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Capturing Sweets for Fallon’s Angler.

08 Monday Jun 2015

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

3, angler, fallon's, issue, jean, of, Sweets, usk, williams

The Tuesday Swim has been a little quiet for a while and for good reason, I have taken on the role as picture editor for the newly formed publication Fallon’s Angler. For those who haven’t come across this quarterly may I point you in the direction of the website www.fallonsangler.net.

My task along with the editor, Garret is to bring to the reader, original, interesting, and thoughtful writing and photography, a tall order? Well,  certainly a challenge but as ‘Fangler’ grows in momentum more opportunities are coming our way to discover new and old writers who have an interesting tale or perspective to share. I have just heard that we may have an old angling legend to grace the pages of issue 4.

My assignment for issue 3 was to visit Jean Williams in Usk and her wonderful traditional tackle shop that is filled with atmosphere and local knowledge. My photo essay and interview in Sweets I hope captures this atmosphere, I think it does.

Sweets_TTSIf you are in the Usk area and curious about Sweets or our publication, Jean has a few copies under the counter which maybe thumbed or even purchased for the princely sum of a pair of pints!

Sweets of Usk

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by The tuesday swim in General fishing, Tackle

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

butterfly, fishing, mrs, salmon, shop, Sweets, tackle, traditional, trout, usk, williams

A person who is born in the town of Usk or has lived there for  forty years or more can qualify as a ‘Usk butterfly’. The butterfly symbol was used by Usk craftsmen who created Japanned finished wares, it distinguished their work from nearby Pontypool who created similar work. Last week I was fortunate enough to meet a Usk butterfly for the first time…

Thursday I found myself driving to South Wales with fellow photographer, angler and friend, Nick Moore to cover the stills for an advertising campaign. We were staying at the famous Gliffaes County Hotel that sits on a rocky outcrop in the Usk valley. The hotel is very much of the arts and crafts Edwardian style, and mainly caters for the brown trout, sewin and salmon fisher. As anglers we were both quite frustrated by the prospect of staying at this hotel in earshot of the river Usk, unable to fish, only to work! Ever an optimist I packed a spinning rod, reel and waders hoping that I could grab an hour before or after dinner and winkle out a salmon. The previous day I was talking to John Andrews of Acadia about our predicament and his reply was ‘do yourself a favour and drop into Sweets of Usk…’ I had heard of this old style tackle shop but had never been there so during our drive up to Wales I mentioned this to Nick and the possibility of a detour to visit the tackle shop, after a short conversation a decision was made and we took the turning to the town of Usk. On arrival we found a tiny wooden-clad shop front with the glass panelled door covered in various notes and signs obscuring what was hidden within, to be honest we thought the shop was closed. On close inspection I could see the smiling face of a well dressed lady who was reaching for the locked door, before long we had entered into another world.

When we first stepped inside Sweets we were overwhelmed at the sheer array of things to look at, there were  trays of hand-tied flies, old books, stacked boxes, photographs old and new, wooden carved salmon, tweed jackets, bags, cane and carbon rods, we were struggling to know what was for sale and what items were on display for sentimental reasons. The air smelt of wax and old books, the sun had just come out and shafts of light shone through the gaps in the glass illuminating the shop in dappled light, the atmosphere was thick and there stood behind the wooden counter our host with her infectious laugh and sweet smile. Nick and myself were actually quite dumb struck like a couple of  school boys, but we were soon put at ease with Mrs Williams offer of tea and stories that were attached to every object that we pointed out. We felt that we had entered someones front room for the first time and with that in mind turned down the offer of tea for we felt that we were intruding. Instead we turned our attention back to the shop, its history and the content. I spotted a delicate looking cane trout rod that turned out to be a Harry Powell rod who originally opened the shop in the 1930’s and was told that “Harry’s rod would never be sold, it is far too special.”  Mrs Williams told us about Lionel Sweet who took over the shop from Harry Powell and of his legendary fly casting skills (in 1953 he became the Casting Champion of Europe which he held for twenty years)  while his wife Molly hand-tied the flies in the shop. In the early 1960’s Mrs Williams started work in the shop after her parents were looking to find her some temporary work, then in the 1970’s she took over the shop with her now husband, Mike. Over forty years on Mrs Williams, the Usk Butterfly continues to offer her time and hospitality that is warm and genuine,  in truth we felt after an hour that we should leave but I think she enjoyed our visit as much as we were. The shop is very much orientated to fishing the Usk which is literally a stones throw from the shop. I spotted a cupboard of boxes with labels from bygone Redditch tackle firms, stacked in a higgledy-piggledy manner. From this cupboard Mrs Williams showed me some of the contents including some floats,  “I have a few floats for the boys in the village, you have to get them started somehow,” it was almost as if this was a rite of passage, from float to fly. By five o’clock we had to leave, we could have stayed longer as I know that Mrs Williams  had many more stories to share, time was not an issue in this shop, it looked like it had stopped many decades ago, but we had to move on and step back into 2014. A meeting had been laid on for us to discuss the photo-shoot that was to take place on the following day, the contrast was quite extreme.

In hindsight there is a slight sadness about this shop as you realise it won’t be around forever. When Mrs Williams locks the door for the final time I can’t see this business being passed on or sold as it stands, the vintage tackle dealers and auction houses  may buy up the contents and the shop will be lost. The stock is probably worth very little but some of the historic photographs and wood carving are worth considerably more, but as a collection under one roof it is priceless. On a historical and social level Sweets is a very rare place to discover. For now it still stands as a business supplying the Usk fishermen with flies, spinners and line, it is a very honest place and certainly not a parody or museum.  For anyone who remembers fishing tackle shops that precede the 1980’s when the owners were normally a husband and wife duo, this is a place you have to visit and spend a few pounds. Sweets is a tackle shop that survives where many others were lost to  Angling Centres with departments run by ‘experts’. My experience in Sweets reminded me how far we have come as a country over the last thirty years, we seem to be in a big hurry. Sweets is a real lesson in customer care and understated knowledge, an antidote to modern shopping. This little tackle shop is in no rush, run by a lady who has  time for anyone who steps through the door, I’m just looking to find an excuse to go back soon, this time though I will accept the offer of  “a nice cup of tea with welsh water” as Mrs William would like to say.

Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams
Hand tied
Hand tied
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams & Nick
Mrs Williams & Nick
A customers discarded waders!
A customers discarded waders!
Sweets Tackle shop Usk
Sweets Tackle shop Usk

 

The essence of carp fishing.

31 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

a, carp, christopher, courtney, favourite, stories, williams, yates

Sussex carp lake

Looking back at 2012 it was a mixed year for my ‘success’ on the waterside, my first Severn barbel was nice, as was the Wye barbel although my single capture on the Wye was below par. My most fondest piscatorial memories for the year was the pursuit of canal carp in central London. In many eyes I failed as I never did bank a carp although I managed to hook two, alas both times the line snapped under emmense pressure. It was a summer that BB would have been quite familiar with, excitement, frustration, dissapointment  but still a sense of wonder when it comes to attaching oneself to a large and angry carp.

The reason why I’m writing about carp fishing in mid winter is because I’m looking forwards to 2013 and the potential goals or targets that I may have. I think unlike most anglers it will not be a species or a target size that will be my goal but rather a type of water. Last year (actually still this year for another twelve hours) it was central London canal carp, next year I’m looking at fishing a small stream that I know hold large chub, barbel, carp, perch and pike. And like last year my technique will be very a very simple approach and very mobile. I will of course write about it here and hopefully have more success than last years carp fishing.

In the meantime I have found this piece written in 1928 by A. Courtney-Willians which was brought to my attention by Christopher Yates’ book “Favourite Carp Stories” which highlights what carp fishing is all about, whether you approach it wearing a tweed jacket and pin or adorn real tree and  a row of carbon rods, the essence is still the same, just some anglers do it differently, until next year here is a short extract…

“Then came dawn, fresh and mild. The sun heralded a very perfect morning. Long before it grew light my hook with its full complement of a dozen gentles was dropped lightly into the water and hopes ran high. The moat was reputed to hold some veritable monster fish up to 20 lb in weight. Some of those I had seen were as big as that, and more than one of the estate servants had told me stories of fish that were as ‘big as pigs’ (for some reason all fish to a farm labourer are ‘as big as pigs’).

Five-thirty now, the minutes sped on; six-thirty, seven, quarter to eight. At seven o’clock another foolish and enthusiastic friend had joined me, and neither of us had had a bite. Ten to eight came, ten minutes before breakfast would be ready, and my mind turned to thinking  how good a couple of poached eggs can be when one is really hungry: suddenly the float moved gently along the water and the line begun to run slowly off the reel. When the quill had finally submerged I tightened the line , but did not strike in the accepted sense of the word, for when carp are the quarry it is as well not to do so. At any rate, the effect of this action was both electrical and electrifying…”

Happy new year.

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Oh joy! Seeing an old friend is great but after Adam just discovered he won Best Show Garden at RHS Chelsea 2022 was priceless. Adam looked down at the artificial stream in the Rewilding British Landscape Garden and said ‘so good, you could cast a fly into it.’ It was. Adam I hope we cast a fly soon, lovely to see an old Sussex boy.
Can never pass Ditchling Beacon without taking a stroll. #ditchlingbeacon
Another film done - Gritstone and Galena link in bio
Fallons’s Angler have promised to do a film up north, delayed over the last two years we finally met up with Graham Vasey on the Tees and soaked up the atmosphere while Graham trotted for the grayling. @will_memotone dropped the perfect notes over the top. The film will be out tomorrow at 4.00pm (25th march) on the Fallons’s Angler YouTube channel
Another Fallon’s Angler trip done, the epic Tees, a unique pub with the atmosphere of a forgotten front room and good fishing. Our new northern adventure coming soon… #kirkhead #teesgrayling #fishingfilm #fallonsangler #teesdale #canonc100 #trottingthefloat #traditionalangling #wadingtheriver #durhamfishing
Finally made it to the Tees, filming starts in an hour #fallonsangler #fishingfilms #grayling
Packing the camera kit for the Pennines - A Fallon’s Angler film coming next month. Waterproofs, waders and binoculars at the ready. #anglingfilms #fallonsangler #graylingfishing #rivertees #pennines #fishingfilms
It’s hard clearing the last few items from my parents house, some items I’m familiar with like the tobacco tin full of drills, others are not so, like the stamped coat hangers found in my father’s wardrobe, coat hangers ‘pinched’ over a lifetime, London, Bristol, Scotland - stories now lost.
Goodbye 2021, it has been one to remember #neighbourhood
The sun did return in spectacular fashion #wintersolstice
Snuck out Friday for a pre lockdown chub, the healing qualities of a fish is fathomless #chubfishing #mentalhealth
To accompany issue 24 of Fallon’s Angler we took along our own tea boy. Did he fish? Find out in our new film launching in a week or two - just as the postman comes a knocking #fallonsangler #Chris yates #riverstour #kevparr #fishingfilms #traditional fishing
The fish of autumn #perch #perchfishing #perchfishinguk
A recent uncovering on Chatsworth Rd #clapton
Traditional birthday lunch at the Grapes turns into a mudlarking session #mudlarking #deadrat #claypipes #treasure

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