well down over my ears once again we heard the call of the geese i looked above the hedge and spotted a big skein coming our way it was a mixture of grey lags and canada's i gave the signal to the others and shouted don't shoot the forward birds only the birds behind by this time SAM was standing and shivering with anticipation i looked at graham his thumb resting on the safty catch of the gun then they were over us up with my gun i pulled througt the bird down he came hitting the ground with a thump sam was gone and back with in seconds with a lovely grey lag in his mouth they were gone i watched them circle and disapear onto the quarry pool graham had shot two so i sent sam to pick them up two canadas but it will do tom and tony had another three six in all we would usualy call it a day but we wanted at least another three or four as we ha promised a few to freinds a goose or two.

The sleet still lashed our faces but we did not have to wait long as you could hear the call of the geese coming towards us as i looked over the hedge you could see them in the distance they looked like ghosts drifting on the wind but it would not be long before they would be over us and gone i took my shots well and shot a right and left graham also had one down sam was away and back whithen minutes dropping one then two at my feet then went to fetch grahams but tony dog had already picked it i did not see what tony and tom had shot but as they came towards us i could see they had done well we lay them out side by side 13 was the total thats it for today ill go and get the car and put them in the boot we can sort them out latter we pulled into the old car park and sorted the birds out then made our way home cold but happy this is a true story we have stood behind that hedge many times since but not in the conditions we experienced that day it was cold wet and windy blowing a gail the east wind felt more like ice but we enjoyed the experience as i made for home i called in at the farm and dropped one for the farmer a way of saying thank you. well that it for now more latter
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   Old Thread  #61 30 Apr 2011 at 10.40am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #60
I can remember using that old fixed spool reel as i said i can still see the colour it was green i used it for spinning for the trout i literally caught dozens on that old reel, i managed to get some nylon line from ludlow it was green in colour and matched the reel but it was a bit springy and it coiled a bit but i managed with it i would catch a few minnows in the trap, and would mount one on a flight putting the point down the minnows throat and you would clamp the mettle fins tight to his head it was a deadly way for catching trout i was introduced to the flight by a man called peter finch, i have talked about him before he would take me carp fishing when he went he was a most mysterious man and a bit eccentric, as well but he lived for his carp fishing and he did have a landing net and some nice rods well nice for those years they were built cane where he got them i don't know and i never really found out where he worked or even if he did because he put a fair bit of time in fishing it was he that told me about dick walker and co and lent me a book that was written by dick it was not long before dick had a column in angling times us lads worshiped him little did i know in a few years i would become a great friend of the gentleman.

In those days you taught your self there was no one to show you how it was done you would watch and learn i did get one of the first copy of Mr crab-tree goes fishing and to some extent that did help but mostly it was chuck it and chance it but we managed to catch fish i loved to fish a float over depth with a big lob worm i would leave the float lying ,flat on the surface i was learning, old Mr carp would come along pick up the worm the float would rise up in the water and start to move lie flat and vanish under the water strike and you were in a bit crude by today's standards but it caught fish i was on a learning curve funny i never worried about fishing in weed i would cast into it and i still caught i would walk miles or get on my bike looking for pools and lakes to fish i was totally besotted with fishing i would eat drink and slept fishing it was my life even to the extent playing truant from school, most of the big lakes were private no fishing they were used by the big estates for shooting the duck but it did not stop me i fished a good many and even had a few pheasants away on shoot days it was very hard in the late forties and fifties money was short anything i brought home pheasant duck trout was greatly received by my family and neighbours. A little more latter
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   Old Thread  #60 29 Apr 2011 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #59
Reading the thread old school tackle made me thing a bit i don't think i could go back and use the sort of tackle we used in the late forties and fifties an old wooden center pin reel i think they called it the star back coupled with the bamboo cane rod and then the silk line the hooks were not that good either big old jobs but we got by thinking back a still wander how we caught fish at all on this antiquated tackle but we did all we had for ledgers were the old coffin leads or the ball ones you could get the split shot but it was not that good.

I well remember coiling the line up behind behind my self after pulling what you thought was enough out, you gave it the big heave ho and away it would go taking bits of grass with it i got quite accurate doing it. I loved to use floating crust some times it would come off on the cast and you went through the same procedure again but most of the time it stayed on i would cut a forked stick from the hedge pull a bit of line from the reel and put the rod in the fork of the stick you watched the carp play about in the extensive weed beds then finding your crust would start to whittle it down then you watched in wonder as a big pair of lips appeared and engulfed your piece of crust the slack line would fly from below your reel and you would lift the rod and strike it took some time to extract the fish from the weed bed but i would stare in wonder as i managed to get fish to the side we had no landing nets in those days, the carp was only about four pounds but huge to an eight year old boy i never tired of catching fish with this method it was a great way to fish on a nice sunny day i suppose the year would be around 1951 or 1952 i also fished with the float using an old quill usually it was porcupine but with the silk line which was quite thick it really looked a bit of a mess you would not think you could catch fish with it but you did some i had was coloured green so i suppose it blended in with the weeds the other line i had was black and white still silk and it still caught fish bait was mainly worm or bread unless i managed to get some maggots from the abattoir down the road but it was quite a smelly job collecting them from the skins of the animals they had killed, my parents played hell as i would go , home stinking but the maggots worked catching tench and lovely Rudd .

Things really improved when my father got me the old tank aerial rods they were marvelous and it really helped my fishing next came my first fixed spool real a cheap job i now cant remember what it was but it certainly helped my fishing i can remember it was green in colour and had a half bail arm the next one i had was a Mitchell 300 which really was very good my friends were very envious off me, well theres a bit more. some more latter
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   Old Thread  #59 28 Apr 2011 at 10.43am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #58
I walk through the woods at wen-lock myself and charlie, who is a mine of information. As we walked a long the track he says can you smell him Pete yes charlie we had come across the rancid smell of old foxy who had passed by not so long ago it was very strong so he had passed by the place where we stood minutes before this is where charlie would hold the next fox shoot the local farmers had been troubled by, foxes taking the lambs but it was a huge wood it would take a lot of guns to cover such a big area but it never deterred charlie he knew these woods well he had been at this game many years he knew where to stand the guns where old foxy would break, he was so full of information. I Was with charlie when i found the albino foxes they were pure white with pink eyes beautiful animals i have only seen the likes this once as I told you before we moved them on by leaving our scent on the earth she moved them and we never saw them again i have often wondered if they survived most foxes don't reach old age and were killed by the local Hunt, most did not survive over two years old but you would come across the odd one which had lived for a few more years usually his teeth were yellow and broken but they managed to survive i have seen foxes with three legs and they ran as fast as the ones with four i always put this down to them being in a trap or snare and they have bitten there leg off to get away how they survived i don't know as they must of been in severe pain but they had so they must of eaten what they could find or catch, over the years i have seen a couple with three legs.
Photobucket The blue bells in the woods
Photobucket The beautiful gorse that surrounded the woods where the badgers played
Charlie liked all wild life although he killed foxes it was a job of work that had to be done for the local farmers he absolutely loved the badger and we would lie in the under growth for hours watching them he would go up to the earth at dark and feed them with with peanuts and peanut butter on bread he had them so tame they would feed from his hand i called him the badger man he would just laugh low betide any one that tried to hurt them even thought he shot foxes he did not like cruelty especially to his badgers he would walk miles and in the winter he would be away at first light, ferret box on his back and spade on his shoulder he would be away all day and maybe he had walked over twenty miles he would leave the rabbits at the farm on whose ground he had been until the likes of myself picked them up for him we became firm friends over the years and were together most weekends. As i have told you all once before he liked his fishing we would go down to brassing tons farm and charlie and i would sit in Harolds kitchen at the farm ant eat big bowls of broth with big slabs of home made bread and butter we would fish the farm pool it was full of small tench and a fair amount of wild carp we had great days down there we did Harold's vermin control as it was quite a big pheasant shoot in those days the farm had a fair head of deer and when you were fishing they would come down to drink we would keep very still and quite i have seen as many as twenty at a time well that's a bit more about my life and a friend i held in high s esteem Charlie has long gone but i will always hold him in my heart it was a pleasure to have known him. well a bit more latter

Photobucket Charlies badgers he would hand feed them on peanut butter
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   Old Thread  #58 26 Apr 2011 at 11.05am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #57
As i walk the old brook rod in hand the sand martins skim over the water taking the small flies and such then dart back to the nest in the river bank they have nested here for generations there grand parents and parents they come back every year to this little brook that wanders through the fields of Shropshire's, i stop and listen to the robin his sweet voice ringing out from deep in the wood as i wander down the bank side the young rabbits scamper for the safety of the wood i look up into the canopy of the tree tops and listen to the ka ka ,of the rookies there are hundreds in this old rookery they have bred here for as long as i can remember and long before i was born as i look i see the unmistakable head of a heron sitting on her nest there are a few pairs that nest within the rookery and seem to tolerate one another nature is so wonderful, i cast my line and watch as the fly disappears with a splash sending up a spray of foam that glistens in the sunlight, i stand in the water and play the fish to the waiting net he lies on his side a beautiful golden colour spotted down both flanks i will not kill this fish i pick him up and stare in wonder at his beauty before gently returning him to his home beneath the glistening water to grow perhaps i will hook him another day as i walk further down i hear the call of the geese as the pass over head there is only a pair both grey lags maybe looking for some where to nest.
Photobucket The brook as it flowed through the wood
Photobucket Standing on the bridge where the kingfisher had her nest

i cast my line once more and watch the fly trundle down under the far bank there is a splash i miss so try i once again as it approaches the same spot its away and i am connected to a good fish god does he fight on light tackle i play him to the side and look within the folds of the net it is a big old chub i did not weight him but gently let him go he would be around three pounds and gave me quite a scrape. As i follow the mendering course of the brook i see the vibrant blue of the king fisher as he dives for the minnows i lie prone on the bank and watch from a safe distance i notice him going back to the river bridge it looks as if she has her nest tucked inside a hole in the stone work of this ancient bridge out she comes again perching above the moving waters i watch her dive again and reappear with a minnow in her beak and disappear back to the bridge i wander if she has young i will not disturb her by having a look but wander on and leave her in piece, i hear a bark and stop instantly it is the vixen calling her young she must be in the old wood the far side of the brook she has reared her cubs once or twice before in the old rabbit holes that adorn the sandy soil, i creep on down on all fours and lie in the tall grass watching from my side i see movement and watch in wonder as four cubs appear and start to play they roll down the bank beside the old wood no fear at all, i hear the vixen give a sharp bark and the cubs vanish from sight why i wonder she could not have seen or smelled me, then i see the young lady on her pony i walk on and leave them in piece but i will be back and watch them another day by this time the sun is high in the sky i sit by the old style and light my pipe what a way to spend a morning. Now i am old i think back i really miss that way of life my legs no longer want to work and my back aches like hell but what a wonderful time i did have all those years ago this is a true account some time in the late seventies. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #57 24 Apr 2011 at 12.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #56
As i stood beside the old style i heard the unmistakable call of the hunting horn in the distance the cry of the hounds poor old foxy was being hunted again but as yet they were fields away but if i waited they would come my way. Old foxy had traveled this way many times he had learned this way years before when only a youngster he was only five years old now he had been hunted before many times and always got away, some say he liked the chase but i fear not his heart would pump away, what a majestic animal he is i just hope this not his last day, in the distance i see a flash of red and then hear the dogs they are in full cry poor old Renard had tried, all things to hide his scent but it was no good today in the distance i can now see the hunters on there horses all dressed in red and black but they were still fields away the hound were well in front the horn blew once again to keep the dogs in check but it was no good they were on the scent and on and on they came and then from no where he appears and stops and looks to where i stand a most beautiful dog in his coat of rustic red he had only one way to go through the fence where i stand he has ran this way many times i stand well back and let him go away he goes through the water course he makes for the old ivy tree where he has hidden many times before. I turn my head to face the style just as the dogs arrive i just hope my scent has put them off they cast around the ground sniffing here and there and then the huntsmen comes have you seen the fox sir no says i he never came this way he gave me a funny look and was on his way, along the water course they did go the dogs sniffed here they sniffed there but no scent did they find they stood below the old ivy tree are you sure you never saw him sir no says i, as i look up in the tree i see his little nose as it pockes from beneath the ivy leaves i smile to myself and i will not tell them where he is , the hunts man blows his horn i stand and watch them go across the fields, i look up in the tree once more, i know this fox quite well its not the first time his been up this tree he knows it quite well, i walk away and leave him to rest in piece but before i go i wish him well and say you and i will meet another day but i could not kill this lovely beast and he always got away a true story from the 1970. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #56 22 Apr 2011 at 2.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #55
Sitting out side in this beautiful weather i have been thinking about my life and the good things i have done walking in the hill country not a care in the world just myself graham and the dog the time we have sat between some bales left out by the farmer for us to make a hide and to keep us warm as we waited anticipating the duck to come and feed on the big stubble fields they would come in there hundreds and my old dog blaze would shake with excitement he knew he was there to pick the birds that we shot he was a good old dog and loved to be out with us, he has kept me warm on more than one occasion especially on a winters night when we have been crouching in some old ditch behind the hedge waiting for the geese to arrive it was moments like this that i appreciated the company of my old friend blaze, but alas he has now gone many years ago but he remains in my heart he has been one of many, but the best one i ever had was my old springer SAM alas he to has now gone he died from Weill's disease caused by drinking infected water from a puddle at the side of the road a most vile and terrible thing to catch but he was a wonderful dog he came fishing with me. he was my constant companion and he could catch a few him self when i was bailiff on a big trout fishery he would regularly bring trout up to the lodge in his mouth and they would be still alive i have seen him bring them back over four pounds he would stand in the water with his paw outstretched then in a flash his head would disappear under the water and out would come another trout he was quite well known for doing this he was a wonderful dog i have seen him stand up to his neck in water and catch the swan muscles when they moved he would spend hours with me in my view were never apart, when i had a fish on he would have preferred to land it himself he got that exited.

But he was really a supreme dog when it came to shooting he would never leave a wounded bird he had a brilliant nose i have seen him bring back geese that have been bigger than himself but one thing he hated was grey squirrels he got bitten by one when he was a youngster, i thought it might make him hard mouthed but it never did he would carry a egg around all day and never break the shell, i did not like him bringing hedge hogs into the house his tail would be going side to side as if to say look what i have got here, they could be full of fleas but that was the only fault he had i feel very privileged to have owned him and i have not had another dog since the day he died i don't think i could replace him he was one in a thousand. a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #55 22 Apr 2011 at 1.07pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #54
thanks harry appreciated
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   Old Thread  #54 22 Apr 2011 at 10.01am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #53
morning pete , am still keeping an eye on your threads , always a good read about the old days , brings back many memories fishing with me dads old rod , built cane butt and middle sections wit h a greenheart tip ,weighed a ton in a ten year olds hands . LOL
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   Old Thread  #53 21 Apr 2011 at 1.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #52
I met an old friend this morning while out and about his name is mike and we fished together for a good number of years i well remember mike catching his first twenty he was over the moon he loved to stalk fish and caught a good many specimens with the old dog biscuit he had it down to fair art and would rather catch fish that way than sit on his chair waiting for the alarms to sound, the only time i saw him do that was when we were night fishing i well remember fishing with mike at a lake in south Shropshire i had set my rods up for the carp and was fishing through the holes in the big weed beds but mike had other ideas and decided he would fish with worm he caught some beautiful perch that night up to three pounds but he had the time of his life when it got dark catching some cracking eels he caught a good many over the four pounds mark with a couple which went to five pounds plus it really wet my appetite and the next night put out an extra rod for the eels and i caught i think the biggest was around four pounds but the perch really interested me and i was determined to get in the action i fished for the perch in the day and caught some really nice fish not huge but some approaching three pounds it was a wonderful lake and it held some really nice fish the average depth was no more than six ft, the carp were a bit harder to catch but i did manage a few up to twenty pounds.
Photobucket SOME OF THE EELS FROM THE LAKE
A few years before it was fished by the carp study group and i saw some photos of fish caught in those days but i think the fish had either died, or had been removed years before, a friend took the lease and formed a syndicate yes there were still fish in the place but no huge , we managed to catch fish to twenty pounds but that was about it. Really it wanted restocking but it was far to far to keep an eye on the place, they did have fish poachers a few years before i became a member. it was eventually wound down and the syndicate finished a shame really as the lake could have been quite a good place with a bit of work put in and could have produced some good fish
Photobucket another from the same lake
Photobucket
mike also fished with me at betton and a few other lakes around Shropshire's we caught some really good fish we also fished for the barbel and on one occasion caught thirty seven barbel in one session with fish going into double figures i am afraid to say those days have gone you don't seem to catch them like that any more as i have stated before to many predators otters and mink there is no control i don't know what it will be like in a few years from now but i feel we must get our act together and lobby parliament before its to late. A bite more latter
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   Old Thread  #52 19 Apr 2011 at 6.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #51
Well here we go again this is on my laptop still having pr obs with the desk top hopefully will get it repaired by tomorrow night its really the time of year to get the rods out and have ago at the carp i have always managed a session or two by now but with all the fish we lost in Shropshire due to the bad weather its really awkward finding any where to go i have always had lordys to fall back on but not any more a most beautiful fishery dead and gone all the carp had been in the lake for years as far back as i can remember no one fishing there but myself and who i invited it was heaven piece and quite no over crowding like you get on some waters and the wild life was amazing i don't know if it will be restocked as lordy does have a pond used for restocking i shall be going up to see the man soon to find out where we go from here the problem being the lake has a average depth of around five ft and last year it was near impossible to fish it was absolutely choker with weed in all the years i have fished there i have never seen it so bad and while the farmers keep spraying and using nitrates i cant see it getting any better when i was a young chap they grew clover and plowed it back into the fields and that was the only nitrate it had i think it has been banned in some countries and it should be here as it causes weed growth in most lakes and water courses.
Photobucket
When i was younger and fished the lakes in and around Shropshire you never had the problems with weed as you do today, the lakes did have weed but you would pull an area out with the old rake then bait it up the tench would go mad and loved to grub about on a freshly cleared spot we would float fish with maggot or bread on a well baited spot and would catch good bags of tench , 100 pounds was nothing we regularly caught big bags but we had always done our home work most were fish around four to five pounds but they were good sport on light gear i never used a line over four pounds BS for all my tench fishing and i have caught specimens to ten pounds using it, i suppose it was used for all our bream fishing as well we never used line over five pound bs and i have caught a number of double figure bream in my life time and have never lost one because the line broke maybe i have been lucky. well i have had a bad day today arthrities has been playing up so that will have to do for today hopfully a bit more tomorrow
Photobucket A COUPLE FROM YEARS AGO
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   Old Thread  #51 19 Apr 2011 at 3.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #50
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   Old Thread  #50 19 Apr 2011 at 10.14am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #49
sorry i have not put any stories on but having trouble with my computer i have some one coming to lookat it latter thanks pete
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   Old Thread  #49 17 Apr 2011 at 6.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #48
It never ceases to amaze me and i have seen so often when a carp, angler catches a big bream and throws it back without even weighing the said fish when asked the answer is i don't like catching the slimy things i am after carp fair enough but i must be different i am grateful whatever fish graces my net if i am honest i have had as much fun catching bream as much as carp a few years ago i suppose i cut my teeth catching the big bronze bream i think it was the mid sixties when we first started fishing for them and that was on a small lake in the shrewsbury area at place called Berrington it was known then as heart break pool you would see the fish but you could never catch them i remember talking to some of the anglers that fished the lake how hard it was and no one could catch it also held some good roach well over the magic two pounds but no one seemed to catch them in any quantity.
Photobucket A Berrington bream from years ago
Photobucket A photo from years ago at Berringon using the ping pong balls for indercators and only one alarm
It really wet my appetite and myself and graham started to think seriously, about the place and how to catch the fish it held i think at the time it all boiled down to bait ground bait i watched other anglers i never once did we see them, bait up, so graham and myself set about baiting the place up using anything that was available at the time layers mash as a favorite also sausage rusk bread crumbs and maggots in those days graham would call at the maggot breeders and buy a big bucket full it did not cost much like today we started to put a bit of bait in on a regular basis a little bit often we did not even cut the swim until the night we fished but the baiting up defiantly worked i think without looking in the diary the first night we fished we caught over twenty fish they were only four or five pounds with the odd one going seven but a good fish for the sixties, we were the only anglers at the time allowed to night fish the place i don't think many in those days really did much night fishing it was a learning curve for us no bed-chairs only the old sun lounger with a bit of canvas and a blanket to keep the cold at bay, a light to see the doe bobbins which, in those days we used the little night light small candle in a jam jar it gave us plenty of light to see our bobbins, i would be a liar if i said we did not fall asleep you would it was quite a strain on your eyes watching the bobbins for hours but we caught we caught roach to over two pounds beautiful deep bodied fish i think most of the anglers that fished the place were pike anglers so really did not know what stamp of fish were in the lake it was quite deep with depths of over eighteen ft fishing straight from the bank, but we still managed to catch even at that deapth. It was years latter when myself and graham took the lease on and formed a syndicate which we had for many years it was called burycroft syndicate, as i have told you all before its where we fished with jack hilton and bill quinlon but that was in the seventies we did eventualy catch some real biggies from the lake it took a lot of hard work over the years but was well worth the trouble. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #48 15 Apr 2011 at 11.58am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #47
I love to be out and about even if i cant walk that far there is always so much to see i would like to get down the brook and trot a float down for the gray ling. The Rea now has some tremendous gray ling fishing and most of the fishing is controlled by a very small club i was watching a young man fly fishing the Rea the other day i never saw him catch but the brook looked in real good nick i used to use nymphs and such but may was always looked forward to as you would have the big hatches of may flies it was a glorious way to fish with a big artificial may fly i used to tie my own but i have not done any tying for a number of years it was a pleasant way to spend a winters day and would pass the time away i am afraid i have not done any fly fishing for a number of years mainly due to my arthritis but i would be away tomorrow if i could nothing better sitting beside a babbling brook eating your sandwiches and puffing your pipe i smoked a pipe for forty odd years although i have now packed it up i feel no different exept being better off in pocket and maybe not burning holes in my pockets.

The small rivers and brooks held a magic for me you could see so much wild life from the moor hen the coot ducks and lots more beside i think the love of small brooks came from my younger days when i used to poach in those days the brooks were strictly private owned by the big estates they were full of brownies mostly stocked every year for the owners friends and acquaintances to fish i would hide in the bushes and watch them cast a line but i did better on worm and at night when dark could catch a bag full they were usually around a pound or so and were great to eat there was still food rationing and a few trout always helped us out adding to our diet, in those days it was a necessity and i always got a big kick out of doing it you would have to keep your eyes peeled and use your ears, as the keepers kept a watch on the fish and any poaching that might be going on as i have said i have been chased many times and have always got away but to me it was like a game the keepers versus myself, my parents never once gave me away and thinking back they must have been under great pressure when the local bobby or sgt called to see if i had been out the night before all i can say i was lucky and never once did they catch me in all the years i poached the streams.
Photobucket GRAHAM WITH A FISH FROM ELLESMERE
Photobucket Another from ellesmere

Just lately i have been thinking about giving ellesmere a go i have not been to the bird sanctuary for a few years and the lakes did hold some very good fish i have had commons to twenty four pounds and have caught some very big roach they could manage a fifteen mil bollie i have seen them come out to three pounds plus but the biggest i have caught was two pounds plus but still a good fish but on carp tackle you don't get much of a fight but there are some clonkers in the place i did try float fishing and managed a fish a cast but none of the real biggies so perhaps graham and i may try a day or two on there . a little more latter
Photobucket ANOTHER FROM ELLESMERE
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   Old Thread  #47 14 Apr 2011 at 1.01pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #46
Well ill start again i have just written one part and lost it don't know where its gone. well once again English nature has started work on bomere they are now in the process of cutting down the undergrowth and trees the one side of the big lake if my grand father was alive he would have a fit or old bell or Gerry the keeper i could see there faces now i just hope English nature does not cut the old tree down that has the tawny owls nest in, or the big fir the buzzard has her nest as they have nested there for generations, talking to the people concerned they say it will encourage better growth of wild flowers and the spread of lilies on this old lake i do hope so as looking at the other side they did last year it looks if a bomb has dropped what a mess but you can now see new vegetation starting to grow last year they took an average of four and half acres of rhododendrons out since then things have definitely started to flourish and new life is showing all over the place i just hope the primroses grow like when i was a youngster it was a sea of yellow we also have a number of different orchids so it may help there future growth the rhododendrons where put in by the keepers years before i was born, more or less for cover for the pheasants it would have been kept in trim in those days but it has been allowed to run amok making it an impossible tangle of branches and flowers which was slowly taking over the wood and stopping other plants growing by blocking out the light.
Photobucket Lyth hill in its beauty at the top end of our village

Part of the big lake is now going to be used for an adventure play ground the old blind school has now been took over by another school teaching deprived youngsters from all over Britain how to canoe rock climbing and general skills survival and such there is at least twenty new canoes on trailers awaiting use at bomere i am sure these youngsters will benefit from the experience the school has to offer i am not sure if fishing is involved or not but i suspect it may be the youngsters will learn such a lot not just about fishing but the wild life to so i do hope the venue proves to be a good one and i wish them all the success for the future any one helping youngsters has got my vote, how thing have changed at bomere over the years when i was young it was strictly private now so many are getting the privilege of being on there and learning about its wild life it can only be a good thing and long may it continue.
Photobucket The lyth again looking at the plains of shropshire
Yesterday we went to a place called lyth hill which lies at the top of our village it is a most beautiful tranquil place we really went to look at the old fox earth to see if it was being used once again and i was quite surprised there was no fox in residence there has been cubs here for years ,but not this years the first time they have been missing for at least ten years maybe she has not survived the winter through lack of food or she may have been shot by the local farmers or she may of just moved on to another earth but i cannot see that as there were plenty of young rabbits showing i would hazard a guess and say she did not survive the hard winter a shame but it took its toll of good many birds and animals most starving to death through lack of food.
Photobucket The hedges of black thorn i did this in black and white

Graham and i have been looking around one or two lakes again and we have got a few ideas where we may fish this year the lakes we have seen i can get the car behind the swim so there should be no walking as such so that will be a great help for me and graham because of his age, life goes to quick when we were young we never gave it a second thought but it creeps up on you far to quick before you know it your claiming your buss pass and such i think graham gets his free television licence this year cor how time flies but we will keep on fishing and keep smiling life is very good and we will fish and shoot until we get to a stage in live when we cant and i really hope that does not come to soon . A bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #46 11 Apr 2011 at 12.20pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #45
As we cut across the fields we were weighed down with nets as we crossed the road all was quite the way we liked it we slipped into the field under the cover of darkness and the wind roared drowning our approach, there were three of us and we had hidden the car in long copy far from prying eyes, we were after the rabbits on the big estate and would lay the net up the side of dead mans wood on arrival we stood and listened we had plenty of time in fact all night, but we must get the job done then on to our next destination it was now nearing ten pm time to run out the net, we would drive a stake, in every yard attaching it to the top line then on and on until you come to the end and drive a a peg firmly into the ground we had run out 100 yrd net, at times we used two nets over lapping the both ends but tonight one was enought we listened once again no sound do we hear only the roar of the big wind we let the lower line falls to the ground now all is ready i stay with the net Graham and Dick traverse around the fields then start to walk back towards the wood dick has his faithful dog with him who will work the field far and wide hearing the slight tapping from the stick hitting dicks wellington boot, the rabbits run for home i can hear the rabbits coming and feel them as they hit the net, up and down the net i go finding rabbits tied in a ball as the net entwines there body holding them fast i kill them in the net and leave them until we finish the rest of the drive, then all that matters is to extract the rabbits and put them into an old sack counting as we go fifty two rabbits i whisper to dick and graham not a bad graham had quietly picked the net up neatly folding it over his arm, we hid the rabbits in the hedgerow to collect a bit latter. We made our way towards the next wood it was called keepers wood as his house backed onto this large expanse of woodland we ran the net as before the wind still roared drowning out our presence i feel the rabbit hit the mesh but then hear the noise of the net tearing i reach the place and see the net bulging put my hand down and feel the feet of the intruder its a fox it is biting the mesh and kicking i pull my hand away the net gives and the fox is away the setting was not a success maybe the net can be repaired but not tonight we make do with the six we caught and head for our car across the fields picking up the other rabbits on our way we load the car and the damaged net, and head towards the road not switching on our lights until we reach the road then we accelerate and away home dropping dick and his dog on the way the net was repaired the following day not a bad night 56 rabbits we got fifteen shillings each from the game dealer it gave us a few quid in our pocket for a pint or two it would not be long before were out again it was away of life one i have loved and would do all again given half a chance. more a bit latter
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   Old Thread  #45 9 Apr 2011 at 1.37pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #44
Graham and myself went out to look at waters this morning graham is now 75 years old and i am nearly 69 years old the days have now well gone pushing a barrow loaded to the gunnel's with my health and suffering with stenosis of the spinal column, plus an aneurysm of the aorta i personally can not push a barrow to far and it is dangerous even to consider doing it, so we are now looking at waters we wont have to walk to far i am certainly not going to let it get to me and i have every intention to carry on fishing for as long as i can, there is nothing they can do for my back well that's what i have been told by the specialist although i am now waiting to see a spinal surgeon we will see until then i will grit my teeth and get on with life.

There are one or two waters around that will allow you to park your car behind the swim some i have not fished for years and i am quite looking forward to renew my acquaintance with these waters the one such water has some reasonable fish with a good head of carp up into mid twenties and a sprinkling of thirties i have fished this water a few times years ago and it also has some very big roach, this water could be a possibility in the future but it is a very popular water and its banks get full at a weekend but it wont worry the both of us as we prefer going in the week when the water is a lot quieter as far as night fishing goes we don't do much of that any more mostly our fishing is done in the day and i really can not see it has altered our catch rate that much, and we do not have the hassle of putting bives up and such , well i put it down to our age but we both still enjoy our fishing and being out and about.
Photobucket Feeding the ducks in hill country
We are going to visit another such water latter this week a lovely lake up in hill country it holds some very nice fish mirrors and commons i have had fish up to twenty three pounds and i know bigger fish are in the place but a few years ago it had a very big otter kill it was a massacre they the otters just dragged the fish out and left them for dead i felt really sorry for the owner he did not know what to do but he was very lucky the otters moved on and i am told by some freinds the lake has made a very good recovery i was a bit suprised the otters moved as there was plenty of food for them to eat but there is a small stream connecting the lake and an out let so maybe they travelled down the stream to pastures new who knows but they have certainly not been seen since the lake also holds some very big gold fish the farmer said he did not know where they came from, but they have been caught at a resonable weight they have been in the lake for years even when the ownerer father farmed the land.
Photobucket Andy with a lovely coloured fish from the lake in hill country
One thing i shall not be doing is taking to much tackle we are going to reduce the amount we take with us some of the taclke we carry with us is never used, most fishing weights i will leave in the car in a box that will reduce a fair bit of weight and we will leave any spare rods and such in the car, when barbel fishing it will be two rods only no spares a few feeders and hooks already tyed up and of course our seat landing net weight bag and mat thats about it exept for bait well i hope things work out for us we will see. thats it for now a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #44 7 Apr 2011 at 10.57am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #43
Up to now i have not spotted any swallows or sand martins they seem a bit late this year no cuckoo either they usually arrive around April and i have heard him in the past in march a recent decline in meadow pipits and dunnocks have been put down to agricultural changes which has also effected the cuckoo as they favoured the pipits and dunnock nests to lay there solitary egg when i was a young lad they were very common and you would hear them nearly every day there was nothing nicer then casting a spinner or fly on a summers day at the same time listening to the cuckoo you certainly knew summer had arrived i don't know if my memory is playing tricks but thinking back our summers were hot and the winters cold with snow we got the true seasons we would swim in the river i cant remember very bad summers and we would go sledging every winter but perhaps i am remembering the good times i know in the summer when off school my parents would not see me from, early morning until dark they knew no harm would come to you, us young lads would walk for miles taking with us a few sandwiches and a bottle of pop and at times a packet of turf cigarettes first time i had a puff or to i was violently sick but lads will be lads and it was an accepted thing to smoke in those far off days, i don't now packed it up a couple of years ago wish i had done it before but we would walk the woods and paths the and hedgerows birds nesting or take the catapult and shoot a rabbit or two they were idyllic days we would set up camp like all boys did then boil our eggs in a tin on the fire summer to us youngsters was a time of play and was always looked forward to.
Photobucket MY beautiful woods
I would go and see old Sam it was perhaps a couple of miles from my house up through the fields then through the woods to his house, the woods were be full of life in those days the big rookeries i would clime the trees to look at the eggs green and spotted with brown and black Sam would shoot these birds as they were agriculture pests although they would eat most things invertebrates and such there is a big population in the British isles about one million breeding pairs what ever Sam shot he would take home for his misses as i have told you before she would make rook pie for Sam he offered me some said i did not know what i was missing not for me i am afraid the very thought made me retch why i don't know but it was something i did not fancy but old Sam would eat a plate full with potatoes and swede carrots peas and big chunks of home made bread he lived off the land he was in the right job the occasional pheasant or duck and rabbits by the sack full which he sold on to the market the money went back into the estate when myxomatosis came around for a few years it decimated the rabbits and some of the estates really missed the extra income that was made from there sale.
PhotobucketThe old cock pheasent in the blue bells
Any vermin shot or trapped in those days were skinned out and nailed onto a board and they were treated when dry they would be sent to Horace friend i think that was the name of the company, they would send any monies due to old Sam it was the perks of the job he taught me how to catch moles i also made friends with the mole catcher he would trap hundreds of the little creatures and did not mind me going along how on earth he made a living out of the skins i don't know but arriving at his house one day i saw that he was curing rabbit skins as well and also saw a couple of fox skins so maybe he scraped some sort of living from his work they were hard times and he would only get pennies for his skins. I would spend most of my time in the school holidays either in the woods or fishing down the river onny or on one of the numerous estate lakes they were mostly private but i was young nothing troubled me in those days as you know i poached them, and really had some good sport but the woods were my life i loved them and the animals within. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #43 5 Apr 2011 at 10.23am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #42
I have loved my fishing its been like a drug to me the more you do the more you want to, do its really been my life i have enjoyed catching most fish, i also liked a bit of sea fishing and when i was working for the home office and based at shrewsbury nick i ran the west Mercia sea fishing club we would go at least twice a month from April until November we had some great times catching some good fish including shark, Over the years i got to know a skipper from aberystwyth who ran three boats his name was Vic Haig and ran the endeavour group he certainly knew his stuff and we would motor out about twenty miles, we did a lot of our fishing in what was known as the targets the air force used this stretch for target practice i have told you all once about the near miss we had fishing at this spot a big missile missed our boat by only a few feet if it had hit us it would of put a fair hole through the boat i am afraid there was a bit of shouting on the radio after the incident the RAF ordering us from the area but Vic would have none of it saying they should of let him know there was a practice taking place apparently they always let him know two days in advance but some one had made a cock up this time but as i said to vic a miss is as good as a mile i believe this missile was out of control and crashed into some ones garden at aberdaron further down the coast there was quite quite a fuss made about the incident in the press i suppose this would be in the middle late seventies.
Photobucket Me with a tope
Photobucket Me with another big tope
I love to fish for the porbeagle shark on our boat we caught them to 150 pounds we would fish from the back of the boat and used a balloon on the line above the bait when you had a take the balloon would literally skip across the surface and vanish from sight god could they fight i think the biggest vic caught was huge over 400 pounds i cant remember what type it was, i also caught my share of Tope the biggest i caught was forty five pounds and that got me membership to the British Tope club they could really fight we also caught loads of skate well thorn back ray a lot of the lads would kill and cut the wings off and take home with them but i was not that keen most of the fish i caught were returned unless it was a big turbot i always remember catching this big one and by the time we got back in to port there was a queue waiting to see if i would sell it i did but can not remember how much i got for it i will have to look in my diary vic had been in touch with his wife by radio and she had told everyone about the fish.
Photobucket The big turbot
All the Tope and shark were tagged and returned to the sea, Vic had records of all the fish he had tagged and one turned up in Australia now that's a long way from ab er , but i can assure you all it happened, we also had a few sad times on board his boat, people being taken ill, and we even had some one die that really put paid to the day as you really did not want to fish after that they would fly the sick off the boat by helicopter the lad that died we carried him below into the cabin and placed him on the bed with a sheet covering him up what a thing to tell his wife but usually the helicopter would fetch the body before we got back to the harbour it only happened to me that once but i think vic had seen it before but it really spoiled the day and i for one was really glad to get back to the harbour, the other fish we loved catching and you did not have to go far out was sea bream i have caught them on a small spinners and they do give you a great scrap and of course fresh mackerel we have even cooked them on the boat what a beautiful smell they were great to eat fresh from the sea. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #42 3 Apr 2011 at 1.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #41
I live in spectacular county but like all others take it for granted i have only got to drive eight miles and i am in the Shropshire hill country a most beautiful part of Shropshire and one i never tire there is always so much to see especially wild life the fox is common in hill country and they always seem a bigger animal than those that live in the low lands as far as bird life you have the buzzard the red kite which has now spread to Shropshire we also see the sparrow hawk the peregrine falcon which is now a most common sight and the kestrel and i have come across the goshawk most beautiful bird which stoops like a peregrine but not quite as fast i have watched from cover as it makes a rapid chase over a short distance grasping its quarry in its talons it feeds on woodland birds such as jays pigeon and thrushes rabbits and pheasants a few years ago it was hated by the old game keepers and would be shot on sight thank god that does not happen today or at times they were caught in a pole trap a vicious and barbaric way to catch such a beautiful bird for those that don't know the goshawk became extinct in Britain in the 1800 the current population is from escaped birds that have been in captivity.
Photobucket PACOS IN SHROPSHIRE HILL COUNTRY

Below the hills in the valleys you have the streams and rivers that babble and wind there way across the valley floor you Will see the old brown trout i have caught a great many from these streams some legal some not, you will see the kingfisher with his vibrant colours and of course the dipper you have also got the otter and the mink the latter is a merciless killer taking any bird life in the vicinity it has now spread to all parts of the British isles myself and graham have trapped a few over the years mainly when asked by farmers whose live stock chickens ducks and such have been killed, the people that let the mink go do not understand nature one bit and do not realize the damage they have done over the years they may look like lovely furry creatures to some but they are not but I'm am afraid they are here to stay they are quite a common sight these days far to many to deal with.
Photobucket
caught from the same swim i saw the mink
Photobucket Another barbel

When i fish on the river i see the mink quite regular and they can be quite tame i had one bring her family right to the bank where i was fishing and run around in the undergrowth below where i sat cheeky little things i have fished for the barbel at monkmoor shrewsbury and watched a pair swimming up and down the river they knew i was there but were not frightened one bit i, have even caught barbel in the same swim the otter is another that is now getting out of hand i watched a pair hunting the river not far from where i was fishing and i saw them catch what looked like chub they have a holt on the island at monkmoor and have been there for years and i must admit they did not seem to effect the fishing that much but on bomere they certainly did i found at least four fish on the bank one was still alive and they were all big fish but that was a few years ago since then i have not seen any sign of them it may have been a dog otter passing through looking for a mate but they can as you all know do severe damage to carp fisherys. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #41 2 Apr 2011 at 10.58am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #39
Going back many years ago the carp society to used to fish at llandrindod up in wales Bern myself and graham would go maybe twice a year it was quite a big water and believe it or not was in the middle of the town it was quite handy really as you could get fish and chips for your tea the shop stood at the end of the lake you had all that you wanted toilets as well it was heaven and the fishing was not bad either there was some big fish in the place but we never caught them over 15 pounds it was great fishing but it could get quite over powering i suppose i am going back into the late sixties middle seventies if you could get the fish on the feed they would commit suicide we were only allowed to fish with two rods in those days and when i first fished the place we had no bite alarms so all we used was doe bobbins no bolies then, so it was bread worm or maggots it was real hard as you stayed awake all night and slept in the day but we did manage to catch a few.
Photobucket Ayoung graham with a fish from landod
Lets step forward a few years with the coming of the bite alarm, it made things a lot easier then the invention of the hair we absolutely slaughtered the fish at the lake on quite a few occasions we have literally had to pack one rod in and fish with one rod it was terrific sport the locals would come around asking us how we caught such a lot of fish we would try and keep things quite as we were using peanuts they were absolutely deadly you would put two or three on the hair cast out and it would be away before you could activate your alarm it was barmy it was nothing for us to land over one hundred carp in a two day session with fish going to fifteen pounds we would be absolutely tired out before we left for home and then i had to drive quite a few miles home but it was great fishing but i have heard that all the carp were lost From some disease in the last few years whether they have restocked i don't know as i have not visited the place for years.
Photobucket Bern with a fish from landod
Not far from my home there is another lake very much the same a friend asked me if i would like to do a session on there for forty eight hours i cant say i have never fished such a prolific lake, the fish were beautiful little mirrors from six to fifteen plus very stocky fish but with beautiful markings on there body, i set up opposite an island i was using three rods all fished with boilies as bait with a big feeder full of maggots bread crumbs and crushed boilies it was a fish a cast some times having two on at once by three in the morning i had caught 74 carp of varying size it was far to much for me and i wound the rods in and got my head down the following night the same thing happened if i remember right graham was doing the business as well looking back in our records i think graham and i caught over two hundred and fifty fish between us it was real silly you could not even get the rods back on the alarms before it ripped off i have not been back to that lake for a number of years it would be nice to have a look to see if it is still the same, there were far to many fish in the lake over stocked i did mention it to the owner who i knew quite well and he said he was going to sort it out but i really doubt he has i was told the other day the lake gets full at the weekend and anglers are visiting from as far away as Liverpool i must go and have a look as it is only about six miles from my home . a bit more latter
Photobucket
my set up from all those years ago
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   Old Thread  #40 1 Apr 2011 at 8.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
Great thread
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   Old Thread  #39 31 Mar 2011 at 8.38pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #38
I suppose i have been very lucky in my life i have made a lot of friends, mostly due to fishing and shooting the shooting field especially in Shropshire is a very close knit community i have shot all over Shropshire and even into Cheshire fishing is another hobby i have made many friends over the years, some are very close and i have fished with them most of my life we are all in the same age bracket, Bern graham and i have also fished quite a few lakes into wales, he always came with graham and myself he also fished on bomere with me in fact Bern and i caught the first carp out of bomere it was in the early eighties and weighted 27 pounds at the time know one knew the were in the lake but i had spotted them when walking around there was maybe fifty fish in all in a twenty five acre lake so we started to bait up and the first session produced the 27 pound fish, we went on from there and the both of us caught some very impressive fish but like any other water word got around and the place got quite a bit of pressure from visiting anglers some quite well known, i was the bailiff on the lake and had a good relation ship with the owners it was not long before a syndicate had the one side of the lake led by a very young man who is now quite well know Ellis brazier and his mate Alex perrin in fact they were only youngsters . They both cut there teeth on bomere and over the years caught some reasonable fish , i can still remember Ellis catching his first thirty i did the honers with the camera it was a nice fish but a bit latter it was killed, in fact cut in half by a speed boat but there were bigger fish in the place one was named white spot it was a huge fish and had been seen by many but never caught in fact all the years i was bailiff no one caught it.
Photobucket
A nice fish from lordys i was a bit younger then
Photobucket
A big tench from bomere

Lordy offered me a syndicate on his lake but no night fishing so i took him up on the offer i offered Ellis and his mate a place in the syndicate Bern was also a member we caught some very good fish from the place there was also some huge chub present and graham caught them to seven pounds and yours truly had them to six pounds plus there were a few thirties caught, but it was kept very quite we never even told lordy, there were a lot of doubles in the lake and lordy, would net the lake and sell the smaller fish on making a bit of money for the estate, but when one individual stole a few fish and he was caught, he closed the water down and graham and i and Bern were the only ones allowed on the property, he was livid and i was not to happy as it was some one i really trusted but you always get one we would also fish for the chub and barbel on the river and caught some impressive specimens. well a bit more latter
Photobucket
Another from lordys
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   Old Thread  #38 29 Mar 2011 at 9.54pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #37
It was in the late sixties i took an avid interest in catching big bream i suppose if i was honest graham and i had bream fever we lived bream although i did fish for carp it had not got the same appeal i found fishing for big bream was harder than carp fishing, i think at that time my biggest carp was around nineteen pounds not a bad fish for the late sixties it was about that time when we formed the three counties specimen group which i believe is still going to today it was formed around 1969 - 1970 the aim of the group was to fish for the big bream on the big Cheshire and Shropshire meres as a group we became very successful and it was around 1973 we caught the English record a bream of 11 -12 oz it was a big fish for those years and it put our group on the map well and truly it was caught by wil collins unfortunately it died in the net and its body went to liverpool university and we had a paper sent to us telling all about its age the fish was fifteen years old a fair age for a bream, if it had not died i don't think the record would of been claimed owing to the record committee wanting a dead fish for proof well thinking back i think that was the reason we certainly would not kill any fish for the sake of a record in fact we broke it twice more both fish coming from white mere in ellesmere Shropshire they were both bigger than the fish caught at colemere i was lucky enough to get amongst some of the biggest bream caught in the country at that time.
Photobucket Me holding a very big bream angling times 1970
We actually netted bigger bream graham and i would help Dennis Kelly net certain waters in shropshire and Cheshire and one particular water held some huge specimens in one pull of the net we caught three over the English record and they were a unbelievable size the biggest was a tad over sixteen pounds with a fourteen and a thirteen pounds plus these were absolutely mind blowing as no fish ever caught came any where near this size in the far off days, they were netted from cumbermere on the border of shropshire and Cheshire i got to know the owner well funny we could net the place for stoke angling club but we were never allowed to fish the place the times i asked him and his answer was the same no we do not let fishing on the estate he did not like people wandering around it was a big shooting estate and also had a big heronry in the woods he was very proud of these birds and he had them watched by his keepers and made sure they breed undisturbed.
Photobucket ME again in the national news papers the one rod i am holding was given me by dick walker
A few years before i would have poached the place but it was to far to travel and i had made a good freind of the owner so i never did i have told you all before he ould ask me to clear all the foxes from his property and we had some very good days on his estate , i suppose we traveled around quite a lot and fished most of the meres around ellemere and a few around whitchurch in those early years we caught some very big fish and not just bream but roach and rudd and some very good pike we never had the tackle like today we made do with what we had no bite alarms i think i was the first one in our group to use alarms thanks to dick walker who gave me two heron bite alarms at least i could fall asleep. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #37 28 Mar 2011 at 11.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #36
I Loved to be out on a summers evening fishing for the barbel and chub we had some fantastic sport catching multiple catches with fish over ten pounds, i would fish from around five pm until midnight i used to fish mostly pellet but changed to bolie and to be honest did very well using them not only barbel but i caught some very good chub using the same bait most were over six pounds a good chub for the severn i have also hooked one or two good carp one in particular one i hooked it in fast water he really did go i had to follow him down stream and then he got stuck in the thick weed i had two mates with me Andy and mike they both waded out with a flash light mike said it was a good fish as they could see him they tried to get the net under him but he was away he went down stream so fast i just hung on i could do nothing it was just like i had a big log on, there was a twang and he was gone it broke the braid like cotton, another time i had a vicious bite thinking it was a barbel i picked the rod up and could do nothing it started moving upstream against the current there was nothing i could do only follow him it was no barbel but a huge salmon probably over twenty plus i only saw him when he cleared the water getting rid of the hook in the process some you win and some you don't.
Photobucket A good barbel
Photobucket Another good fish
but we were quite successful on the whole and word got around that we were catching some good fish at the time myself and mike were bailiffs for the Shropshire federation and combined our fishing with our bailiff duties on the whole most anglers we met were very nice but you also met some real ********s that always looked for trouble and would refuse to buy a ticket i never bothered with these people but would go to the local nick and get the law to deal with them it worked quite well when the offending anglers saw the police coming they soon paid up, poaching was another problem chinese taking fish to eat they would put night lines down if thy saw you coming they would be away leaving dead fish on the bank i have had pike to twenty five pounds it did become quite a problem until a couple of friends visited there shop and warned them off they would come in gangs women as well and put the night lines down i would get an old gaff and drag it a long the water at the side of the river you would soon pull there lines up usually we would dispose of the line after taking the hooks off, it must of cost them a bit making new lines up but it was not all about poaching we made some very good friends over the years doing the job.
Photobucket Another big barbel
on a Saturday night it could get very busy also a Friday there was a law made by the federation that no bivies were allowed it was a terrible job reinforcing the law as some anglers brought their wives and children along i would ask them to move the bivie from the side of the water onto the field most anglers were very good but you always got the awkward one i never argued but got his registration number from the car we then traced it through the police and club and he was warned or it maybe worse even banned but they were few most were very resonable people. well a bit more latter
Photobucket A good one from by the weir
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   Old Thread  #36 27 Mar 2011 at 12.53pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #35
Living in the country side like i do i have seen my share of poaching from fish to pheasants but the cruelest of all is deer poaching it really brings a tear to my eyes if you love the animals you also respect them i have seen horrific injuries done by man using lurchers and other methods, the lurchers will chase the terrified animal until exhausted it is brought down and if the owners are not on the scene quickly the dogs will rip pieces from its body it is completely inhumane and barbaric i have found them lying in cover covered in bite wounds i can not abide this sort of cruelty.

Another method is the cross bow it penetrates deep but does not kill and the deer is in so much pain and if not caught will die of infection or blood loss completely inhumane. i live not to far from a big park attingham and a few years back it was a regular target for deer poachers they have caught some of the individuals in the past but not before the damage had been done they ended up in court and fined in excess of two thousand pounds not enough as they can make good money on the black market in the case of the poachers that had been fined, wardens on the estate found four carcases three had there throats cut one was still alive but so badly mutilated and exhausted that it had to be shot another was found alive a few days latter with its hindquarters chewed by the dogs terrible cruelty which i do not condone i think the poaching has stopped on the estate in the last few years but it still goes on in other parts of Shropshire and the surrounding country side.

These poachers have no respect for there quarry and will hunt out of season this is one such report after gralloch the beast they left two twin feotus that would have been born in the following three weeks i was reading a report on the west country and the forestry commission who have had animals fatally shot with the cross bow i am afraid i can not stand this sort of cruelty personally with people being out of work and short of money it can only get worse i do hope this does not upset any one that reads this story, as i am only trying to highlight this sort of thing, the country side is a beautiful place, but this sort of poaching still goes on these people that do this are morons and have no respect for our country side it is not only deer that are killed but sheep as well . When i was baliff a few years ago graham and myself found the fleece of two sheep the carkases had been taken they had been skinned out on the lake bank this has gone on quite a bit in shropshire in the past, hill country it is mainly a sheep farming community and thousand of sheep roam the side of the hills so it would be quite easy to take a couple for the freezer believe me it goes on, and under this economic climate it can only get worse. well a bit more latter

Photobucket THOUSANDS OF SHEEP ROAM THESE HILLS

Photobucket Easy country to poach a sheep or two, and it goes on
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   Old Thread  #35 26 Mar 2011 at 10.53am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #34
AS we huddled under the near by hedge the wind whistled through the depleted branches and the brown leaves winter was here again it was an easterly wind and penetrated every bone in your body the clouds skidded across the face of the moon making ghostly patterns on the surrounding fields my dog SAM shook with anticipation we were there for the mallard duck they would come in there hundreds and to roost on the little pool behind where we stood. The moon was full so they would fly all night they had been feeding on some far off field . we heard the unmistakable call of the geese as we looked to the right a big skein of grey lags appeared and disappeared into the moonlight night to far to take a shot, but there will be other days.

We heard the sound of duck, two mallard flashed by and landed on the water behind we saw the next two and shot them far out in front and they tumbled down in the open field.
Sam was gone and brought them to hand the cold was even worse but with the excitement we carried on the duck came in two and three we shot a couple more and a lone goose and decided we would leave for home and let the duck ,come into roost as they had done for generations, this was another night in our lives we shot 6 duck and one goose enough was enough as we trudged through the wood on the way back to the old land rover brambles caught in our legs threatening to send us sprawling a sudden scream froze our blood it was a vixen calling her mate she was not far away it would not be long before they mated once again, the night was not yet over as we had other things to do we arrived back at the old land rover we had promised the local farmers we would shoot a few of the rabbits that threatened to over run the adjacent land we had brought our rifles and a lamp to search out the rabbit no hiding tonight or running from the keepers it was all legal, as we made our way across the fields, and graham shone the light in an arch you could see the eyes of the rabbit, glistening in the light of the lamp, i put the cross of the hair on the rabbit and squeezed the trigger you heard the thump as it found its target we picked them up as we passed we shot until one in the morning, picking up at least forty rabbits the farmers would be pleased. we cleaned the rabbits and headed for home another night over but we were contented , for tomorrow was another day and we would try and catch the pike from a local mere the boat had been sorted the day before a now lay ready and waiting

Photobucket One of the pike caught from the boat

Photobucket Another from the mere all thought not big good sport
Photobucket Another as graham lookes on

We arrived at the mere at in the early morning, the mist rolled on the mere like an army of ghosts it was still cold and we were tired from the night before but we manage to get out on the old mere we were using the jelly lures roach and perch and we maneuvered around the big water trolling the lures behind the boat, the rod would arch over ,as you hooked another fish engine cut you played the fish to the side and stared in delight at the sight of the wonderfully marked fish only twelve pounds but good sport, there were monsters in this mere but they eluded us my freinds have had them to thirty plus but who cares it was a great way to spend the day as we made our way arround the mere shots rang out it was the local shoot who were shooting a fringe of trees around the mere a shot pheasent plunged into the freezing water i quickly picked it up putting it in the bottom of the boat it was not long before dogs appeared arround the reed fringed lake we pulled over to the side as a keeper appeared fom no where i proceeded to hand the pheasent to him keep it he says not a bad day we picked another three from that mere and caught another eight pike fifteen pounds the biggest, a good days bag of pheasents and pike we went home tired but reminised about the day, and of days to come. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #34 25 Mar 2011 at 5.22pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #33
Photobucket i would hide from the keepers under this old bridge then run down stream and loose them in the woods

Photobucket The water fall i tried to cross one night and fell in when i was chased by the keepers and old sgt landers it was a lot deeper in those days
Photobucket
old bells house nestles in the wood he has long gone but i always left him a brace to say thank you
Photobucket Old bells wood where his house was
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   Old Thread  #33 24 Mar 2011 at 6.44pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #32
I was a bit of a jack the lad in those days i was young and had no fear i loved to be out at night and poach the local streams and rivers i suppose it was a game and gave my adrenaline a big lift as i was trying to out whit the many keepers old bell at condover was one a hard man and a good keeper but i would be out at night and worm or spin his beloved brook it was crammed full of lovely brownies stocked by the old squire who owned the woods he would let his friends fish it was all fly fishing and some of the rods were well to do very posh but fly fishing at my tender age i think i was around fifteen years old was not for me we were hungry and needed the fish for food and our neighbors were always grateful if i took them one or two.

I got to know one of the local farmers a Mr Jones who took me under his wing you like a bit of fishing youngster i do Mr Jones then fish my land he had at least five mile of superb trout fishing i could go in the day and take as many as i wanted as long as i dropped some off at the farm our arrangement worked well i was challenged by the local game keepers but they could do nothing farmer Jones asked me can you catch the rabbits, i did not want asking twice and i would be down on the farm with a friend ferreting the big berries on the farm the rabbits had made a come back after myxomatosis although he never mentioned any thing about dropping a rabbit for him at the farm, i would always take, a couple for him and they were gratefully accepted, well just up the road was keeper bells house and when he found out i was ferreting the rabbits all hell let loose he knew i poached and i had had few encounter with the said gentlemen he did no more to do but get sgt landers involved from our village who went to see Mr Jones with a view to stop me going on his land but it did not work and i was allowed to continue.
Photobucket I would shoot the pheasants out of the trees with my old air rifle
Photobucket my beloved woods in winter
Photobucket I was down the wood today with my mate tony this is his wonderful German ruff coated pointer

i had my own back and in November i would be away on my bike hiding it by the old railway bridge with my gun on my shoulder i would cross the fields and traverse the river and into cover of bells woods i had strapped an old bicycle lamp to my trusted air gun which had done me proud over the years i would shine the torch into the branches of the tree picking out a roosting pheasant pull the trigger and down he would come some times i would have two or three out of the same tree then move on to the next covert it was easy shooting and usually took home eight or nine birds they were very welcome at home and by our neighbors as times were very hard, i found i could also make a bob or two from my exploits, i was chased by the law, and the keepers, on a few occasions but managed to get away by hiding up a tree, or lying in the river, and going home soaking wet but it all added to the excitement i got out of the game you dont have to do that today as pheasants are two a penny and no money can be made out of them but that's been my life i loved every minute and loved the chase i would do it all again if permitted. well a bit more latter
Photobucket The woods are now showing signs of new life
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   Old Thread  #32 22 Mar 2011 at 6.06pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #31
It is like music to my ears the dawn chorus what could any one want better i loved to be in the woods at this time of year and just sit and listen to the bird call its absolutely wonderful and i have never tired of listening to it from the blackbird to the robin one subject i would like to discuss is the otter when i was young i would see them on the river onny in fact i loved seeing them in those days the rivers were not over run with them like today you would see a pair here and a pair there but there was no overcrowding a lot of the people today think the decline in the otter was due to hunting in fact the demise of the otter was caused by the use of pesticides and the hunting of the otter finished in 1970 but the otter is now back to the 1950, levels i think it is even more but what i will say otter hunting did keep the number of otters down.
Photobucket THE OTTER HOUNDS IN 1955 THEY KEPT THE OTTERS TO AN EXEPTABLE LEVEL

But now they are protected and have no predators really it is the same with the badger there are now far to many when i was a lad we would see the otter hounds regularly on the onny and its tributaries the river ran red it was not my favorite method of control but it was efficient and kept the otters down to an acceptable level the huntsmen would walk for miles up or down the river with water up to there knees the kill was quick i have seen them catch as many as three or four a day but that was what it was like in my days it was an accepted thing, but today with no control i do wander where we are going, some of the rivers have a big influx of these animals but i am afraid there are to many do gooders around and i cannot see the otter hounds coming back i would not like them all killed they are a lovely animal but the problem is they hunt for fun and drag fish on to the bank taking one bite then leave them to die a bit like old foxy he gets in a pen and kills the lot then only takes one or two at the most.
Photobucket The lovely badger but in places they are out of control
Some say fencing as a club you are responsible for your own fish but it is not really practical especially on big waters it would cost a fortune one thing that has crossed my mind why they don't sterilize some of the breeding bitches or some sort of birth control it would certainly help and stop the spread of youngsters to other waters but we certainly now have a high level of these animals and i would like to think it may happen perhaps in the future. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #31 20 Mar 2011 at 1.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #30
Come with me for a walk through the woods in spring the banks of the woods are ablaze with flowers the blue bell and the primrose, the trees, are now unfurling there new leaves as new growth abound in all corners of this tranquil place hi up in the trees the cark cark of the rook attending there nests high above there is far to many to count a few years ago you would have seen the old keepers shoot this big black bird, and there breasts would be used for rook pie that's something i have never tried but i well remember old SAM offering me a slice of pie many years ago i am afraid i really did not fancy it the geese are now on the one lake i wander if its the same pair as they have breed here for years the mallard is also down on the little lake she will build her nest up in some old willow tree i have seen them in the past use a old squirrels nest and reared there young high up in the canopy the ferns are coming to life with the tips of new life pointing through its a wonderful time of the year the daffodils that grow on the out skirts of the wood are now in bloom and young rabbits are seen scuttling out of the way they have as yet no sense and stray on the old road above the wood where they meet there end but that is nature some survive and others don't
Photobucket
the primroses at bomere
Photobucket
The old cock runs throught the blue bells and heads for cover

The coots nest can be seen in the old reeds
the moorhens nest perches in a tangle of undergrowth at the side of the rippling water as i approach away she goes startled making that all to familiar call kerr-UK it echos across the water warning others of approaching dangers as i look in the nest i can see at least five eggs when i was young i would of had my spoon attached to a long stick and away home i would go with three or four eggs we would eat them for breakfast the following day, on i go to the old snarled oak tree the tawny owl has had her nest in the hole in this tree for generations although i cannot clime any more, i look at the footholds that i cut in the tree many years ago so i ask a friend to clime up its only 10 ft from the ground as he looks within he sees the tawny she must be sitting on eggs so we leave her well alone, we look up the big old fir and can see the buzzards nest she soars above on the thermal making that unmistakable call me ee-u she has nested in this old tree for years and the nest gets larger every year she will not lay her eggs until April usually a clutch of two or three they both take it in turns to incubate the eggs as we walk on through the wood an old cock pheasant runs for cover through the blue bells and is gone from sight within seconds, out in a tangle of floating weeds we come across the great crested grebes nest she has reared her young on this lake as far back as i can remember as we walk for home we spot the vixen crossing the adjacent field she may have her cubs tucked up under the old hawthorn hedge in some disused rabbit hole i must have a look another day, we hear the call of the raven she has her nest deep in the woods or high up on the cliffs in the quarry we have had them here for years and years once again the peregrine nests up on the ledge in the quarry where she has reared her young for generations a majestic bird and fast on wing a lovely sight to see . well thats it for now more latter
Photobucket
I feed the young ducklings as i fish for the big roach
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   Old Thread  #30 19 Mar 2011 at 11.36am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #29
Photobucket This is the lake i poached when i was ten years old i ended up beating there with old SAM
Photobucket
The tree sparrows nest up in the honeysuckle tree
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   Old Thread  #29 19 Mar 2011 at 9.35am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #28
The sun is shining although a ground frost the spring is here the birds are courting and building there nest just out side my bathroom window i have a tree sparrows nest the first i can remember in my garden i would really like to take a few photos but i don't want to disturb her i have been watching her for the last three or four weeks i would really think she is now on eggs. The gold finches are here as well i have two pairs as yet i have not found there nests maybe in the fir trees they used to nest around the front of the house in the old scotch pines, but the trees became unstable and dangerous so i had them cut down by a friend the sunny weather really makes you feel better as it has been a long winter one bird that did survive the hard frosts and i am surprised is the humble pigeon in 1982 it absolutely devastated them i have a few in my garden some of the biggest and fattest pigeon i have ever seen but they are welcome one thing we missed this year was our pet squirrel he was so tame i could walk up to him while he fed on the nuts and take photos he has been coming here for the last three years they don't live that long so maybe he has died or one of the local moggies might have killed him i must put a photo up they are vermin but he did no harm here .
Photobucket MY TAME SQUIRREl
The plum tree has come out in bloom i hope the frost does not kill it off last year some of the branches broke off with the weight of the fruit the black birds and pigeons feed on the plums for weeks i have a couple of thrushes here and watched the other day as one tried to break a snail shell on my drive he must of picked it up under the hedge it will soon be time to dust off the rods i loved a bit of fly fishing at this time of year mainly fishing the reservoirs from a boat or punt i have done very well at this time of year i would fish deep the most i caught in one morning was 80, rainbows between two and three pounds god do they scrape i have had my share of big ones up to 18 pounds but found the smaller ones scraped better i may a latter stage cast a line on the Rea for the gray ling or trout but at the moment i have so much going on around me i have not got the time i am writing this at eight in the morning as i have a busy day in front of me.
Photobucket MY PLUM TREE IN BLOOM ITS UNDER HERE THAT THE FOX BRINGS HER CUBS
Just up the field from my house within walking distance is a small reservoir it became stocked with fish over a short spell maybe a couple of years ago i know the local farmer who owns it maybe he has stocked it. It is stocked mainly with common carp no big fish but as yet i have seen no one fishing there I suppose the biggest i have noticed was around 16 pounds i had an amble over as i thought the bad weather may have killed them but i need not of worried as they were showing on the top in the sun thinking it could also be a stock pool for the environment agency as they have one or two in this area on the way back i found a fox earth it is being used so i kept well away and never left my scent around the earth she may have cubs but i will keep an eye on it over the next few weeks and with a bit of luck take a few photos the earth has been there as long as i can remember but not always used but with the pad marks leading to it the vixen is in residence
It would be nice to get the carp rods out and give it a go i know of one nice water we can fish with no close season so graham and i will go and have a look maybe give it a go over the next few weeks
i was thinking the other day about the lake i fished and poached, we called to have a look as we were out for a drive it now belongs to Birmingham anglers as i have told you in an earlier chapter i would hide and watch the gentry shoot i was only about 10 years old any pheasant that were shot and came my way i would pick up and hide them until i went it has not altered that much and still looks the same i did not see the duck on there like when i was young but i am told by a friend that fishes the place they still have a shoot and it is still keepered it was a huge shoot when i was a young and the men and ladies would be all dressed in tweeds real posh. well a bit more latter
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   Old Thread  #28 18 Mar 2011 at 3.33pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #27
When i was young i would go up to Mr Davies farm on his land was a lake called the fish pool not many realized but it held some very good fish i was only around 6 years old and would go and watch a couple of old chaps fishing there the roach they caught looked very big , i still think back to those years the swan would always nest on the old island i saw one or two of the local youths try to reach her nest to sneak an egg or two but she and the cob would always chase them away but that was years ago 1948 it was sad really the farmer did some trenching and accidentally drained the pool it killed most of the fish I can remember the locals filling buckets with water and putting the fish they saved in the bucket and releasing them into the river Rea but it really was a disaster and a lot were lost the farmer always said it was an accident ,but i am not to sure but you could get away with most things in those days.

they were great days and i would go up to the farm when its was harvest time and ride on the back of the cart they sent for the sheaves of corn, it was a lovely time in my life i would watch the old men with there pikels stacking the sheaves on the old cart and i would ride back on top the farmers wife would bring big jugs of cider and plates of bread and cheese for the workers and if you were lucky you maybe offered some the cider looked green to me but did not seem to effect the workers or make them drunk i think it was all home made by the farmers wife, Mr Davies would send me and his sons to look for the hens nests now they really were free range and would lay anywhere in the barn even in nettles we would be kept busy for hours but we always returned with a few eggs our reward was a packet of crisps and if lucky a bottle of pop how things have changed as life always seemed to be so lay back in those days the farmer would let us go with him up the fields to shoot a rabbit or two he would shoot about four then hang them in the pantry back at the farm i think most people lived on rabbits in those days some times i was lucky and he would give me one for my mother which we always had on a Sunday for our dinner.

it was around this time when i would go down to Bomere farm a Mr lock owned it at the time the lake was a most beautiful place and untouched by human hand there were great flocks of geese and huge rafts of ducks the locals were to scared to go into the woods or around the lake as it was strictly private and heavely keepered i was lucky as the lake backed onto mr locks garden at the back of his house i would go down there with a land girl who lodged with us she loved horses especially the big shires i was allowed to ride on there backs the farmer had a daughter called rosemarie she would take me for rides on her horse the fields were alive with rabbits and you would see the old rabbit catcher with the rabbits he had caught he would hang them on the fence there would be loads well that's what i can remember, i watched him ride home with rabbits every where on his old bike hanging from the handle bars . mr lock told me stories about the big pike that inhabited Bomere huge things that would swallow a goose whole, he would frighten us younguns to death with his tales but they were all imaginary all mith handed down from generation to generation i think invented to keep people away from the place but as i got older the braver i got and poached the place on and off for many years fishing, and shooting, a few pheasents. well a little more latter

Photobucket BOMERE AS IT IS TODAY

Photobucket The old woods surrounding bomere
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   Old Thread  #27 17 Mar 2011 at 11.56am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #26
The river season has ended once again but there has been rich pickings if fishing in the right place one such angler is my friend Rodger who is bailiff for the Shropshire federation he is always willing to share information and help other anglers in my opinion the federation are very lucky to have such a man on the bank but he is also an incredible angler and catches fish where others fail no long sessions for Rodger just afternoon short two to three hour sessions but does he catch one thing he does that gives him the edge he takes water temperature and i must admit most of the time it pays off he has had some incredible catches since february he has landed 78 barbel with a scattering of chub with the odd bream thrown in now this is good angling considering the weather we have had he has caught numerous doubles i think the biggest 11- 15 oz a good fish by any ones standards they have mostly been caught on maggot feeder i wish i could have been down there with him and graham but i had other pressing things IE health but that's the way it goes maybe it will be my year next season i don't know if Rodger will read this but i must congratulate him on his excellent angling good on you Rodger
Photobucket My freind rodger whith a double figure barbel
Photobucket Another double
Photobucket Me with a big barbel i must copy some more from my albums

The weather is certainly picking up some of the lakes we fish are ssi so they have a close season some of the other have lost most of the fish due to the cold weather so graham and i are going to be hard pushed to find any lake to fish until June the 16th we have one or two options so we will have to wait and see most of my angling is done in the day gone are the long sessions, my health will not let me any more so i can only dream about how it was and graham is now in his seventies and does not fancy it any more lugging tackle around the lake to your appointed swim you are tired before you even start old age who wants it so this year it will be a mixture of lake and river fishing we go when we want and pack up when we want i suppose its a lazy way to fish but we did catch a few nice specimen last year with some very big chub and a few big barbel, when i think back to how it was all those years ago and how we would guest on waters strictly private well i called it poaching we were young and fit we could look after our selves we could run if called upon but that was a very rare occasion, it was a great way of life and we always got a shot of adrenaline when poaching on others property, why people can not forget i dont know i still have some of the real oldies saying things like you were a rum un i now say well its a good job i was as you had your share of pheasents from me the usualy walk away with a big smile on there faces i can quite honestly say its been a great life and if given the chance i would do it all again. i was looking at the thread about guesting as long as its not a club water why not, if i had not done that in my younger days we would not have been fishing as most of the big estates in shropshire, were private and everything revolved around shooting there was no chance you would be allowed to fish the lakes so the only option open to us was to poach. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #26 16 Mar 2011 at 1.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #24
When i was a young lad we would get a good many gentlemen of the road calling, i suppose then we called them tramps i can remember one individual if he was in the area he would always call at our house hello misses he would say can you fill my billy can up with tea i suppose over the years we got to know him quite well i think his name was Henry well that's what i can remember he would come and visit my grand father who was a shoe repairer he would ask him to repair his boots they would be nearly falling to pieces but grandad would patch them up and he would not be charged, they would talk for hours about the war years that would be the first world war if i remember right he had been some sort of war hero and had completely opted out of society to live this sort of life at times he would sleep in the old shed down the garden my grand mother would give me his billy can to take to him, he would sit out side the shed on an old log and smoke on his clay pipe he was quite well known around our way and i think people took pity on him, he would also chew the tobacco i think it was twist and it would run all down his chin i think i was a little bit scared of him but he always made a big fuss of me i suppose the year must have been around 1946 so i would only be about four years old.

One morning my grandfather told my gran they had found poor old Henry dead in the barn at the farm down the road they looked quite upset i suppose he had become a friend over the years no one knew his age to me he always looked old, they gave him a paupers funeral a lot of the village residents attended his funeral so he was not alone he had visited the village for years and the people paid their respects, its not like that today every one helped one another in those days it was around then i would go fishing with grandad he sowed the seed i would stand for hours with a cane with cobblers cotton for line and a bent pin for a hook i would watch my float a piece of cork with a match pushed through it, what i did not know it was devoid of fish but it was the beginning of an obsession that has stayed with me all my life i suppose i cut my teeth on my beloved river Rea but it was when mother married again that my fishing really took off as i have stated before my stepfather really encouraged me to fish shoot and bought me rods reels even an air gun i soon learned the ways of the country side the different animals and birds that inhabited the place the world was my oyster i would walk the woods and fields without a care in the world clime the trees to the crows nests i learned to pinch the rabbits out of the snares set by the keepers and then reset them it was about this time when i met old Sam that you already know about he was also a big influence on my future life i learned so much from him that has helped me through my life .
Photobucket MY BELOVED SHOOT AT BOMERE IN THE 1980
I loved any thing to do with the country side besides fishing shooting became part of my life we reared pheasants for our own shoot and at one time were putting down over two thousand birds it was a very tiring job as you would have to check and feed the birds before you went to work then again when you got home, but we shared it out between four of us which made it a lot easier they were exiting times i would fish and shoot my time away its a good job i had an understanding wife as i would not be around home that much but she always encouraged me i loved the country side and i would sit in the woods and just listen to the sounds that the animals and birds made most of the woods i knew well from my poaching days and still shoot in the same woods and fish the same lakes i poached as a young man but they have now changed some of the wild life has now gone mostly caused by changing habitats but i suppose its the price of progress i do wander some times if we are destroying our wild life as it is our hertige, and needs to be protected for future generations. well a bit more latter
Photobucket Yours truly having a pipe full after being down the woods

Photobucket My shoot
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #25 15 Mar 2011 at 10.15pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #24
i can well remember him giving me a pork sandwich that turned out to be hedgehog

yummy

Such a character.
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #24 15 Mar 2011 at 4.55pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #23
Photobucket This is my beloved river Rea looking up stream from the bridge it is the place where i hooked and landed a salmon i actually hooked and landed it the other side how that fish got up so far is a mystery as there were two big water falls for it to traverse. But in the years i fished it as a youth i caught two in all i think if i am right this one was weighted eight pounds i always remember staring in sheer awe at this beautiful block of silver which had certainly given me a fair fight i remember well putting it under my coat and heading for home full of sheer joy and excitement, i can remember my dad weighting the fish on an old pair of spring scales tied to a beam in the shed , mum steamed and stuffed the fish with herbs and such it was wonderful i know there is a photo of me and that fish but god knows where i will ask my sister as she is sorting through hundreds that we took from my parents house when they died it was a lovely river to fish and you really did not know what you may catch it was private but the farmers never really gave a young lad like me a second look i have caught some fair trout from the river i would probably be only about 15 years old so we are talking about fifty three years a go.
Photobucket The other side the bridge looking down stream throught a tangle of branches
Just up the field from the bridge the gypsies lived in thier caravans they had been there for years they were a local Shropshire family and were real Romany's i can remember them coming to our house with thier horse and cart and shouting to my mother a missis do you wont any lace or pegs they even sold carpets on the cart and if you bought something the old lady would give my mum a posy of lavender for good luck wether it worked i don't know but over the years i became great friends with this family most now live in houses a far cry from the open air but when i was fishing or poaching a few rabbits down the fields, i would always call to see if they were all right i have sat in their shed which was the kitchen on many a cold night with a big old fashioned stove burning away it was a great way of life and the old man would tell stories of long ago it was he that taught me to tickle the trout i can well remember him giving me a pork sandwich that turned out to be hedgehog it was absolutely nice to eat but i felt rather bad when he told me after what i had eaten, funny really his sons have turned out really good lads and are very keen anglers and the one is a very good carp angler, but when i first knew thier parents they were young babies, the old man has now passed on i will not say his name as i do not want to embarrass his family, but his wife is still alive and she only lives a few doors from me i once asked her would she go back on the road her answer was no it was a hard life and very hard to make a living its a shame those days have gone you could learn so much from these people they were like a book so full of information and lived as one with nature.. a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #23 15 Mar 2011 at 9.32am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #22
sorry no stories yesterday or today to many hospital appointments will resume a bit latter pete
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   Old Thread  #22 13 Mar 2011 at 3.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #19
It was 1960 when i got married and moved up to hill country as i have said before i lived with my in laws on the side of the hill at a place called gorsty bank it was quite a shock after living so close to town before and it was a very hard life there was not much to do in those days so you made your own fun i had already had a very keen interest in nature fishing and shooting you certainly had acres to have a go around where we lived, i soon found a little stream not far from our house and although it was not big it held some lovely brown trout they were not big usually around a pound but wonderful to eat they were true wild trout i would walk the stream and fish the pools or deeper water i would free line a worm and on light tackle they really did fight well but it was the food i was after for the family as times were still very hard. It took me sometime to be accepted by the locals as things were very different then, not like today very few townies lived in the country side in those days although i suppose i was not a Townie they really gave me some stick for the first few months i had one or two fights and gave as good as i got they were hard men, and had been brought up in the mining community and did not like strangers at one time it did start to get to me, but when i got accepted as one of them it was totally different they were some of the kindest people i have ever known but first you had to earn there respect.
Photobucket Our house was the white one hight up on the hill

Photobucket Hill country where we lived real ruff in winter
But that little stream certainly kept me sane i got my rods from home although work did come first we needed the money my father in law would snare a few rabbits and the occasional hare he also liked a bit of shooting but could not walk that far as he had silicone disease caused through his job as miner by the time i married my wife he had retired on a pittance of a pension and did other things to supplement it, he was the local man who they called to kill the pigs also the police would call him out to any unstable dynamite that was discovered at some of the old mine workings he sold holly at christmas and whimberries when in season anything thing to get them by i would walk the hedgerows with my father inlaw him one side me the other we would shoot the rabbits as the ran for cover it was lovely country i would walk the hills to try and get a shot at a grouse or two but it was some time before i was rewarded with one it was strictly private and owned by the lord of the manor a Mr jasper moor who was also a member of parliament but it did not stop me poaching his coverts and having a few pheasants away i mostly caught them with a fish hook and line with a big old sultana on the hook it did not make a noise like shooting does i soon got to know the lay of the land and as i have said before had a few of his ducks as well it was a necessity then all was eaten and it supplemented our diet. but the winters were absolutely terrible as we regularly had big falls of snow stopping us getting out of our house we would have to dig our way out i will put a photo up of our house in those days there were only three houses, it was a hard life you would carry the coal for the fires for quite some distance and keeping warm was your priority cutting logs and sticks i did this after a long days work i have walked through snow up to my waist just to fetch the coal and put in the coal house higher up by the house the coal men would drop a ton of coal down the hill and we would fetch it in bags on your shoulders really hard work but i was young and strong and the world was my oyster. more a bit latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #21 12 Mar 2011 at 9.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #20
Photobucketder="0" alt="Photobucket">
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   Old Thread  #20 12 Mar 2011 at 9.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #19
some of my paintingsi have done in the past

Photobucketder="0" alt="Photobucket">
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #19 12 Mar 2011 at 10.47am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #18
Well my friend graham went barbel fishing and if you remember i said i would not take a bet on them catching they did not graham said the wind was bitter not really a day to be out on the river but they both tried more than i have done but i suppose i can blame other things this wind does seem to linger on its quite cold this morning i have had a couple of rats under my shed i have put the necessary under neath and thought they had died but they are back so i have put a bit more i am sure they wont last very long before they expire i ,hate the things how some farmers put up with them i dont know the one farm i go to is absolutely over run with the little critters they even run around in the day light i have told a friend who shoots the things with his air rifle so i am waiting to here how many he has he usually goes in the dark and hides somewhere in one of the out houses or lies in the farm hay stack he has shot hundreds like this and really does a good job for the local farmers he has had as many as 250 in one night that's a lot of rats and has gone back the next night and shot as many again its a bit better than poison as you don't know what else will eat the poison, or will an owl feed on the carcass of the rat it can have a knock on effect and kill a lot of other wild life.
Photobucket The lovely barbel a summer caught fish
Another hobby i have done and enjoyed is painting usually scenery but i have not done much of late as it can be very time consuming and you start to neglect other things i had so many orders at one time i could not complete them all so i called time i did not charge and did most for nothing as long as they paid for their materials but it got out of hand two many wanted paintings doing i suppose i could have gone full time but i did not think i was that good but others did i think when any hobby becomes your job some of the enjoyment must go not all but so
Photobucket graham with one of many chub he has caught
I see some of the hedge rows are now in bud the daffodils are out in bloom so spring is definitely in the air but the scenery still looks dank and bear the old ash tree in my garden seems to be in a state of suspended animation although its covered in buds i am off down the woods latter to see how thing are progressing or if any one is fishing the lakes i want to have a look at an old earth to see if the vixen is in residence as she may have cubs by now she has used this earth for generations or her ancestors have, it would be quite sad if it is not in use well thats a bit more i am quite busy today so ill write a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #18 11 Mar 2011 at 3.17pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #17
What i love to do is to stand in the hills and look back at the rolling planes of Shropshire so much to see, looking back i can see the woods some i have poached i can see the wandering streams that in my younger days were so full of trout the streams i fished under the moon light night, i had no cares or worries in those days. The moon would strike the water throwing shadows like silver moon beams and i knew i was home a place of beauty and i was content i cared for all that went on around me, the vixen screaming or sending out a sharp warning to her cubs with a bark, the owl above gives a call or to watch the barn owl drift across the fields like a white ghost what more could one ask , to free line a worm under the sills of the falls and hear the keepers dog bark far away you knew you were safe tonight and the keeper had gone to bed so you could roam the river far and wide you had not a care within your head you would cast your rod and hold the line between your fingers as the worm trundled down you would feel the pluck as the trout as he took hold, and your rod would buck and arch you played this beauty to the side and held him in your hand what a marvelous sight to behold a block of spotted silver another for the bag,
Photobucket The beautiful hare
Photobucket The barn owl drifts like a ghost across the fields
You sat with you back against the old oak tree and listened to the noises of the night and watched the badger cross the field which looked like a silver lake, where is he going maybe to worm on some far off field so much to see you would drink you tea from the flask and be deep in thought it was all part of me you would jump with a start as a big old hare came through the fence next to where you sat he stopped and smelled the air i could of touched him on the head that's how close he was to me, he did not give me one look as he never knew i was there , across the fields he did go as i watched him in the moon light rays as he vanished from sight into the far off woods but i was there for trout to feed my family so once again i trundled down a worm and caught another trout it was the way i spent my younger life but it was a life i loved at one with nature and piece and quite, As Sam once said to me years before nowt, will hurt you in the woods or fields or streams, only another human and he was right and on some nights i have had to run or swim the river to get away or lie under the river bridge and listen to the keepers shout don't let him get away, but i had learned about this place many years before i knew it back to front so never once was i caught but what a merry dance did i give them all, up trees did i hide and heard them talk old Sgt landers was there as well. That old bugger knew it was me and would go and see my mother but he could not prove a thing and i always got away he knew i took the pheasants but i was always one in front he chased me night and day i have even hid up in the hay stack and have watched him far below talk to the keepers and old stan his side kick from the local police station on our village it was away of life, and a time of hard ship that we will never see again a life i loved and lived many years ago. well a bit more latter

Photobucket The badger
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #17 10 Mar 2011 at 11.59am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #13
I have been quite busy the last couple of days what with hospital appointments and such so i did not put a story on yesterday. My mate graham has gone barbel fishing today with his son in law i hope he catches one or two but i would not take a bet on it as i write this the wind is blowing very cold and in between it is raining not really the weather graham likes at his age he is now 75 years old and can not stand the cold like he did when he was younger i would of joined them but other pressing things to attend to.
Photobucket Barbel fishing
A few years ago would have seen both of us out in freezing weather trotting a float or ledgering on the river the frost made no difference then i have said before the line would freeze to the rod but we would be out all weathers when the hoar frost has been on the grass beside the river and the clear water that had not frozen, you would find us sitting on our old wicker baskets trotting a cork bodied float down the the stream or river between the patches of ice we had fantastic sport catching roach dace and chub we mainly fished with maggot or casters in those days but we also did well on home made bread paste mixed with danish blue we absolutely caught loads of big chub on the paste with a few roach thrown in but usually they were the bigger roach that we caught using paste, one method we always did well on was wasp grub you could only get them in season and could be a bit dangerous as we both found out a few times i remember one quite well we went to the nest and applied a good sprinkling of the white stuff ,we had always had no problems they were usually dead in the nest by morning so up we went in the morning spade in hand graham dug one sod out and bloody hell all was let loose they came out of that nest in a swarm did we run the spade was left where it was we were stung all over what the people at the nearby houses thought i don't know perhaps they thought we were completely mad jumping up and down kicking our legs out i forget how many times we had been stung but they had even stung us thought our trousers we had calamine lotion rubbed all over us i said to graham bugger the wasps but they were an excellent bait and if you could get the nest you used the grubs on the hook and the nest you would break up for ground bait we had some awesome catches of chub ledgering wasp grub.
Photobucket A nice photo of chub and roach
Photobucket Inside a wasps nest
we poached a number of small lakes in those days some estate lakes that had never seen a rod and line we were always on edge in case any one came and caught us but we had a lot of good sport fishing these no go areas, some of the lakes contained some very big tench and it was nothing for us both to have over a hundred pounds of fish we were meticulous on how we left the lake and would always clean up before we departed just in case the keeper or owner realized some one had been fishing his lake we never did get caught some of the locals could not believe we had fished some of the lakes and unless you showed them proof . i would say to graham take no notice most were jealous they had they same opportunity as us but were to frightened to have a go but most lakes then were strictly private. most were big shooting estates and they used the lakes for there duck shooting so fishing did not come ,into the equation they would not let any one onto the estates so you had no option but to poach. well a bit more latter

Photobucket A pair of mallard duck like the ones shot on the estates
Four-Candles
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   Old Thread  #16 9 Mar 2011 at 6.45pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #15
Plenty of life left in you yet Pete, get a good nights sleep and start planning your spring offensive with your rods mate
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #15 9 Mar 2011 at 5.56pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #14
hi pete seen the specialist to day had a vascular scan the bulge in the aorta is only 4.5 so i have got top go back every three months for another scan to see if it has grown he will not operate unless its five and over so perhaps ill get some sleep ,tonight the specialist told Me not to worry over it so i will try thanks for your kind words pete
Four-Candles
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   Old Thread  #14 8 Mar 2011 at 11.42pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #13
It looks as if the countryside waking up to spring has given you a lift Pete, hopefully the specialist will give you some good news on your next visit. Good to see the pictures on your posts now, keep it up mate but don't overdo things.
Take care
Pete
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #13 7 Mar 2011 at 12.59pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #12
The country side is now becoming alive the birds are now in full swing with there nesting i have a tree sparrow that has built her nest in the honeysuckle tree just out side the bathroom first i have had in my garden one thing i am very pleased about is the return of the green finches, we have not seen any all year apparently, loads have died with some disease, but i now have three or four pairs visiting my feeding station so it just goes to show a few do survive we had the long tailed tits again yesterday there must of been at least thirty of these beautiful little birds feeding on the nuts they have come up from the woods a few times this year they are funny little things small but most welcome in my jungle of a garden, the one corner is set aside with trees and bushes i leave it to go completely wild nettles briar's and such in fact the vixen lies in there when she brings her cubs from the fields a few years ago one vixen had her earth in the corner and reared her cubs there funny really i had two dogs at the time a terrier that would kill rats rabbits most things i also had a lab but the terrier who i called marky never even bothered them
they seemed to get on together very strange as marky if taken down the fields or woods would chase and have a go at most things fox included.
Photobucket The beautiful gold finch that breeds in my garden
Photobucket THE little long tailed tit that visits my garden
The nettles draw allsorts from butterflies bees even spiders, its always nice to be able to leave a few nettles in the garden as they certainly help our wild life, i have two big hawthorn hedges which certainly helps the birds, i have blackbirds nests the dunnock most will know him as the hedge sparrow, and of course the robin i have also got the thrush, and in the old fir i have the gold finch, and of course jenny wren, who builds her nest in the ivy growing on the old plum tree, so i have a plenty to see and watch of late i have not cast a line i hope one of these next days will see graham and i out fishing for the carp its not that i don't want to go but it has been so cold of late with a easterly wind at times and with my health it really puts me off and graham is no spring chicken he is now seventy five and of course not as fit as he was but we shall try our luck in the coming months and hope that we see a few grace the bank, the specialist rang this morning and told me i have a small aneurysm and he will arrange for me to go to his clinic to have a chat maybe next week i really hope so as it is rather frightening but he says i will be OK lets hope so.
Photobucket The wren that nests in my garden

Photobucket The green finch that has returned to my garden
on Wednesday i pick up another car a 4 4 once again but a sixteen hundred cc so should be a bit better on juice than the one i did have which was in four wheel drive all the time so i shall be able to get to places others cant and watch my beloved wild life or fish in extreme places where others have to walk they are a handy tool and one i really found i could not do without. the price of fuel is absolutely disgusting and i am surprised at the public not doing anything about it if it was france they would demonstrate but not good old blighty we seem to exept all that is thrown at us well that's enough of that, i am going to take a ride down to shrewsbury weir on the severn to see if any one is fishing as it is quite a nice day here with the sun shinning so there maybe a few out after the Barbel the wind or breeze is quite chilly but some of my hardy friends may be fishing there is now only a week before the close season and the river banks will be deserted once again. well that's it for now more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #12 6 Mar 2011 at 11.45am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #11
I suppose i am very lucky where i live because if i walk just up the road i am in the fields my little river the Rea is only about a mile from my front door when i fished there years ago i never took to much tackle with me rod reel a few hooks weights landing net and that was about it i always walked down when i was much younger there is some really good roach to be caught i would stand or sit down, and trot down the side of the river i have caught lovely roach with fish going a good pound which is good for such a small river, the roach are still there but it is now dominated by grayling because i can not walk the distance i have not had a go for them but a friend who goes quite regular has caught them to one pound eight oz, he fishes very like i did and has caught some good bags it has also been stocked with brown trout by a club from upstream as my friend said you cant help but catch them do you put them back Andy he smiled of course i do pete. There are still some decent chub to be caught and i know of friends catching them to four pounds plus. I have one friend that fly fishes the Rea he only uses a seven ft rod and a weight forward, size 4 floating line but he has some good sport he uses a selection of wet flies and nymphs and he does very well the grayling he catches are wonderful fish the lady of the river, as he said to me its one way of getting away from the pressures of life i know exactly what he means as it is a different world beside that little river, its you the fish and the wild life it teams with all manner of wild life the kingfisher the dipper although you dont see him as much as when i was young, in the summer you have the sand martins the dragon flies all manner of birds what else could one ask well for me nothing, i only wish i could get down there and cast a fly for those fish and maybe breath the fresh air and the smell of the new grown vegetation. But alas i think those days have gone i must now leave it to the younger ones.
Photobucket The lady of the river the grayling
Photobucket The beautiful brownie
Photobucket The seven ft fly rod what my freind uses on the river Rea
A friend came to my home to see me yesterday i have mentioned his name many times in my stories Bern he has Been a good friend of graham and myself for many years and has fished with me all over Shropshire and into wales he has been a true friend but like me Bern has suffered over the last few years and has spent a fair bit of time in hospital he suffered an abscess on the spine and was in hospital for around eighteen months but he is now back at work although he is in his sixties. Bern loved his fishing and he was in the Acton burnell syndicate for many years before it was taken over by rob hails he caught some wonderful fish with many going well over thirty i met him for the first time when graham and i first fished Betton he always fished with his father albury and his brother charlie graham and i had a bit of a reputation in those days for catching big fish and had a fair bit of publication for catching the big bream Bern and his family were fascinated with the way we fished and the big bags we caught and from that day forward we have been great friends i have fished with bernall over and we have had some great times he is also a member of my shoot syndicate and is a good shot. well a bit more latter

Photobucket The lovely roach like i caught ot of the river Rea all those years ago
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #11 5 Mar 2011 at 10.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #6
Thanks chaps i have got to live one day at a time my docs told me not to worry so for the time being i will take her advice. where was i oh yes charlie he learned me more about foxes than any one i have met if he put you to stand with the gun you knew you would shoot a fox he was a master and knew exactly where the fox would break cover his last words when he left you was dunna you miss him i never had the pleasure of missing so i never got a cussing but i saw others get the hair dry treatment they would be put in the walking line for a few weeks charlie would rather you did not take a shot and leave the fox to another gun if you were unsure of a kill.

I can see him now walking across the field in his brown check shirt and brown corduroys and before he has got near shouting have you had him pete. yes charlie well done, sir will be pleased. charlie was one of the old school all his superiors he would call sir and tip his hat especially his boss lord Forrester but he could also talk to him on his own level. when he was keeper we would be invited on the big hare drives on the willy and shirley estate it was not uncommon to shoot at least 100 hares those were the days different farming methods then, charlie would put all the guns out or leave it to me then walk all the way back to the beaters that could be over a mile away you would see the hares coming in the distance like little dots at times there could be as many as sixty running forward at the same time you hid behind the hedge and shot them out in front it was a necessity in those days as they could really do a bit of damage for the farmer or estate owner at the end of the day you were offered a hare to take home i never bothered as i did not like the taste much they had a very strong smell and taste. All that was left was taken to market to sell the revenue made went back into the estate they would have two or three hare drives a year some times you were asked to be a walking gun one thing i soon learned was not to shoot one if walking as you would be expected to carry the animal until the end of the drive have you ever felt the weight of a hare they are big and heavy by the time you got to the end you would be knackered.
Photobucket The lovely brown hare
But they were great days you met so many different farmers and men some have remained friends ever since they were from all walks of life but mostly country folk who understood the country side alas a good many have passed on and all we have is our memories but they are good memories of a time long ago where the country side was a very different place. In those days there was no shortage of wild life today a lot has vanished not as many hares well in shropshire there is not but they are making a come back i banned all shooting of them on our small syndicate i think farming methods was a major factor in there decline agriculture sprays and such our country side is so fragile and it needs looking after for future generations. a bit more latter
nwpiker41
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   Old Thread  #10 5 Mar 2011 at 3.30am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #6
Best wishes Peter, and take it easy!.
Alexpotter121
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   Old Thread  #9 5 Mar 2011 at 1.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #6
Enjoy reading these Pete. Get well soon, thoughts are with you
tinofmaggots
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   Old Thread  #8 4 Mar 2011 at 10.31pm  0  Login    Register
All the best to you Peter.
Great-Blondini
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   Old Thread  #7 4 Mar 2011 at 8.56pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #6
Hope all goes well pete when you see the specialist.

Just thinking of a salmon down the trousers made me smile again,---when i read it the first time i thought of a bloke who used to work with me years ago and his "guesting" sessions for pheasants

M
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #6 4 Mar 2011 at 12.09pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #5
I will carry on with my stories but i have had bad news this morning about my health the specialist rang me from the hospital after i had a scan on my back for arthritis i am in a bit of a shocked state the specialist has told me all the pain i am getting in my back and legs is caused by the aorta artery i have now got to see a heart specialist he stated it could kill me if something is not done about it bloody hell its frightened me a bit but i will keep writing the stories while i can.

I Bert crypton he was another that lived for the country side he lived for his foxes and badgers although he was asked by many farmers to sort the foxes out he also loved them he and charlie were very much the same both loving the countryside i don't think Bert fished , but he knew so much about nature i was not as close to Bert as i was charlie but they were both naturalists in there own rights. It was really funny although charlie owned a gun i never once in all the years i knew him see him use it, when asked why dont you shoot charlie all he would say no i would rather you and the lads do the shooting funny i always said to graham he was frightened of missing and what we would say, but it did not matter he would walk miles with his ferrets and spade and it was not unusual for him to catch forty or fifty a day he would go to the farm he was ferreting and leave the rabbits there untill they could be collected latter he certainly made a few bob from his ferreting and i think when he retired from his job he spent most of his time ferreting and studying foxes but i think his walking sticks made him most every stick would be painted and varnished they were wonderfully made and the animals were real life like i remeber sitting in a wood with charlie when he told me he may have to pack up doing what he did i have severe blood presure pete, i could not believe that a man like him should have that he was fit and walked miles, he did not smoke, or drink that much it was not long after i had a phone call to say his wife had found him dead sitting in his arm chair beside the fire i think thats how charlie would of wanted to go the man was a legend in shropshire and he in riched the lives of every one that knew him. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #5 3 Mar 2011 at 10.35am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #4
I miss old charlie ,he could out walk most half his age i can well remember shooting the foxes on the longmynd in south Shropshire he was like a mountain goat and not many could keep up with his pace i suppose he was in his sixties then he would just look and shout whats a matter with you lot, your only young, i have seen grown men collapsed in the heather and could not get there breath, i my self have been giddy you just could not keep up with the man but every one loved the old boy, i have sat with him up in hill country having a break we were up there fereting he would tell you tales from long ago about his grandfather who years before was game keeper at bomere and how the gangs of poachers would come to poach the pheasants he was like a book so full of information.

I have sat with charlie many times in Brazingtons farm house at shinton eating big bowls of broth with big pieces of home made bread the farmer was a great friend of charlies Harold was a very nice chap and we would call to see him on regular basis we always had a couple of fox shoots a year on Harold's farm, he was always keen that we went at the time he had quite a big shoot on his land and wanted to protect the birds, we also did a bit of fishing on harold's lake, it was rammed full of tench charlie would be in his element catching one after the other none very big the best around three pounds, but it was good sport and it was free and at the time no one else fished the lake next to the lake stood a house i think it was the keepers cottage but had not been used for years it was a beautiful place and when you were there you always felt content and peaceful. I was standing on this ride one day waiting for the beaters i could hear them in the distance when i big male deer broke cover he had a full head of anklers he was a fine specimen, well he stopped short saw me put his head down and poured the ground with his front feet i thought Christ he is going to charge i had no where to go, or tree to clime, and behind me was a small plantation of fir trees, well he started to come forward so i shot over his head thank god he turned and went the other way when the beaters arrived i was shaking a bit whats up pete charlie said did you kill a fox no i did not charlie i was charged by a big male deer, Harold had pulled up in his land rover and had been listening to what i had to say he got out laughing why did you not shoot him pete i said are you serous Harold i would have done its my ground and my deer. I dont think i could do that only if i was in real danger charlie was laughing was he a bigun pete bloody huge charlie when i shot he was only about 10 yards from me and had his head down i never lived it down every time we went to harlods charlie would say pete do you remember that deer that nearly charged you i think it was a bit of a standing joke between harold and charlie but they were both good freinds who will remain in my memory for ever. well a bit more latter

Photobucket Like the one that charged me
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #4 2 Mar 2011 at 3.00pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #3
I will tell you all a bit more about old charlie now he liked a bit of fishing and one day asked if i would pick him up and take him fishing to some lake he fished no probes charlie, the next Saturday saw us on our way to the lake on arrival was a bit surprised to say the least lets say the lake was no more than a puddle, but he proceeded to get his rod out of the bag i was absolutely shocked the rod must have been made before the second world war it was an old bamboo job about 12ft in length the reel was an old wooden thing very similar to what i used when i first started fishing, the line had seen better days he used an old peacock quill float a big old hook with a few bb shot, on went a big lump of paste, the line was coiled on the ground behind his wicker basket he then proceeded to give it the big chuck i don't think charlie minded where it landed as long as his bait was in the water i thought jesus his bait will come off but he tightened up and sat down on his basket are you going to fish pete no charlie i am going to watch you Christ his tackle came out of the ark well the float dipped and charlie struck it was so hard i thought he would fall off his basket but he did not and played this fish to the bank on seeing the fish i got my scales out it was four pounds exactly not bad for a farm yard pool, charlie repeated his actions and caught again his landing net looked just like a tennis racket this was my dads net and the rod i have caught some good fish with it over the years i could hardly contain myself from laughing but he still caught by the time we went he had caught about twenty tench do you fish the river pete yes charlie can we go there next time.
Photobucket Charlies tench
The following Saturday saw us loaded up i took him to fish the severn at atcham i was expecting him to bring another rod but out came the same old rod and reel i was amazed, he caught some big old chub and before the end of the day had a reasonable bag how he caught on that tackle i really don't know, we arrived at the same place a few days latter when i heard him shout bring the net pete i found charlie standing up to his waist in water attached to some angry fish he was cussing to himself i have got a gooden on here pete and so he had he had hooked a salmon on worm well we landed that fish it weighted 13 pounds exactly, no more to do he knocked it on the head Jesus i thought now his poaching . come on pete lets go home ,he shouts charlie we have only just arrived come on he shouts i want to get this fish home, no more to do he stuffed it down his trousers well i fell about laughing the way he went down that field towards the car stiff legged by the time i got him home my van stank and so did charlie even his missis had a laught telling him to go and wash and clean himself up a week latter he handed me a few notes whats this charlie your share of the fish pete i sold it to the hotel this was the way he was. now every time i tell this tale i have to smile but its all true and it happened in the seventies. ill tell you more latter
Photobucket The salmon like charlie caught all those years ago
petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #3 1 Mar 2011 at 9.48am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
Before the last thread was locked i really wanted to put photo up of my friend Rodger who is a bailiff for the Shropshire federation he has been having quite a lot of success catching the barbel this winter his latest catch consisted of ten fish with two big doubles both over ten pounds so i will put a photo up with his latest double when i have finished this story.
Photobucket Rodger with his latest double figure barbell

Over the years i have been impressed by many of my friends the two i was most impressed with was a chap called charlie Patterson and another called Bert crypton there really should be a book written about the pair although i think one was written about Bert, these two gentlemen knew more about nature than any one i have ever met charlie passed on a few years ago and now lies in the much wen-lock cemetery but what a man even up to when he died he would walk miles with his ferrets in the box on his shoulder, it was quite normal to see charlie walk as many as twenty miles a day even more he never had a car or learned to drive so it was all done by walking.

I suppose i met charlie middle 1960 i was invited along to a fox shoot on wenlock edge when i first met him a was surprised how fit he looked he was a bit dubius of any one he did not know so for a few weeks i was put in the walking line or the beaters as most will know it by, you could carry your gun and shoot forward if a fox got up i had a couple like this and the one day he said come with me he put me on this ride deep in the woods dunna you miss him he said in his broad Shropshire language, he wanna be long keep your eyes open and he left me standing there miles from any one else i could hear the beaters coming shouting and banging there sticks but they were a fairly long way from me, but charlie was right and before i knew it two foxes appeared right in front of where i stood i must admit i trembled i don't know if it was fright as you had it in your mind if you missed you would get a really cussing charlie did not like to walk and have nothing to show for his trouble, but i need not too worried i had the two with a right and left not only that but i had another one making three i stood still shacking when the beaters arrived have y had em charlie shouts yes charlie well done lad and goes and picks them up in those days he always skinned them out and sold the pelts and all money went into a pot for the end of year dinner we were known far and wide by the farmers as the Patterson hunt and it did not go down to well with the local huntsmen.

Charlie knew where those foxes would break cover he knew so much about nature his other hobby was carving walking sticks he made some beautiful sticks and would carve badgers foxes bird anything really on the top of the sticks he had been a game keeper but his main job when i met him was head forester for lord and lady forester on the wily and shirley estate where ever you went charlie was known i remember taking him to a game fair in somerset well i could not believe the amount of gentlemen who came and shook his hand he was known far and wide i feel i could not write any more without mentioning this great man, i have stood in the woods with him and he has said do you hear that pete what that i could hear nothing i am sure he could hear a gnat fart he was a marvelous man who became a good friend over the years i will put a bit more about charlie in a latter story and some about old bert. a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #2 28 Feb 2011 at 7.10pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #1000
I will keep it going bob thanks
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