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Tag Archives: angling

The last angling auction house in London

07 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by The tuesday swim in General, Tackle

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

angling, auctions, chiswick, fishing, london, tackle, vintage

On Saturday 2nd April 2016 the Angling Auctions in Chiswick finally drew to a close when the hammer fell and lot 630 – “An unusual American Bamboo trout fishers creel” was sold. Slow applause permeated throughout the hall in appreciation for Neil Freeman who has put the hammer down on 32,000 lots over the last twenty five years offering vintage fishing tackle, taxidermy, books and angling art to a worldwide audience of collectors and angling enthusiasts.

My involvement began in 2011 (I’m considered a relative new boy) when John Andrews of Arcadia asked if I could help out on the rods. Arriving in Chiswick I was soon put to task in the construction of the rod rack, an antique in its own right, but a protector of fine fishing rods. Neil told me that he built the rack in 1991 with a drunk Irishman, a story I must confess I believe looking at the quality of its construction, but in  defence of the Anglo-Irish workmanship it still survives with it’s biannual kicks and trips that it has to endure from eager anglers grasping at the wonders it beholds.  Five years on I am still putting up the same rod rack, stuffed with even more matches and bound with ever more gaffer tape.

Over the years staff have come and gone but generally there is a core that stay loyal,  Neil’s brother has been involved from the start and more recently Neil’s son Sam has worked as a porter. Fresh sandwiches and cakes are made and the all important tea urn is switched on as soon as we arrive on the Friday morning, the tea urn is first off and last on the van, a tradition that has lasted since the beginning. Last Saturday the tea urn was loaded onto the van for the last time in Chiswick and a new beginning for the Angling Auctions has begun down in Romsey, Hampshire. Hopefully I will see you there?

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Wibberly wobbly world.

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by The tuesday swim in Photography and video

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

alex, anglers, angling, carl, fishing, go, photography, pro, video

Great documentaries are produced by great story tellers, visionaries with a clear message and understanding of the subject. Angling is generally documented through the prize shot, the end result, the final climax, man or woman holding fish, sometimes thrusting the fishes head into the camera for extra dramatic effect, it’s a macho world of size and weight recorded for everyone to give the big thumbs up or ‘like.’ The photographing of anglers and angling in a different light is sorely unrepresentative when it comes to the main angling press and media with very few exceptions. I agree that on occasions a good trophy shot is interesting to view especially in the case of an exceptional capture but there is more to it than that. With technology in both stills and video improving and affordable, there are many inspiring images coming from anglers many of which come from using their smart phone, its portable and always in your pocket.  A more recent addition to the anglers kit is the Go Pro style of clip on video camera, they are brilliant but placed in the wrong hands (or head) have now left us with a deluge of wibberly wobbly footage of man struggling to land fish with the winds blasting out any comprehension of what they may be trying to say. In the right hands this technology can be exciting and enhance a sense of freedom that film makers have never before experienced. Two lads that I have followed for a while are Carl And Alex, who started off filming their fishing exploits while still quite young and now have a huge following, including coverage in the main press, but their passion and enthusiasm for fishing is key and a real joy too watch. Even as two youngster they show a real maturity and can put together films with a strong narrative,  that engages the viewer throughout.

Capturing the quieter moments in angling, the long periods spent in contemplation, appreciation, and solace is something that as a photographer I want to explore further. Last year I spent four days with Michael a ghillie and custodian of a beat on the River Blackwater, a thoughtful man who loves his river, who spoke with a real passion and knowledge for the salmon that run its course. Yes salmon were caught, trophy shots administered, whiskies sunk but one afternoon I took these shots  that  highlighted the trip for me. We were all standing on the Lower beat at Killvullen, a wide shallow open stretch of water, the fishing was slow so I took out my camera with a long lens and caught Michael away from us anglers just for a few minutes,  spending time lost in his own thoughts.

Michael_2 Michael_1

I consider Carl, Alex and myself all artists who want to share our experiences, we are different, but we both have a place, I hope that more anglers will realise and explore the possibilities beyond  the hysterical world of high fives, numbers and wibberly wobbly footage. As someone famous once said and I cannot remember who, music is nothing without the silent spaces between.

Fallon’s Angler – Through the lens

18 Friday Dec 2015

Posted by The tuesday swim in Fallon's Angler quarterly, General, Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

angler, angling, blackwater, cooper, fallon's, fallowfield, fishing, hut, ireland, nick, photography

Through the Lens has been a regular feature of words and images for Fallon’s Angler since issue 3 that I have had the privilege of producing. Below we have part of the piece I shot last summer for issue 4 in Ireland on the Blackwater. I have just returned from shooting Through the Lens for issue 5 which has been a real pleasure and what I feel to be of significant importance to the heritage of angling and one for the traditionalists. Issue 5 will be out in the middle of Jan but in the meantime here is my last entry from issue 4.

‘An offer from Garrett Fallon found myself flying over to Cork for a few days salmon fishing plus the opportunity to meet and photograph some locals that have deep connections with the Fallon family.  There are many stories here in Ireland about Garrett’s family and the fishing on the Blackwater that lend me to understand why Fallon’s Angler  was created and  now sits in your hand. It is an interesting story and a story that I will leave Garrett to tell in his own time.The stretch of Blackwater has some varied features, the upper end of the beat has high cliffs with some deep runs, while the bottom end is wide and shallow, but the middle section is dominated by an island which can only be accessed by wading or a footbridge which requires a key. Once on the island a short walk leads you to the fishing hut built high on stilts, it clearly shows significant signs of a battering from the Irish weather and the river when in spate, but today it is mild, dry and the wind is light. Entering through the door the atmosphere is still, quiet, the echo’s of the past lie heavy…’
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The curator of tackle boxes

19 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by The tuesday swim in Tackle

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

angling, tackle, vintage

The tackle box to many is a container to hold smaller items of fishing tackle; floats, hooks, weights and so on. But you can tell a lot about an angler by lifting the lid and viewing the contents. The boxes I like have character, a soul, this appeals to me greatly  as an insight into the owner and a period of time in the angling past. Over the years I have acquired tackle boxes that I keep as an archive, a curator that considers each box as a piece of art and historical interest, but most importantly a box that has a personality. Sometimes I will edit a box to create a pleasing aesthetic but all the time I am conserving the integrity of each collection. Tackle is not the only thing found, old permits with scribbles on the reverse of notable captures, newspaper cuttings from the angling press, badges, coins and in one example a lucky charm belonging to a superstitious angler. I must also mention the smell of old tackle boxes, a smell that is hard to define but lingers like that of an old british bike or a waxed jacket, a scent of wood, oils, and old cotton.

I have a acquired these boxes from elderly anglers who have taken their last cast, anglers who can no longer tie a hook and rely purely on their memories, but most of all the boxes I have procured come from anglers I never knew, only through detective work I can paint an image of who they were, when they fished and the style of fishing that they pursued, I can step into their shoes, I have become the curator of tackle boxes!

 

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A new website – www.nickfc.com

09 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by The tuesday swim in Photography and video

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

angler, angling, cooper, fallon's, fallowfield, nick, photographer, photography, www.nickfc.com

After much consideration my new website  has launched, including environmental portraiture, landscape, still life, documentary photography and some written words…nick fallowfield-cooper photography

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Fear of water.

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by The tuesday swim in General

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

angling, epilepsy, epileptic, fishing, fit, risk, safety, water

This last July something happened to me that although was not  significantly life altering has made a change to my angling for the next year, but I will come back to that a little later.

First I must tell you about a discovery on a stretch of river where a group of carp (about twenty or more) live below a weir exploiting the rich oxygen. In this fast moving area of water lie a concrete platform of around 20×20 feet where I have managed to create a dinner table for these resident carp, the size of which are heart stopping, the smaller fish are probably high teens while some easily reach into their twenties possible more. The access to this place can only be achieved when the water level drops below the overflow, this is when you can climb down a high wall and jump onto the base of the overflow structure, this is the style of carp fishing I like, solving problems and accessing carp that only the adventurous will attempt. When the water level is low the oxygen is also low and this drives the carp high up against the weir where they spend the days searching for food and breathing the oxygen rich water, this is a place that I am planning to cast a line.

White_water

During the closed season I had been observing these carp, many of which were clearly very big commons, possibly weighing thrirty pounds or more. Throughout the last few months I have been building their confidence, to be honest they were pretty keen from the start, getting their heads down on sweetcorn, maggots or bread. In preparation for the season I had a small Hardy trout bag packed and ready to go on any opportune moment with a bait box, bits of tackle, a tin of sweetcorn, and a folding net suitable for my new found task of bouldering down this wall and jumping onto the concrete overflow with my trusty old carp rod and reel in hand. Soon the sixteenth came and went, but I was just too busy to get down there.

Then in early July a pleasant distraction came in the form of an invite to fish the Blackwater in Co Cork for salmon. Salmon are the polar opposite from carp, they hit a bait in anger, and if hooked run off with haste in their ever transient cycle of life. If the salmon is reactionary then the carp is the cautious cousin, a ponderer, a creature to sum up all the possibilities before they act, exploring the same familiar territory for food, then once found carefully nose the bait sometimes leaving it for days before returning and finally taking the plunge and taking the bait.

Blackwater

Since the beginning of my angling life back in 1980, water has been a place of mystery, wonder, a place where I felt comfortable either with or without a rod. I could not pass any water without sparing a few minutes and consider its possibilities, whether it was a tiny brook or the sea. Now, and for the next few months I have to consider water to be a place of potential danger and take caution as I suffered an epileptic seizure. Thankfully this happened while in the relative safety of a hotel room in Co Cork and with a friend who managed to look over me, this was not a pleasant experience and I came out of it battered, bruised and with a shoulder that even a month on is in dire need of surgery. It could have been worse but I will have to be patient, my angling is now restricted to doing it with friends and using public transport as my driving license has been suspended, the carp of the weir will have to wait until next season.

London angling clubs, a directory by Charles Dickens (Jr)

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by The tuesday swim in General fishing

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

angling, club, fishing, london, piscatorial, society, victorian

In 1881 Charles Dickens (Jr) put together a club listing for his book Dictionary of the Thames, in all there were over 110 clubs but I believe there were quite few more, for example the Brunswick Brothers of Limehouse. A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting one it its members, Barry  who showed his skills fishing for bream and roach under the shadow of Canary Wharf. Sadly now I believe most of these clubs have disbanded although the Brunswick Brother still angle.  Many doors have now closed and the piscators no longer seek refuge to swap stories and dodge the foul weather. The names deem to indicate their approach and attitude from the romantics of Foley street, the  ‘Golden Barbel’ to the more light hearted  ‘Good Intent’ brothers of the Crown in Bethnal Green Road. On Friday I shall be in the Captain Kidd in Wapping, not listed below but with the Thames lapping below the windows it will be the perfect opportunity to raise a glass to lost London Clubs and the echoes of the London anglers banter.

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ACORN, “Royal Oak,” Spencer-street, Goswell-road.

ALBERT, “The Crown Coffee House,” Crown-street, Old-street.

ALBAN’S, ST., “Royal George,” Great New-street, Kennington Park-road, SE.

ALLIANCE, “Old Red Lion,” Great Warner-street, Clerkenwvell.

ALEXANDRA, “Duke of Wellington,” 3, Colt-lane, Bethnal-green.

AMICABLE BROTHERS, “Bald- Faced Stag,” Worship-sq., Finsbury.

AMICABLE WALTONIANS, “George the Fourth,” Goswell-road.

ANGLER’S PRIDE, “Red Lion,” Dockhead.

ATLAS, 73, Newman-street, Oxford-street

BARNSBURY, “The Albion,” Caledonian-road, near King’s Cross.

BATTERSEA PISCATORIAL, Queen’s Hotel, Queen’s-road, Battersea.

BERESFORD, “Grove House Tavern,” Camberwell-grove.

BERMONDSEY BROTHERS, “General Garibaldi,” Southwark Park-road

BLACKFRIARS, “Ordnance Arms,” York-road, SE.

BLOOMSBURY BROTHERS, “Rose and Crown,” Broad-st., Bloomsbury

BOSTONIAN, “Dalby Tavern” Dalby-street, Prince of Wales-road Kentish Town.

BROTHERS WELL MET, “Berkeley Castle,” Rahere-st., Goswell-road

CAMBRIDGE FRIENDLY, “Rent Day,” Cambridge-street, Hyde Park-square.

CADOGAN, “Prince of Wales,” Exeter-street, Sloane-street, S.W.

CARLISLE, “Clarendon Club,” 80, High-street, Islington.

CANONBURY, “Crown and Anchor,” Cross-street, Islington.

CARNALY CASTLE, “The Carnaly Castle,” Carnaly-street, St. James’s.

CAVENDISH, “British Lion,” Cavendish-street, New North-road, Hoxton.

CITY OF LONDON, “Cogers’ Hall,” Bride-lane, E.C.

CLAPHAM JUNCTION, “Lord Ranelagh,” Verona-street.

CLERKENWELL AMATEURS, – “George and Dragon,” 240, St. John-street-road, Clerkenwell.

CLERKENWELL PISCATORIAL, “White Hart,” Aylesbury-street, Clerkenwell.

CONVIVIAL, “King’s Head,” Mitchell-street, St. Luke’s.

DALSTON, “Hope,” Holly-street, Dalston-lane.

DE BEAUVOIR, “Lord Raglan,” Southgate-road, N.

EAST LONDON, “Duke of Norfolk,” Norfolk-street, Globe-road.

EDMONTON AND TOTTENHAM, “Three Horse Shoes,” Silver-street, Edmonton.

EUSTONIAN, “The Wheatsheaf,” Kenton-street, Brunswick-square.

EXCELSIOR, “Two Eagles,” South-street, Lambeth

FRIENDLY ANGLERS, “Albion Tavern,” Albion-street, Hyde-park

FRIENDLY ANGLERS, “Jacob’s Well,” New Inn Yard, Shoreditch.

FREE AND EASY, “Jane Shore,” High-street, Shoreditch.

GLOBE, “Globe Tavern,” Blackstock-road, Highbury

GOLDEN BARBEL, “York Minster,” Foley-street, Portland road

GOLDEN TENCH, “Somers Arms,” Boston-road, King’s Cross.

GOOD INTENT, “Crown Inn,” Bethnal-green-road.

GREAT NORTHERN BROTHERS, “Robin Hood,” Southampton-street, Pentonville.

HAMMERSMITH UNITED, “Builders’ Arms,” Bridge-road.

HAVELOCK BROTHERS, “General Havelock,” West-street Triangle, Hackney.

HEARTS OF OAK, “Black Bull,” Thomas-st., Brick-lane, Spitalfields.

HIGHBURY, “George Hotel,” Foothill-road, Finsbury-park.

HOXTON BROTHERS, “Jane Shore,” High-street, Shoreditch.

IZAAK WALTON. “Old King John’s Head,” Mansfield-st., Kingsland-road.

JUNCTION BROTHERS, “Shakespeare’s Head,” Barnsley-street, Bethnal-green-road.

JUNIOR PISCATORIALS, “The Cock,” Clapham Common.

JOLLY PISCATORIALS, “Sugar Loaf,” Great Queen-street, W.C.

KENNINGTONIAN, “The Clayton Arms,” Kennington Oval

KENTISH BROTHERS, “George and Dragon,” Blackheath-hill.

KENTON, “Kenton Arms,” Kenton-road, South Hackney.

KING’S CROSS UNITED, “Albion,” Caledonian-road, N.

KENTISH PERSEVERANCE, “Corner Pin,” Cold Bath, Greenwich.

KNIGHTS OF KNIGHTSBRIDGE, “Grove Tavern,” Grove-place, Brompton-road. S.W.

LARKHALL, “The Larkhall,” Larkhall-lane, Clapham.

LIMEHOUSE BROTHERS, “Dunlop Lodge,”  70, Samuel-st., Limehouse.

LITTLE INDEPENDENT, “Russell Arms,” Bedford-street, Euston-sq.

MARYLEBONE, “Bank of England,” Cambridge-place, South Wharf-road.

METROPOLITAN, “Rose Inn,” Old Bailey.

NEVER FRETS, “Cronnard Shuttle,” High-Street, Shoreditch.

NAUTILUS, “British Lion,” Central-street, St. Luke’s.

NORFOLK, “Norfolk Arms,” Burwood-place, Edgware-road.

NORTH~EASTERN, “Shepherd and Flock,” Little Bell-alley, Moorgate-street.

NORTH LONDON, “Prince Albert,” Hollingsworth-street. Holloway.

NORTH-WESTERN, “Lord Southampton,” Southampton-road, Haverstock-hill.

NORTON FOLGATE, “Rose and Crown,” Fort-street, Spitalfields.

NEW GLOBE, “The New Globe,” Mile-end-road, E.

OLD BOWER, “Duke’s Arms,” Stangate-street, Westminster-bridge-road.

ODDS-AND-EVENS, “Monmouth Arms,” Singleton-st, Hoxton.

PENGE, “Lord Palmerston,” Maple-road, Penge.

PECKHAM BROTHERS, “Prince Albert,” East Surrey-grove, Peckham.

PHOENIX, “Tavistock Arms,” Werrington-street, Oakley-square.

PISCATORIAL, “Ashley’s Hotel,” Henrietta-street, Covent Garden.

PRINCE OF WALES, “Royal Standard,” Seymour-place, Edgware-road.

PERSEVERANCE, “The Perseverance,”  Pritchard’s-row, Hackney-road.

PUTNEY AND WANDSWORTH UNITED, “Coopers’ Arms,” High-street, Putney.

REFORM, “Jolly Coopers,” Clerkenwell-close.

RICHMOND PISCATORIAL, “Station Hotel,” Richmond, Surrey.

ROYAL GEORGE, “Royal George,” Crown-street, Soho.

ROYAL PISCATORIAL, “The Albion,” Rodney-road, Walworth.

SAVOY BROTHERS, “Black Prince,” Chandos-street, Strand.

SILVER TROUT, “Star and Garter,” St Martin’s-lane, Charing-cross.
   

SIR HUGH MYDDELTON, “Three Johns,” White Lion-street, Islington.

SOCIAL BROTHERS, “Prince Regent,” Dulwich-road, Herne Hill.

SONS OF THE THAMES, “Three Tuns,” Rupert-street

SOUTH BELGRAVIA, “Surprise,” Vauxhall Bridge-road.

SOUTH KENSINGTON PISCATORIAL “Coleherne Hotel,” South Kensington.

SOUTH LONDON, “George and Dragon,” 235, Camberwell-road.

SOUTH HACKNEY, “The Lamb,”  Wick-road, Sooth Hackney.

SOUTH ESSEX, “The Elms,” Leytonstone.

SOUTH ESSEX PISCATORIAL, “Victoria Dock Tavern,” Victoria Dock-road, E.

SPORTSMAN, “Lady Owen’s  Arms,” Goswell-road.

ST. ALBAN’S, “Walnut Tree,” St. Alban’s-rd., Kensington-rd., SE.

ST. JAMES AND SOHO, 30, Gerrard-street, Soho.

ST. JOHN, “White Bear,” St. John-street, West Smithfield.

ST. PANCRAS, 58, Burton-street, Burton-crescent.

STANLEY ANGLERS, “Lord Stanley,” Camden Park-road.

STAR, “Bird in Hand,” Northampton-street, Clerkenwell.

STOKE NEWINGTON, “Prince Albert,” Victoria-rd., Stoke Newington.

STEPNEY, “Beehive,” Rhodeswell-road, Stepney.

STRATFORD BROTHERS, “Coach and Horses,” Broadway, Stratford.

SURREY PISCATORIALS, “St. Paul’s,” Westmoreland-rd, Walworth.

SUSSEX, “Sussex Arms,” Grove-road, Holloway.

TRAFALGAR, “Star and Garter,” 13, Green-street, Leicester-square.

TRUE WALTONIANS, 100, Liverpool-road, Islington.

UNITED ESSEX, “Dorset Arms,” Ceylon-road, Stratford New Town.

UNITED MARLBOROUGH BROTHERS, “Red Lion,”  22 and 23, Portland-street, St. James’s.

UNITED SOCIETY OF ANGLERS, Wellington. Shoreditch
    UNITED BROTHERS, “Druid’s Head Tavern,” Broadway, Deptford.

WALTHAMSTOW, “Common Gate,” Wark House Common, Walthamstow

WALTON AND COTTON, “Crown and Woolpack,” St. John-street, Clerkenwell.

WALTONIAN,  “Jews Harp,” Red-hill-street, Regents-park.

WALWORTH WALTONIANS, “St. Paul’s,” Westmoreland-rd., Walworth.

WEST HAM BROTHERS, “Queen’s Head,” West Ham-lane, Stratford.

WEST CENTRAL, “Cross Keys,” Theobald’s-road, High Holborn.

WEST LONDON, “Windsor Castle,” King-street, Hammersmith.

WESTBOURNE PARK PISCATORIAL, Pelican, All Saints-road, Westbourne-park.

WOOLWICH BROTHERS, “Prince Regent,” King-street, Woolwich.

WOOLWICH INVICTA, “Golden Marine,” Francis-street, Woolwich.

WOOLWICH PISCATORIALS, “Cricketers Arms,” Sand-street, Woolwich

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Fallon’s Angler – A new publication.

02 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by The tuesday swim in Fallon's Angler quarterly, Reading

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

angler, angling, fallon's, fishing, magazine

If there is one pastime over others that has had millions upon millions of words written about its many facets, it has to be angling.  Angling books tend to be split into two camps, the ‘how to’ and the ‘why do I do it and what a lovely place to do it in’ categories.  But when it comes to angling magazines nearly all of them lie in the ‘how to’ editorial style. However, this type of content does have one grave repercussion, it encourages tackle firms to infiltrate the article with product placement, written by anglers who are tied into contracts. The outcome is sterile, advertorial pieces that suit the tackle industry and not the reader.

Fallon’s Anglers is a magazine that goes against the grain which has been put together by an interesting gentleman called Garret Fallon who has bravely decided “what the hell, I’m going to do this myself.” Garret has managed to get a group of distinguished writers and some lesser known writers like myself to put together a collection of words and images. The content covers all disciplines and is varied, often personal, but always interesting and occasionally funny but certainly not  portrayed as being pompous and self-righteous. Issue one has over 28,000 words accompanied with images by writers such as Jon Day, Tom Fort, Kevin Parr and Chris Yates.

To order a copy please go to http://fallonsangler.net/ and try something new.

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Lest we forget…Angling Auctions this Saturday.

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by The tuesday swim in Tackle

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2014, angling, auctions, chiswick, freeman, hall, london, march, neil, town

Old fishing photos 11This friday from lunchtime onwards you can visit Chiswick Town Hall and spend the afternoon looking through collections of vintage fishing tackle all broken down into lots. Using simple but well built tackle from a bygone era is an experience many of us now cherish when escaping to the waters-edge. On saturday you will get the chance to bid on such items from midday onwards.

As ever the Tuesdayswim and Arcadia will be donning suitable attire and showing you the selection of fishing rods on offer.

 

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George Orwell – Coming Up For Air.

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

air, angling, book, carp, coming, fishing, for, george, literature, orwell, up

As last winter continued on into spring this years reading time was prolonged as the urge to get out was limited to some pretty miserable weather. On the one occasion that I did fight through the driving wind, rain and leaden skies was to make it down to Spitalfields Antique Market on a thursday in late April to see my friend John Andrews and his excellent stall of fishing tackle for the soul. Over a cup of tea the conversation drifted into books and my urge to read some Orwell. John mentioned that I should read Coming up for Air, a slightly more obscure book but had the added bonus of some very well written passages on his childhood obsession with fishing. So after a quick hunt around the market and then back home to the internet I finally found myself a secondhand copy for a few quid. Straight away I got stuck into the book and then something happened…we had a summer and the book got placed out of harms way high on a bookshelf.

Coming up for Air

Only now in late September has the summer truly ended, the evenings have moved back indoors. So while I was looking for something to read I came across Coming Up For Air once again and immediately got stuck into this absorbing book. Orwell has an un-laboured way of writing which is very easy to read, he is able to conjure up vivid detailed scenes full of mood and atmosphere.

George Bowling, the main character in this book looks back at his childhood and recounts his memories of fishing at the turn of the twentieth century, then as adulthood beckons for George so does the great war. After surviving the war, George moves from job to job and finds himself  middle age, over weight and astray. He realises he has lost something that he can’t get back, a sense of freedom, something he only had when he was a boy, doing boys things like robbing birds nests, playing conker’s, larking about and fishing. So George decides to….

Well if you want to know what happens I suggest you read the book, suffice to say that there is enough about fishing in this book to be placed on the bookshelf alongside angling classics such as BB et al. Here is a little extract from the book…

‘One afternoon the fish weren’t biting and I began to explore at the end of the pool furthest from Binfield House. There was a bit of an overflow of water and the ground was boggy, and you had to fight your way through a sort of jungle of blackberry bushes and rotten boughs that had fallen off the trees. I struggled through it for about fifty yards, and then suddenly there was a clearing and I came to another pool which I had never know exsisted. It was a small pool not more than twenty yards wide, and rather dark because of the boughs that overhung it. But it was very clear water and immensely deep. I could see ten or fifteen feet down into it. I hung about a bit , enjoying the dampness and the rotten boggy smell, the way a boy does. And then I saw something that almost made me jump out of my skin.’

‘It was an enormous fish. I don’t exaggerate when I say it was enormous. It was almost the length of my arm. It glided across the pool, deep under water, and then became a shadow and disappeared into the darker water on the other side. I felt as if a sword had gone through me. It was far the biggest fish I had ever seen dead or alive. I stood there without breathing, and in a moment another huge thick shape glided through the water, and then another and then two more close together. The pool was full of them. They were carp I suppose’

My second hand copy has the inscription on the inside cover ‘Jonty, Happy unemployment, Love Liz & Annette. June 1982’ and slotted in the middle of the book is an old train ticket from 1996. Perhaps Jonty was also in search of something, maybe a lost carp pool hidden in deepest Surrey somewhere along the Bookham to Horsley line? It just took him fourteen years to get around to looking for it.

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