After being shopbound it was great to get out and head east to meet old and new friends alike.
It started in Bucks meeting Fred Buller and his wife Margaret, two old friends who we haven’t seen for a while. As most of you know by now, Fred is the Patron of Angling Heritage, a Trust started by Sandy to preserve angling history. Fred has always been very supportive, from featuring in the first Recollections production, to donating the first ever carbon fibre rod made in a batch following collaboration between Hardy’s, The Moncrieff Rod Development Company (through Richard Walker) and RAE Farnborough who had invented the new material.
This time, Fred delighted us by donating the original photograph of the 42lb Lough Arrow pike featured in his “Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike”. This is now on display (as is the rod) in River Reads until the home for the museum is found.
We had a great time as Margaret opened the wine and nibbles and played us some new CD’s they had just purchased, one reminding Fred of his time in Jamaica. They are just lovely people. As ever, Fred was willing to sign a few books for the shop, now available for that special Christmas present.
The following day, we travelled to Northampton to spend time with Bob Church, another legendary angler. We recorded Bob with Dave Steuart to form Recollections V and the trip was to follow up and get some additional material for the work. Bob had dug out some old photographs to include in the book, but also told me that he is fishing well at the moment. He has a problem with mobility, but once in a boat can fish as well as ever and has just caught a 15lb zander from Grafham as well as pike and trout.
Bob is another gentleman of angling and if you want to see these photographs and learn more tales, you’ll have to order the book.
From there, we travelled to Norwich to meet another legendary angler, Bill Chillingworth. Bill is a dedicated fenland pike angler and has caught 400 pike over 20lbs. Bill allowed us to record him which when edited will appear on the Angling Heritage website in the audio archive.
We had a fascinating time hearing how he started angling, found the fens and some of the waters he has built in the area.
We discussed with Bill about how we can expand what we had done due to the limited time available. It would be great to produce an autobiography as his only work to date is “Tactics for Big Pike” produced back in 1985.
We left wishing we could spend more time with three gentleman of angling, and wishing I could collate all their knowledge. What an angler that would make.