This 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.
Twice a year The Tuesday Swim and Andrews of Arcadia meet for the biannual Angling Auctions at Chiswick town hall, West London. Viewing is available from Friday lunchtime and the main show commences at twelve noon on Saturday the 6th April.
This not so un-likely pairing shall as usual be holding fort on the rod section, please come along and re-arrange the rods from their allotted places and enjoy our anguished faces as said rods are moved back INTO THE CORRECT ORDER!
If only the military was organised with such efficiency and precision.
Many years back I dated a young lady near the town of Tisbury in Wiltshire, conveniently her father, a retired colonel was a member of his local fishing club on the River Nadder.
After a few visits to Wiltshire, approval was finally given to join him for a day’s fly fishing as a guest on the Nadder run by the Teffont Fishing Club.
Armed with my Millward Flylite split cane rod and a selection of dry flies bought from Farlow’s of Pall Mall the previous day, we set off in search of brown’s and grayling. That day local knowledge prevailed and the colonel caught several trout and graying, eventually I managed to hook a lone lady, thankfully my dry-fly fishing skills didn’t let me down that day. Walking back that evening the colonel told me about the history of this little twisting stream, looking back now, I forget most of the detail but one thing I always remember was the name, Nadder, a name given after the adder snake common in the Wiltshire district. The shape of the adder similar to that of the river, with its twists and turns. True? maybe, maybe not but I like the tale.
Here we have Jack Hargreaves dry-fly fishing on the Nadder delivered in his own unique gentle manner and hooking a rather fine dace.
While helping out at Angling Auctions on the 26th March, this year, I came across this little cased gobio gobio, the case measuring 11 inches wide. The gudgeon was set up by J Cooper and Sons. Caught by F W Jefferies in a private pool in Bournebrook near Birmingham on the 15th August 1936.
This goliath weighed 3ozs and sold in the sale from what I can remember at £5,500.00!