Following the full-page article on the work of Angling Heritage, which appeared in the Angling Trust's magazine, we were contacted by Bill Arnold, a very close friend of Hugh Falkus who cared for him in his later
years, and his family, following Hugh's death.
Bill said that he had a wealth of information relating to Hugh
which he would like Angling Heritage to preserve so that his friend is
remembered. So immediately after the Barbel Show, we drove to Lancaster to an idyllic location to meet Bill, and what a gentleman
he proved to be.
True to his word, he produced many files of documents,
photographs, old film footage for us to preserve and we were delighted when he donated a white Bruce & Walker Hexagraph that was made especially for
Hugh for use in filming to aid the visibility of the rod movements. This will be displayed in Torrington Museum
when completed but is currently on display in River Reads.
Bill then produced a couple of other rods he made for
Hugh Falkus and Fred Buller MBE for their work on the Dame Juliana book. These are telescopic
models of the rod that was used at that period and can be seen in their book,
with Fred J Taylor holding the rod referred to. It was another very special donation. It has been stored in Bill's barn and has minor worm damage which will be treated before it goes on
display.
This collection of documents is one of the largest donations to Angling Heritage that has been made to date and
will take a while to sort and document, but it will be preserved. Hugh Falkus was one
of the major figures in angling of the twentieth century, and is particularly well known
for his work on sea trout. He was a man of extraordinary talent as will be seen in Chris Newton's informative biography.